Web analytics= think WebTrends although there are other tools out there.
Web analytics can be used to:
- quantify user experience audits
- identify key performance indicators
- compare over time with annual audits
Limitations:
Most tools are not designed to capture Rich Internet Applications (RIA); user may stay on one "page" while interacting with content.
Spiders ruin user data
- block out with robots.txt—prevent from looking at logs
- can also identify spiders by looking at speed of visits from single user
Types of Data:
Ratio of new to returning visitors
- think about context
- track over time and track with cross-channel marketing
- consider the effect of timeouts
Median visit length
- is closer to reality than an average visit length
- can indicate depth and breadth of visit—are they digging deep or are they hopping around?
Clicktru rates for clickable graphics--requires additional programming (we've done this for our Featured Connections).
Response time--be sure to check at peak load time
Server errors
- Monitor 500 server errors, which is where our server has the problem
- Try to identify how the user got to the 404 server errors
- Combined, hits to server errors should be < .5%
Action items:
- Look at those dang 404 errors that show up in WebTrends more closely. Can we track where they are coming from?
- Look at Crazy Egg analytics tool
- Look at “leakage points”—where did users bail out of the website. Do they make sense?
Links for More Info:
- Slide show presentation from SlideShare
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