Measuring Success: SES London 2007 An Introduction to Web Analytics ● Types of Tracking ● Why You Need Analytics ● How to Employ Tracking Data ● Specific Examples Indextools Data for SEOmoz.org

The Two Types of Web Analytics

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 The Two Types of Web Analytics Log Files Analysis ● Inaccurate (spiders, bots, corporate ISPs, proxies, caching, et al.) ● Data already available (on the server) ● Shows failed requests Script-Based Tracking ● Greater accuracy (for visitors) ● Easier to segment and record specific actions ● Often does not show non-human activity or server errors

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 Log Files & Log File Analysis ● Easy to Use ● Free ● Inaccurate ● Lacks advanced tracking abilities AWStats, a popular log file tool

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 Script-Based Visitor Tracking ● Javascript allows for greater accuracy (usually) and greater customization ● Script-use enables segmentation and action tracking

Why Do I Need Web Analytics?

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 Why Do I Need Web Analytics? ● To Answer These Basic Questions: – How many people visit my site? – What pages are getting visited? – How do visitors reach my site? ● Or Some More Advanced Ones: – Where do my best visitors come from? – How much do I earn on average per visitor? – Which pages help to convert visitors into buyers?

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 Record Progress & Popularity ● Unique Visits ● Return Visits ● Visits / User – Page Views – Pg View / User – Search Traffic – Referral Traffic – Regions / Languages – Browsers

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 Analyze the Sources of Traffic ● Search Engines ● Referral Traffic (links) ● Direct Type-Ins ● RSS Feeds ● Paid Search ● Specific Campaigns (using tracking code)

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 Determine the Success of Your Site ● Bounce Rate ● Browse Rate ● Return Visits ● Visitor Loyalty ● Pg Views / Visit ● Traffic Growth ● Advanced Metrics (using action tracking)

How Should I Employ Analytics Data?

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 How Should I Employ Analytics Data ● Find Specific Metrics that are applicable to your site: – Problems that need to be addressed – Weaknesses in your site's offerings – Opportunities for new content or marketing ● Create a Dashboard to Show you the Most Important Data Daily

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 An Example of SEOmoz's Dashboard

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 Identify Basic Problems & Opportunities ● Where are Visitors Exiting Your Site? ● Has Search Traffic Dropped Off or Skyrocketed? ● What Sources of Traffic Provide High vs. Low Quality Traffic? ● What Content Helps Convert Visitors?

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 Launch, Collect Data, Refine, Repeat ● Identify a Problem – e.g. Bounce rates for blog posts are very high. ● Brainstorm Ideas on How to Address - e.g. Add “Related Posts” links in the sidebar. ● Make Changes to the Site/Page - e.g. Create Universal “Related Posts” links. ● Track Improvements, Refine, & Repeat - e.g. Watch Statistics for Bounce Rates from Blog Entry Pages

The Miracle of Action Tracking

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 The Huge Impact of Action Tracking ● Action Tracking is the Holy Grail of Analytics – See what searches, referrers & pages are sending you the highest quality visitors

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 Segmenting Proclivity to Convert ● Using Action Tracking You Can Determine Which Visitors Convert (and at what rate): – By Search Terms & Phrases – By Referring URLs and Domains – By Advertising Clicks – By Region, Language, or Other Demographics – By Pages Visited (or Click-Path)

More Stats That Matter

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 The “Linkbait Bump” ● After a “BIG” bump in traffic from media attention or referring links, a site will “retain” some of that traffic on a permanent basis, resulting in increased average traffic levels. This is one of the reasons I love linkbait :)

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 Inbound Links & Reputation Management

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 A Few of My Favorites ● Browse Rate by Referring Domain Shows how interested an audience from a given website is in your content. ● Conversion Rate by Search Phrases Shows which search terms bring the best traffic. ● First Time vs. Returning Visitors Watch activity from loyalists vs. first-timers.

Measuring Success: SES London 2007 More Resources on Analytics ● blog.mindvalleylabs.com – Test Ad Copy, Style, Landing Pages & Results ● – Jon Mendez on SEM & Analytics ● ww.stonetemple.com/blog/ – Eric Enge Covers Analytics, look for his comprehensive report coming in May. ● – We Write About Analytics on SEOmoz, too.

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