Web Analytics, Evaluating the Right Metrics
Kara Toedtli | 30 July 2008 |
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Now that you have successfully implemented a Web Analytics program to evaluate visits to your website, what should you be looking at? Whether you are utilizing the Blizzard ROI Tracker, Google Analytics or another type of analytics software on your website, these resources can provide valuable information about the effectiveness of both online and offline marketing efforts.
![aug3[1]](http://newsletter.blizzardinternet.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/362455308.jpg)
Bounce Rate - tells you the percentage of visitors that only viewed one page on your website. There are many possible scenarios that cause websites to have high bounce rates. If the content on your website is outdated, you will typically lose visitors looking for the newest information about your business. How often do you update the content, specials or packages, local events, etc… on your website? Are your keywords reflective of what your visitors expect from your website? If the keyword phrases you are using, both in your optimization and paid advertising don’t give visitors what they are expecting from your website, they will most likely not make it past the first page.
Average Time Spent on Website - It is crucial to monitor how long the average visitor spends on your website. If your content keeps the visitor engaged, they are more likely to view more pages, which often lead to conversions or a request for more information. Pay attention to pages that show an unusually high time spent on the page, as there could be an issue with the page.
First Time and Returning Visitors - It is important to spend your time and efforts attracting new visitors to your website. It is just as important to see an increase in returning visitors, an indication that visitors are interested in learning more about what you are offering on your website.
Top Referring URL’s - This will help to determine which directories and search engines are bringing the most traffic to your website.
Top Keywords that send visitors to your website - analyze whether the most relevant keywords for your business are really the ones that are sending the most qualified visitors. Which keywords are resulting in more conversions?
Top Keywords by Search Engine - Analyzing the top keywords by search engine will allow you to determine what is working best for you in the organic rankings and your pay per click advertising.
Paid vs. Organic search engine referrals - this will help you to analyze your organic and paid marketing efforts. Are you investing enough money for Search Engine Optimization or Pay Per Click advertising?
Visitor Demographics - You can analyze where the majority of your visitors are coming from by Country, State, or City and focus marketing efforts in these areas.
Conversion Rate - The number of visitors that complete the desired action, such as reserving a room, signing up for your newsletter or filling out a request for information form. It is important that you or your webmaster define the conversion pages.
Other Links - Are the other link building efforts, such as lodging directories and authority websites, sending visitors to your website, if so, are they also converting?
Don’t forget that the purpose of your website marketing efforts are saving money, increasing traffic, increasing conversions, increasing your return on investment and decreasing the bounce rate of visitors to your website. The analysis is as important as the online marketing itself.
Bounce Image Courtesy bigwibble6
Purchase image quaziefoto
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July 30th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Great article, Kara! Web analytics is an integral part of online marketing, and is very important for deciding a direction to take in online marketing. (Especially with dollars needing to be stretched more in a struggling economy!)
July 31st, 2008 at 9:48 am
Thank you Kara, this is very useful information. The online world provides so many opportunities to track your marketing efforts and watch for returns on your investment that off-line marketing cannot track. Make sure you are spending your promotion dollars wisely by viewing your analytics as you launch a new campaign or strategy. Compare year over year to track where you’ve grown and what areas need more attention. Use Kara’s suggestions as you guide to understanding your data.
August 7th, 2008 at 4:10 am
I’ve been working with Web Analytics for quite some time and I find your article very informative for newbies:) Good job!
August 10th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Well realy an informative article i m in favour of using these web analytics as then help us to evaluate better the pay per click advertising campaigns It’s a collection of data elements that reveal the mind – set of your marketplace. Web analytics gives you a front row look into hearts and minds of your customers and prospects.
* It helps us in answering questions like
* How do they feel?
* What do they gravitate towards?
* What holds there attention?
August 12th, 2008 at 9:46 am
I wonder what percentage of professional vacation rental companies use web analytics. I think that would be an interesting poll to conduct. Furthermore, I think a distinguishing question would be how many people use web analytics and find the information interesting versus how many people analyze data, draw conclusions, run tests, and make changes.
August 15th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Great post. its interesting, we see more smaller business leveraging web analytics than larger companies. We are a web analytics consulting company, a partner with Google Analytics, and the businesses that leverage GA to its fullest are the stores that do less than 1mm in sales.
Larger companies, with the layers of management and the lack of analysis, are still mired in the realm of pageviews as the key metric. Look for analytics to take hold when testing becomes more mainstream.