WEB ANALYTICS- METRICS, APPLICATION CHALLENGES

-LITERATURE REVIEW
Def: Web Analystics is in the objective tracking, collection, measurement, reporting, and analysis of quantitative Internet data to optimize websites and web marketing initiatives

Wilson (2010), Using clickstream data to enhance business-to-business web site performance, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 25, Iss: 3, 177-187.
Clickstream data= obtained through tracking visitors mouse clicks provide info about HOW users navigate through web site HOW visitors obtain and use internet info, respond to website offers and order online using this data allows to identify problems in the following main areas: (Phippen et al., 2004) 1. appropriateness of content 2. effectiveness of design 3. efficiency of web site performance use performance measures from clickstream data and WA (Web Analytics) software to increase overall efficiency and effectiveness of internet marketing activities Deeter-Schmelz and Kennedy (2002): WB helps to obtain a more complete picture of the internets impact on B2B buying decisions Analysis of clickstream data tells marketer... WHO visits WHICH pages are visited for HOW LONG are they staying WHAT products/services interest them WHAT marketing offers work WHAT do they buy Data obtained through Log-on info or Cookies Zeng et al. (2003): CRM techniques used to develop strategies that will attract long-term customers and increase profitability of online activities specific design of each page can be evaluated and if necessary improved helps to identify the preferred content and the most relevant linkages between web sites

 growing importance of the internet: used as tool for B2B communication, sales, customer relationship management (CRM) Deeter-Schmelz and Kennedy (2002): internet is the fourth most useful source of information and becoming more essential as buyer and seller move towards the maintenance stage of their relationship Coyle and Gould (2002): found out that ppl have specific ideas about what to expect when navigating through a web site those expectations influence the degree of satisfaction ppl feel with the web site good navigation experience is important to build a strong internet brand therefore, constant customer feedback and testing procedures should be employed Wilson (2004): clickstream data tells how new prospects and returning customers react to online offers measuring: visits, leads, convention percentage and cost/lead calculate before AND after change is made and conduct experiments to find out what works clickstream data also predicts navigation path through companys web site can identify different types of customers and speed-up purchase timing, identify relevant products and improve selling activities log-in info: can be used to identify specific customer recommend products based on previous purchases (Amazon) also individual promotional programmes can be offered, such as discounts, give-aways, coupons, etc. as e-commerce is getting increasingly important the customers experience whilst visiting a web site becomes more important as its an important part of the buyer-seller relationship metrics are industry specific and can be customized for each web page no best web-analytics software hard to compare since each has unique combination of specific attributes and different levels of service however, according to DeMaria (2002) WebTrends was the overall winner According to Gassman (2006) Omniture and Websidestory are the 2 best softwares (stong positive rating) however, no clear answer as to which WA software is the best as all have slightly different positioning and offer different advantages and disadvantages in their approach to the marketplace Conclusion & Discussion: -3 field experiments conducted - conversion rates (customer loyalty): can be influenced by web site improvements AND by specific marketing tactics (designing online shopping more appealing) clickstream data and web analytics software provide a useful combination of tools that can enhance the performance of B2B web sites by learning what works and what doesnt on a web page small, easily controlled changes can be made to determine how they affect the conversion rates and other performance metrics

Welling and White (2006), Web Site performance measurement: promise and reality
Key findings: the study shows that web site performance measurement is largely ignored. However, retail and B2B web sites are more likely to use performance measures to determine the value of their web site. According to Alpar et at. (2001) measuring the success of a web site is not easy as they have varying purposes. Impact on the Internet on Business The internet has been a key driver of corporate marketing over the past 10 years and is now an essential business tool. Internet offers: speed, reach, multimedia advantages altered way firms interact with their suppliers, competitors and employees (Bodily and Venkataramann, 2004). corporate web site enhances image of a business and provides direct benefits in terms of ecommerce sales (Geyskens et al., 2002) Avlonitis and karayanni (2000) found that the size of an internet budget has a significant positive impact on sales performance Impact on Retailers customers are transferring many purchases to internet internet presence as e-commerce becomes integral part of doing business (Huizingh, 2002) USA: online spending has been estimated to be more than $143 bn/year and growing by more than 20% annually (Burns, 2006) internet becoming an indispensible tool for companies who focus on customer-service orientation (Levenburg, 2005) Grembergen and Amelinckx (2002): Because the costs of implementing, creating and maintaining a weg page can be high, e-business projects need to be evaluated and monitored carefully to determine if they deliver what theyre supposed to. This makes performance measurement of web pages a crucial element. Coyle and Thorson (2001): performance should be assessed on the basis of whether a web page is able to get consumer to get to come to the companys page and shop, being satisfied as their search is over Welling and White (2006): definition: web site performance is defined as the extent to which a web page assists a company in achieving its business objectives Kim et al. (2003) identified 6 web site evaluation criteria: 1. business function 2. corporate credibility 3. content reliability 4. web site attractiveness 5. systematic structure 6. navigation

Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts Van Wyk (2003): 34% of companies in the USA use new customer acquisition as their criterion for performance, and 23% use revenue generation Inan (2002): warns against the dangers of using basic metrics, such as visits, page views, unique visitor, as the only measurement tool for determining web site performance e-business initiative should be integrated in offline tools and integrated in overall business strategy with a huge amount of available data web site managers must determine WHICH criteria is the most important to measure! Saeed et al. (2002): Because there is no direct relationship between offline sales and online activities it is often difficult to measure the impact of a web site on company performance often positive effect is indirect through reduced costs, new cost-effective services, ease of information gathering

Phippen et al. (2004), A practical Evaluation of Web Analytics

Success of a web site can be defined in many ways- depending on the goal hence the success-factors for one web page can be different for another one (large no. of purchases, high rate of visitors, high rate of unique visitors,...)

basic metrics, such as views, visitors and hits, often inadequate for assessing the success of a web page due to their simplistic and ambiguous nature lead to misleading conclusions customer-centric approach is becoming increasingly important due to the empowerment of customers, i.e. through the internet they have more options, more freedom, can search globally, get all the knowledge they need, more transparency customers are now in much better position to influence attitudes of others: (Amazon-reviews e.g.)

as customers are the key to a sites success one needs to understand how a customer engages with web page and therefore, develop measurements based on this Advanced Web Analytics: aim: measure and understand the relationship between customer and web page by collecting web site info and combining it with other data, such as demographic, psychographic, subscription and log-in info, in order to unlock a companys biggest asset: its customers Optimising a web site does not only mean attracting new customers (unique visitors), but also to manage the existing visitors and ensure that the web page meets their expectations and needs, so they become loyal customers Metrics and Advanced Web Analytics: What we want to measure is the interaction and the relationship between a customer and the web page. Basic metrics are however, still valuable if they are part of a broader analysis Customer lifecycle analysis: looks at each stage of the customer lifecycle and analyses info, such as no. of customers in each stage, costs of moving customer through stages and costs of dropouts. e.g.: cost/aqusition, churn = customer lost/total customer base helps to identify in which stage the customers drop out the most Customer behaviour analysis: according to Inan (2002), factors that influence dropouts/customer behaviour are: 1. content appropriateness (eg. stickiness, relevance = no. of content consumed/no. of available content) 2. design effectiveness 3. performance efficiency choosing the right metrics always depends on what you want to measure no point in measuring unnecessary material only waste of resources Internet offers a lot of data, however, unless the data is understood and findings are applied, its useless emphasis on web intelligence information gathered should be analysed and applied in the relevant context and feedback loop gaps should be eliminated The importance and the contributions Web Analytics can make should raise awareness within a company and be integrated in the overall strategy of a company and not looked at isolated only from the Web department. Web sites can serve as channel for communication and help building stronger relationships with customers.