data data everywhere: drowning in a sea of analytics

2010 Technology Conference & ExpoData Data Everywhere

Dec 15, 201010:30 – 11:45 a.m.

HugTag: #tech10 tg2

Marissa Goldsmith

Part I:

Rethinking Your Numbers

Step Away from the Numbers• Analytics has so much to

offer, but sometimes it's too much.– FIRST, define success– THEN, figure out the numbers

that will support your success. • You’ll find there’s a lot of

numbers you really don’t need to look at too much.

Our professional membership organization offers special online tools to our paying members.

Our site is successful because we had 10,000 visitors in January, and then 12,000 in February.

QUIZ: What’s Wrong?

We are a large association, and we are having a big conference next month.

I had 2,534 visitors to my Web site on Monday, but only 2,510 on Tuesday. What’s wrong?

QUIZ: What’s Wrong?

One of our benefits is offering our members online training videos to view.

Yesterday, my video had 100 page views and a time on page of 10 seconds. Today, it only had 50, but a time on site of 15 minutes. So it's doing much better today.

QUIZ: What’s Wrong?

The Right Answers…

We want to move a lot of our offline activities online.

We're doing a good job because:• Online renewals were up 13% this quarter after we

set up that automated renewal email.• 85% of conference registrants registered online.

– But• We’re still having a hard time getting new members

to sign up online. 75% of first-time membership happens offline.

All your measurements should lead to one of two things

Great Job!

All your measurements should lead to one of two things

Boo-hoo. Online membership

registrations are down.

Let’s Change Something.

(and use your stats to figure out what)

Part II – Presenting Those Numbers

Dashboard reports

– Why I (used to) hate dashboard reports.

(http://www.nten.org/blog/2010/06/24/go-beyond-dashboard-report)

Challenges of the Dashboard

• Dull to read – Numbers, not stories.

• Tedious to create.• Difficult to understand. • Not everyone cares about

everything.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

• Not everyone is going to want to see the same dashboard.

• Most people are not mesmerized by Excel Spreadsheets – tell your story.

These challenges lead to…

• NO ACTION

Tips for a Less Tedious Dashboard

• NEVER show your board a Google Analytics Dashboard! – Google analytics is easy to use, but it’s still for the expert.

• Stick with some main metrics, but add some fun. • Never leave anything unexplained. • Never just say something is bad. If the numbers say it’s

bad, come up with a solution.• Add Fun Graphics.• Remember – it’s a just dashboard – don’t try to get

every piece of data in there. Let your users know you can get them more if they want more.

Part III

Making sure you get the right numbers BEFORE you need to report on them.

All I need to do is copy and paste the code.

It’s easy right?

WRONG!

You have to plan.

It’s easy, right?

Pick Your Poison

Supplement if you need to

And use what you’ve got!

And use what you’ve got!

NO WRAPPER LEFT BEHIND!

You want analytics to be everywhere!

• So take stock of your tools…– CMS– eCRM– Blog– Community Tools– Online Membership Tools

• And the wrappers in each of them.

Get to know your tools• Can I add Analytics code myself?• How many templates/wrappers will I need to update when I

add/change analytics?• Can I add my own Javascript code to do special tracking?• Does the CMS add other scripts automatically?• What functions are automated? Will this interfere with my

analytics?• Can I integrate donations/online shopping with an

eCommerce/store analytics module?

To Script or not to Script…

Do more than just paste

– Tracking PDFs– Tracking External Links– Other specialized tracking

• Tracking between CMS and CRM pages• Adding information for specialized reporting.

To Script or not to Script

• How to do specialized scripting:– Write your own script.– Borrow someone else’s – Do a combination of both

• Bind to script libraries:– Jquery– Scriptaculous

Have fun with filters!

Do the Test!

Test like you’ve tested before!

Test for analytics like you would any other functionality.

• Think of the transactions you’re tracking.• Use GAIgnoreMyHits to isolate your particular

visit. • Test each situation.• In some cases wait…and see if the results are

the same.

Resources:

• Beaconfire Blog – Analytics: http://www.beaconfire.com/blog/category/analytics/• NTEN Article on Dashboards: http://www.nten.org/blog/2010/06/24/go-beyond-dashboard-report• Lunametrics Blog: http://www.lunametrics.com/blog/• Occam’s Razor: http://www.kaushik.net/• Measuring Success: http://www.advanced-web-metrics.com/blog/

• Also – See Brian Clifton’s external tracking script: http://www.advanced-web-metrics.com/blog/2008/06/08/updated-tracking-script-for-gajs/

•VKI Studios: http://blog.vkistudios.com/•Analytics Firefox Plugin: http://www.vkistudios.com/tips-analytics-better-google-analytics

•EpikOne Blog: http://cutroni.com/blog/