Web Metrics

1

Overview

• Introduction

• What ARE “web metrics”?

• Why Use Them?

• Server Logs

• Other Data Sources

• Wrap-up

2

Definitions

• Hits: Connections made via the internet to another website

• Unique Visitors: Individuals who visited your site during the report period (typically 30 days). If someone visits more than once, they are counted only the first time they visit. Counted by domain names, visitor id or cookie. (Unless they delete cookies)

• Number of Visits: Number of time the unique visitor came to your site.

• Pageviews: A measure of how many times a complete page is displayed. Metric: Average number of pages per visit

3

Definitions

• Robots/Spiders - Automated software program that runs at many search engines, reads sites' content, analyzes it, and inserts them into the index (or collects information for later insertion into the index).

• Entry/Exits – Point where people entered and exited the site

• Paths – What were the most common pathways people used to navigate the site.

4

Strategy

• What is the objective of your site?– Distribute information to customers/prospects – Capture Leads– Support Customers– Sell Stuff– Build Networks/Improve Relationships

• ROI (Return on Investment)– Measure Your Results– Proof– KPIs – Key Performance Indicators

5

Conversions

• Conversion is the number of visitors who took a desired action on your site– Buy Something– Download– Filled out a form

• Conversion Rate = Desired Action /Total Number of Visitors (Typically 1 month)– For example, if 1,000 unique visitors were driven to your website from a

search engine and 10 elected to purchase a product then your “sales”

conversion rate would be 1.0%.

6

What ARE “Web Metrics”?

• “Metric”: A measurement of a characteristic of an object or activity. The measurement is done using a consistent method, at consistent intervals, in order to assess, monitor and/or communicate information about the object or activity. Metrics may be quantitative or qualitative.

7

What ARE “Web Metrics”?

• Web Metrics Metrics used to assess and monitor activity on a web site, usually to study how well the site meets its objectives. Sometimes also called "web analytics," although some writers make distinctions between metrics and analytics.

8

Why Use Web Metrics?

• Monitor activity on the site• Improve understanding of user behavior• Identify and prioritize apparent problems• Improve the site’s usability• Help us test whether what we believe about the web site

is “real”• Make decisions about the site based on data rather than

beliefs

9

Google Analytics Stats

• Total Visits

• Pageviews

• Direct Traffic

• Unique Visitors

• New Visitors

• Returning Visitors

• Depth of Visit

10

Other Stats

• Queries from the search box on utexas.edu

• Count of Facebook fans

• Count of Twitter followers

• Count of YouTube views

11

Server Logs: The Basics

• What is a server log?

• Why bother analyzing the server log?

• Common analysis tools

12

Server Logs: A Sample Entry

64.12.102.33 www.esc.edu - [16/dec/2003:00:04:09 -0500] "get /esconline/online2.nsf/eschome?openform http/1.1" 200 21691 "http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=iso-8859-1&q=empire+state+college" "mozilla/4.0 (compatible; msie 5.0; aol 8.0; windows 98; digext)" 203 "" "e:/lotus/domino/data/esconline/online2.nsf"

13

Server Logs: Fields in the Sample Entry

remotehost: 64.12.102.33

rfc931: www.esc.edu

authuser: -

[date]: [16/dec/2003:00:04:09 -0500]

“request”: "get /esconline/online2.nsf/eschome?openform

http/1.1"

status: 200

bytes: 21691

referrer: "http://www.google.com/search?hl=en

&ie=iso-8859-1&q=empire+state+college"

user-agent: "mozilla/4.0 (compatible; msie 5.0; aol 8.0;

windows 98; digext)"

processing time: 203

cookies: ""

translated URL: "e:/lotus/domino/data/esconline/online2.nsf"14

Server Logs: Common Analysis Tools

• Basic results: What the logs can tell you, and how you can use the information

• Deceptive results: What the logs seem to tell you, but really don’t

15

Server Logs: Beyond the Basics

• Configuring your analysis softwareignoring specific IP addresses

• Extracting specific types of entries from the log

• “Homemade tools”• Examples:

– Click-through– Comparing two navigation schemes– Search Queries (both successful and

unsuccessful)16

Server Logs: Limitations

• Common problems with the data– Case-sensitivity– Others

• Problems with the analysis software

• Tips for coping with problems

17

Other Data Sources

• Surveys

• Webmaster E-mail

• Usability Studies

• Focus Groups

• Help Desk Calls

18

Other Data Sources

• Reasons to use them

• Examples

• Tips for developing them

• Limitations of these sources

19

What Can Metrics Tell You

• Overall health of the site• Direct improvements to your site

– Improving Conversions– UI

• Fine tune PPC campaigns/Landing Pages• Make decisions about direction and how to focus resources

– Targeted Campaigns (email, advertising, webinars, sales)– Driving More Traffic– Search Optimization– PPC

• Developing testing scenarios

20

Basic Questions

• Unique Visitors – where do they come from• How People Find You (Drive Traffic)

– Search optimization– People who link to you– What sources are most important

• What do visitors do when they arrive?– Where do they enter? – Where do they leave?– How long do they spend on each page?– What are the most popular pages?– Do they go where you’d expect? (conversions)

21

Measures to Look At

• # of Unique Visitors• Trends over time• Time of Day• Look at Days of the week• Visit Duration• Top 10 Pages (Most popular pages)• How people find you?• What search phrase visitors use to find you• Entry/Exits• Navigation Pathways

22

Tools

• ISP/Host May Offer for Free

• Log Files on Web Server

• AW-Stats – (Free)

• Google Analytics (Free by Signup)

• Net Tracker - Unica

• Click Tracks

• Web Trends

23

Key Performance Indicators

• Analyze

• Improve

• Turn web metrics into meaningful information

24

Primary Performance Metrics

• Conversion rates

• Cost per visitor

• Cost per lead, prospect or referral

• Cost per customer

• Value per visitor

25

Define Your Conversions

• Conversion is the number of visitors who took a desired action on your site– Buy Something– Download– Filled out a form

• Conversion Rate = Desired Action /Total Number of Visitors (Typically 1 month)– For example, if 1,000 unique visitors were driven to your website from a

search engine and 10 elected to purchase a product then your “sales”

conversion rate would be 1.0%.

26

Cost Per Visitor

• Dollar amount spent to drive one unique visitor to your website. – For example, if you spent $100 to drive 1,000

unique visitors to your website, then your cost per visitor is $0.10.

– Cost per Visitor = Money Spent / Total Number of Visitors

27

Cost per Lead/Referral

• “Cost per visitor” times the number of unique visitors needed to produce one prospect, lead or referral. – For example, if you spent $100 to drive 1,000

unique visitors to your website and it produced 10 prospects; your “cost per prospect” is $10.

– Cost per Lead = Money Spent / Total Number of Leads Produced

28

Cost Per Customer

• “Cost per visitor” times the number of unique visitors needed to produce a sale.– For example, if you spent $100 to drive 1,000

unique visitors to your website and it produced 2 sales; your “cost per customer” is $50.

– Cost Per Customer= Cost / # Customers

29

Value per Visitor

• Composite figure that consists of multiple, performance metrics including conversion rate, average value per completed action, number of unique visitors and number of completed actions. – For example, if the 1,000 unique visitors generated 2

sales worth $100 per sale or $200 in gross revenue then your “value per visitor” is $0.20.

• Value per Visitor = Sales / Total Number of Visitors

• “cost per visitor” of $0.10 and your average “value per visitors $0.20 then for each new visitor you will gain

$0.10 in gross profit. 30

Conclusion

• If you’re not looking at your web metrics, you should

• Improve Conversions

• Improve Site UI

• Drive More Traffic

• Make Educated Business Decisions

31

Resources

• Web Analytics Association

• Google Analytics: Conversion University

• MarketingProfs.com

• ClickZ

• Marketing Sherpa

• Five Performance Metrics of Successful Online Business

32