1. Principles of Internet Marketing Chapter 13 Traffic Analysis and Measuring for Success

2. Objectives In this chapter you will learn about: The importance of setting the right goals and some of the goals often set for Web sites and marketing campaigns How marketers can track Web sites and what data relating to a Web site they can analyze Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers2

3. 3 Benchmarks for Success: Setting the Right Goals Explain that Marketers must set goals that take into account: –Purpose of the site or campaign –Market –Budget –Combination of all of these factors Different components of a marketing campaign, such as e-mail blasts, Web sites, banner ads, etc., may all have different goals

4. Principles of Internet Marketing4 Marketing Goals Marketing goals focus on a variety of areas, including: –New site traffic: A marketing campaign is often executed in an attempt to introduce new visitors to the site, measured as either a whole number or a percentage increase from a previous month, quarter, or year –Returning visitors: Some marketing campaigns are run solely for the purpose of bringing established visitors back to the site 4Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

5. Principles of Internet Marketing5 Marketing Goals (continued) Marketing goals focus on a variety of areas, including (continued): –Distribution of information: Viral campaigns will frequently judge success by the amount of times a file or piece of information is passed on from one recipient to another, usually through word of mouth or e-mail –Percentage of e-mail click-through's: Goals for e- mail marketing campaigns are often based on the percentage of people who open a given e-mail and click through to the Web site 5Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

6. Principles of Internet Marketing6 Marketing Goals (continued) Marketing goals focus on a variety of areas, including (continued): –Targeted regional audiences: Marketing campaigns are often run on regional or local level to increase audiences in specific geographic territories 6Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

7. Principles of Internet Marketing7 Web Site Goals Gross revenue: E-commerce sites tend to set goals based on gross revenue Number of leads gained: Business-to-business sites need visitors to take action by calling or e- mailing the company to request more information or to set up an exploratory meeting Number of pages visited: Sites typically want to maximize the number of pages viewed by each visitor and will set specific goals based on this 7Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

8. Principles of Internet Marketing8 Web Site Goals (continued) Length of time spent on the site: Similarly, Web sites want to keep people on their site as long as possible Specific pages visited: Marketers often identify certain pages on a site that they most want users to visit General brand building: For some sites, the goal may just be to increase brand recognition Visitor registration: For sites that want users to register as members or otherwise subscribe to the site, goals are set based on the number of participants 8Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

9. Principles of Internet Marketing9 Establishing Numbers-Based Goals Explain that goals need to be realistic (and whenever possible, numeric) in order to properly measure Throughout the life of any marketing campaigns, benchmarks toward goals should be analyzed regularly so that efforts can be adjusted as necessary 9Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

10. Principles of Internet Marketing10 Site Tracking: Breaking Down the Measurements There are many programs and off-the-shelf software that allow marketers to help track and analyze traffic data and patterns on a Web site The remainder of this chapter will examine measurement based on Google Analytics, but larger companies and organizations would likely use more powerful tools, such as Web Trends, Omniture or others 10Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

11. Principles of Internet Marketing11 Google Analytics Analytics is likely to remain one of the most commonly used tracking programs because: –Although it’s not the most powerful tool available it gives the most amount of information that the largest number of marketers need –It integrates seamlessly with Google AdWords –As the most popular search engine, Google has the ability to promote their Analytics program very aggressively –It’s free 11Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

12. Principles of Internet Marketing12 Google Analytics (continued) Analytics works by first installing lines of code into site pages that the developer wants to track The main Google Analytics dashboard is a first glance as to what’s happening on the site 12Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

13. Principles of Internet Marketing13 Google Analytics (continued) The dashboard of Google Analytics provides an overview of important information 13Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

14. Principles of Internet Marketing14 The Timeline The Timeline shows the activity of the site within a specified time period Each day is represented by a small dot marking how many visits were made to the site that day Measurement by visits is the default –Users can change this to display any number of other analytics 14Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

15. Principles of Internet Marketing15 The Timeline (continued) At a glace, the timeline shows developers whether or not there has been steady growth over time, when site usage tends to be at the lowest, if there have been any spikes in usage –For example, after a new press release has been distributed to the media, or a new ad campaign has been launched, or if site traffic levels have hit a plateau 15Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

16. Principles of Internet Marketing16 The Timeline (continued) Users have control over the timeline, and can set it to review any one date or date range by using the collapsible calendar menu to compare one time frame to another such as the first quarter of the current year vs. the first quarter of the previous year, to see if growth has been achieved 16Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

17. Principles of Internet Marketing17 The Timeline (continued) The timeline can be adjusted to any desired date range or set to compare two different timeframes 17Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

18. Principles of Internet Marketing18 Site Usage Site usage data provides information that is vital to understanding site traffic and how visitors are behaving, for the selected time period ‘Visits’ shows the number of times people (new and returning) that have visited the site, which can then be broken down further by visits per day (or hour, week, or month based on user preference) Understanding which time frame is most popular for visitors can be a key factor in knowing when to upload new content 18Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

19. Principles of Internet Marketing19 Site Usage (continued) Visits to the site can be broken down by hour, day, week or month 19Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

20. Principles of Internet Marketing20 Site Usage (continued) ‘Pageviews’ shows the total number of pages that were visited by all of the visitors for the given time period –Like the number of visits, further research within the analytics site breaks down pageviews by hour, day, week, or month 20Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

21. Principles of Internet Marketing21 Site Usage (continued) “Average time on site’ shows the total time spend on the site during a given time period divided by the total number of visitors during that time period –The average time users spend on a site is a key statistic that lets marketers know how engaging and interesting visitors find their site to be 21Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

22. Principles of Internet Marketing22 Site Usage (continued) ‘Percentage of new visits’ is the number of visits by new site visitors divided by the total number of visits to the site –Marketers often have a goal for how many new users they want to visit the site vs. how many returning users 22Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

23. Principles of Internet Marketing23 Visitors Overview The Visitors Overview provides a much deeper analysis of the visitors that come to the site, such as which browsers are being used to view the site, screen resolution, users’ ability to support java or view Flash files, or even which companies are coming to visit (this is particularly useful for B2B companies measuring site traffic) 23Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

24. Principles of Internet Marketing24 Map Overlay The Map Overlay feature breaks down users by geography, allowing developers to mine location information down to the specific towns that visitors have come from 24Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

25. Principles of Internet Marketing25 Map Overlay (continued) Marketers can break down visitor usage by region, right down to the town or city. For each region, data is provided that shows percentage of new visits, bounce rates, and more. This information can be helpful in knowing where to target marketing campaigns.using. This is helpful to developers, as sites often look and act differently within different browsers. 25Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

26. Principles of Internet Marketing26 Traffic Sources Overview Traffic Sources let marketers know how visitors are finding the site by breaking info down by how many people have come to the site directly (typing the URL into the browser address bar), finding a link to the site in a search engine, or clicking onto the site from a link found on another Web site –Deeper information includes percentage breakdown of which search engines are most often used to find the site, the most popular keywords used in searches that result in visitors coming to the site, and which other sites visitors have used to find the site being tracked 26Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

27. Principles of Internet Marketing27 Traffic Sources Overview (continued) Marketers can use metrics applications to understand how traffic is finding their site. 27Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

28. Principles of Internet Marketing28 Content Area Gives an in-depth look at the content on a site, how it is being viewed, and which pages connect most strongly with the visiting audience, by breaking down each page by: –Total number of pageviews –Unique pageviews: This statistic doesn’t count multiple visits to the same page by any one user –How much time spent on each page: This can be helpful if a marketer knows that a certain page should take roughly 30 seconds to read, but the average time spent on that same page is seven seconds The marketer can target that page for redevelopment 28Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

29. Principles of Internet Marketing29 Content Area (continued) Gives an in-depth look at the content on a site, how it is being viewed, and which pages connect most strongly with the visiting audience, by breaking down each page by (continued): –Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who came directly to that page and then left the site completely –Percentage exit: The percentage of people who, after traveling through the site, left on any given page 29Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers

30. 30 Summary Establishing goals is a vital part of knowing what is working, what needs to be altered, and whether the efforts being taken are generating a positive ROI The success of a Web site or marketing campaign can be measure in many different ways There are a variety of goals behind Web and marketing efforts, including boosting the number of new visitors to a site, increasing sales, signing up registrants, or raising brand awareness

31. Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers31 Summary (continued) Marketers can use many different many different programs and software applications to study and analyze site traffic and overall performance –One of the more popular tools is Google Analytics, which is provided free to any site developer or marketer Like many other tracking applications, Google Analytics provides vital statistics, such as geographic overviews of traffic sources, the number of pageviews, the time spent on the site, and more –All of this can be studied and analyzed in an attempt to improve the site and reach any pre-set goals

32. Principles of Internet Marketing32 Summary (continued) Promotions, such as contests and limited-time sales, help brands increase traffic and revenue on a more short-term immediate basis Viral marketing has the potential to help brands reach more people for a lower cost by enticing the market to spread the word to others 32Principles of Internet Marketing: New Tools and Methods for Web Developers