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Chris Califf

MIST 7500

Dr. Piercy

October 15, 2009

An Overview and Application of Web Analytics

As the World Wide Web approaches its third decade of existence, providing over 1.6

billion people access to any information imaginable, serving as a platform to deliver individuals

and businesses any product desirable, and becoming the go-to resource for connecting friends,

families, and colleagues, it is important to recognize the potential a website can offer a business

or individual (“World Internet Usage”). This potential involves an organization becoming aware

of different methods used to maximize search engine ranking, programs used to analyze visitor

behavior, and how to properly apply these two key categories for efficient and effective use of

their website to align with the overall goals of an organization.

Section I: Web Analytics

Web Analytics refers to the process of storing, evaluating, and measuring data related to

user behavior for the purpose of formulating strategies for optimization of a website’s intention

(“Web Analytics”). Basically, web analytics means tracking information pertaining to how and

when a visitor located a website, what they were looking for, how long they stayed, which pages

were accessed, etc (“XML.com”). Organizations generally use this information when they want

to increase website traffic to specific pages, such as an e-commerce page for the purpose of

increasing the potential of purchasing products. Analytics are also a great way for organizations

to determine whether certain marketing strategies are working, such as links from Twitter or

Facebook.
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What is Measured?

As mentioned above, web analytics measures specific data relating to user involvement

with a website. Measureable data can be applied to three specific categories: aggregate,

segmented, and individual (Burby 4). Aggregate data signifies total website traffic for a defined

period of time. For example, when comparing data, it is important to examine total visitors for

each individual month and indicating whether specific marketing strategies are working.

Segmented data is a more specific use of website traffic and applies to certain situations such as

counting the number of new visitors or returning visitors (4). Individual data is basically

measuring the actions of a specific visitor, whether it is how many pages within a website he or

she clicked or the amount of time he or she spent on certain sections (4).

Through using these three categories, an organization can collect a plethora of

information relating to visitor behavior and trends. This information includes the number of

total page views per visit, the number of page views per individual, and sources for driving

traffic to a website which include search engines, referring sites, and direct traffic (“Analytics”).

Visitor type is measured as well and is divided into four categories which include unique, repeat,

returning and new visitors (Burby 9 – 12). Organizations pay close attention to visitor type

because it can provide them information on the market to aim for when developing an

optimization strategy. The specific page a visitor enters through and exits from is also measured,

as well the amount of time spent on these pages (14 – 17).

Other than visitor information, analytic data also includes certain ratios taken into

account to analyze content strategy. A bounce rate, which is defined as a single-page-view visit

divided by the amount of entry pages, is a highly useful tool when considering whether visitors
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are reading site content or not (Burby 31). It tells whether the user is entering through a page

and the percent likely they will exit through the same page. Also, a page exit ratio, or the total

number of exits from a page divided by the total number of page views of that page is measured,

is a commonly used measurement when deciding about content strategy (28).

How is Data Measured?

The two most common methods to collect analytic data from users are Page Tags and

Logfiles (Clifton 3). According to Brian Clifton, a search marketing and web analytics expert,

both of these methods of collecting data have certain advantages and disadvantages, which are

shown in the chart below. Although these two types of methods are different, they should be

used in a hybrid method for optimum data collection and analysis.

Page Tags

Page Tags consist of a small piece of JavaScript code imbedded in each page of a website

(“Should I Use”). Each time the specific webpage is requested, the code fragment, or tag, sends

information to the web browser and is stored in the log file or database of an analytic tool

(Clifton 3). Although they are mainly considered a client-side data collection method, Page Tags
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can also capture information from the server-side such as screen resolution and screen color

depth (“Should I Use”). Page Tags are considered an up-and-coming method of data collection

because they interact with more current Web 2.0 technologies (Clifton 4).

Logfiles

Logfiles are a form of data collected by a visitor’s server rather than by the browser

(“Should I Use”). Any requests made by a user are stored in Logfiles, which include things like

accessing a webpage, an image, a video, or attachment. This information is usually stored in a

plain text file, which can be accessed easily accessed for analysis. Although considered more of

a historical method, Logfiles should still be considered as a highly beneficial method of data

collection (Clifton 3).

Analytic Tools

There are vast amounts of tools available for organizations and individuals to take

advantage of track website performance. These analytic tools serve as the means for an

organization to collect and analyze data for the ultimate goal of constructing a website to mirror

user behavior and align with the overall marketing and organizational goals. Some of the most

popular analytic tools available on the market today are Google Analytics, Yahoo! Analytics,

AwStats, eLogic, ShinyStat, and SiteMeter (Tanson). These widely used analytic tools include

free downloads and fee-based options for individuals or businesses to consider.

Section II: Visitor Attraction

Now that we know how to measure visitor behavior, the different types of measurable

data, and some analytic tools used for data collection, we must understand some different

methods and tactics used alongside this data collection to promote visitor attraction. These

methods are generally encompassed in two different fields known as search engine marketing
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and search engine optimization, which are used to improve search engine ranking (“Search

Engine”). Search engine ranking is how high or low a website’s position is in the search engine

results page after a user enters information into a search engine box. For example, if someone

enters the word “technology” into Google, the Wikipedia page about technology is ranked

number one.

To first understand the capabilities of these methods, we must understand how a search

engine works, which will lead us into the different tactics used to optimize visitor attraction by

increasing search engine ranking. A website’s marketing potential will depend on fair ranking in

the indexes built by search engines as they crawl the web (“How Search Engines”).

Crawling

Search engine crawling occurs when a search engine, like Google, uses a program that

visits, or crawls a website (“How Search Engines”). The crawler looks for many characteristics

within the targeted website that effect search engine ranking like content, keywords, <meta>

tags, and inbound links. It is important to remember to maintain a high frequency of search

engine crawling for best possible search engine ranking. To do this, an organization must utilize

search engine marketing and optimization strategies.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

According to a search engine marketing survey conducted by the Search Engine

Marketing Professional Organization, or SEMPO, North American advertisers spent $9.4 billion

in 2006, resulting in a 62% increase since 2005 (1). Search engine marketing involves exactly

that – increasing search engine ranking by using paid advertising placement and within search

engines, as well as paid inclusion for a higher search engine ranking.

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Paid advertising placement involves companies, organizations, or individuals paying for

prime location within search engine results (Hippsley). For example, when typing “college” into

Google, the fields at the very top and right side of the page are paid advertising. Paid inclusion

occurs when an organization pays a search engine company to include their site in their search

engine results page. Yahoo! is the most common example of a search engine company that uses

paid inclusion (Janson 1).

Many search engine websites use the search engine marketing method, but not without

controversy. Some consider this paid form of enhancing search engine ranking unfair to

websites that do not contain the same resources as others. Section 5 of the Federal Trade

Commission Act prohibits search engine companies, or any other company to commit “unfair or

deceptive acts or practices in affecting commerce” (Hippsley). This basically means that search

engines have to make sure websites who pay for search engine marketing must be clearly shown

on any results page. On June 27, 2002, the Federal Trade Commission made an announcement

that requested all search engine companies should make sure that companies who pay for

advertising placement and engage in paid inclusion practices are “clearly and conspicuously

explained and disclosed” (Hipplsey). The figure below shows exactly where these distinct paid

advertisements are placed when searching for “college” in Google. Note: they clearly display

the title, “Sponsored Links.”

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Different from search engine marketing, search engine optimization refers to tweaking a

website to improve its search engine ranking as a result of organic or un-paid methods

(“Google’s Search” 1). These methods are only known by the search engine companies

themselves, so optimization relies heavily on data collection, past experience, experimentation,

and educated guesses. Considering this, an organization can enhance their website in different

ways utilizing different strategies to effect search engine performance. When executed correctly,

these strategies will result in a higher search engine ranking for an organization, as well as

increased visitors and visibility. Some of these strategies include:

Content Design

The content present on each page is crawled and indexed by search engines, so when a

user searches for a specific keyword, pages that use that keyword are more relevant than pages

that do not use that keyword (12 – 13). Keywords throughout the site’s content should be

catered to the needs of both the knowledgeable and inexperienced visitor for optimum search
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engine recognition. The website’s content should also be relevant and reliable for visitors which

will promote a positive and well received reputation for the site (12 – 13).

Meta Tags

Meta tags serve as a summary for parts of the web application, but only the Title, <title>,

tag is readily visible to the user (4 – 6). Meta tags include things like <title>, keyword, and

description which represent code hidden from the front-end of the website. An organization

should take advantage of meta tags by remembering that search engines crawl the content within

the tags to assist with keyword requests by a search engine user (4 – 6). A website should

provide relevant keywords and descriptions within the meta tags for unique and relevant search

engine performance.

Inbound Links

Inbound links are the most important factor when maximizing search engine ranking.

These are basically hyperlinks within other websites that redirect a user to an organizations

website. A search engine crawler will essentially count the number of inbound links it finds

associated with an organization’s website and rank the site based on the link count (“Corporate

Information”). This link count is highly important because of the development of Google’s

PageRank system, which basically counts the number of links pointing to a website to determine

its importance (“Corporate Information”). This method is based on the theory that people who

produce content for the web will have the best idea about what websites are important.

Section III: Applying Analytics and Attractiveness

Given the suggestions above for effective search engine marketing, optimization, and

information about web analytics, it is now time to apply these methods to my own personal blog,

informitivechris.blogspot.com. With the help of Google Analytics, I will show some current
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data and graphs relating to site visitation, where these visitors are coming from, some specific

content visitors may be looking for, and make some unique suggestions that compliment this

data to better identify a visitor’s intent when searching for or exploring my blog.

Who is Visiting?

When first analyzing data, it is important to determine who is actually visiting

informitivechris.blogspot.com. From there, I can determine where to take my marketing efforts

and who to concentrate them on.

Basically, there are two main types of categories of visitors when using Google

Analytics: new visitors and returning visitors. Because new visitors represent a great of my

Blogspot audience, it is important to keep them informed and encourage them to return by

providing frequent updates and informative posts. Every new visitor I attract to my blog gives

me a greater chance of converting them to a follower, or frequent guest, which results in greater

visibility of my blog and likelihood of widening my audience.

If most of the visitors eventually become returning visitors, I should concentrate a great

deal on keeping these visitors on site through maintaining my current method of marketing, and

also potentially coming up with new material, such as providing specific RSS Feeds relating to
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categories they can follow at their convenience. I should then focus my efforts on new visitor

attraction, making sure that the above search engine optimization suggestions are implemented

correctly.

Where are Visitors Coming From?

When determining where to focus my marketing efforts, it is important to go directly to

the source of where and how visitors are accessing my blog. This data is usually lumped into

three categories: search engines, direct traffic, and referring sites.

Direct Traffic

The direct traffic portion of the data consists of frequent visitors or members that type

“http://informitivechris.blogspot.com” directly into the web browser. When working with this

data, I can determine the amount of time this segment is spending on the site and the number of

pages per visit. I can then compare the statistics with other sections of the site and determine my

plan of action to align with my goal of increased blog exposure.

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Referring Sites

Referring sites are links from other websites a visitor may frequent or stumble across to

access informitivechris.blogspot.com. These referring site statistics are a very important piece of

data when determining where visitors are coming from because these websites contain inbound

links. Remember, inbound links are the most important search engine ranking criteria for my

blog. I should pay close attention to the types of sites that contain these referring links and make

sure the content is appropriate and noteworthy.

Referring site data is also a great way to compare and analyze if marketing strategies are

working. For example, I posted my link directly into my Facebook page and can see that is has

prompted a total of four visits to my blog.

Search Engines

Especially when thinking about driving new visitors to my blog, I must pay close

attention to the search engine section of the website traffic. This data contains information about

what visitors are looking for.

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Specific data within this section relates to what search engines users are typing in and the

keywords of their search that drove them to my blog. I can analyze these keywords for patterns

pertaining to the most used, least used, most unique, and numbers identifying how many visits

from specific keywords, how many pages per visit these visitors clicked, and the amount of time

they spent on site. I can use this data to alter meta tags, keywords, and possibly the content of

my website. I may even find that these search phrases are nothing of what I expected and will

allow me to prepare for future searching. Like with referring sources, I can analyze data from

week to week or month to month to determine if my strategies for search engine optimization are

working.

What are Visitors Searching For?

Search engines should serve as the platform to connect visitors to relevant content. As

mentioned in the attractiveness section of the document, there are specific ways to maximize the

potential of search engine performance. While these tactics are proven to work, it is important to

remember these strategies must be relevant to customer searches and align with content provided

within the site itself. This basically comes down to the question, “Is my blog speaking the same

language as my audience?”
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One of the best ways to determine if my audience and I are speaking the same language is

through the use of an analytics tool like Google Analytics. These tools provide a section devoted

to the actual words visitors are typing into a search engine and accessing my blog. There is no

better way to inquire how to connect to new visitors than looking at actual data containing the

specific words that led a visitor to the blog.

By examining these keywords, I can provide updated content to meta tags, keywords,

titles of pages, and possibly overhaul the site’s content to better align with visitor requests. For

example, by observing that the phrase “economic concepts that underlie porters five forces”

resulted in one visit to my blog, I should decide whether or not this is significant enough data to

change website content or meta tag keywords to attract visitors. In this case, since the phrase

only drive one visitor to my blog, I would say that it is not significant enough for an overhaul of

site content.

By using the above suggestions for optimizing effective search engine marketing,

optimization, analyzing and working with data, and becoming aware of analytic tools and data

collection methods, an organization will be able to effectively maximize their overall goals for

their website. Whether it be to increase new visitors, direct traffic to specific pages within a site,
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or develop strategies to enhance a visitors viewing experience, these suggestions will provide an

organization the necessary tools needed produce and maintain valuable website.
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Works Cited

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Clifton, Brian. "Web Analytics: Web Traffic Data Sources & Vendor Comparison." (2008).

Omega Digital Media, Ltd., May 2008. Web. 11 Oct. 2009. <http://www.advanced-web-

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"Corporate Information - Technology Overview." Google, 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2009.

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