w eb a nalytics : w here visitors come from, what they do, and where they go ? w hat can we learn...

WEB ANALYTICS:WHERE VISITORS COME FROM,

WHAT THEY DO, AND WHERE THEY GO?WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM IT?

Chuck DelCampProduct Manager, StudyAboad.com

Why are we doing this?

• Enable providers analyze effectiveness of campaigns

• Help provide ideas and methods to increase conversions from referral traffic

Web Analytics

• Starts with more questions than answers• Our goal is to understand our users– So that we can make better decisions• Partners• Our own sites

Google Analytics

• Easy to set up• Free• Assume that you already have GA tracking on

your site• Maximize value with simple steps

Information overload

• Visits• Exits• Returning/New

• Time on site• Bounces• Events• Goals• Source• Keyword• Pageviews

Great, what do we do with all this info?

Where did they come from? Where did they go?

So…What can we learn?

• What sources perform best?• What do users look for on our site?• Can they find what they are looking for?• How can we improve our sites?

Where did they Come from:Traffic Sources

Direct

CampaignsSearch (organic)

Referral

How do you know…guess?

A User clicks on your ad/listing. A click is recorded in our system.

The user visits your site; decides if they want to stay, tracking code begins to load

Tracking code loads, visit recorded in Google analytics.Cookie saved on user’s computer

They’re on your site, great-now what?

User visits landing page, reads about program, navigates to other pages

User begins to fill out form

User is directed to a thank you page after completing form. Yoursite.edu/thanks.html

But how do we figure that out?

• GoogleAnalytics

Traffic Sources: Explained

• Source– Where they came from

• Medium– Direct– Organic (Search)– Referral

• Campaign– Set by URL string

• Tracking Cookies– _utmz– 6 months

Campaigns-More Detail

• No Code Required• Customized link to your site

– Source– Medium– Campaign

http://yoursite.com/?utm_source=StudyAbroadCom&utm_medium=listing&utm_campaign=Paris

• These Parameters will over ride Source/Mediumhttp://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1033867

Campaigns

What do we know about these visitors?

• Location• Time on site• Pageviews• Returning/new• Source• Time of day

So what do they do once they are on my site?

• Bounce• Time on site• Pageviews• Exits• New/Returning

• Secondary MetricsLagging Indicators

What do they do next?

• Nothing (bounce)• Go to another page

(time on site, pageviews/visit)

• Fill out a form (goal)• Other activities (events)• Exit (????)

Bounce Rate

• Single page visits• Visit quality

Going Deeper: Multiple page visits

• Time on site• Pageviews/visit• Returning• Measures of quality

Yeah, but what did they actually DO?

Goals• Set up in GA admin• Based on user

completing action• Not all actions can be

tracked

Events• Require coding/ access

to site html• Track any (in)action on

site

Goals

• Set up in GA Admin

• URL Destination– Thank-you page

• Visit Duration• Pages per visit

• Automatically track– Future events

Events

• Add _trackEvent code to any action on page using javascript

• Click, Link, Hover, Play Video, Download

– Category– Action– Label (optional)

<a href=“link.com“ onClick="_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', ‘Programs', ‘Link', ‘spain’]);">

Putting it all together

• Custom Reports– Static report format– Retroactive– Can be emailed on a

schedule

• Segments– Carry over to all GA

reports– Retroactive

Scheduling reports

Custom Segments

Tips

• Make sure your tracking code is on every page including all landing pages.

• Use a campaign ID to track your visits from StudyAbroad.com.

• Check your page load time. • Avoid redirects. • Create great content.

Heatmapping: Know even more

What can we do with all this?

• Make things better!• User point of view– What do they want?– What are they looking for?– What do you want them to do?

You had me at “Hello”

• Engaging headline• Page layout– Images

• Clear call to action

• Optimization

Which one won?

• 55 seconds longer on site• 1 pageview/visit increase• 9.1% more searches• 7.5% increase in inquiry submission

Engaging Headline

Call to action

Why am I here?What am I

supposed to do?

What do users want?

• Easy– Short forms– What am I supposed to do?– Help me find the information– Don’t waste my time– What’s in it for me?

n=87,151

Making it easy

• Removed unused fields• 9.9% increase in advances to step two• 1.8% increase in overall submissions

Your Turn

• Questions• Live Optimization

Reference• http://www.studyabroad.com/analytics-webinar.aspx

Reference• Campaigns

– http://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1033867

• Event Tracking– https://

developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/collection/gajs/eventTrackerGuide

• Goals– http

://support.google.com/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1032415• API Field Reference

– https://developers.google.com/analytics/devguides/reporting/core/dimsmets

• A/B Testing– http://www.optimizely.com

Reports and dashboards

• Referrer/Campaign performance– http://goo.gl/p3WW4

• Dashboard– http://goo.gl/yEzQz

Thanks for attending

We will email a link to this presentation and a complementary guide to analytics