Evaluate Your Content with Google Analytics

(by category)

Ben MacNeillUser Interface Designer, eXtension

• Website traffic analysis tool

• It's free (but you need a google account. unfortunately no public view.)

• Visitors, Traffic, Content

Google Analytics

Whereare yourvisitors

coming from?

How areyour

readers finding

your content?

What's the most popularcontent?

How many visit your page and leave?

(and is that good or bad?)

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What about my content?• the Public site GA data is aggregated

• No way to look at a single category of content(until recently!)

Top-Level Categories Now in GA

• Available in content reports

• Top Content (Most Popular)

• Top Landing Pages (Arrivals)

• Top Exit Pages (Departures)

• Look at all content or limit to specific types (Articles, FAQs, Learning Lessons, Events)

What Does it Look Like?

How it works

• Actual url: http://www.extension.org/faq/824

• We pass an extra parameter to GA when the visit is recorded

• Extra parameter = Top-level categories

Using the 'Find Page' Filter

• Select a report: Content > Top Content

• Choose any CoP resource area tag

• No spaces. "beef_cattle" not "beef cattle"

• View all content: fire_ants

• View only FAQs: (faq).*(fire_ants)

• View only Articles: (pages).*(fire_ants)

Analysis: Bounce rate• the percentage of visitors to a page who leave

without visiting any other page

Bounce rate: 41.46%

Bounce rate: 90.91%

Let's Go to the Browser

Be Careful When Evaluating Your Pages

• Don't make decisions based only on our star rating system

• it can be gamed

• may or may be statistically significant

• doesn't show up in search

Under-performers?

• Don't unpublish a piece of content

• Destroys all the Google page rank built up for that page

• Generates a "Page not found" for all new visitors coming from search

• Damages the reputation of the site

• Breaks all links that point to your page

Get Reports by Email

• If you need access to GA, send me your gmail address or the email associated with your google user ID.

• ben.macneill@extension.org

• thanks!

Getting Access to GA