Measuring Success: SES London 2007
An Introduction to Web Analytics
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Types of Tracking
Why You Need Analytics How to Employ Tracking Data Specific Examples
Indextools Data for SEOmoz.org
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The Two Types of Web Analytics
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
The Two Types of Web Analytics
Log Files Analysis
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Script-Based Tracking
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Inaccurate (spiders, bots, corporate ISPs, proxies, caching, et al.) Data already available (on the server) Shows failed requests
Greater accuracy (for visitors)
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Easier to segment and record specific actions
Often does not show non-human activity or server errors
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Measuring Success: SES London 2007
Log Files & Log File Analysis
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Easy to Use
Free Inaccurate Lacks advanced tracking abilities
AWStats, a popular log file tool
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
Script-Based Visitor Tracking
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Javascript allows for greater accuracy (usually) and greater customization Script-use enables segmentation and action tracking
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Why Do I Need Web Analytics?
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
Why Do I Need Web Analytics?
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To Answer These Basic Questions:
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How many people visit my site? What pages are getting visited?
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How do visitors reach my site?
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Or Some More Advanced Ones:
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Where do my best visitors come from?
How much do I earn on average per visitor? Which pages help to convert visitors into buyers?
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
Record Progress & Popularity
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Unique Visits Return Visits
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Page Views
Pg View / User Search Traffic
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Referral Traffic Regions / Languages Browsers
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Visits / User
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Measuring Success: SES London 2007
Analyze the Sources of Traffic
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Search Engines
Referral Traffic (links)
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Direct Type-Ins
RSS Feeds
Paid Search
Specific Campaigns (using tracking code)
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
Determine the Success of Your Site
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Bounce Rate
Browse Rate Return Visits
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Visitor Loyalty
Pg Views / Visit Traffic Growth Advanced Metrics (using action tracking)
How Should I Employ Analytics Data?
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
How Should I Employ Analytics Data
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Find Specific Metrics that are applicable to your site:
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Problems that need to be addressed
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Weaknesses in your site's offerings
Opportunities for new content or marketing
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Create a Dashboard to Show you the Most Important Data Daily
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
An Example of SEOmoz's Dashboard
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
Identify Basic Problems & Opportunities
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Where are Visitors Exiting Your Site? Has Search Traffic Dropped Off or Skyrocketed? What Sources of Traffic Provide High vs. Low Quality Traffic? What Content Helps Convert Visitors?
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Measuring Success: SES London 2007
Launch, Collect Data, Refine, Repeat
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Identify a Problem – e.g. Bounce rates for blog posts are very high.
Brainstorm Ideas on How to Address - e.g. Add “Related Posts” links in the sidebar. Make Changes to the Site/Page - e.g. Create Universal “Related Posts” links. Track Improvements, Refine, & Repeat - e.g. Watch Statistics for Bounce Rates from Blog Entry Pages
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The Miracle of Action Tracking
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
The Huge Impact of Action Tracking
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Action Tracking is the Holy Grail of Analytics
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See what searches, referrers & pages are sending you the highest quality visitors
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
Segmenting Proclivity to Convert
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Using Action Tracking You Can Determine Which Visitors Convert (and at what rate):
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By Search Terms & Phrases
By Referring URLs and Domains By Advertising Clicks
By Region, Language, or Other Demographics
By Pages Visited (or Click-Path)
More Stats That Matter
The “Linkbait Bump”
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
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After a “BIG” bump in traffic from media attention or referring links, a site will “retain” some of that traffic on a permanent basis, resulting in increased average traffic levels. This is one of the reasons I love linkbait :)
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
Inbound Links & Reputation Management
Measuring Success: SES London 2007
A Few of My Favorites
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Browse Rate by Referring Domain Shows how interested an audience from a given website is in your content.
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Conversion Rate by Search Phrases Shows which search terms bring the best traffic.
First Time vs. Returning Visitors Watch activity from loyalists vs. first-timers.
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Measuring Success: SES London 2007
More Resources on Analytics
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blog.mindvalleylabs.com
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Test Ad Copy, Style, Landing Pages & Results Jon Mendez on SEM & Analytics Eric Enge Covers Analytics, look for his comprehensive report coming in May. We Write About Analytics on SEOmoz, too.
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www.optimizeandprophesize.com
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ww.stonetemple.com/blog/
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www.seomoz.org/blog/category/10
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This Presentation Available Online at
www.seomoz.org/2007/