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| Pexels. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-wearing-hoodie-and-black-pants-climbing-up-pile-of-rocks-1058958/ |
When climbing the mountain of understanding and interpreting Web analytics, a very good place to start is at the foundation. Clients often get ahead of themselves and look only at the numbers without stopping to ask, what do the numbers mean? The foundation of Web analytics began in the 1990s and started with hit counters that would “count the number of unique visits” (Lead Forensics, n.d.). While the tools used to measure Web analytics have become more complex, the foundation metrics remain consistent. The five metrics that live in the foundational category are Page, Page Views, Visits, Unique Visitors, and Event.
Businesses put content on pages and whether a page has a video, text, ads, image, or a PDF; if it is tagged then the page can be tracked. Many times a consumer’s first exposure to a brand is through a page on a company’s website. Web analytics helps marketers determine what pages perform well. Marketers can build and tweak pages that further the business goal.
Like early hit counters, page views are still tracked today. This is simply, “the number of times a page is viewed” (Web Analytics Association, p. 10). Even if a person returns to the page repeatedly, their visits will be counted in page views each time. Clients and marketers like to look at page views because the number is usually high, but it is flawed. While page views can show overall page popularity and traffic patterns, it does not show true engagement (Adler, 2014). Marketers can use popular pages based off page views to further optimize or even monetize through advertisements.
Page views as a basic measurement does not define the success of a page. For that, we have to look at a metric that removes duplicates and further confines the metric with time.
Unique visitors only count visitors once during a reporting period by using cookies to track (Web Analytics Association, p. 12). This is the most accurate visitor count for a website at any given time. The number of pages views and visits can be significantly higher than unique visitors if it one person visiting the site multiple times.
Advertisers often use unique visitors as a selling point to prove the popularity of their websites. For example, Travel & Leisure Magazine sells ads to media buyers in their print magazine, but also offers digital opportunities. In their 2019 Media Kit, Travel & Leisure boasts 9 million unique visitors, which sounds great, but the kit does not mention the time period of this reporting. The number of unique visitors as a selling point is interesting because a high number of unique visitors does not guarantee impressions for an ad buyer. Perhaps this metric is best when comparing similar ad publications.
Marketers can use visits and unique visitors along with other metrics to understand how consumers are spending their time on a site. Visits can be used in conjunction with conversion to determine conversion rate, which can help a marketer understand the effectiveness of a site. In my next post, I will deep dive into conversion and conversion rate. If the number of visits and unique visitors decreases over time this is a good indication that something is wrong. A decrease in visitors definitely affects the website’s ability to meet business goals. Neil Patel’s blog urges marketers to watch the session trends for sharp or slow declines, which can be key to diagnosing problems (Pennellatore, n.d.). The worst thing to do is to not analyze and hope for the best.
On my company’s website, we offer a program brochure for download after a user fills out a lead form. In this example, there are two trackable events: user filling out a lead form or user downloads the brochure.
Tracking events like downloads can help marketers understand if the content that they are providing is useful. It also is a good testing opportunity for the effectiveness of call to action (CTA) buttons. Users that stay on the site and are willing to complete an event are arguably more engaged and actively seeking information. If there is a low count of events on a page that has an event, something must need to change because it is not meeting the consumer’s needs. For example, on a page that has a video that explains a product, if there is a low view count (event), then perhaps consumers feel that the video is not worth clicking.
Overall, foundational web metrics provide a good basis for understanding basic page performance. These metrics also are used to build and compare with more in depth metrics.
References
Adler, B. (2014, March 11). Sessions vs. Pageviews: Which Metric Should You Measure? Localtics Blog. Retrieved from http://info.localytics.com/blog/sessions-vs-pageviews-which-metric-should-you-measure
Google Analytics Help - Events. (2019). About Events. Retrieved from https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033068?hl=en
Google Analytics Help – Web Session. (2019). How a web session is defined in Analytics. Retrieved from https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2731565?hl=en
Lead Forensics. (n.d.). Everything You Need to Know about Web Analytics. Retrieved from https://www.leadforensics.com/web-analytics/history/
Pennellatore, B. (n.d.). Diagnosing Traffic Drops Using Google Analytics. Neil Patel Blog. Retrieved from https://neilpatel.com/blog/diagnosing-traffic-drops-using-google-analytics/
T & L Media Kit. (2019). Travel & Leisure Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.travelandleisure.com/microsites/tlmediakit/pdf/tl_audience_mri.pdf
Web Analytics Association. (2008, September 22). Web analytics definitions. Retrieved on October 13, 2012, from: http://www.digitalanalyticsassociation.org/Files/PDF_standards/WebAnalyticsDefinitions.pdf
In the beginning, there was Page & Page Views
The Web Analytics Association defines page as “an analyst definable unit of content” (Web Analytics Association, p. 9). What you’re reading right now is a page on my blog. Like in a book, a page is a single unit that is a piece of a greater whole. Each page has a specific address or URL, which makes it very easy to find in Web analytics tools like Google Analytics.Businesses put content on pages and whether a page has a video, text, ads, image, or a PDF; if it is tagged then the page can be tracked. Many times a consumer’s first exposure to a brand is through a page on a company’s website. Web analytics helps marketers determine what pages perform well. Marketers can build and tweak pages that further the business goal.
Like early hit counters, page views are still tracked today. This is simply, “the number of times a page is viewed” (Web Analytics Association, p. 10). Even if a person returns to the page repeatedly, their visits will be counted in page views each time. Clients and marketers like to look at page views because the number is usually high, but it is flawed. While page views can show overall page popularity and traffic patterns, it does not show true engagement (Adler, 2014). Marketers can use popular pages based off page views to further optimize or even monetize through advertisements.
Page views as a basic measurement does not define the success of a page. For that, we have to look at a metric that removes duplicates and further confines the metric with time.
Taking out the duplication issue with Visits (Sessions) & Unique Visitors
Unlike page views, visits or sessions are a “group of user interactions with your website that take place within a given time frame” (Google Analytics Help – Web Session, 2019). This means if a user clicks on multiple pages it is counted as one session. A session either ends after 30 minutes of inactivity or leaves and returns through a different advertising campaign (like organic search vs. paid search). Visits are a better metric than page views because it brings us closer to the true traffic of a site. Unfortunately, the duplication issue still exists if a user returns after 30 minutes or re-enters on a different campaign. Visits are accompanied by a time, which also can show how long someone is interacting with a site.Unique visitors only count visitors once during a reporting period by using cookies to track (Web Analytics Association, p. 12). This is the most accurate visitor count for a website at any given time. The number of pages views and visits can be significantly higher than unique visitors if it one person visiting the site multiple times.
 |
| T & L Media Kit. (2019) |
Advertisers often use unique visitors as a selling point to prove the popularity of their websites. For example, Travel & Leisure Magazine sells ads to media buyers in their print magazine, but also offers digital opportunities. In their 2019 Media Kit, Travel & Leisure boasts 9 million unique visitors, which sounds great, but the kit does not mention the time period of this reporting. The number of unique visitors as a selling point is interesting because a high number of unique visitors does not guarantee impressions for an ad buyer. Perhaps this metric is best when comparing similar ad publications.
Marketers can use visits and unique visitors along with other metrics to understand how consumers are spending their time on a site. Visits can be used in conjunction with conversion to determine conversion rate, which can help a marketer understand the effectiveness of a site. In my next post, I will deep dive into conversion and conversion rate. If the number of visits and unique visitors decreases over time this is a good indication that something is wrong. A decrease in visitors definitely affects the website’s ability to meet business goals. Neil Patel’s blog urges marketers to watch the session trends for sharp or slow declines, which can be key to diagnosing problems (Pennellatore, n.d.). The worst thing to do is to not analyze and hope for the best.
Actions are Events
Events can be confusing because they sound a lot like clicks. Google defines an event as “user interactions with content that can be measured independently from a web-page or screen load” (Google Analytics Help – Events. 2019). For example an event can be designated, if a user downloads something or plays a video on a page. An event can be an actual number of times something occurs or how many times an event occurs in relation to another metric.On my company’s website, we offer a program brochure for download after a user fills out a lead form. In this example, there are two trackable events: user filling out a lead form or user downloads the brochure.
Tracking events like downloads can help marketers understand if the content that they are providing is useful. It also is a good testing opportunity for the effectiveness of call to action (CTA) buttons. Users that stay on the site and are willing to complete an event are arguably more engaged and actively seeking information. If there is a low count of events on a page that has an event, something must need to change because it is not meeting the consumer’s needs. For example, on a page that has a video that explains a product, if there is a low view count (event), then perhaps consumers feel that the video is not worth clicking.
Overall, foundational web metrics provide a good basis for understanding basic page performance. These metrics also are used to build and compare with more in depth metrics.
Adler, B. (2014, March 11). Sessions vs. Pageviews: Which Metric Should You Measure? Localtics Blog. Retrieved from http://info.localytics.com/blog/sessions-vs-pageviews-which-metric-should-you-measure
Google Analytics Help - Events. (2019). About Events. Retrieved from https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033068?hl=en
Google Analytics Help – Web Session. (2019). How a web session is defined in Analytics. Retrieved from https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2731565?hl=en
Lead Forensics. (n.d.). Everything You Need to Know about Web Analytics. Retrieved from https://www.leadforensics.com/web-analytics/history/
Pennellatore, B. (n.d.). Diagnosing Traffic Drops Using Google Analytics. Neil Patel Blog. Retrieved from https://neilpatel.com/blog/diagnosing-traffic-drops-using-google-analytics/
T & L Media Kit. (2019). Travel & Leisure Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.travelandleisure.com/microsites/tlmediakit/pdf/tl_audience_mri.pdf
Web Analytics Association. (2008, September 22). Web analytics definitions. Retrieved on October 13, 2012, from: http://www.digitalanalyticsassociation.org/Files/PDF_standards/WebAnalyticsDefinitions.pdf
When I first started working with websites and social media accounts, I focused completely on page views because I thought that was the best metric to report to my bosses to demonstrate our success... not the case... I'm glad I have a better understanding of how various metrics work together to paint an overall picture of a website's health
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