What are web analytics? Web analytics focuses on deciphering site user behavior via the collection, reporting, and analysis of website data. Such information determines whether a website is meeting certain goals, while helping marketers make better, more informed, content decisions.

There is more to building a website and having it go live than, well, building it and having it go live. It’s important to understand if a website is doing what it’s supposed to do. This is where web analytics come in handy.

The typical (web) analytical framework

Web analytics involves collecting, analyzing, and analyzing data from a website. That data provides valuable user information, which, in turn, helps drive effective marketing content decisions. A framework to measure website effectiveness through data gathering can include the following:

  • Goals. In other words, why the website is even in place. Maybe the website goal is to sell a certain product or service, to educate the public, or even both.
  • Objectives. These outline the steps necessary to achieve the website’s goals, such as “to reach as many users as possible, who would be interested in the information provided.”
  • Calls-to-Action. These are activities that site visitors should complete. Such activities can include clicking through to a landing page, filling out a form, or clicking a “purchase” button.
  • Key performance indicators. KPIs measure web user activities such as the click-through rate of keywords, or unique visitors to a website.
  • Targets. What specific activity needs to be reached, a percentage increase of unique visitors to a website.

Web analytics: More than building a website

An inefficient use of anyone’s time is to simply develop a website, flick on the switch, and hope people flock to it. A better use of time is to have a strong web analytics program in place. Such data can provide insight into user behavior, providing the foundation for a more effective content strategy.

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