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B-to-B Insights : Analyze This

Use Web analytics to drive online sales

December 2009 By Robert W. Bly
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Key Metrics
Here are a few of the key metrics routinely measured using analytics tools:

• Unique Visits: how many people visit the Web site per month, not the total number of hits or clicks.
• Page Views: a measure of what pages on a site were seen the most. A large number of views indicates that the content on a page is of greater interest to visitors than content in other parts of the site.
• Pages: tells us which pages cause visitors to abandon the site. A high exit rate indicates the content on the page was of little interest to visitors.
• Bounce Rate: how many people driven to the site from an external traffic source (organic search, pay-per-click, banner ads) viewed just one page of the site and then left; an indication of poor search optimization and lack of compelling content.
• Stickiness: how long people stay on a particular page or Web site when they arrive. The longer they stay, the greater your chance of making brand impressions or sales.
• Site Entry Points: this metric tells you how people get into your site and also the pathways they travel to reach your landing or trans-
action pages.
• Keywords and Phrases: tracking the source of traffic to determine which keywords and phrases people searched to find your site.
• Conversion Rate: percentage of visitors to a transaction page who take the indicated action, whether it’s downloading a white paper or purchasing merchandise.
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Here is a conversation I have at least twice a month:

Client: "I want you to write copy to generate more orders on my Web site."

Bly: "What's the conversion rate of the page?"

Client: "We aren't really sure."

Bly: "Why not?"

Client: "We don't really measure it."

Bly: "Then how will you know whether our new copy has improved it?"

Client: [Dead silence]

Lord Kelvin, inventor of the Kelvin temperature scale, said: "When you can measure something and can express it in numbers, you know something about it." Web metrics are the numbers that let you know something about your Web site's performance and ROI, and Web analytics is the software that lets you measure those numbers.

In the early days of the Internet, Web sites were the online equivalent of sales brochures or general advertising: pages posted online to disseminate product information, establish an online presence and help position the company in the marketplace.

Today's most successful Web sites are the online equivalent of direct response marketing. They have specific marketing objectives and business goals, and their performance and sales can be precisely measured.

Measuring Web metrics is a critical step in determining whether a Web site is producing a positive ROI and serving users in the manner intended. Web analytics is the study of user interaction with a Web site by collecting information about what the visitor does. This data is tabulated and refined into reports and visual presentations to help analysts understand whether a Web site is achieving a set of desired results.

Does It Stay, or Does It Go?
Analytics software can help determine where changes are needed, what content isn't effective, and whether the organization and navigation of the site are optimal. Some of the more popular analytics applications include Google Analytics, Omniture and Webtrends Analytics.

Marketers and analysts responsible for using analytical data to make marketing and business decisions also can benefit from Web analytics. Reports on Web metrics generated by the analytics tool can help marketers understand how users are coming to the site, which segments of the site are driving revenues and whether business objectives for the site are being met. For example, marketers need to know whether the dollars being spent for search keywords are increasing traffic or how effectively recent site changes are driving visitors to an event registration.

 

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COMMENTS

Most Recent Comments:
Ben - Posted on December 06, 2009
I use clicktale as a great free web analytics.