Watching brief
- Article 14 of 26
- M-iD, March 2005
Web analytics is often the only way to understand who visits a web site and why
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This “click stream” analysis, either at the individual level or in aggregate, can provide insight into how well the navigation structure of the site is performing. It can show which areas are the most popular and which are the least popular; where users left the site through a link, or simply gave up on it altogether; and what other sites have linked to the site.
And since most search engines tend to encode search terms into their web addresses or URLs, it can show what search terms produce good results for the site and what people are most interested in when they come to the site.
There are a number of techniques that can augment server-side data. For example, cookies can be used to store unique codes on a user's computer that the web server can identify when they return to the site. This will reveal the repeat visitors and allow the site owner to monitor users' areas of interest over repeat visits, provided the cookies are not deleted by users; fortunately, most are not.
Inaccuracies
The problem with server-side data is that it can be inaccurate and is only available for requests made direct to the server. Often, Internet service providers (ISPs) and organisations will use proxy and caching servers to improve perceived network speeds. These store pages and images locally - nearer to the user - so that if the browser requests any of the stored data, it can be provided far more quickly than if the requests were sent to the organisation's web server.
However, it also means that there is no entry in the web server's log for the page or data view.
The server-side approach also fails to take into account the browser's own cache, which stores images and even whole web pages. By serving such data from the browser, end-users enjoy much faster progress through already downloaded pages when using the back and forward buttons of the browser. This cache also prevents requests reaching the web server.
A method developed by Clickstream Technologies uses a combination of cookies and a JavaScript-based program embedded in web pages in a bid to overcome this problem.
The programs measures how long someone has looked at a page and the actions they took, including forwards and back buttons. It then stores the information in a cookie. When the browser next makes a request to the web server, the browser passes all the data in the cookie to the web server.
The goal
But with all this information potentially available, before putting it to work, organisations need to consider carefully what they will actually do with it.
“The first step is identifying who in the company cares about the web site and then to get them all into one room,” says Jim Sterne, CEO of The Emetrics Summit and president of the newly formed Web Analytics Association (WAA). “Then have them identify very specific web goals. For example, what are they trying to accomplish? And how will they know if they've been successful?”
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