The Nablerstats team has been meeting up periodically to bring to the table our collective learning from client sites, unlearn mistakes and share new ground that has been covered.

We decided that this is a good time to revive the Nabler blog that had been languishing for a while, as our guys were busy at various client sites. This revived blog is a collaborative effort inspired by the combined learning of the entire team. Entries will be posted each week by team members.

Here are some of the interesting insights that we came up with last week.

Blog Metrics: Specific Issues
Page views does not seem to be a relevant metric for tracking blogs since a single page of a blog has more than one posts. Some relevant blog metrics (for a monthly report) could be:

• Number of posts
• Number of comments
• Average comment per post
• Traffic source (search engine / direct / own website / other websites / other blogs)

Web Analytics for Banners or Videos

• Videos on websites are different from page views. A visitor has to do the extra step of playing the video and hence when tracking videos for clients additional metrics to look at would be:
 Number of times video was displayed
 Number of times the video was played

• Web analysts necessarily need to view the banners, campaigns or videos that they are tracking. Basic familiarity with the subject that you are studying is the least precondition to a better analysis.

• As far as possible, include screenshots of the banner or video or links to the same in the report format. This makes for easier assimilation of the report findings and helps users to visually connect the report findings with the element being tracked.

Definitions of Standard Metrics

There are some terms that have become so much a part of the web analytics lexicon that often lines blur and we work with our own understanding of the term and its formulae. Taking stock once in a while helps to stay the course. 

We tried that with the term ‘bounce rate’ and you would be surprised at the various permutations of the formulae that came up. But to bring some clarity to the matter:

A bounce is a visit that consists of a single page-view.
The bounce rate: Single page view visit to a page divided by Total entry visits to the page.

And for further clarity on the most basic metrics in web analytics that you thought ought to have been standardized by now, the verdict is out. The Web Analytics event at San Jose has issued the WAA Aug 2007 Standards which has standardized definitions for the most basic metrics in the field. At least we now know we are all talking the same lingo!

Tips on better Reporting formats:

• Any month-to-month comparison should factor in the additional weekend in the succeeding month. Taking equal number of days in each month would be a good way to avoid skewed reporting.
• Reporting formats in Excel could have muted grid lines that call attention to the numbers.
• Go easy on the color fills in reporting tables. Let the numbers speak!
• Present all relevant findings in a bold, summarized, ready reference format, right at the top of the report. It helps to look at neatly summarized findings way at the top of the report before a client plunges into the details.

Dashboards

Most of us have read enough on the web about all things that a good dashboard ought not to be…it should not run into too many pages, not track too many metrics, not give data overload and on and on…

Someone at our team decided to put things in perspective by looking around for a few dashboards that got it right. These dashboards make you sit up and wish you had done that for your client.

An Internal Communications dashboard plotting quality scores in relation to employee satisfaction.
Source : Measures of Success PDF document

 A dashboard that summarizes broad areas of Concern, Highlights, Lowlights
Source : Measures of success PDF document

Recommended Web analytics Resources can be found at WebTrends article on Improving Conversion.

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