Web Analytics – Measuring for Success
What is Web Analytics?
The Web Analytics Association (WAA), an independent web analytics organization, defines web analytics as “the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage." The raw data used for web analytics is collected when people interact with your website. There are two approaches for collecting this data: log file analysis and page tagging.
Log file analysis refers to the use of web server log files to gather information about site traffic. To make use of this information you will need a software application to read the logs and compile data in a meaningful way. Webalizer and AWStats are two examples of popular log file analyzers.
Page tagging involves inserting a small script, usually javascript, into the HTML of each web page you wish to monitor. Each time a user accesses this page the script runs and data is collected. Google and Yahoo! offer free online analytics programs which use page tagging. For more information about the advantages and disadvantages of both log file analysis and page tagging, consult the resources at the bottom of this page.
Why use Web Analytics?
Gathering statistics on Web traffic is a way of obtaining valuable information about visits to your Web site. Examples of information you can identify using web analytics include:
- the number of visitors in a specified time period
- what pages are most popular
- where your visitors come from
- what types of browsers they are using
- how they arrive at your site
- which search engine sent them
- the keywords they used to find your site
Measurements like these can help you to improve the quality of products and services that you provide to your clients on the web. But it is important to correctly interpret the numbers generated from web analytics tools. To this end, you should familiarize yourself with the commonly used metrics in web analytics. Some important web site metrics are Visitors, Visits, Page Views and Visit duration. The Web Analytics Association has compiled a glossary of metrics that provides definitions and information about how such measurements can be meaningfully interpreted. This glossary is available at the WAA website.
Conclusion
A website’s success is determined by its usage. Web analytics tools can help you to measure and improve the effectiveness of your online delivery methods by providing you with the necessary information to ensure that users have the best experience possible when interacting with your site. A Web Analytics toolkit is therefore an essential ingredient in developing a successful web strategy for your institution. It is important to determine which metrics will accurately target user activity on your site, and to select the appropriate tools for the task. Many free applications exist which can be used to evaluate a wide variety of measurement criteria; research and compare the products available to you to ensure that you select the best one for your institution’s needs.
English Language Sites and Resources
The Web Analytics Association
This is the official website of the WAA, an independent web analytics organization. It provides extensive resources for web analytics professionals.
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Google Analytics Conversion University
Conversion University is a companion website to the Google Analytics online tool, where you will find articles, tips and resources on topics related to web analytics.
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Brian Clifton, “Increasing Accuracy for Online Business Growth,” February 2008
http://www.advanced-web-metrics.com/docs/accuracy-whitepaper.pdf
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Blackbeaks Blog….All Things Analytic
The blog of Steve Jackson, a leading web analytics consultant. Here you’ll find news about developments in the field, and links to useful resources.
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French Language Sites and Resources
Web Analytics
Wikipedia article about web analytics.
Accessed December 8, 2008
Google Analytics Atelier – Conversions
Conversion University is a companion website to the Google Analytics online tool, where you will find articles, tips and resources on topics related to web analytics.
Accessed December 8, 2008
Some Free Web Analytics Tools
Google Analytics
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Crawltrack, the spiders and crawlers tracking script
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AWStats – Free log file analyzer for advanced statistics (GNU GPL)
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Webalizer
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