How to Use Web Metrics

First Things First - Get Google Analytics if You Don't Have It

In order to use Web metrics, you need to have them on your site. While it's possible to do analysis using just your Web server's log files, it's really hard. Instead, sign up for Google Analytics and get the power of an excellent Web metrics tracker for free.

Come back to this article when you've got a couple days of data to look at.

Welcome Back - Learn to Use Web Analytics

It can be very tempting to just watch the dashboard and cheer when the line goes up and boo when it goes down. But while this can be fun (especially when it goes up), it's not very productive. Instead learn how to use your metrics so that you add value to your site and the return you get from your site increases.

The following tips will show you two ways you can use your metrics program to give you information to improve your site, not just watch it.

Web Analytics Tip #1: Content Development

Most websites can benefit from content development. In fact, very few sites can be put up on the Web and then ignored. They get stale and boring and your customers stop coming back. But another reason customers stop coming is because you aren't carrying the information that they want and need. This is where your metrics come in.

1. Login to Google Analytics
2. Click on the Content menu item, and from there the "Top Content"

These are the pages that get the most pageviews on your site. Take a good look at this list and ask yourself:

• When was the last time these pages were edited or even looked at by you?
• Can you swear, without looking at the pages, that the content on them is still correct?
• Are any of these pages surprising?

The first two questions should offer obvious content suggestions. If you haven't edited or looked at these pages in a while, you should. And if you're swearing that the content is all correct, then you should definitely take a look at the page. Make sure there's nothing wrong with them.

Then, when you're looking at the pages, start thinking about what's missing from them. Do they include a call to action (if you're selling something)? Do they provide links to other content on your site? Can they be improved or can more pages be written to support these popular pages? What can you do to improve these pages?

Finally, think about the third question "Are any of these pages surprising?". When a page you don't expect is in your top pages, it's because you're providing something that meets a need. Or the page appears to meet a need when your readers click through to it. Let's evaluate the surprising page a little:

1. Click on the URL in the Google Analytics window
2. Then click on "Navigation Summary" in the "Navigation Analysis" section

This page tells you how many people came straight to this page (Entrances), left the site after viewing this page (Exits), what page they came from on the site (Previous Pages), and what page on this site they went to next (Next Pages).

• Entrances - the higher this value use, the more likely it is that this page ranks well for some keyword phrase. (You can even see what keywords, using the "Entrance Keywords" tool.)
• Exits - when this value is high, it tells you that the customers either found what they were looking for or gave up looking.

• Previous and Next Pages

  - looking at these values can tell you how people got to the page from within your site, and can give you a good idea of what they were thinking about or trying to find.

Web Analytics Tip #2: Improve Your Traffic Sources

This tip looks at where your traffic is coming from and attempts to improve that traffic. To see it, go to the "Traffic Sources" section of Google Analytics.

Here you will see a percentage breakdown of your traffic - direct, referring, and search engines. Direct means they clicked a bookmark or typed your URL into their browser. Referring means other sites that link to you. And search engines of course means they found your site in a search engine.

Getting more direct customers is mostly a matter of advertising it - say on your business cards and in your email signature. And getting more search engine referrals is a matter for search engine optimization. But one thing you can do with these metrics is look at the sites that are referring people to you.

I like to track my referrers monthly, and see if there are any new sites linking to me. I like to go to the linking site and see if I can find the link to my page. I then check:

• Is the information listed on their site correct?
• Is there anything missing?
• Do I think that I could link back to them?
• Can I find a contact form or email address on their site?

If I can find a contact form, and I found the link to my site, I will often send a note to the website owner thanking them for the link. If I think I can link back to them, I do so, and include that information in my thank you note. Then, if there are any corrections I think need to be made I request them, but only after I've thanked them for the link in the first place.

Then I start the hard work. I like to see where they have been linked to and see if I can get links there too. I do this using Google:

1. Go to Google.com
2. Search for link:URL - where URL is the URL of the site that is linking to me
3. Pick 2 or 3 of the sites that are linking to them and see if I can request links as well. Remember, demanding that people link to you is a sure way to get ignored. Instead, be very polite when asking for links and it's best if you have already linked to them before you ask.