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Introduction to Web Analytics and Google Analytics

Web analytics involves the collection, measurement, and analysis of website data. For example, web analytics tools can provide helpful information about the origin of website traffic, how website users navigate and interact throughout a website, what content and web pages they're most engaged with, and how they exit the site. 

Some examples of web analytics packages that are available include Google Analytics and Google Analytics 360, which are part of the Google marketing platform. Other web analytics packages include Adobe Analytics, Woopra, Kissmetrics, Webtrends and Piwik.

The market leader most used analytics program is the free version of Google Analytics or GA as it is commonly known. The paid version of GA called Google Analytics 360, offers some additional functionality regarding report validity in sample sizes. But it's mainly for websites that receive over 10 million page views per month. 

Because of its functionality in widespread adoption in the market, GA is seen by many marketers as the single source of truth for website traffic, engagement and conversion data. As a result, GA is the most used free analytics tool and is an excellent choice for most marketing needs. GA measures and tracks website and campaign performance to help marketers understand their customers.  

Up until 2020, the Google Analytics interface used by marketers was known as Universal Analytics. It is being superseded by Google Analytics 4, commonly known as GA4, and Universal Analytics will be fully retired by July 2023.

GA4 is the latest iteration of Google Analytics and was launched in October 2020. Unlike previous versions of Google Analytics, i.e., Classic Analytics launched in 2005 and Universal Analytics launched in 2012. GA4 is not built to measure website visits or sessions. Instead, it is built to measure website and mobile app interactions known as events. 

With the emergence of omnichannel marketing, which sees businesses provide a seamless customer experience across all touch points from website to social, e-mail and app usage, there must be an analytics tool that can track these journeys and GA4 aims to do this to some degree for channel website and app usage.

In this course you will use GA4 to develop user insights from an ecommerce website. You will learn by experimenting with data from the Google Merchandise store using data from the Google Analytics demo account. 

The Google Merchandise Store is an ecommerce site that sells Google branded merchandise. Data in the demo account is obscured, but is still typical GA data. Because the demo account shows actual data from an ecommerce website, it helps explore GA4 reports and features.

The Google Analytics demo account is a fully functional Google Analytics account that any Google user can access. It contains data typical of what you would see for an ecommerce site and includes the following kinds of information. Traffic source data is information about where website users originate. This includes information about organic traffic, paid search traffic and display traffic. Content data is information about the behavior of users on the site. This consists of the URLs of pages that users look at and how they interact with page content. And transaction data is information about the transactions that occur on the Google Merchandise Store website.  

Because the demo account shows actual data from an ecommerce website, it helps explore Google Analytics reports and features. Here are a few things you can do with the data. View the standard GA4 reporting in the merchandise store property. Do basic analysis such as which channel is responsible for acquiring the newest users across your different platforms. How many total unique users does the Google Merchandise store have? How many conversions have occurred on the merchandise store website in the last week? Perform funnel exploration. Where do users enter the conversion funnel and where do they drop off? Finally, conduct ad hoc explorations by dragging and dropping multiple variables. The different segments, dimensions, and metrics you use to measure a business onto a canvas to see instant visualizations of your data.

To access the demo account, click the GA4 property Google Merchandise store web link. If you already have a Google account, you're prompted to log in to that account. If you don't have a Google account, you're prompted to create an account and then log in. 

Get oriented to the GA4 interface by taking a guided tour. Follow the instructions in each blue box.

Learning Topic

Data Analytics

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Picture the scene: you’ve opened up a new fashion retail outlet in the trendiest shopping center in town. You have spent a small fortune on advertising and branding. You have gone to great lengths to ensure that you’re stocking all of the prestigious brands. Come opening day, your store is inundated with visitors and potential customers.

And yet, you are hardly making any sales. Could it be because you have one cashier for every hundred customers? Or possibly it is the fact that the smell of your freshly painted walls chases customers away before they complete a purchase? While it can be difficult to isolate and track the factors affecting your revenue in this fictional store, if you move it online, you will have a wealth of resources available to assist you with tracking, analyzing, and optimizing your performance.

To a marketer, the internet offers more than just new avenues of creativity. By its very nature, it allows you to track each click to your site and through your site. It takes the guesswork out of pinpointing the successful elements of a campaign, and can show you very quickly what’s not working. It all comes down to knowing where to look, what to look for, and what to do with the information you find.

Key Data Analytics Terms

A/B test

Also known as a split test, it involves testing two versions of the same page or site to see which performs better.

Click path

The journey a user takes through a website.

Conversion

Completing an action or actions that the website wants the user to take. Usually a conversion results in revenue for the brand in some way. Conversions include signing up to a newsletter or purchasing a product.

Conversion funnel

A defined path that visitors should take to reach the final objective.

Cookie

A text file sent by a server to a web browser and then sent back unchanged by the browser each time it accesses that server. Cookies are used for authenticating, tracking, and maintaining specific information about users, such as site preferences or the contents of their electronic shopping carts.

Count

Raw figures captured for data analysis.

Event

A step a visitor takes in the conversion process.

Goal

The defined action that visitors should perform on a website, or the purpose of the website.

Heat map

A data visualization tool that shows levels of activity on a web page in different colors.

JavaScript

A popular scripting language. Also used in web analytics for page tagging.

Key performance indicator (KPI)

A metric that shows whether an objective is being achieved.

Log file

A text file created on the server each time a click takes place, capturing all activity on the website.

Metric

A defined unit of measurement.

Multivariate test

Testing combinations of versions of the website to see which combination performs better.

Objective

A desired outcome of a digital marketing campaign.

Page tag

A piece of JavaScript code embedded on a web page and executed by the browser.

Ratio

An interpretation of data captured, usually one metric divided by another.

Referrer

The URL that originally generated the request for the current page.

Segmentation

Filtering visitors into distinct groups based on characteristics in order to analyze visits.

Target

A specific numerical benchmark.

Visitor

An individual visiting a website that is not a search engine spider or a script.

Resources

· Data Analytics: Goals, Tools, Benefits, and Challenges

Licenses and Attributions

Chapter 21: Data Analytics  from  eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World, 5th Edition by Rob Stokes and the Minds of Quirk is available under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported  license. © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 Quirk Education Pty (Ltd). UMGC has modified this work and it is available under the original license.

© 2024 University of Maryland Global Campus

All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.

Working with Data

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In the days of traditional media, actionable data was a highly desired but scarce commodity. While it was possible to broadly understand consumer responses to marketing messages, it was often hard to pinpoint exactly what was happening and why.

In the digital age, information is absolutely everywhere. Every single action taken online is recorded, which means there is an incredible wealth of data available to marketers to help them understand when, where, how, and even why people react to their marketing campaigns.

This also means there is a responsibility on marketers to make data-driven decisions. Assumptions and gut feel are not enough; you need to back these up with solid facts and clear results.

Don’t worry if you’re not a "numbers person." Working with data is very little about number crunching (the technology usually takes care of this for you) and a lot about analyzing, experimenting, testing, and questioning. All you need is a curious mind and an understanding of the key principles and tools.

The sections below outline the data concepts you should be aware of.

Performance Monitoring and Trends

Data analytics is all about monitoring user behavior and marketing campaign performance over time. The last part is crucial. There is little value in looking at a single point of data—you want to look at trends and changes over a set period.

For example, it is meaningless to say that 10 percent of this month’s web traffic converted. Is that good or bad, high or low? But saying that 10 percent more people converted this month, as opposed to last month, shows a positive change or trend. While it can be tempting to focus on single "hero numbers" and exciting-looking figures ("Look, we have five thousand Facebook fans!"), these data really don’t give a full picture if they are not presented in context.

Big Data

Big data is the term used to describe truly massive data sets—the ones that are so big and unwieldy that they require specialized software and massive computers to process. Companies like Google, Facebook, and YouTube generate and collect so much data every day that they have entire warehouses full of hard drives to store it all.

Understanding how it works and how to think about data on this scale provides some valuable lessons for all analysts.

· Measure trends, not absolute figures—The more data you have, the more meaningful it is to look at how things change over time.

· Focus on patterns—With enough data, patterns over time should become apparent. Consider looking at weekly, monthly, or even seasonal flows.

· Investigate anomalies—If your expected pattern suddenly changes, try to find out why and use this information to inform your future actions.

Data Mining 

Data mining is the process of finding patterns that are hidden in large numbers and databases. Rather than having a human analyst process the information, an automated computer program pulls apart the data and matches it to known patterns to deliver insights. Often, this can reveal surprising and unexpected results, and tends to break assumptions.

Data Mining in Action: Target

The US retail chain Target uses data mining to market specific products to consumers based on their personal contexts. Target gathers a range of personal, psychographic, and demographic data from customers and then analyzes this against their shopping habits. They analyze their data and predict the products customers might be interested in, based on their lifestyle needs and choices (Duhigg, 2012).

Each customer is given a unique code called the Guest ID number. This is linked to all interactions the customer has with the brand, from using a credit card or calling in to the help line, to opening an email. They then gather data, including the following:

· age

· marital status

· whether the customer has children, and how many

· estimated salary

· location

· whether they’ve moved house recently

· which credit cards they use

· which websites they visit

Target is also able to buy supplemental data on their customers from other companies, including the following:

· ethnicity

· employment history

· favorite magazines

· financial status

· whether they’ve been divorced

· which college they attended

· their online interests

· their favorite coffee brands

· political leanings

For example, Target markets baby- and pregnancy-related products to expectant moms and dads, from as early as the second trimester. How do they know to do this? Using this data, combined with customer shopping habits, Target has created a pregnancy-predictor model, determining whether a woman was pregnant (sometimes even before she knew it herself).

One father of a teenage girl complained to the store about sending his daughter marketing materials of this nature, though he apologized to the retailer after discovering that his teenage daughter was in fact pregnant, indicating that the predictor model did actually work (Duhigg, 2012). However, Target has decided to be a bit subtler in how they use their valuable insights!

A World of Data

Another consideration to keep in mind is that data can be found and gathered from a variety of sources—you don’t need to restrict yourself simply to website-based analytics. To get a full picture of audience insights, try to gather as varied a set of information as you can. Some places to look include the following:

· online data—Aside from your website, look at other places your audience interacts with you online, such as social media, email, forums, and more. Most of these will have their own data-gathering tools (for example, look at Facebook Insights or your email service provider’s send logs).

· databases—Look at any databases that store relevant customer information, like your contact database, CRM information, or loyalty programs. These can often supplement anonymous data with some tangible demographic insights.

· software data—Data might also be gathered by certain kinds of software (for example, some web browsers gather information on user habits, crashes, problems, and so on). If you produce software, consider adding a data-gathering feature (with the user’s permission, of course) that captures usage information that you can use for future updates.

· app store data—App store analytics allows companies to monitor and analyze the way people download, pay for, and use their apps. Marketplaces like the Google and Apple app stores should provide some useful data here.

· offline data—Don’t forget all the information available off the web. such as point-of-sale records, customer service logs, in-person surveys, and in-store foot traffic.

References 

Duhigg, C. (2012, February 16). How companies learn your secrets.  The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html?pagewanted=all

Licenses and Attributions

Chapter 18: Data Analytics  from  eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World, 5th Edition by Rob Stokes and the Minds of Quirk is available under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported  license. © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 Quirk Education Pty (Ltd). UMGC has modified this work and it is available under the original license.

© 2024 University of Maryland Global Campus

All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.

Tracking and Collecting Data

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Currently, there are two main approaches for collecting web analytics data: cookie-based tracking and server-based tracking. A third option, called universal analytics, is set to dramatically change how data is gathered and analyzed. Universal analytics is one of the most exciting examples of non-cookie-based server tracking.

How Information Is Captured 

Cookie-Based Tracking 

The most common method of capturing web analytics is to use cookie-based tracking. Here’s how it works:

1. The analyst adds a page tag (a piece of JavaScript code) to every page of the website.

2. A user accesses the page using their browser.

3. When the browser loads the page, it runs the page tag code.

4. This tag sends an array of information to a third-party server (like Google Analytics), a service that stores and collates the data.

5. The analyst accesses this data by logging in to the third-party server.

The data gathered this way can capture a wide array of factors about each visitor, from their device, operating system, and screen resolution, to their long-term behavior on your website. This is currently the most common option for most website tracking.

Server-Based Tracking 

Web servers are the computers that websites are stored on so that they can be accessed online. Server-based tracking involves looking at log files—documents that are automatically created by servers and that record all clicks that take place on the server. A new line is written in a log file every time a new request is made—for example, clicking on a link or submitting a form.

Server-based tracking is very useful for tracking mobile visitors (since many phones cannot execute the cookie-based JavaScript tags) and is also essential for universal analytics, discussed below.

Comparing the Options

Cookie-Based Tracking vs. Server-Based Tracking
	Cookie-Based Tracking	Server-Based Tracking
Web Servers	Page tagging requires changes to the website and can be used by companies that do not run their own web servers.	Log files are produced by web servers, so the raw data is readily available, but the company must have access to the server.
Accuracy	Cookie-based tracking can be less accurate than server-based tracking. If a user’s browser does not support JavaScript, for example, no information will be captured.	Log files are very accurate—they record every click. Log files also record visits from search engine spiders, which is useful useful for search engine optimisation.
Historical Data	Page tags are proprietary to each vendor, so switching can mean losing historical data.	Log files are in a standard format, so it is possible to switch vendors and still be able to analyze historical data.
Page Requests	Page tagging shows only successful page requests.	Log files record failed page requests.
Capturing Information	JavaScript makes it easier to capture more information (e.g. products purchased, or the version of a user’s browser).	Server-based tracking can capture some detailed information, but this involves modifying the URLs.
Events Reporting		JavaScript tracking can report on events such as interactions with a Flash movie.	Server-based tracking cannot report on events.
Log File Analysis	Third-party page tagging service providers usually offer a good level of support.	Log file analysis software is often managed in-house.

Because these two options use different methods of collecting data, the raw figures produced will differ. For example, caching occurs when a browser stores some of the information for a web page, so that it can retrieve it more quickly when you return. Opening this cached page will not send a request to the server. This means that the visit won’t show up in the log files, but would be captured by page tags.

Website analytics packages can be used to measure most, if not all, digital marketing campaigns. Website analysis should always account for the various campaigns being run. For example, generating high traffic volumes by employing various digital marketing tactics such as SEO, PPC (pay per click), and email marketing can prove to be a pointless and costly exercise if visitors are leaving your site without achieving one (or more) of your website’s goals. Conversion optimization aims to convert as many of a website’s visitors as possible into active customers.

Universal Analytics 

Google recently announced a new feature in its analytics suite called universal analytics. The biggest problem web analysts have faced up until now is that they can’t actually track individual people—only individual browsers (or devices), since this is done through cookies. So, if Joe visits the website from Chrome on his home computer, and Safari on his work laptop, the website will think he’s two different people. And if Susan visits the site from the home computer, also using Chrome, the website will think she’s the same user as Joe.

An additional concern is that cookies are on the decline. Most modern browsers allow users to block them, and many mobile devices simply can’t access or execute them. With growing consumer privacy concerns, and new laws like the EU Privacy Directive (which requires all European websites to disclose their cookie usage), cookies are falling out of favor.

Universal analytics allows you to track visitors (that means real people) rather than sessions. By creating a unique identifier for each customer, universal analytics means you can track the user’s full journey with the brand, regardless of the device or browser they use. So, that means you can track Joe on his home computer, work laptop, mobile phone during his lunch break, and even when he swipes his loyalty card at the point of sale.

Crucially, however, tracking Joe across devices requires both universal analytics and authentication on the site across devices. In other words, Joe has to be logged in to your website or online tool on his desktop, work laptop, and mobile phone in order to be tracked this way. If he doesn’t log in, we won’t know it’s the same person.

With universal analytics, you can glean a lot of information:

· How visitors behave depending on the device they use (e.g., browsing for quick ideas on their smartphone, but checking out through the eCommerce portal on their desktop)

· How visitor behavior changes the longer they are a fan of the brand. Do they come back more often, for longer, or less often but with a clearer purpose?

· How often they’re really interacting with your brand.

· Their lifetime value and engagement.

Another useful feature of universal analytics is that it allows you to import data from other sources into Google Analytics—for example, customer relationship management (CRM) information or data from a point-of-sale cash register. This gives a much broader view of the customers and lets you see a more direct link between your online efforts and real-world behavior.

The Type of Information Captured 

KPIs are the metrics that help you understand how well you are meeting your objectives. A metric is a defined unit of measurement. Definitions can vary among web analytics vendors depending on their approach to gathering data, but the standard definitions are provided here.

Web analytics metrics are divided into two categories:

· counts—raw figures that will be used for analysis

· ratios—interpretations of the data that is counted

Metrics can be applied to three different groupings:

· aggregate—all traffic to the website for a defined period of time

· segmented—a subset of all traffic according to a specific filter, such as by campaign (PPC) or visitor type (new visitor vs. returning visitor)

· individual—the activity of a single visitor for a defined period of time

The key metrics used in website analytics are covered in the sections below.

Building-Block Terms 

Building-block terms are the most basic web metrics. They tell you how much traffic your website is receiving. For example, looking at returning visitors can tell you how well your website creates loyalty. A website needs to grow the number of visitors who come back. An exception may be a support website, as repeat visitors could indicate that the website has not been successful in solving the visitor’s problem. Each website needs to be analyzed based on its purpose. Building-block terms include the following:

· hit—one page load (Note that  hit is an outdated term that we recommend you avoid using).

· page—unit of content (downloads and Flash files can be defined as pages).

· page views—the number of times a page was successfully requested.

· visit or session—an interaction by an individual with a website consisting of one or more page views within a specified period of time.

· unique visitors—the number of individual people visiting the website one or more times within a set period of time. Each individual is counted only once.

· new visitor—a unique visitor who visits the website for the first time ever in the period of time being analyzed.

· returning visitor—a unique visitor who makes two or more visits (on the same device and browser) within the time period being analyzed.

New and Returning Visitors in Google Analytics

Visit Characteristics 

These are some of the metrics that tell you how visitors reach your website and how they move through the website. The way that a visitor navigates a website is called a click path. Looking at the referrers, both external and internal, allows you to gauge the click path that visitors take. These metrics include the following:

· entry page—the first page of a visit

· landing page—the page intended to identify the beginning of the user experience resulting from a defined marketing effort

· exit page—the last page of a visit

· visit duration—the length of time in a session

· referrer—the URL that originally generated the request for the current page

· internal referrer—a URL that is part of the same website

· external referrer—a URL that is outside of the website

· search referrer—a URL that is generated by a search function

· visit referrer—a URL that originated from a particular visit

· original referrer—a URL that sent a new visitor to the website

· clickthrough—the number of times a link was clicked by a visitor

· clickthrough rate—the number of times a link was clicked divided by the number of times it was seen (impressions)

· page views per visit—the number of page views in a reporting period divided by the number of visits in that same period to get an average of how many pages are being viewed per visit

Visitor Behavior in Google Analytics

Content Characteristics

When a visitor views a page, they have two options: leave the website, or view another page on the website. These metrics tell you how visitors react to your content. Bounce rate can be one of the most important metrics that you measure. There are a few exceptions, but a high bounce rate usually means high dissatisfaction with a web page.

· page exit ratio—number of exits from a page divided by total number of page views of that page

· single page visits—visits that consist of one page, even if that page was viewed a number of times

· bounces (or single page view visits)—visits consisting of a single page view

· bounce rate—single page view visits divided by entry pages

Conversion Metrics 

These metrics give insight into whether you are achieving your analytics goals (and through those, your overall website objectives):

· event—a recorded action that has a specific time assigned to it by the browser or the server.

· conversion—a visitor completing a target action.

Goal Conversions in Google Analytics

Mobile Metrics

When it comes to mobile data, there are no special, new or different metrics to use. However, you will probably be focusing your attention on some key aspects that are particularly relevant here—namely technologies and the user experience. Mobile metrics include the following:

· device category—whether the visit came from a desktop, mobile device, or tablet

· mobile device info—the specific brand and make of the mobile device

· mobile input selector—the main input method for the device (e.g., touchscreen, clickwheel, stylus)

· operating system—the OS that the device runs (some popular operating systems include iOS, Android, and BlackBerry)

Mobile Device Categories in Google Analytics

Now that you know what tracking is, you can use your objectives and KPIs to define what metrics you’ll be tracking. You’ll then need to analyze these results and take appropriate actions. Then the testing begins again!

Licenses and Attributions

Chapter 18: Data Analytics  from  eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World, 5th Edition by Rob Stokes and the Minds of Quirk is available under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported  license. © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 Quirk Education Pty (Ltd). UMGC has modified this work and it is available under the original license.

© 2024 University of Maryland Global Campus

All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.

Key Elements of Web Analytics

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In order to test the success of your website, you need to remember the TAO of conversion optimization: track, analyze, optimize.

A number is just a number until you can interpret it. Typically, it is not the raw figures that you will be looking at, but what they tell you about how your users are interacting with your website. Because your web analytics package will never be able to provide you with completely accurate results, you need to analyze trends and changes over time to understand your brand’s performance.

Avinash Kaushik, author of  Web Analytics: An Hour a Day, recommends a three-pronged approach to web analytics (2007):

1. Analyzing data about  behavior infers the intent of a website’s visitors. Why are people visiting the website?

2. Analyzing  outcomes metrics shows how many visitors performed the goal actions on a website. Are visitors completing the goals we want them to?

3. A wide range of data tells us about the  user experience. What are the patterns of user behavior? How can we influence them so that we achieve our objectives?

Behavior 

Web users’ behavior can indicate a lot about their intent. Looking at referral URLs and search terms used to find the website can tell you a great deal about what problems visitors are expecting your site to solve.

Some methods to gauge the intent of your visitors include the following:

· click density analysis—Looking at a heatmap to see where people are clicking on the site and if there are any noteworthy clumps of clicks (such as many people clicking on a page element that is not actually a button or link).

· segmentation—Selecting a smaller group of visitors to analyze based on a shared characteristic (for example, only new visitors, only visitors from France, or only visitors who arrived on the site by clicking on a display advert). This lets you see if particular types of visitors behave differently.

· behavior and content metrics—Analyzing data around user behaviors (e.g., time spent on site, number of pages viewed) can give a lot of insight into how engaging and valuable your website is. Looking at content metrics will show you which pages are the most popular, which pages users leave from most often and more. This data provides excellent insight for your content marketing strategy and helps uncover what your audience is really interested in.

A crucial, often-overlooked part of this analysis is internal search. Internal search refers to the searches of the website’s content that users perform on the website. While a great deal of time is spent analyzing and optimizing external search—using search engines to reach the website in question—analyzing internal search goes a long way to exposing weaknesses in site navigation, determining how effectively a website is delivering solutions to visitors, and finding gaps in inventory on which a website can capitalize.

For example, consider the keywords a user may use when searching for a hotel website, and keywords they may use when on the website. Keywords to search for a hotel website may be  Cape Town hotel or  bed and breakfast Cape Town. Once on the website, the user may use the site search function to find out more. Keywords they may use include  Table Mountain,  pets, or  babysitting service. Analytics tools can show what keywords users search for, what pages they visit after searching, and, of course, whether they search again or convert.

Outcomes

At the end of the day, you want people who visit your website to perform an action that increases your revenue. Analyzing goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) demonstrates where there is room for improvement. Look at user intent to establish if your website meets the users’ goals and if these match with the website goals. Look at user experience to determine how outcomes can be influenced.

Website Performance

Reviewing conversion paths can give you insight into improving your website.

In the figure above, after performing a search, one hundred visitors land on the homepage of a website. From there, 80 visitors visit the first page toward the goal. This event has an 80 percent conversion rate. Twenty visitors take the next step. This event has a 25 percent conversion rate. Ten visitors convert into paying customers. This event has a 50 percent conversion rate. The conversion rate of all visitors who performed the search is 10 percent, but breaking this up into events lets us analyze and improve the conversion rate of each event.

User experience 

In order to determine the factors that influence user experience, you must test and determine the patterns of user behavior. Understanding why users behave in a certain way on your website will show you how that behavior can be influenced to improve your outcomes.

References 

Kaushik, A. (2007).  Web analytics: An hour a day. San Francisco, CA: Sybex.

Licenses and Attributions

Chapter 18: Data Analytics from  eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World, 5th Edition by Rob Stokes and the Minds of Quirk is available under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 Quirk Education Pty (Ltd). UMGC has modified this work and it is available under the original license.

© 2024 University of Maryland Global Campus

All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.

Segmentation in Web Analytics

Print

Every visitor to a website is different, but there are some ways in which we can characterize groups of users and analyze metrics for each group. This is called  segmentation.

Default Segments in Google Analytics

Examples of segments include the following:

· referral source—Users who arrive at your site via search engines, those who type in the URL directly, and those who come from a link in an online news article are all likely to behave differently. In addition to conversion rates, click path and exit pages are important metrics to consider. Consider the page that these visitors enter your website from—can anything be done to improve their experience?

· landing pages—Users who enter your website through different pages can behave very differently. What can you do to affect the page on which they are landing, or what elements of the landing page can be changed to influence outcomes?

· connection speed, operating system, browser—Consider the effects of technology on the behavior of your users. A high bounce rate for low-bandwidth users, for example, could indicate that your site is taking too long to load. Visitors who use open-source technology may expect different things from your website than other visitors. Different browsers may show your website differently—how does this affect these visitors?

· geographical location—Do users from different countries, provinces or towns behave differently on your website? How can you optimize the experience for these different groups?

· first-time visitors—How is the click path of a first-time visitor different from that of a returning visitor? What parts of the website are more important to first-time visitors?

Licenses and Attributions

Chapter 18: Data Analytics from  eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World, 5th Edition by Rob Stokes and the Minds of Quirk is available under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. © 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013 Quirk Education Pty (Ltd). UMGC has modified this work and it is available under the original license.

© 2024 University of Maryland Global Campus

All links to external sites were verified at the time of publication. UMGC is not responsible for the validity or integrity of information located at external sites.

Learning Topic

Digital Marketing Glossary

Print

A/B test

Also known as a split test, it involves testing two versions of the same page or site to see which performs better.

Above the fold

The content that appears on a screen without a user having to scroll.

Accessibility

The degree to which a website is available to users with physical challenges or technical limitations.

Action

A specified task performed by a user, which results in the affiliate being awarded commission. Actions include purchasing a product, signing up for a newsletter or filling in a form.

Active verb

A word that conveys action or behavior, and in a call to action, tells a reader what to do.

Ad Server

The technology that places ads on websites.

Affiliate

The person who markets the products of the merchant. Also called a publisher.

Algorithm

A mathematical, computational, or statistical method predetermined to take a number of variables into account and output a single, quantifiable result that is a function of all the variables. A good example of a commonly used algorithm is the ones used by Google to determine which pages rank more highly on SERPs.

Alt tag

Information that is displayed if an image cannot be displayed. Used by search engines to determine what an image is.

Alt text

The "alt" attribute for the IMG HTML tag. It is used in HTML to attribute a text field to an image on a web page, normally with a descriptive function, telling a search engine or user what an image is about and displaying the text in instances where the image is unable to load. Also called  alt tag.

Analytical CRM

Software that assists a business in building customer relationships and analyses ways to improve them.

Anchor text

The visible, clickable text in a link.

Annotation

A comment or instruction (usually added as text) on a YouTube video. A YouTube annotation may contain links directing users to other pages within YouTube or, if a brand is willing to pay, to outside websites.

App store optimization (ASO)

The process of optimizing mobile and web applications for the specific web stores they are distributed in.

Application

Software that is developed specifically for smartphones and other mobile devices. Also known as an app. There are two types: mobile web apps and native apps.

Backlink

All the links on other pages that will take the user to a specific web page. Each link to that specific page is known as an inbound/backlink. The number of backlinks influences your ranking, so the more backlinks, the better.

Benefit

The positive outcome for a user that a feature provides.

Blog

A type of website that allows users (bloggers) to post entries on different topics and often allows readers to comment on these posts.

Blogosphere

The world of blogs, bloggers and blog posts.

Bluetooth

A short-distance wireless transfer protocol for connecting devices.

Bookmarking

Saving the web address of a web page so that you can easily refer back to it again. Bookmarks can be managed with a browser or with an online tool.

Bounce rate

The number of people who view one page and then leave a website without viewing any other pages.

Branding (or visual identity or corporate identity)

How your logo, colors, and styling elements are translated from traditional print-based assets to digital.

Breadcrumbs

Links, usually on the top of the page, that indicate where a page is in the hierarchy of the website.

Business to business (B2B)

When businesses sell products/services to other businesses and not to consumers.

Business to consumers (B2C)

When businesses sell products/services to consumers.

Call to action (CTA)

A phrase written to motivate the reader to take action ("sign up for our newsletter," "book car hire today," and so on).

Canonical

The canonical version is the definitive version. In SEO, it refers to a definitive URL.

Caption

Text that appears over a video that labels a scene, identifies a location or person, or narrates dialogue onscreen. Captions can be either open or closed.

Cascading style sheets (CSS)

A programming language that defines the styles (fonts, colors, and so on) used to display text and content. Web pages are among the places in which this language is used.

Chiclet

A small icon adjacent to a blog post, article or web page to indicate the availability of an RSS feed, or to allow users to share the information via social media. Named after the gum of the same name because of its unique, pillow-shaped icon.

Click path

The journey a user takes through a website.

Clickthrough

A click on a link that leads to another website.

Clickthrough rate

The total number of clicks on a link divided by the number of times that link was shown, expressed as a percentage.

Cluetrain manifesto

A set of 95 theses organized as a call to action for businesses operating within a newly connected marketplace.

Collaborative CRM

Umbrella term for all the interactive options for serving customers. It is people-based customer support that includes: collaborative browsing, web-based text and voice chat, desktop sharing, application sharing, file transfer, and phone support.

Commission

The amount paid by a merchant to an affiliate when the affiliate makes a successful referral.

Common page elements

Items that appear on every page of a website.

Common short code (CSC)

A special number or code that can be used to address SMS and MMS messages from mobile phones or fixed phones, usually to get something in return.

Community guidelines

The rules and principles that community members must adhere to when communicating on a brand platform.

Content audit

An examination and evaluation of the existing content that a brand publishes.

Content management system (CMS)

A system that allows an administrator to update the content of a website, so that they do not require a developer to do so.

Content strategy

A plan that outlines what content is needed for a web project and when and how it will be created.

Convention

A common rule or tried-and-tested way in which something is done.

Conversion

Completing an action or actions that the website wants the user to take. Usually a conversion results in revenue for the brand in some way. Conversions include signing up to a newsletter or purchasing a product.

Conversion funnel

A defined path that visitors should take to reach the final objective.

Conversion rate

The number of conversions divided by the number of visitors, expressed as a percentage.

Cookie

A text file sent by a server to a web browser and then sent back unchanged by the browser each time it accesses that server. Cookies are used for authenticating, tracking, and maintaining specific information about users, such as site preferences or the contents of their electronic shopping carts.

Cost per action (CPA)

The amount paid when a certain action is performed by a user.

Cost per click (CPC)

The amount paid when a link is clicked on.

Count

Raw figures captured for data analysis.

Credibility

How trustworthy, safe, and legitimate a website looks.

Crowdsourcing

Taking a job traditionally performed by a professional and distributing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call.

Customer

A person who buys or uses goods or services, with whom a company should develop a relationship.

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

The profitability of a customer over their entire relationship with the business.

Customer relationship management (CRM)

A strategy for managing a company’s relationships with clients and potential clients. It often makes use of technology to automate the sales, marketing, customer service, and technical processes of an organization.

Customer-centric

Placing the customer at the center of an organization’s business planning and execution.

Customer-driven

Allowing and encouraging customers to drive the direction of a business.

Data

Statistics and facts collected for analysis.

Data mining

The process of analyzing data to discover unknown patterns or connections.

Database

In email marketing, the database is the list of prospects to which emails are sent. It also contains additional information pertinent to the prospects.

Domain name

The easy-to-read name used to identify an IP address of a server that distinguishes it from other systems on the World Wide Web.

Domain name system (DNS)

DNS converts a domain name into an IP address.

Domain keys

An email authentication system designed to verify the DNS domain of an email sender and the message integrity.

Double opt-in

The act of getting subscribers to confirm their initial subscription via a follow-up email asking them to validate their address and in that way opt-in again.

dpi

Dots per inch (in an image). On the web, the screen resolution is 72dpi.

Dynamic keyword insertion

In paid search advertising, this allows keywords used in searches to be inserted automatically into advert copy.

Editor

A person who determines the ultimate content of a text, traditionally understood in the newspaper, magazine or publishing industry context.

Email service provider (ESP)

A service that helps you design and send emails.

Embedding

Taking video from an online video provider and posting it elsewhere on the web.

Event

A step a visitor takes in the conversion process.

Feature

A prominent aspect of a product that is beneficial to users.

Flash

A technology used to show video and animation on a website. It can be bandwidth heavy and unfriendly to search engine spiders.

Focus group

A form of qualitative research where people are asked questions in an interactive group setting. From a marketing perspective, it is an important tool for acquiring feedback regarding new products and various topics.

Forum

A website where users can engage in discussions by commenting on threads or previous posts made.

Funnel

In web analytics or conversion optimization, an established set of steps a user should take in reaching a goal, such as making a purchase.

Geo-targeting

Also known as location-based services. Delivering specific information or content to a user based on their geographic location. Mobile devices can enable this with high precision through features such as GPS and other location-based services.

Goal

The defined action that visitors should perform on a website, or the purpose of the website.

Google AdWords

Google’s search advertising program, which allows advertisers to display their adverts on relevant search results and across Google’s content network.

Hard bounce

The failed delivery of email communication owing to an undeviating reason, such as a nonexistent address.

Heading tags

Heading tags (H1, H2, H3, and so on) are standard elements used to define headings and subheadings on a web page. The number indicates the importance, so H1 tags are viewed by the spiders as being more important than H3 tags. Using target key phrases in your H tags is essential for effective SEO.

Heat map

A data visualization tool that shows levels of activity on a web page in different colors.

Home page

The first page of any website. The home page gives users a glimpse into what your site is about, very much like the index in a book, or a magazine.

House list

An email database a company generates itself without purchasing or renting names.

HTML5

A broad range of technologies that allow for rich media content and interaction on the scale of Adobe Flash, but unlike its counterpart does not require additional third-party plugins. It allows rich multimedia content to be displayed that can easily be viewed by users, computers and devices. HTML5 is the next iteration of the HTML standard.

Hyperlink

A link in an electronic document that allows you, once you click on it, to follow the link to the relevant web page.

HyperText markup language (HTML)

The code language predominantly used to create and display web pages and information online.

Hypothesis

A supposition that is tested in relation to known facts; a proposition based on reason but not necessarily assumed to be true.

iFrame

Stands for inline frame. An HTML structure that contains another document. You can draw information from another website to display, such as with Facebook tabs.

Impression

Each time an advert is shown.

Information architecture

The way data and content are organized, structured and labelled to support usability.

Internet protocol (IP) address

An exclusive number that is used to represent every single computer in a network.

Internet service provider (ISP)

The company providing you with access to the internet.

JavaScript

A popular scripting language. Also used in web analytics for page tagging.

Key performance indicator (KPI)

A metric that shows whether an objective is being achieved.

Key phrase

Two or more words that are combined to form a search query, often referred to as keywords. It is usually better to optimize for a phrase rather than a single word.

Keyword

A word found in a search query. For example, searching for “blue widgets” includes the keywords “blue” and “widgets”.

Keyword frequency

The number of times a keyword or key phrase appears on a website.

Keyword rankings

Where the keywords or phrases targeted by SEO rank in the search engine results. If your targeted terms do not appear on the first three pages, start worrying.

Keyword stuffing

The process of putting too many keywords into the meta data of the website, or using many irrelevant keywords. Search engines can penalize websites using this practice.

Landing page

The first page a user reaches when clicking on a link in an online marketing campaign. The pages that have the most success are those that match up as closely as possible with the user’s expectations.

Lead

A person who has shown interest in a brand, product or service and could be converted into a customer.

Link

A URL embedded on a web page. If you click on the link, you will be taken to that page.

Link bait

A technique for providing content that attracts links from other web pages.

Listening lab

A testing environment where the researcher observes how a customer uses a website or product.

Log file

A text file created on the server each time a click takes place, capturing all activity on the website.

Market share

In strategic management and marketing, the percentage or proportion of the total available market or market segment that is being serviced by a company.

Mass customization

Tailoring content for many individuals.

Merchant

The owner of the product that is being marketed or promoted.

Meta data

Information that can be entered about a web page and the elements on it to provide context and relevant information to search engines.

Meta tags

Tags that tell search engine spiders what exactly a web page is about. It’s important that your meta tags are optimized for the targeted key phrases. Meta tags are made up of meta titles, descriptions and keywords.

Metric

A defined unit of measurement.

Micro-conversion

A small conversion in the path to a conversion, such as going from step 1 to step 2 in a checkout process.

Microblogging

The practice of publishing brief text, image and video updates, usually limited to between 140 and 200 characters.

Model

A strategic visual representation of a process to which a company adheres.

Multimedia message service (MMS)

A media-rich extension on SMS, which allows picture, sound or low-quality videos to be sent on a wireless network.

Multivariate test

Testing combinations of versions of the website to see which combination performs better.

Native mobile application

A mobile application designed to run as a program on a specific device or mobile operating system.

Navigation

How a web user uses the user interface to navigate through a website, and the elements that assist in maximizing usability.

Null hypothesis

The default or general position, usually implying that where there is no statistical difference, there is no difference between the populations specified in the original hypothesis.

Objective

A desired outcome of a digital marketing campaign.

Observation/online Ethnography

When researchers immerse themselves in a particular environment in order to gather insights.

Online reputation management (ORM)

Understanding and influencing the perception of an entity online.

Open rate

The percentage of emails determined as opened out of the total number of emails sent.

Open source

Unlike proprietary software, open-source software makes the source code available so that other developers can build applications for the software, or even improve on the software.

Operational CRM

Entails supporting the front-office business processes, which include customer contact (sales, marketing and service).

Opt-in

Giving permission for emails to be sent to you.

Opt-out

Also known as unsubscribe. The act of removing oneself from a list or lists so that specified information is no longer received via email.

Organic results

Also known as natural results. Search results served by the search engine’s algorithm. The search engine does not charge website owners to list these results.

Page tag

A piece of JavaScript code embedded on a web page and executed by the browser.

PageRank

Google’s secret algorithm for ranking web pages in search engine results pages.

Paid search advertising

Usually refers to advertising on search engines, sometimes called PPC advertising. The advertiser pays only for each click on the advert.

Permalink

A unique URL that points to the permanent location of a single blog post and its associated comments and TrackBacks.

Persona

A character created to define a group of readers in order to speak to them as though they were a unique reader. Usually a hypothetical character created to represent and personify a set of traits.

Primary research

The collection of data to present a new set of findings from original research.

Proprietary software

Any software that one or more intellectual property holders own and license to others in exchange for compensation, subject to certain restrictions. Licensees may not be able to change, share, sell or reverse engineer the software.

Prospect

A potential customer.

Prototype

Interactive wireframes that have been linked together like a website, so that they can be navigated by clicking, scrolling and so on.

QR code

Also known as a 2D barcode. These are scannable barcodes that can be read by certain mobile applications (by taking a photo of the barcode). They contain information such as a URL.

Qualitative data

Data that can be observed but not measured. Deal with descriptions.

Quality Score (QS)

A measure used by Google AdWords to indicate how relevant a keyword is to an ad text and to a user’s search query.

Quantitative data

Data that can be measured or defined. Deal with numbers.

Ratio

An interpretation of data captured, usually one metric divided by another.

Really simple syndication (RSS)

RSS allows you to receive updates without requiring you to visit web pages in your browser constantly.

Referrer

When a user clicks on a link from one site to another, the site the user has left is the referrer. Most browsers log the referrer’s URL in referrer strings. This information is vital in determining which queries are being used to find specific sites.

Referrer

The URL that originally generated the request for the current page.

Research community

A community set up with the intention of being a source for research.

Research methodology

Methods employed in research for reaching results.

Responsive design

Designing a website so that it changes depending on the device on which it is displayed.

Return on investment (ROI)

The ratio of profit to cost.

Revenue share

Commission structure where the affiliate earns a percentage of a sale.

Robots.txt

A file written and stored in the root directory of a website that restricts the search engine spiders from indexing certain pages of the website.

Sales force automation

A type of program that automates the business task of sales associated with effective implementation, productivity forecasts.

Sample size

The number of respondents in a sample of the population.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

The process of improving website rankings in search engines.

Search engine results page (SERP)

The actual results returned to the user based on their search query.

Search engine spiders

Programs that travel the web, following links and building up the indexes of search engines.

Search term

The keywords a user enters when searching on a search engine.

Secondary research

The collection of existing research data.

Segmentation

Filtering visitors into distinct groups based on characteristics in order to analyze visits.

Sender alias

The name that is chosen to appear in the sender or from field of an email.

Sender ID

A method used by major ISPs to confirm that an email does originate from the domain that it claims to have been sent from.

Sender policy framework (SPF)

An extension of SMTP that stops email spammers from forging the “From” fields in an email.

Sentiment

The emotion attached to a particular mention, be it positive, negative, or neutral.

Search engine results page (SERP)

The page that shows the results for a search on a search engine.

Session

The period that a user with a unique cookie spends on a website during a specified amount of time.

Short message service (SMS)

Text messages that can be sent to mobile phones from the Internet or from other mobile devices. Usually limited to 160 characters.

Simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP)

A protocol for sending messages from one server to another.

Simple object access protocol (SOAP)

A simple XML-based protocol to allow for the exchanging of structured information over HTTP.

Sitemap

On a website, a page that links to every other page in the website, and displays these links organized according to the information hierarchy. In UX terminology, this is the visualized structural plan for how the website’s pages will be laid out and organized.

Social media dashboard

A service that allows you to centralize management of your social media properties.

Social network

In the online sense, a type of website model where individual members become part of a broader virtual community.

Soft bounce

The failed delivery of an email owing to a deviating reason, such as an overloaded mail box or a server failure.

Spam

Email sent to someone who has not requested to receive it.

Split test

Also known as an A/B test.

Sponsored results

Search engine results that are paid for by the advertiser.

Stakeholder

A person or organization with an interest in how a resource is managed.

Statistically significant

A sample that is big enough to represent valid conclusions.

Strategy

A set of ideas that outline how a product line or brand will achieve its objectives. This guides decisions on how to create, distribute, promote and price the product or service.

Tactic

A specific action or method that contributes to achieving a goal.

Tag

In social media, tags indicate or label what content is about.

Target

A specific numerical benchmark.

Taxonomy

Classification and division into ordered categories, usually hierarchical. In social media, taxonomy can refer to the categorization of content on the internet.

Text

Text emails or plain text emails do not contain graphics or any kind of markup.

Thumbnail

The still image that is shown at the start of the video. This can be selected, and can make a video more enticing.

Tone of voice

The register, formality and personality that comes through in the text.

TrackBack

A mechanism used in a blog that shows a list of entries in other blogs that refer to a post on the first blog.

Traffic

The visitors that visit a website.

Unique forwarders

This refers to the number of individuals who have forwarded a specific email.

Unique selling point (USP)

The aspect that makes your offering different from your competitors’.

Universal resource locator (URL)

A web address that is unique to every page on the internet.

Unstructured supplementary service data (USSD)

A messaging protocol used to connect mobile devices with a service provider’s computers, often enabling a variety of applications and creating a real-time connection that allows two-way interaction.

URL shortened

A web tool that creates a shorter version of a full URL.

Usability

A measure of how easy a system is to use. Sites with excellent usability fare far better than those that are difficult to use.

User experience design (UXD)

The process of applying proven principles, techniques and features to create and optimize how a system behaves, mapping out all the touchpoints a user experiences to create consistency in the interaction with the brand.

User interface (UI)

The user-facing part of the tool or platform – the actual website, application, hardware or tool with which the user interacts.

User-centered design (UCD)

The design philosophy where designers identify how a product is likely to be used, taking user behavior into consideration and prioritizing user wants and needs, and placing the user at the center of the entire experience.

Video search engine optimization (VSEO)

Optimizing videos for search engines, similar to the way in which one would optimize a website to rank higher on the SERPs.

Video syndication

The process of distributing and getting search coverage for videos.

Views

The number of times a video has been seen. Multiple views can come from one user.

Viral video

A video that becomes immensely popular, leading to its spread through word-of- mouth on the Internet via email, social networks and other hosting websites.

Visitor

An individual visiting a website that is not a search engine spider or a script.

Vlogger

Video blogger. A person who produces regular web videos about a chosen topic on a video-enabled blog.

W3C

World Wide Web Consortium, which oversees the Web Standards project.

Web application framework

Software used to help create dynamic web properties more quickly. This is done through access to libraries of code for a specific language or languages and other automated or simplified processes which then do not need to be coded from scratch.

Web server

A computer or program that delivers web content to be viewed on the internet.

White list

A list of accepted email addresses that an ISP, a subscriber or other email service provider allows to deliver messages regardless of spam filter settings.

Wireframe

The skeletal outline of the layout of a web page. This can be rough and general, or very detailed.

Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi)

The transfer of information from one device to another over a distance without the use of wires.

eXtensible Markup Language (XML)

A standard used for creating structured documents.

XML sitemap

A guide that search engines use to help them index a website, which indicates how many pages there are, how often they are updated, and how important they are.

3G

Third generation of mobile communications systems. A set of wireless protocols or standards used to transmit data to and from mobile devices. It is faster than previous generations, offering users a wider range of advanced services while achieving greater network capacity.

Licenses and Attributions

Glossary from  eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World by Rob Stokes and the Minds of Quirk is available under a  Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license. ©  2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, Quirk Education Pty (Ltd). UMUC has modified this work and it is available under the original license.

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