I try to keep up to date on web analytics happenings & insights. Among the blogs & resources on analytics that I follow, one is Web Analytics Demystified - a site authored by Eric Peterson, who is one of the foremost experts & thought leaders in the Analytics field. The company recently released some research they titled “The Problem with Free Analytics” (link will open a pdf download.)

The key findings from the survey of over 400 US users of both free and licensed (for fee) tools include:

- users of free solutions are more likely to NOT treat web analytics as a long-term strategic commitment. They treat it as an ad hoc process.
- 46% of the users of free solutions said than their web analytics tools answer less than half of the questions they have.

The essence of the study is that there is a big difference between the value that licensed tool users and free tool users get from their Analytics tool. It could be that the free users just haven’t made the $ investment in licensing, so they feel less motivated to “get their money’s worth” from their tool. But it could just as much be a resource question. 52% of the free users stated coming from companies of 50 employees or less, and 42% of those free users report dedicating ZERO resources to analytics projects!

I agree with the statement made in the report “small companies have just as much to gain from Web analytics as big companies.” To that end, free tool users need to take the time to learn just what their analytics tools can do, and develop a strategic approach to how they use what data the program can provide. As with any marketing effort (because analytics is, after all, a part of the marketing function), ask what are the objectives of your Web site, and then develop the questions that help you measure the success of the site in reaching those objectives.

For example, say you have a Web site that monetizes users by capturing user data (leads) to feed to your Sales team. Some objectives of your site would be:

- Improve the conversion rate of the site to capture more lead info from a greater # of visitors
- Increase the amount of time visitors spend on the site and engage with your content
- Reduce the rate at which visitors exit your Web site

The metrics you should start to monitor on a regular basis would be items such as:

- # of visitors vs. # of leads captured
- average time on site
- most-exited pages
- pages w/ lowest exit rate
- the path which users follow most often to get to that lead page

Look at these metrics over time (a weekly basis perhaps?) Then use the data to make changes to the items that show unfavorable trends, such as tweaking the form layout on your lead page, or making edits to the most-exited pages on your site by creating more engaging content and “next-step” pages for users to continue engaging with your site.

Then, observe the metrics AFTER you make those changes, to see the impact your changes had on site usage. And make more changes based on those ongoing results.

Approaching analytics in this way will help you get more value out of your analytics program, and more out of your Web site! After all, what’s the use of even having an analytics tool if you’re not going to use it in a systematic way to make improvements?

Posted in: Default | Web Site Analytics