Analyzing Website Traffic

Dan BelhassengreatBIGnews.comModern Earth Inc.

About your presenter

• Dan Belhassen– Founder and President of Modern Earth Inc., an Internet

technology company

– Website creators, online software developers, search engine consultants, elearning specialists, new media marketing specialists

– Find me in my booth if you want to follow up

– Presentation available at http://modernearth.net/lern2010

Your Website

• An investment requiring “care and feeding”

• A marketing tool – Promote your programs and services– Provide up-to-the-minute information

• Can increase registrations……If used correctly

Maximize your ROI

• Currently tracking your site visitors?

• Why not?– Not sure what to track or review?– Takes too long?– Not enough information from IT?

Wouldn’t you like to know…

• Would you like to know– How many people “open” your brochure?– Which pages are never looked at?– Which pages are most popular?– Which course descriptions are read but never

acted upon?

• Website statistics provide you with this information

How do I get stats?

• Use a web statistics service– Specialized code is added to each of your web

pages

– This code provides information that is processed and aggregated on a centralized server

– Your webmaster may already have stats available!

Some Statistics Services

• StatCounter.com– Free service, basic capabilities

• VisiStat.com– Low cost, advanced capabilities

• Google Analytics– Free service, advanced capabilities

Google Analytics

• We recommend Google Analytics– Google.com/analytics

– Easy to install, easy to use

– FREE

Google Analytics

• Installing Google Analytics– Snippet of code needs to be installed on each web

page

– Called “page tagging”

Google Analytics

• What statistics are available?

Available Statistics

• What statistics are available?– Visitor traffic– Avg. time on site– New visits– Bounce rates– Geography– Most viewed content– Referring sites– Search engine traffic

Available Statistics

• Entrance Pages– Don’t assume it’s your home page!

– From direct URL• Bookmarked, emailed to colleague• Why is this page so popular?

– From search engine• What keyword did they use?• Did they get sent to the right page?

Available Statistics

• Exit Pages– Examine the top 3 - 5 exit pages• Why are people leaving at that page?• Are they running into a dead end?

• Why are people coming to your home page and not clicking any links?– Perhaps they were looking for a different site?– Perhaps they have you as their home page?

Available Statistics

• Website Design Factors– Browser support• Which browsers are visitors using?

• Which browsers is your site tested against?

Available Statistics

• Website Design Factors– Screen resolution• What resolutions are visitors using?

• How does your site look at different resolutions?

So.. Now you have stats..

• What do you do with them?

• What is really important?

So.. Now we have stats..

• “Conversions” are important

• What are conversions?– Have a visitor “take action”

Types of Conversion

• Any “action” you wish a visitor to take– Email newsletter subscription– Survey participation– Participating in online poll– Reading blog entry– Obtaining course details– Course registration

Tracking Conversions

• How do you track conversions?

Tracking Conversions

• Two methods

– Goal Tracking

– eCommerce Tracking

Tracking Goals

• Goal Tracking– A visitor taking a specific “conversion” action

– Track progress through the goal’s “funnel”

– Set up within “analytics settings” in Analytics

Tracking Goals

• eCommerce Tracking

– Track the “value” of specific actions

– Track the “value” of traffic sources

Website Experience Audit

Website Experience Audit

1. Number of clicks

2. Number of searches

3. Summary detailed view conversion

4. Detailed registration conversion

1. Number of Clicks

• Keep your visitor’s experience in mind!

• No more than 3 clicks to get course information– Click 1: enter search term– Click 2: click on summary link– Click 3: detailed information

2. Number of Searches

• What are the top searches?– Results found• Relevant?• NOT relevant?

3. Summary Detailed View Conversion

• How many visitors are clicking on a course summary link to obtain further information

• Try changing some titles and track the results

4. Detailed Registration Conversion

• How many visitors are registering compared to the number viewing details?

• Why aren’t they registering?– Enough information presented?– Cost/benefit being properly presented?– Registration process too complicated?– Knowing the conversion rate allows you to test

answers

Good Experience Checklist

• Text searches and categories– Offer at least two ways to find your courses– Search for someone who knows what they want– Categories for people who want to browse

• 3 clicks to course information– Any more and it’s a lot of work– Click 1: enter search term or select category– Click 2: summary links– Click 3: detailed information

Good Experience Checklist

• LOTS of detailed course information– Online real-estate is cheap – use it!– Organize information in sections– Allow enough information to answer any questions

• Flexible & confident registration– Support common forms of payment• Visa, MC, AMEX, Paypal

– Emphasize security– Option to print and fax or mail?

Keep in Touch!

• Provide an e-newsletter signup

• Integrated with registration process

• Capture tire kickers and promote directly to them

• Drive future registrations

One more thing..

• Now that you know your visitors, how can you learn more about what they want?

One more thing..

• Now that you know your visitors, how can you learn more about what they want?

• Introducing “Google Website Optimizer”

Thank you!

greatBIGnews.commodernearth.net

Presentation available at http://modernearth.net/lern2010