Web analytics, Dashboard & Optimization Experts. Web Analytics Audit Best Practices

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1 Web analytics, Dashboard & Optimization Experts Web Analytics Audit Best Practices

2 The Importance of Conducting a Web Analytics Audit When people hear the word audit there are a few stereotypical things that come to mind. One that most would presume is that conducted by the IRS or CRA if you reside in the US or Canada, respectively! These audits are generally a means for the government to investigate that you aren t cheating on your taxes. In contrast, a web analytics audit is much different in that the by-product provides a foundational model for progression to analytics maturity. Most organizations use less than 20% of the functionality offered by their web analytics tool! Most systems are not only under-utilized, but they are incorrectly configured. The causes for this might be that people lack required skills, people have changed roles, priorities have changed, people have left your company or companies have merged. A web analytics audit is a proven way for organizations to ensure they are generating tangible value from their investment in analytics. Audits can be particularly effective for companies that have diverse online operations, with multiple websites and significant online advertising activities. However, the key questions apply to all types of organizations, whether they are relatively new to web analytics or looking to upgrade existing programs by leveraging best practices and installing advanced capabilities. 1. Knowing When an Audit is Necessary Here are a few points on why organizations conduct web analytics audits and how it provides proper substance for a web analytics strategy moving forward. Some questions that hint you may need an audit include: Is my data accurate and do I trust it? How do I know that what my analytics product is telling me is entirely accurate? Are we using our web analytics package to its full capability? Is the analysis timely and am I able to access it when I need it, or do I spend too much time building reports that could be automated? Am I confident that my staff has the required skills to operate and analyse our online systems? Why is my web analytics application showing different values than my back-end system? Which one is correct? Are my social media campaigns being properly tracked? Should I continue pouring budget into our facebook ads? What s our ROI? Am I filtering out the right traffic from my reports? These results look too inflated. Am I analyzing the most appropriate, most impactful Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)? I need to revamp my website and marketing strategy. How do I know what aspect of them to change? I ve only been doing web analytics for a little while, how do I progress from here? 2. Things to Look Out For There are lots of technical limitations that can be causing reporting to be inaccurate. Here s a list of some common problems: Unusable pathing reports due to inconsistent page naming practices 2 P a g e Web Analytics Audit Best Practices

3 Unusable campaign reports due to inconsistent tracking code naming conventions Web analytics variables/reports defined, but with no data Cookie settings that don t line up with business goals (i.e. Cookie using Last Touch when Marketing uses First Touch) Data inconsistencies resulting in reports that are highly suspect or untrustworthy Incomplete meta-data or look-up tables Lack of critical KPI s and best practices specific to the industry vertical the website serves Lack of appropriate usage of key web analytics tool features that could improve overall analytics success 3. Step-By-Step Approach Here is a simple 3 step process involved in a web analytics audit and how it s beneficial: 3.1 Goal Discovery How: Everyone has goals in life that dictate their actions. Without identifying your goals as a business you can t customize your analytics implementation to deliver the insight you require. Sometimes it s good to start with a high-level question and slowly work your way down into more detail. For instance: Why do you even have a website? What is its purpose? Is it there to save you money or make you money? How do you want visitors to interact and what do you want to measure? What kind of technical or budget constraints do you have? What KPIs do you want to look at? Benefit: Identifying your goals and understanding what KPIs to look at will drive the analytics audit and provide recommendations on how to correct any errors and make improvements. 3.2 Technical Audit and Documentation How: You begin the audit by analyzing your current implementation of JavaScript tracking codes (click here to see how this works). All work is documented and errors are identified. Each component analyzed is always cross-checked with your company goals to ensure that they are in line with your expectations. Benefit: This is the root of the audit process. You need to identify any current errors with your code to ensure they are firing off and collecting user data. Document your current state since this will serve as the foundation for recommended improvements. During an analytics audit there are 4 main fronts that steer the investigation; these are Administrative settings, Visitor information, Conversion metrics, and Configuration Administration Evaluate and correct use of Profiles Review administrative settings and ensure best practices are implemented Ensure all pages are tracked by the appropriate tracking code Identify issues with tracking code, skewed or incomplete data, incorrect usage 3 P a g e Web Analytics Audit Best Practices

4 Recommend improvements to dashboard layouts, summaries, sharing, and underlying reports Identify sources of excessive license consumption (for paid analytics services) and create plans for reducing consumption Reconcile metric differences between analytics vendors Identify or highlight specific visitor activity (when possible with web analytics vendor) Visitor Review and recommend content and audience segmentation and make sure data capture aligns with segments properly Ensure that site search keywords and navigation impacts are measured Ensure all social sharing tools, downloads, and Rich Media are tracked by custom JavaScript tracking code Verify that cross-domain and sub-domain navigation paths and conversion funnels are completely tracked Validate predefined filters and identify additional filtering needs, such as internal and subdomain traffic Conversion Validate e-commerce tracking and compare with server-side data (if possible) Validate that campaign tracking is correct and provide best practice guidance for usage of various campaign parameters and reports Validate channel tracking (i.e. ensure all referring sources are attributed correctly) including display ads, social media, affiliate networks, etc. Verify goal, funnel, and/or scenario (and set up of additional goals as required) Provide recommendations (along with detailed code examples and data capture models) for event tracking, to track downloads and other interactive elements of the site Configuration Examine existing, or to-be-completed, integrations with third-party data sources Provide additional recommendations to enhance tracking beyond standard product implementation and identification of areas for future investigation or development. 3.3 Recommended Improvements How: Based on the audited implementation you will identify any errors that need to be fixed and provide instruction to your developers for the most appropriate means to remedy the issue. Benefit: This is the ultimate goal for conducting a web analytics audit. It provides you with the peace of mind knowing that your analytics implementation aligns with your company s standard and goals. It also provides you with suggestions for improvements and will demonstrate a road map of progression for your analytics. 4. Conclusion Conducting a web analytics audit is a valuable exercise for any organization and will ensure that your implementation is aligned with your business goals and objectives. You will identify any issues that 4 P a g e Web Analytics Audit Best Practices

5 require immediate remedy. This will also exemplify a path to analytics maturity that will deliver more valuable, actionable metrics to make strategic business decisions. 5 P a g e Web Analytics Audit Best Practices