higher ed forum: online engagement from simmons college may 5

Online Engagement – Using Web Analytics to

Focus Your Efforts

Dominic Taerniti, Internet Solutions Manager

Jeff Terry, Higher Education Account Manager

Read our blog:www.netwitsthinktank.com

Ground Rules

Jeff Terry | Page #2 © 2008 Blackbaud


1) Participate!


2) Ask Questions


3) Be Courteous


4) Enjoy Yourself

A Word From Our Sponsor…

Blackbaud’s Data Management Services

o Located in Cambridge

o Provides outsourced staffing for The Raiser’s Edge

Database Management


o Database Management

o Annual Fund Performance Reporting

o Segmentation

o Gift Processing & Acknowledgement

o And more…

Agenda for today

8:50 Introductions

9:00 Crash Course in Google Analytics

9:45 Simmons’ Alumni Community -What does Google tell us?


-What does Google tell us?

-How do we interpret the data?-Simmons’ strategy to drive engagement

12:00 Group Discussion/Sharing of Best Practices

1:00 Lunch

2:00 Wrap up

Introductions

Tell the group:

o Who you are, where you work & what you do

o What you are hoping to get out of this session



o One thing you are passionate about OR your guilty TV pleasure

Introductions

Tell the group:

o Who you are, where you work & what you do




o One thing you are passionate about OR your guilty TV pleasure

Lets Talk Online Engagement

Online EngagementHere’s a list of schools doing online engagement perfectly


perfectly


No one is doing it perfectly


No one is doing it perfectly

Why is that??

Who is f*cking it up?

Because, it’s hard...


Because, it’s hard


...And, sometimes life comes at us fast

So...Focusing on the activities that produce results is critical to success


Google Analytics – A Crash Course

Dominic Taverniti, Internet Solutions Manager

�A standard unit of measure.

�

What is a Metric?


�A measurable element of a process or function.

�A measuring system that quantifies a trend, dynamic, or characteristic

What is a Metric?


�Help you understand what’s working and what’s not.

�Gives you insights into your constituents.

Why Do Metrics Matter?


�Gives you insights into your constituents.

� If you can’t measure it, then you can’t manage it.

What Online Metrics Tell You

How did they get here?

What did they do?

How did it work?


get here? they do? work?

No shortage of data…what is most valuable?


�A request for a file from the web server.

Hits


�A single web page typically consists of multiple files.

�A hit is registered for the page, every image, and any other

files present on that page.

�A request to load a single web page.

Page Views


�A metric for the entire site or specific content.

�A useful metric over a period of time or for a specific event.

�A site visit during a set period of time.

Visits


�A visit contains one or more page views.

�A visit helps understand what people do when they visit your site.

�A visit by a unique individual.

Unique Visitors


�A unique visitor is typically based on an IP address or cookie.

�A unique visitor metric helps compare new visitors to repeat visitors.

�A visit by a unique identified individual.

Unique Identified Visitors


�A unique identified visitor is tracked based on information stored in a central database.

�A unique identified visitor metric is the ultimate metric for tracking website visitor behavior.

�Referrers

�Bounce Rate

Other Website Metrics


�Bounce Rate

�Conversion Rate

�Click Density

�Page View Duration

�…..

Google Analytics – Simmons College Alumni Community

�Original goals in launching community

�Site Objectives

�What has worked/not worked


�What has worked/not worked

�Most active/valued audience segment

�Audience targeting - initiatives

Google Analytics

What are the objectives of the site?

�Donation

�Event Registration

�Site Registration


�Online Participation - active

�Visits - passive

Analysis should lead to actionable steps for improvement.

Google Analytics

Measure Results

�Relevant Visits

�Conversions / Goals

�Constituent Action


Google Analytics

Monitor Trends - tie trends to objectives

�Traffic – email cadence, events

�Keywords – search engines, on site

�Sources – email, social networks

�Conversions – do other objective surface


�Conversions – do other objective surface

Google Analytics – traffic trend comparison

Furman University


Simmons College

Google Analytics – keyword comparison

Furman University Simmons College


Giving Page Analysis



� Navigation Summary : 35% go to tertiary pages

• Contact Us

• Make An Online Gift

• Why Support Simmons



� Browser size : http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/



� Actionable Steps

• Move the call to action

• Position above the fold

• Make it the first action

• Include more supporting information

• Contact info, Gift types


• Contact info, Gift types

• Provide audience-centric navigation

• Fund, Interest-based, Major, Parents

• Use live chat for high touch, personalized service


Unique Identifiable Visitors

�NetCommunity Tab in RE


�

Final Word: What to Remember

�Metrics help you understand what’s working and what’s not.

�Metrics give you insights into your constituents.




� Start measuring!

� Extending Google Analytics

� Desktop Reporting's Polaris: http://www.desktop-reporting.com/index.html

� Excellent Analytics: Microsoft Excel Plugin : http://excellentanalytics.com/

� TRACKING

� URL shortening services:

The Market is NoisyResources


� URL shortening services:

� Bit.ly: http://bit.ly/

� Tinyurl.com: http://tinyurl.com/

� Google link tracking: http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?answer=5

5578&hl=en

� RSS Feed subscription tracking: Feedburner: http://feedburner.com

� Extras

� Google Browser Size: http://browsersize.googlelabs.com/

� http://interactive.blackbaud.com

� http://www.blackbaud.com/connections

� http://www.blackbaud.com/netwits

The Market is NoisyWant to learn more? Be sure to check out….



� http://www.blackbaud.com/events/webseminars.aspx

� Or email your presenter at:

Unique Identifiable Visitor – As Viewed in The Raiser’s Edge


Simmons College Alumni Community

What’s Next for https://alumnet.simmons.edu?


Final Word: What to Remember

�Metrics help you understand what’s working and what’s not.





� Start measuring!

Questions


� http://interactive.blackbaud.com

� http://www.blackbaud.com/connections


The Market is NoisyWant to learn more? Be sure to check out….



� http://www.blackbaud.com/events/webseminars.aspx

� Or email your presenter at:

higher ed forum: online engagement from simmons college may 5

Documents

initiatives jeff terry

success jeff terry page

characteristic jeff

fast jeff terry page

questions jeff terry

courteous jeff terry

perfectlyjeff terry

morejeff terry page