Improving Library Web Sites with Web Analytics

0Web analytics

0What you can learn from Google Analytics

0Patterns of site use - visits

0Visitor characteristics, mobile use

0Visitor segments

0Sources of site traffic

0Actions and special content

0Tips for implementing Google Analytics

Web Analytics

0Analysis of data from your web site

0Quantitative data is usually collected using:

0Server logfiles: AWStats, Webalizer

0Page tagging: Google Analytics, Webtrends, Yahoo! Web Analytics

Patterns of site use over time

0Visits, visitors, visitor characteristics

0Google Analytics features

0Comparing date ranges

0Segments

http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_gray/1170150396/

Visitors Overview

Visits throughout a year

Look for changes in site use

Comparison View

Mobile Use0Visitors – Mobile devices & carriers

0Mobile device must support JavaScript and cookies

0Mobile tracking code0separate code

0works for all mobile devices

0doesn’t track all of the same data

Mobile Devices Dec 2009 - Oct 2010

Mobile Devices – Sort by Time on Site

Sorted by average time on site

Learning more about visitors

0Example: Off-campus vs. on-campus students

0Methods

0Dimension (Service Provider)

0Advanced Segments

0Filters (I.P.)

Pageviews of library service information for distance/online learners (Sept 2009)

After Web Site Revisions (Sept 2010 compared to Sept 2009)

Advanced Segments

0Compare segments side by side

0Can be used on existing data

0Once created, can be applied to any report or profile

Advanced Segments - Using

On/Off Campus – Weekly Trends

On/Off Campus – Annual Trends

On/Off Campus - Time of Day

0Visitors > Visitor Trending > Visits

0Graph by Hour

Filters0Google Analytics doesn’t allow browsing of

data by I.P. address (privacy).0Filters can be used to select data based on

I.P. ranges.0Filters must be in place before data is

collected.0Create a duplicate profile in order to

collect data both with and without the filter.

Example of Filter UseExcludes administrative use of research guides

Sources of Site Traffic

0Identify sites that do or don’t drive traffic

0Develop relationships

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29293065@N03/4371485261/

Referring Sites

Filter to combine different sources

Actions & Special Content0Google Analytics automatically tracks page

views

0Other actions that can be useful to track

0Outbound links

0Downloads of documents

0Use of videos, Flash tutorials

0Any other events

0Marketing campaign tracking

Tracking web site actions0Virtual page views0Add javascript code to link or within Flash

content0Increases page views

0Event tracking0Add a similar code0Tracked separately from page views

0Google Analytics data will not include actions that don’t follow these links

Action: clicks on home page tabs

Event Tracking Results

Implementing Google Analytics

0What are your needs?

0What do you want to analyze?0Site content & structure

0Actions other than page views

0Create profile

0Review, revise

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonyjcase/2381294958/

More Google Analytics Features

0Annotations

0Goals

0Email reports

0Website Optimizer (related service)

Annotations

Expand to view or add annotations

Goals

Email Reports

Options: one-time or scheduled; pdf, csv, xml,

etc.

Google Website Optimizer0Test two different versions of a page or

multiple variables on a page 0 http://www.google.com/websiteoptimizer

Questions / Discussion

Sara MemmottEmerging Technologies LibrarianEastern Michigan Universitysmemmott@emich.edu

www.slideshare.net/smemmott

References - 1• Betty, P. (2009). Assessing homegrown library collections: Using Google Analytics to track use of

screencasts and flash-based learning objects. Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, 21(1), 75-92. doi:10.1080/19411260902858631

• Breeding, M. (2008). An analytical approach to assessing the effectiveness of web-based resources. Computers in Libraries, 28(1), 20-22.

• Cutroni, J. (2010). Google Analytics. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media.

• Fang, W. (2007). Using Google Analytics for improving library website content and design: A case study. Library Philosophy and Practice, Retrieved from http://unllib.unl.edu/LPP/fang.htm

• Gillis, J. (2008). A deeper look at advanced segmentation: Filtering on the fly. Retrieved December 11, 2009, from http://analytics.blogspot.com/2008/11/deeper-look-at-advanced-segmentation.html

• Google. How do I create a filter? Retrieved October 9, 2010, from http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55494

• Google. How do I exclude traffic from a range of IP addresses? Retrieved October 9, 2010, from http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55572

References - 2• Google. How do I manually track clicks on outbound links? Retrieved October 9, 2010, from

http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55527

• Google. How do I track files (such as PDF, AVI, or WMV) that are downloaded from my site?Retrieved October 9, 2010, from http://www.google.com/support/googleanalytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55529

• Google. What mobile reporting is available through Google Analytics? Retrieved October 9, 2010 from http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=163132

• Google Code. Event tracking overview. Retrieved November 7, 2010 from http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/tracking/eventTrackerOverview.html

• Google Code. Google Analytics for mobile. Retrieved November 6, 2010 from http://code.google.com/mobile/analytics/docs/

• Khoo, M., Pagano, J., Washington, A. L., Recker, M., Palmer, B., & Donahue, R. A. (2008). Using web metrics to analyze digital libraries. Proceedings of the 8th ACM/IEEE-CS Joint Conference on Digital Libraries, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. 375-384. doi:10.1145/1378889.1378956

• Kilzer, R. D. (2008). Using Google Analytics in the proprietary OPAC [PDF document]. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1811/31951

• Ledford, J., & Teixeira, J., & Tyler, M. E. (2009). Google Analytics (3rd ed.). Indianpolis, IN: Wiley.