Module 1 introduction to web analytics

INTRODUCTION TO WEB ANALYTICS

Module 1

Agenda

Section 1: Introduction to web analytics Section 2: Approach, Frameworks, KPIs

and optimization Section 3: Website data collection

methods

Section 1

Introduction to web analytics

Why we need web analytics? Offline marketing has no accountability

and there is no way of measuring success or failure of the efforts that are invested

This made marketing less reliable, assumption driven and finally less efficient

Ex: A magazine ad – Success of this is measured via subscriptions but these are always shared in café or doctor offices

Same goes with the TV ads measured with TRP’s

Why we need web analytics? Digital marketing differs from traditional

marketing where there is a scope to track the people who are actually consuming your ads

This tracking is made possible only via the data collected from the systems

Because of this possibility, digital marketing was able to provide accountability and an opportunity to optimize our marketing budgets

So what is web analytics?

The official definition of WAA of web analytics is - Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purpose of understanding and optimizing the web usage

It is not just a tool of providing web budgets but it helps to solve business problems and helps to achieve objectives of a particular business

Types of web analytics

As the web analytics covers the “internet” usages, it can be divided into two types 1) On-site: Web traffic information on a

particular website. This is the information collected AFTER a user reached the website Ex: No. of users visited the site – Cricinfo.com

2) Off –site: Web traffic information on the internet as a whole Ex: Buzz and sentiment for ‘Sachin Tendulkar’

Web analytics practice can be used to analyze the both offline and online outcomes

History of web analytics

In 90’s web server log files – recorded visits per site

In early years of millennium, web analytics is more data and reports for enterprise companies

With introduction of Google Analytics, small and medium companies and bloggers are able to take the power of web analytics for free

In the last 2 to 3 years, web analytics started including multi channels both offline and online

This is known as Web analytics 2.0

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Context for Web Analytics

DSS – Decision Support System A conceptual framework for a process of supporting

managerial decision- making, usually by modeling problems and employing quantitative models for solution analysis

BI - Business Intelligence subset of DSS An umbrella term that combines architectures, tools,

databases, applications, and methodologies

BA - Business Analytics subset of BI The application of models directly to business data Assists in making strategic decisions

WA - Web Analytics subset of BA The application of business analytics activities to Web-

based processes, including e-commerce

Uses of web analytics

Web analytics practice can be used to analyze the both offline and online outcomes

This web analytics data can include KPIs Clickstream Surveys Testing & Targeting Competitive analysis

But most important point is asking the question – Why the outcome is what it is and how it is

Prioritization of web analytics A company can prioritize web analytics

based on the their size A small business can concentrate on

Clicksteams , KPIs and Surveys A medium size business can concentrate

on KPI’s, clicksteams, surveys and testing A large business can concentrate on

Surveys, KPI’s, Click steams, testing and Competitive intelligence

Is it rocket science?

Simple answer NO Current web anlytics vendors are making

a simply implementable tools and easy to understand reports.

This should give you 80% of the data to do the basic analysis

The web analytics practices need to have an approach and methodology set to avoid hiccups and lost ROI

Section 2

Approach, Frameworks, KPIs and optimization

Web analytics Approach

Data is everywhere. Collecting that data and arranging them in reports will NOT drive business outcomes

To drive the insights from data, mindset should be Ask the right question Always analyze with a context Data is a supplement, not a substitute

The hierarchy of insights is – Data Information Insight Best Practice

Technology – 20%, People – 30%, Process – 50%

Web analytics process

Process

People

Tech.


5-step process Identify the business objectives

Why your website exists? What the macro and micro task? What and how digital channels are used? Etc.

Establish goals and identify related KPI’s What you want to achieve for your website at the

end of a year? How to want to measure your success? How do you want to measure the success of your

vendors?


Set realistic targets to reach them and agree with all stakeholders How much, defines the success of the

efforts? Do your team and big boss agree for it? Does your finance team support this?

Review target achievement at specific periods When to review the results? How often to review the results?


Take preventive or corrective actions to maintain the intended course How to address if a risk is faced How to make changes to the initial

course of actions? The advantage of this process is that it

not just considers the analytics approach but helps to define steps for the whole digital marketing efforts

Section 3

Website data collection methods

Web analytics data collection methods

There are two main technical ways of collecting the data. 1. Server log file analysis2. Page tagging

This two methods help to collect the data related web site.

Many different vendors provide on-site web analytics software and services, Its important to understand how the data is collected to have right interpretation of data


1. Server logfile analytics: The first and older method, server log file

analysis, reads the logfiles in which the web server records file requests by browsers

In the early 1990’s Logfiles are used to measure pageviews and visits

With the arrival of Search Engine Spiders, logfiles has to update by including cookies into this measurement

Web Caches has created issues with logfile measurement

Advantages of logfile analysisThe main advantages of logfile analysis are as

follows: The web server normally already produces

logfiles, so the raw data is already available. No changes to the website are required.

The data is on the company's own servers, and is in a standard, rather than a proprietary, format. This makes it easy for a company to switch programs later, use several different programs, and analyze historical data with a new program.

Logfiles contain information on visits from search engine spiders, which generally do not execute JavaScript on a page and are therefore not recorded by page tagging.

Advantages of logfile analysis

Although these should not be reported as part of the human activity, it is useful information for search engine optimization.

Logfiles require no additional DNS lookups or TCP slow starts. Thus there are no external server calls which can slow page load speeds, or result in uncounted page views.

The web server reliably records every transaction it makes, including e.g. serving PDF documents and content generated by scripts, and does not rely on the visitors' browsers co-operating


Page tagging or Web bugs A 1x1 pixel is sent as a request to serves. These

were images included in a web page that showed the number of times the image had been requested, which was an estimate of the number of visits to that page

The web analytics service also manages the process of assigning a cookie to the user, which can uniquely identify them during their visit and in subsequent visits. Cookie acceptance rates vary significantly between web sites and may affect the quality of data collected and reported.

Advantages of page tagging

The main advantages of page tagging over logfile analysis are as follows: Counting is activated by opening the page (given that

the web client runs the tag scripts), not requesting it from the server. If a page is cached, it will not be counted by the server. Cached pages can account for up to one-third of all pageviews. Not counting cached pages seriously skews many site metrics. It is for this reason server-based log analysis is not considered suitable for analysis of human activity on websites.

Data is gathered via a component ("tag") in the page, usually written in JavaScript, though Java can be used, and increasingly Flash is used. JQuery and AJAX can also be used in conjunction with a server-side scripting language to manipulate and (usually) store it in a database, basically enabling complete control over how the data is represented.

Advantages of page tagging

The script may have access to additional information on the web client or on the user, not sent in the query, such as visitors' screen sizes and the price of the goods they purchased.

Page tagging can report on events which do not involve a request to the web server, such as interactions within Flash movies, partial form completion, mouse events such as onClick, onMouseOver, onFocus, onBlur etc.

The page tagging service manages the process of assigning cookies to visitors; with logfile analysis, the server has to be configured to do this.

Page tagging is available to companies who do not have access to their own web servers. Lately page tagging has become a standard in web analytics

Factors to consider before choosing –

Logfile analysis typically involves a one-off software purchase; however, some vendors are introducing maximum annual page views with additional costs to process additional information. In addition to commercial offerings, several open-source logfile analysis tools are available free of charge.

For Logfile analysis you have to store and archive your own data, which often grows very large quickly. Although the cost of hardware to do this is minimal, the overhead for an IT department can be considerable.

Factors to consider before choosing –

For Logfile analysis you need to maintain the software, including updates and security patches.

Complex page tagging vendors charge a monthly fee based on volume i.e. number of pageviews per month collected.

Hybrid methods: Some companies produce solutions that collect data through both logfiles and page tagging and can analyze both kinds.

Always count for multi-channel data that can come into this system

For Q&A: Contact: [email protected]

Thank you

Module 1 introduction to web analytics

Technology

Transcript of Module 1 introduction to web analytics