SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION & JOURNALISM

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1 SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION & JOURNALISM JOUR 590 Directed Research Topic: Web analytics for news and nonprofit web sites with e-commerce functions Spring 2011 Section #21568D three units Dana Chinn, Lecturer Office: ASC Office/class hours: Mondays and by appointment DESCRIPTION This research will analyze the site and social media traffic of selected news and nonprofit organizations, with particular emphasis on the registration, paid content and e-commerce functions. The final paper will identify best practices and propose a web analytics metrics framework that news and nonprofit web sites can use to inform strategy, implement e-commerce functions and optimize conversion rates. Students will meet regularly with news and/or nonprofit organizations in a consulting role. COURSE OUTCOMES At the end of this course, students will have a foundation for using behavioral and attitudinal research to manage a web site for a news or nonprofit organization, with an emphasis on optimizing e-commerce elements. Students will learn: Web analytics concepts, terms and data sources How audiences should be segmented and measured The differences between e-commerce sites and content-based sites, or those that are supported by advertising, sponsorships and subscriptions How to set site goals and determine the metrics that should be used to define success The site architecture and coding needed to gather the right data; taxonomies needed to optimize a site for internal and external search engines How to read data from Google Analytics and Omniture, the two leading web analytics systems How to present web analytics data to site decision-makers Page 1 of 8

2 COURSE MATERIALS 1. Texts Required Competing on Analytics, by Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris, Harvard Business School Press, 240 pages Web Analytics 2.0, by Avinash Kaushik, Sybex/Wiley Publishing, 475 pages Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics, by Brian Clifton, Sybex/Wiley Publishing, 500 pages Measuring the Online Impact of Your Information Project, by Dana Chinn and FSG Social Impact Advisors, Knight Foundation, 26 pages Omniture University training materials on the web (see me for username/password) Articles posted on Blackboard Optional Actionable Web Analytics, by Jason Burby and Shane Atchison, Sybex/Wiley Publishing, 256 pages Web Analytics Demystified, by Eric Peterson, privately published pages Tagging, by Gene Smith, New Riders, 208 pages The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, by Edward Tufte, Graphics Press, 200 pages Information Dashboard Design, by Stephen Few, O Reilly, 212 pages 2. My blog ( and SlideShare presentations ( My blog comments on how news organizations are using (or misusing) web analytics, and translates e-commerce web analytics best practices for content- and mission-based sites. It also includes a tag cloud of my Delicious bookmarks ( which are focused on web analytics articles useful for news organizations. 3. Confidential information on Blackboard and discussed in class This course is a practicum that uses internal, proprietary data. All data, presentations and discussions are confidential. Students will need to sign nondisclosure agreements for each news or nonprofit organization partner. Page 2 of 8

3 COURSE ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING This course is graded Credit/No Credit. Students will meet regularly with select news or nonprofit organizations to interview stakeholders, collect information and/or to discuss findings. Students will review materials with me prior to each meeting. Weekly assignments and progress reports 75% Final paper and presentation 25% GRADING CRITERIA The final paper will be graded on: Meeting the deliverables and expectations of the organization Did the student satisfy the needs of the organization? Did the student or team work well with the organization to clarify and refine the organization s goals and expectations? Is the organization likely to implement what the team suggested? Quality of the analysis Were concepts, terms and data used correctly? Were they relevant? Was the analysis insightful and focused on a decision to be made? Or was it just a report? Did the data support the arguments? Was the analysis complete? Presentation Were the appropriate quantitative presentation techniques used? Was the presentation pitched at the right level for the decision-makers? Did the decision-makers understand the concepts, analyses and recommendations? PLAGIARISM/ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Plagiarism is defined as taking ideas or writings from another and passing them off as one's own; in journalism, this includes appropriating the reporting of another without clear attribution. The following is the Annenberg School of Journalism's policy on academic integrity as published in Page 3 of 8

4 the university catalogue: Since its founding, the USC School of Journalism has maintained a commitment to the highest standards of ethical conduct and academic excellence. Any student found guilty of plagiarism, fabrication, cheating on examinations, or purchasing papers or other assignments will receive a failing grade in the course and will be dismissed as a major from the School of Journalism. There are no exceptions to the school s policy. ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATIONS/STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES Any students requesting academic accommodations based on a disability are required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP when adequate documentation is filed. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me as early in the semester as possible. DSP is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. 5 p.m. The office is located in the Student Union room 301 and their phone number is (213) BIO My research and consulting activities focus on web analytics, media audiences, and news business models. I strive to translate best practices in e-commerce web analytics for news and nonprofit organizations, and make metrics useful and relevant for the decisions media organizations must make to survive. I also develop interdisciplinary programs for USC Annenberg, like the USC Annenberg- Marshall-Viterbi News Entrepreneur programs, which bring journalism, business and engineering students together to develop new ideas for news organizations. Previously at USC Annenberg I directed the Convergence Core Curriculum, which gives journalism students a foundation for reporting in all media. My work experience includes management positions in online planning and operations, strategic planning, marketing and finance at Gannett, the Los Angeles Times and Media Insight Group. I have an undergraduate degree in journalism and an MBA from USC. Page 4 of 8

5 SCHEDULE Week 1 January 10 Course overview Discussion of news and nonprofit organizations to be studied Competing on Analytics, by Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris Selected readings on web analytics Week 2 January 17 University Holiday Martin Luther King s Birthday No class Week 3 January 24 Discuss The business models of each news and nonprofit organization in the study The different types of analytics cultures Agenda and approaches for the first meetings Selected readings on web analytics Audience segmentation assignment: Review the strategy, content, design and navigation of the news and nonprofit organizations sites from an audience perspective. Prepare a chart that outlines and describe the characteristics of the audience segments the organization should be targeting. Week 4 January 31 Discuss audience segmentation assignment. Overall site and social media metrics; Key Performance Indicators Overview of Google Analytics and Omniture Selected readings on web analytics and social media metrics Prepare a preliminary list of KPIs for each organization. Review overall site traffic/kpi trends for each organization in Google Analytics or Omniture; prepare Excel and Access/Filemaker models. Meet with the news and nonprofit organizations to discuss Page 5 of 8

6 how it should segment its audiences the possible site and social media goals it will have in the next three months Proposed vs. current KPIs its current web analytics reporting system, processes and reports the current and potential e-commerce functions that need to be optimized; goals revenue from on- and offline channels Some issues that should be addressed: What type of analytics culture does the organization have? Resources? What does the organization hope to accomplish? How is it planning to measure success or failure? Who s accountable? What will the organization need to do to use web analytics effectively as a decision-making tool? What do the current web traffic reports indicate? How are they used or not? What types of key performance indicators should be used? Week 5 February 7 Discuss meetings with the organizations. Review social media metrics tools, social media return on objective, KPIs. Basic dashboard concepts; what types of data does each level of decision-maker need? Selected readings on web analytics and quantitative presentations Set-up social media accounts in Klout, Topsy and other selected social media metric tools; revise Excel and Access/Filemaker models to include social media data. Prepare sample dashboards and reports/analyses that each level of decision-maker would use on a weekly basis. Show context (e.g., year-over-year comparisons), identify Week 6 February 14 Discuss site and social media trends and issues of each organization. Discuss quantitative presentation formats. Selected readings on web analytics implementation Present preliminary overall site trends to organization. Page 6 of 8

7 Week 7 February 21 University Holiday President s Day No class Week 8 February 28 Designing and coding a site to measure what s needed Site architecture Navigation Content taxonomies Internal search engines Customer relationship management information; registration; membership; donation and other online transaction functions Selected readings on web analytics implementation Site review and architecture analysis draft outline Week 9 March 7 Discuss draft site architecture analysis outline Overview of social media and mobile metrics Social media: Analyzing influencers, content/sentiment on Twitter and Facebook Mobile devices: WAP/mobile web sites; mobile applications; operating systems; carriers Setting up funnels, goals and events in Google Analytics and Omniture after spring break Selected readings on keywords, tagging and taxonomies Site architecture analysis including suggested taxonomy, funnels and social media key performance indicators March 14 Spring break No class Week 10 March 21 Discuss site architecture analysis. Selected readings on keywords, tagging and taxonomies Page 7 of 8

8 Revised site architecture analysis Week 11 March 28 Discuss revised site architecture analysis Homework due in class on April 11 Meet with organization; discuss site architecture analysis Week 12 April 4 Discuss meeting(s) with organization and agreed-upon next steps and deliverables Selected readings on presenting quantitative information Revised site architecture analysis Week 13 April 11 Discuss meeting(s) with organization. Selected readings on presenting quantitative information Outline of final report Week 14 April 18 Discuss final report outline. Revised final report outline; preliminary data analyses Week 15 April 25 Last day of class Discuss final report, data analyses, meeting structure/agenda Week 16 May 4-11 Finals week Your final project presentation to your assigned news or nonprofit organization must be given by end-of-day Wednesday, May 11. Page 8 of 8