Oct 19 2009
Frustrating Conversations – We Don’t Need Web Analytics
It seems that some (notice I said some, not all!) higher education web professionals still don’t think using web analytics on their site is useful.
Why do I think this? It became apparent after a couple conversations during the HighEdWeb conference I recently attended in Milwaukee. First, let me say that this has nothing to do with the conference. It was a fantastic conference and I learned a ton from the great presenters and attendees. I would go again in an instant.
More than once, however, I found myself in the midst of a conversation about how using web analytics is pretty much “useless.”
I doubt that the people in the conversation had any idea who I was (who would?) and that I was actually presenting at the conference about web analytics (both conversations took place before the presentation). So, I decided to keep my mouth shut and just listen. I wanted to see *why* they thought web analytics was useless on their sites before I jumped in to defend the practice.
Conversations like these happen all the time. They could have very easily happened at any of our campuses. In any of our offices. I’ve heard it all before and I’m sure I’ll hear it many times again. So, I’ll bring up some excuses I heard and offer some recommendations.
So … here goes …
We always meet our enrollment goals, so what’s the point?
The first excuse was that the university/college had a waiting list a mile long to get into the school, so why bother using web analytics to make the site more useful?
I’ve heard this excuse many times before, even by some people at my own institution. This, beyond anything else, is the most frustrating of excuses. Why? Because it screams, “I don’t care about my customers!”
For the sake of argument, let’s forget about using web analytics to optimize marketing efforts. Let’s just talk about usability in general.
To not use a tool that can help improve the usability of a website *and* help save money just because you’re meeting your [insert goal here] goals just doesn’t make sense. Without even mentioning the fact that you may not always meet your goals, let’s go straight to customer service. Do we not care about customer service anymore? Should the fact that “we aren’t Best Buy,” mean that we completely ignore the fact that our website might suck and that users might be frustrated?
But we run usability tests. We care about our users! Yes, usability tests are fantastic and we all should run them. But usability isn’t 1 and done. After your usability tests are done, you make your design changes, how do you know it worked? Making sure your website is useful is a never-ending task. Your content changes constantly, right? Then how do you know it’s continuing to be useful without continuing to look at the stats?
Secondly, web analytics can save you time and money. Do those in higher education care about whether they are losing money (hard and soft costs!) due to poor design? Your enrollment goals might be met, but how much money are you wasting on staff time when users call in because they couldn’t figure something out on the website?
We looked at the analytics, but all we saw was that *everyone* was clicking on [insert link here].
This is where segmentation comes in. When someone says, “everyone” did something, I always question that statement. Who is everyone? How many is everyone? Did you use segmentation? For example, did you segment out first time vs. returing visitors? Chances are, if that was a “current students” or “log in” link, the vast majority of the users clicking it were returning. So segment that group out. What were the *rest* of your users doing?
If you aren’t segmenting your data, then yes, in almost all circumstances the data will be pretty much useless.
Here is a very simple example:
So if I didn’t segment new vs. returning visitors here, I’d think that my bounce rate and average time on site might be ok (although 39% is pretty high for a bounce rate). I wouldn’t have a clue that we need to dig deeper with our new visitors and find out why their bounce rate is so high and they are not spending a lot of time on our site.
In essence, this data in aggregate is pretty much useless. When you segment, you begin to get great insights.
We don’t have time to really use web analytics.
I’ve written about this one before as well. If you truly want to be user-centric, you find the time. Period. Do you have *time* to run usability tests and analyze that data? Do you have *time* to read blogs, articles, and tweets about web design, development, or whatever, for your own professional development? No. But, you find the time. Why? Because it will benefit your users. The usability tests will help you find website issues. The blogs, articles, etc. will help you improve your skills thus helping you to create a better experience for your users. Isn’t that the idea?
That’s why I don’t buy the “I don’t have time” excuse. Nobody has time.
Recommendations
So none of my ranting probably changes the fact that some people still don’t think web analytics is useful. So, how do we solve this issue? Here are some quick recommendations:
- Segment Your Data – As I mentioned before, if you are not segmenting your data, you will either a) make a potential wrong decision based on the *average* data or b) think the data is useless. Neither conclusion is good. Segment your data!!
- Focus – Know your business goals and website goals. Develop key performance indicators. This will save you time and give you focus. Know what reports to look at and forget the rest. If one of your goals is to achieve better search engine rankings, know what reports will help you with that and only look at them for that goal. If one of your goals is to increase online course registration, know what reports drive users to that goal and look at those. And so on … forget the rest.
- Create a Dashboard – This will also save you time. Again, look at your goals, know what metrics to look at to see if your website is achieving those goals (KPIs!) and create a dashboard using those reports.
- Look at Your Quantitative and Qualitative Data Together – When you’re running your usability tests, surveys, focus groups, remember to look at your on-site web analytics as well (your quantitative data – the *what*) to see if it jibes with your usability/survey/focus group results (your qualitative data – the *why*).
What I usually find is that most people who think web analytics is useless don’t know exactly how to use it effectively. That’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with that. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that it’s useless, however, without finding out more about it – without making sure you’re getting the best insights you can possibly get out of your tool.
Customer-focused. Remember that is our mantra. Web analytics can help you get there.
Great post! Glad to hear the frustrations echoed that I have.
Also, get tip on the segmentation of new vs returning.
@jesskry
Shelby, I feel your pain. Maybe it’s that I arrived in Higher Ed by way of a consultancy and many years in the commercial world, but it still has me aghast that this topic seems to get the short shrift in the Higher Ed Toolbox. As the Director of E-marketing at St. Edward’s University, ROI (using web analytics) is second only to recruiting and fundraising.
Here are my Top Five Reasons why everyone in Higher Ed should be using Web Analytics…
1. Use it to demonstrate success through annual increases in web traffic to build the business case for a bigger budget/staff for e-marketing projects. Sorry, but an outstretched hand alone won’t cut it. HE administrators want hard facts and numbers. People are always asking me how we’re able to garner budget and resource support. This is how…
2. Use analytics to monitor search terms to see what niche segments emerge. Using visitor behavior stats will illuminate previously hidden segments that your competitors may a) not know about and b) not market to … giving you a potential audience to mine.
3. Use analytics to increase the speed with which prospects convert from inquiry to applicant. Wayfinding on a website can be viewed as clickpaths. If your prospects meander to your key destination pages (Inquiry or Application), then it takes them longer to convert. Feed their needs by observing their behavior and adjusting content to accelerate the turnaround. When we did this, our application season began to peak about 30-45 days earlier, giving admission folks more applicants overall … and more time to consider applications.
4. Web analytics completes the picture on all enrollment management reports (and alumni and fundraising). Being able to reconcile the source of lead and it’s behavior through the lifecycle helps to document and prove the investment in an institution’s web site.
5. Your future as a Higher Ed marketer depends on it. The new economic reality is that not everyone will get a big bite at the budget apple. And, those that do will need to document, document, document the value of their investment in the university marketing foodchain.
For those of you who are curious, we currently use analytics on all our university web sites, including:
http://www.stedwards.edu
http://www.gotostedwards.com (undergraduate recruiting)
http://www.discoverstedwards.com (adult bachelor’s degree recruiting)
http://www.excelatstedwards.com (grad degree recruiting)
Bottom line, I would encourage everyone in Higher Ed to make the time for web analytics. It’s ok to start small and work your way up. As Nike would say, “Just do it!”
Great article, I’ve encountered the same response in a number of different industries as well.
Though web analytics can’t be ignored, the real question is for companies just getting their feet wet and/or believe that they simply don’t have the resources needed to take this seriously … what key areas can one review without taking up much time?
http://marketingtech.typepad.com/marketing-tech/2009/10/how-to-manage-your-web-analytics-in-one-hour-a-month.html
@jesskry – Thanks for your comment. Keep up the good fight! : )
@Carmella – A great list. I would also add to try to monetize wherever possible. If you can show that the website is *losing* potentially X dollars because of any number of things (let’s say the registration process is terrible), that has a great impact as well. Assigning a dollar value to actions people take on the website helps prioritize areas in need of help.
@Brian – Thanks. I think there are a couple of things you can do.
Before doing anything, I would read Avinash Kaushik’s first book, Web Analytics an Hour a Day. That book lays out the basics of web analytics and is very easy for anyone to understand. Avinash just came out with another book, Web Analytics 2.0. I actually ordered that yesterday and can’t wait to read it.
If you use Google Analytics, a must read book is Brian Clifton’s, Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics. Brian’s blog, Measuring Success with Google Analytics, is actually a supplement to the book and gives updates, hacks, tips, etc. Both are invaluable resources if you use Google Analytics.
So, first and foremost, read and learn. This can obviously be done after work, at night, whenever.
When you say, “what key areas can one review without taking up much time,” I’m not quite sure what you mean by that, but I’ll assume you mean what types of reports can one review without taking up much time.
There are some basic reports that will give you good insights (landing page bounce rate, keyword referrals, internal site search terms), but it really depends on your site goals. Without website goals, you can stare at your analytics for hours and get nothing actionable out of them because you’re not sure where to look. If the data you’re looking at doesn’t relate to your site goals, then you’re just wasting time. It’s essential to focus on what is relevant to your specific business and your specific site and forget the rest. Obviously there are adhoc reports you’ll run in certain situations, but you get my point.
As I mentioned to Carmella, it’s always powerful (will get people to listen to you and start to give analytics priority!) when you can monetize actions on your website.
I hope that helps and please let me know if I didn’t answer your question.
Great post. I’ve encountered a similar reaction over here in Europe. Web staff tend to be aware of analytics (around 80% had Google Analytics installed in a recent survey of 25 Swedish Universities I conducted) but only 20% or so were actually doing anything with it.
Google Analytics tends to be the analytics tool of choice, but one of the issues to preventing institutional support are concerns about data privacy – I wonder if the reaction is the same elsewhere?
In my own quest to get Analytics implemented at our University I’ve focused on using it as a tool for web editors to identify their top pages. By also setting up applications and pdf downloads as specific goals, we’ve gained powerful data on the value of our website.
Thanks, John. Like in Sweden, I would say the vast majority of American universities are using Google Analytics, but really only *using* it in an ad-hoc way. From conversations I’ve had higher ed mostly use analytics one of two ways:
I should really conduct a survey as you did as these are definitely generalities, but it does seem to be a common theme in my conversations.
In doing both of the above, (again this is a generality), I would argue that most do them without any thought as to how these metrics play into the overall goal of the website, or, if these metrics should even be looked at because they have nothing to do with the overall goal of the website. My favorite example of this is geo-segmentation. The map is very cool to look at and many people want to know where their users are coming from, but they have no idea what to do with the data (and most of the time it doesn’t mean anything to the overall goal).
As far as privacy goes, I find that there are different levels of concern depending upon the department. Everyone knows that it’s against Google’s policy to gather personally identifiable information, however I know some people have concerns that a site *could* collect that data and also that the data is being stored at a third-party. This is why website privacy policies are so important and that is something that, sadly, we are way behind in updating.
Hi Shelby, Thanks for answering my comment; I agree with your observation about geo-segmentation. However, one good use of this data that I have found is showing the geographical distribution of visitors to ‘news’ pages, this was certainly a useful exercise for us as it showed that much of our ‘externally’ focused news was hardly being visited outside of the university. Good information to have, given the amount of time/money invested in news production and the assumption that it’s read by people unfamiliar with the university. We’ve implemented some activities to make our news more accessible, the geo-data will provide a good benchmark. But yes, people do tend to use it mostly in a ‘shock and awe’ kind of way.
With goals generally it’s my experience that it’s often hard to pin down what the goals of the university are, which makes translating these into website goals difficult.
John – Great thought about using geo-segmentation to see if anyone outside the university is viewing any news pages. I can see how this would be very eye opening at any university.
I agree with you about the challenge of coming up with goals to a point. For larger universities with different sub-domains for different units (ie, university.edu vs. admissions.university.edu vs. it.university.edu, etc.) I think it’s easier because you can treat them as different sites. Your goals should reflect your business goals. What does admissions want to do with their website? Likewise, what does central IT want to do with their website? Those goals will be vastly different.
Similarly, you can do this with a smaller university or college as well. Hopefully you use good directory structure on your website so you can segment those parts of the website easily. Then you can just do the same thing. Even though it’s one website, it will have many different goals depending upon the area of the website in question.
Then you can create dashboard specific to those units with metrics that directly measure each unit goals.
I agree that it might be difficult to tie-in certain university goals, however, each unit that has a website should have their own *business* goals.
[...] the case when you consider the decentralised structure the university enjoys. I recently discussed this on the excellent ‘Trending Upward’ blog; one of the comments from the blog’s author, Shelby Thayer, was that each institutional unit [...]
[...] hope that I’m not wrong on #2 above. With some of the conversations I had at HighEdWeb in October I may be. What we have now is better than what we had a year ago. [...]
I would like to be frank in the usage of google analytics…For my own website 3 Magic beans which is related to i.e. Denver Website Designs I have added the google analytics on every page…but when it comes to my other websites which I have used in “parked” mode, I don’t have applied the google analytics..There are many clients, which don’t really like adding the analytics code to their website making excuse that either they don’t know how to get all of these stats or they don’t have time to go through all of these…Some clients even say what is the need to use this when we are going to use the services of a very good (means expensive) company to promote us and provide services to us for getting us the rankings..I simply think that they are either very rich who only know how to spend money or they really don’t care about anything…Its good that they are spending money to get the rankings..but will these rankings bring them customers?? Don’t they want to know how much traffic is not being converted to customers? I think all such questions should be imposed to them…I think you have explained these in much more details than anyone else…