INTRODUCTION TO WEB

ANALYTICS
Module 1
Agenda
Section 1: Introduction to web analytics
Section 2: Approach, Frameworks, KPIs and
optimization
Section 3: Website data collection methods
Introduction to web analytics
Section 1
Why we need web analytics?
Offline marketing has no accountability and there is
no way of measuring success or failure of the
efforts that are invested
This made marketing less reliable, assumption
driven and finally less efficient
Ex: A magazine ad Success of this is measured via
subscriptions but these are always shared in caf or
doctor offices
Same goes with the TV ads measured with TRPs
Why we need web analytics?
Digital marketing differs from traditional marketing
where there is a scope to track the people who are
actually consuming your ads
This tracking is made possible only via the data
collected from the systems
Because of this possibility, digital marketing was
able to provide accountability and an opportunity
to optimize our marketing budgets
So what is web analytics?
The official definition of WAA of web analytics is -
Web analytics is the measurement, collection,
analysis and reporting of internet data for purpose
of understanding and optimizing the web usage
It is not just a tool of providing web budgets but it
helps to solve business problems and helps to
achieve objectives of a particular business
Types of web analytics
As the web analytics covers the internet usages, it
can be divided into two types
1) On-site: Web traffic information on a particular
website. This is the information collected AFTER a user
reached the website
Ex: No. of users visited the site Cricinfo.com
2) Off site: Web traffic information on the internet as
a whole
Ex: Buzz and sentiment for Sachin Tendulkar
Web analytics practice can be used to analyze the
both offline and online outcomes
History of web analytics
In 90s web server log files recorded visits per site
In early years of millennium, web analytics is more
data and reports for enterprise companies
With introduction of Google Analytics, small and
medium companies and bloggers are able to take
the power of web analytics for free
In the last 2 to 3 years, web analytics started
including multi channels both offline and online
This is known as Web analytics 2.0
 Context for Web Analytics
9

DSS Decision Support System

A conceptual framework for a process of supporting managerial decision-
making, usually by modeling problems and employing quantitative models
for solution analysis
BI - Business Intelligence subset of DSS
An umbrella term that combines architectures, tools, databases, applications,
and methodologies
BA - Business Analytics subset of BI
The application of models directly to business data
Assists in making strategic decisions
WA - Web Analytics subset of BA
The application of business analytics activities to Web-based processes,
including e-commerce
Uses of web analytics
Web analytics practice can be used to analyze the
both offline and online outcomes
This web analytics data can include
KPIs
Clickstream
Surveys
Testing
& Targeting
Competitive analysis

But most important point is asking the question

Why the outcome is what it is and how it is
Prioritization of web analytics
A company can prioritize web analytics based on
the their size
A small business can concentrate on Clicksteams ,
KPIs and Surveys
A medium size business can concentrate on KPIs,
clicksteams, surveys and testing
A large business can concentrate on Surveys, KPIs,
Click steams, testing and Competitive intelligence
Is it rocket science?
Simple answer NO
Current web anlytics vendors are making a simply
implementable tools and easy to understand
reports.
This should give you 80% of the data to do the
basic analysis
The web analytics practices need to have an
approach and methodology set to avoid hiccups
and lost ROI
Approach, Frameworks, KPIs and
optimization
Section 2
Web analytics Approach
Data is everywhere. Collecting that data and
arranging them in reports will NOT drive business
outcomes
To drive the insights from data, mindset should be
Askthe right question
Always analyze with a context

Data is a supplement, not a substitute

The hierarchy of insights is

Data Information Insight Best Practice
 People
Process

Tech.

Web analytics process

Technology 20%,
People 30%,
Process 50%
Web analytics process
5-step process
Identify the business objectives
Why your website exists?
What the macro and micro task?
What and how digital channels are used? Etc.

Establish goals and identify related KPIs

What you want to achieve for your website at the end
of a year?
How to want to measure your success?
How do you want to measure the success of your
vendors?
Web analytics process
Set realistic targets to reach them and agree
with all stakeholders
How much, defines the success of the efforts?
Do your team and big boss agree for it?
Does your finance team support this?

Review target achievement at specific

periods
When to review the results?
How often to review the results?
Web analytics process
Take preventive or corrective actions to
maintain the intended course
How to address if a risk is faced
How to make changes to the initial course of
actions?
The advantage of this process is that it not just
considers the analytics approach but helps to define
steps for the whole digital marketing efforts
Website data collection methods
Section 3
Web analytics data collection methods

There are two main technical ways of collecting the

data.
1. Server log file analysis
2. Page tagging
This two methods help to collect the data related
web site.
Many different vendors provide on-site web
analytics software and services, Its important to
understand how the data is collected to have right
interpretation of data
Web analytics data collection methods

1. Server logfile analytics:

The first and older method, server log file analysis,
reads the logfiles in which the web server records file
requests by browsers
In the early 1990s Logfiles are used to measure
pageviews and visits
With the arrival of Search Engine Spiders, logfiles has
to update by including cookies into this measurement
Web Caches has created issues with logfile
measurement
Advantages of logfile analysis
The main advantages of logfile analysis are as follows:
The web server normally already produces logfiles, so the
raw data is already available. No changes to the website
are required.
The data is on the company's own servers, and is in a
standard, rather than a proprietary, format. This makes it
easy for a company to switch programs later, use several
different programs, and analyze historical data with a new
program.
Logfiles contain information on visits from search engine
spiders, which generally do not execute JavaScript on a
page and are therefore not recorded by page tagging.
Advantages of logfile analysis
Although these should not be reported as part of the human
activity, it is useful information for search engine
optimization.
Logfiles require no additional DNS lookups or TCP slow
starts. Thus there are no external server calls which can slow
page load speeds, or result in uncounted page views.
The web server reliably records every transaction it makes,
including e.g. serving PDF documents and content generated
by scripts, and does not rely on the visitors' browsers co-
operating
Web analytics data collection methods

Page tagging or Web bugs

A 1x1 pixel is sent as a request to serves. These were
images included in a web page that showed the
number of times the image had been requested, which
was an estimate of the number of visits to that page
The web analytics service also manages the process of
assigning a cookie to the user, which can uniquely
identify them during their visit and in subsequent visits.
Cookie acceptance rates vary significantly between
web sites and may affect the quality of data collected
and reported.
 Advantages of page tagging
The main advantages of page tagging over logfile analysis are as follows:
Counting is activated by opening the page (given that the web client
runs the tag scripts), not requesting it from the server. If a page is
cached, it will not be counted by the server. Cached pages can
account for up to one-third of all pageviews. Not counting cached
pages seriously skews many site metrics. It is for this reason server-
based log analysis is not considered suitable for analysis of human
activity on websites.
Data is gathered via a component ("tag") in the page, usually written
in JavaScript, though Java can be used, and increasingly Flash is used.
JQuery and AJAX can also be used in conjunction with a server-side
scripting language to manipulate and (usually) store it in a database,
basically enabling complete control over how the data is represented.
Advantages of page tagging
The script may have access to additional information on the web
client or on the user, not sent in the query, such as visitors' screen
sizes and the price of the goods they purchased.
Page tagging can report on events which do not involve a request
to the web server, such as interactions within Flash movies, partial
form completion, mouse events such as onClick, onMouseOver,
onFocus, onBlur etc.
The page tagging service manages the process of assigning
cookies to visitors; with logfile analysis, the server has to be
configured to do this.
Page tagging is available to companies who do not have access
to their own web servers. Lately page tagging has become a
standard in web analytics
Factors to consider before choosing

Logfile analysis typically involves a one-off software

purchase; however, some vendors are introducing
maximum annual page views with additional costs to
process additional information. In addition to
commercial offerings, several open-source logfile
analysis tools are available free of charge.
For Logfile analysis you have to store and archive your
own data, which often grows very large quickly.
Although the cost of hardware to do this is minimal, the
overhead for an IT department can be considerable.
Factors to consider before choosing

For Logfile analysis you need to maintain the

software, including updates and security patches.
Complex page tagging vendors charge a monthly
fee based on volume i.e. number of pageviews per
month collected.
Hybrid methods: Some companies produce solutions
that collect data through both logfiles and page
tagging and can analyze both kinds.
Always count for multi-channel data that can come
into this system
Thank you
For Q&A:
Contact: gayatrichoda@gmail.com