This paper provides information on how the web analytics strategy can be implemented across the web portals and how various stakeholders can leverage the data that has been captured to optimize a range of activities surrounded around the web portals. Also included is a case study developed around a web portal that has been developed in Web Sphere environment to show case the benefits derived from the implementation of the web analytics strategy.
About the Author Ujwal Kiran Ujwal Kiran is a consultant for Web Analytics practice, which is a part of TCS's Connected Marketing Solutions Group. He has 5 years of experience around web analytics and marketing domain. He has worked closely with different ISUs including Retail, Finance and Media in providing web analytics and marketing solutions. As a web analytics consultant, he is involved in various phases of web analytics solution including measurement strategy, tracking mechanism, integration, analysis, adoption, governance and optimization. This paper explores different kinds of portals and is the out come of the plan towards developing industry and technology specific web analytics solutions. 1
Table of Contents 1. Introduction 3 2. Types of Web s 4 3. Scope of Web Analytics across Web s 5 4. Tracking Mechanisms 10 5. Case Study 11 6. Conclusion 15 7. Reference 15 2
Introduction Web portals are personalized browser-based application that allows users to: Gain access to information. Collaborate with each other. Make decisions in every aspect of their jobs. Take action on all business-related information regardless of their virtual location or business unit affiliations, the location of the information, or the format in which the information is stored. The stakeholders of the organization always tend to analyze the performance of the portal with respect to the achievement of primitive goals behind the service or product that is being delivered through the web portal. Initially web portal analysis process was interpreted as the successor of service or product deployment process. However with the changes in the organization s portal development trends, the analysis plan is now well thought-out prior to the portal development and the analytics process is considered as a continuous activity. Every portal has both macro and micro goals. Macro goals should be addressed by the entire organization where as each stakeholder is assigned with various micro goals to achieve the organizations macro goals. Consider the following example Site Objective Business Goal Visitor Goal Web Analysis Focus Customer Self- Service Provide service online Reduce service costs Speed resolution rate Offer problem resolution Offer knowledge base information Quickly and easily find answers to resolve issues Visit frequency and duration Issue resolution rate Tracking of email inquiries after reviewing help pages Most successful type of help content/pages Micro Goal KPI Complete specified scenario path or Action Usage of online help Internal Search Visits-to-conversion ratio Percentage of visitors using help Percent of Visitors Using Search Percent "Zero Result" Searches Figure 1: Business Goals Web Analytics strategy can help stakeholders to evaluate the achievement of the micro goal assigned and hence helps to evaluate the achievement of the organization goal. As most of the portals require authentication, user or customer personalization process can be greatly improved using web analytics strategy. 3
The white paper further elaborates on the following: Types of Web s and possible goals of various stakeholders Scope of Web Analytics across web portals Vendors and Tracking mechanisms available to evaluate the goals identified Case Study Types of Web s Web portals can be classified based on the functionality associated with the portal. Table 1 provides details on the classification of various web portals. Description Audience Activities Goals Enterprise Information Horizontal Vertical Enterprise portals are designed to automate the traditional corporate activities from a single point of entry or portal. They also cover collaboration, learning kind of areas to improve the organizations performance. Internal to the organization Supports information flow, business activities and processes across the corporation, suppliers, partners and supply chain: Business Intelligence Corporate functions Collaboration Content Management Learning Improves revenue Reduces traditional operational cost Improves business activity workflow E-Business s E-Business portals are Enterprise portal solutions that are designed to extend the organization to the people outside the organization by including customers, suppliers and partners in the: Ordering service Billing service Customer service Self-service Business-to-business work processes External to the organization Customers Suppliers / Agents Partners Ordering service Billing service Self-service Business-to-business services Improves revenue Improves customer satisfaction Reduces traditional operational cost E-Commerce s E-Commerce portals are Enterprise portals that provide commerce-related services to their community of customers, sellers, and vendors. External to the organization Customers Sellers Vendors Ordering service Billing service Self-service Business-to-business services Improves revenue Improves customer satisfaction Reduces traditional operational cost Internet s Internet portals are focused on building large online audiences that span across several demographics and professional orientations. Entire Internet community Or Specific Internet community Provide Information Provide Services Improves revenue Improves traffic Improves customer satisfaction 4
Knowledge Expertise Collaborative Internet Hosing s Vertical and Horizontal s Enterprise s ETrade.com Realtor.com Corporate Interest Employee Electronic Commerce Enterprise Resource Planning Information Intranet Unstructured Enterprise Reporting General s Yahoo.com Excite.com Figure 2: Types of s Scope of Web Analytics across Web s Scope of web analytics uncovers various areas of web portals with respect to their objectives and stakeholders. Stakeholders Goals Analysis Optimization Business Team Application Team Capacity & Performance } } Improved Branding ROI Improved online Leads & sales User Satisfaction Reduce Traditional Operating Costs User Life Cycle Application Infrastructure Performance Application Infrastructure Content Marketing Design Personalization Figure 3: Scope of Web Analytics Most of the goals of the web portal can be evaluated by analyzing the user life cycle and web portal infrastructure performance 5
User Life Cycle Analysis Organization can identify various check points of web portal user; connecting line of which creates user life cycle. Following are the typical check points of user life cycle: Reach: Reach is the potential of an organization or marketing campaign in gaining prospective visitor attention. Branding related goals can be effectively evaluated using this analysis. Acquisition: Acquisition analysis spans around traffic sources which has driven potential visitors. Acquisition analysis helps organizations to evaluate marketing related goals. Conversion: Conversion is the action or event that an organization expects to be completed by its user. Conversion analysis helps organization to evaluate the usability and revenue related goals. Retention: Retention analysis spans around the repeated and unsubscribing users of the portal. Figure 4 depicts the respective metrics that correspond to the above mentioned analysis categories. Reach Traffic Trends Retention Ability of a site to make users come back Trends and Correlation Reports User volumes Ratio of New vs Returning users Application usage per user Acquisition External and Internal Traffic Sources Ration of daily to monthly returning users Percentage of Returning users Transaction compete rate by returning visitors Dimensions Brand websites Micro sites Content groups Marketing Campaigns Geography Technical platforms Conversion Usability and Content User Transaction completion rate Transaction step fall out rate Cost per Transaction New Subscriptions Internal search and help article usage Percentage of new users (Average number of visits / User) Average number of page views / User Cost per user Cost per marketing campaign Average page views / user session Response rates of Marketing Campaigns Avg time spent Percent of low time spent Figure 4: User Life Cycle 6
Infrastructure Performance Analysis Web portal infrastructure performance analysis can greatly help organizations to run effective performance and operational readiness testing scenarios. Typical technical metrics like number of server calls and server response time can also help the infrastructure team to monitor and troubleshoot the portal performance issues. Figure 5&6 describes the respective metrics that corresponded to the above mentioned analysis. Web site analytics Event correlation - root cause analysis Resource monitoring Transaction monitoring FIREWALL FIREWALL FIREWALL Figure 5: How to Analyze Total Requests Time to Serve Brand website, content group, micro site pages, Server name Kilo Bytes Transferred Number of Errors Figure 6: What to Analyze 7
Specific Metrics The following metrics illustrates the scope of Web Analytics including Goals, Metrics and Dimensions that can be tracked to judge the performance of various stakeholders involved in the Web portal development and maintenance. Enterprise Information / Self Service s Macro Goal Stakeholder Micro goal KPI Dimensions ROI Business Team Marketing Team Usability Team Operational Teams All Micro Goals Value of Innovations Value of Successful Business Activities Improved Innovation Business Team & Marketing Team Improve Contribution Motivate users Approved Innovations Total Innovations Innovation Usage Contribution Index Collaboration index Operations Team Reduce Page Serve Time Ensure Optimal Resource Allocation Avg Time to serve Number of Requests Number of Errors Number of Concurrent requests Throughput Return Code Network Type Platform Browsers Client Errors File not Found Errors Server Errors User Satisfaction Usability Team Improved usability & Personalization Abandonment rate Confidence levels of test components Business defined Visitor Satisfaction Index Paths & Scenarios Business Team Provide Useful Content Average Page Views Per Visit Average Visits Per Visitor Percent Low/Medium/High Time Spent Visits Percent Low/Medium/High Frequency Visitors Paths & Scenarios Improve Business Process Work Flow Business Team & Marketing Team Provide optimal Workflow Successful Job Completion Events Paths & Scenarios Reduce Traditional Operating Costs Business Team Marketing Team Usability Team Operational Teams All Micro goals Number of Requests for Customer care Paths & Scenarios 8
E Business & Commerce s Macro Goal Stakeholder Micro goal KPI Dimensions ROI Business Team Marketing Team Usability Team Operational Teams All Micro Goals Transaction Value Index ROI User Satisfaction Operations Team Reduce Page Serve Time Ensure Optimal Resource Allocation Avg Time to serve Number of Requests Number of Errors Number of Concurrent requests Throughput Return Code Network Type Platform Browsers Client Errors File not Found Errors Server Errors Usability Team Improved usability & Personalization Abandonment rate Confidence levels of test components Business defined Visitor Satisfaction Index External/Internal Marketing Campaigns Paths & Scenarios Shopping Cart steps Business Team Provide Useful Content Average Page Views Per Visit Average Visits Per Visitor Percent Low/Medium/High Time Spent Visits Percent Low/Medium/High Frequency Visitors External/Internal Campaigns Paths & Scenarios Merchandising Business Team & Marketing Team Improve Service Transactions Successful Service Subscriptions Sales Services / Products Paths & Scenarios Reduce Traditional Operating Costs Business Team Marketing Team Usability Team Operational Teams All Micro goals Number of Requests for Customer care Paths & Scenarios 9
Tracking Mechanisms Tracking mechanism is the process of installing the tracking code or analyzing the server logs to track the metrics identified in the measurement strategy. Various tracking mechanisms are available to track the web portal behavior; selection of a specific tracking mechanism depends on the web portal measurement strategy and security issues. Figure 7 shows the popular mechanisms for capturing web analytics data. Implementation of the best practices across these methods can ensure complete web analytics tracking. Logfile Page Tagging Tracking Methods Figure 7: Tracking Methods In a web portal, if complete user behavior and rich media components need to be tracked, then an organization must use the tracking mechanism which uses Java Script and if server side metrics need to be tracked, then web server log analyzers are to be used. Hybrid models (WebTrends & Unica) consisting of both Java Script and web server log analyzer are available in the current market. Methodology Page tagging Logfile analysis software Pros Accurate Visitor session tracking & no proxy and caching issues Captures client-side events e.g., JavaScript, Flash, Web 2.0 and e-commerce data High visitor data accuracy Tool updates will be taken care by Vendors Effective historical data analysis Firewall issues wont be occurred Server Side metrics including bandwidth, response time, server calls can be tracked Tracks search engine spiders and robots Cons Page tag setup errors may cause data loss Firewall can block tags Cannot track server side metrics Search engine spiders can not be tracked Proxy and catching problems may cause incomplete data capturing Requires additional programming to track events Data storage and archiving will be an additional task 10
Other Tacking Mechanisms There are other tracking mechanisms available in market apart from page tagging and server log analysis methods. Network data collection devices (packet sniffers) : Collect web traffic data from routers into black-box appliances. Web server Application Programming Interface (API) : Programs would be developed to improve the capabilities of the web server; these programs will customize or enhanc the fields which will then populate in logs. Above mentioned methods are still in beta stage and widely accepted Following table shows the top vendors available in the market. Vendors Log file Tagging Centric WebTrends Omniture Google Analytics Unica Core Metrics AW-Stat Case Study Client Overview The Client is a financial services company; the Client has developed E-Business web portals to provide an efficient and safe way for buyers and sellers of securities to make their exchange, and thus "clear and settle" transactions. It also provides custody of securities. Client Requirement Optimize the server performance across various loads. Understand and forecast the Traffic patterns of s. Understand the user behavior towards Web Sphere s. Improve the visitor satisfaction by analyzing internal search and help article usage. Cross selling the services based on authenticated visitor history. 11
TCS Solution Approach The approach followed by TCS to address the requirements of Client is: Measurement Strategy Tracking Analysis Reporting Optimization Adoption Governance Identify Stakeholders Log file Identification Technical Performance Content Correlation with Authenticate users Best practices & User Training Determine Business Goals & high Priority Issues Set-up KPI & Benchmarks Create Report Prototypes Setup Operational Model Log file rotation Profile and Report Configurations Job Scheduling Strategic Testing Tool Administration Optimizing Analysis environment User Life Cycle Analysis Analysis Methods Trending Ranking Correlation Forecasting Reporting Scheduled Analysis Reports Ad-hoc Analysis Create Visitor Segments based on Content of interest Deliver Personalized emails to the customers Measurement Strategy Tracking Analysis & Insights Governance User Access Management Process Management Dynamic Alerts Figure 8: Solution Approach Measurement Strategy The initial engagement was started to address the needs of Server capacity management team. After successful delivery of required analysis, the web analytics solution was introduced to all the stakeholders involved in the organization. A Strategic ticketing system has also been created to address the stakeholders ad-hoc requests. A strategic analytics plan is created to evaluate the achievement of the organizations goals. Refer figure 1 to understand how the goals and KPIs were organized. The analytics plan and operational model are not included here due to privacy policies. Tracking Mechanism As per the Client policy; no third party script should be incorporated into the websites, hence the tracking mechanism that was chosen here is Log-file Analysis and the vendor selected was WebTrends. 12
Identify Log files Rotate Log files Data Testing & Validation Profile & Report Configuration Job Scheduling Backup Analysis Reports Figure 9: Tracking Process Analysis Analysis around the web portal data has been delivered in various ways including: Scheduled monthly newsletters which are published in corporate WIKI. Ticketing system which helps stakeholders to raise ad-hoc requests for the portal analysis. Direct Web Analytics Tool access with specific action restrictions. Specific to the capacity team mentioned above, various server performance reports were delivered which helped in assessing the input for the server load tests and in route cause analysis of poor server response times. Business and Marketing teams were provided with the user-life cycle analysis. Figure 4 provides more details in this regard. 13
Correlation Distribution Prediction Analysis Trending Testing Figure 10: Analysis Methods Optimization The Business team of Client is required to send personalized e-mails to the users based on their interest towards the content. TCS has provided content group s reports in correlation with authenticated usernames to the business team using which client is now able to send the personalized e-mail based on their interest. Client was able to serve the portal content dynamically based on the visitor segments identified. Client Benefits Improved portal performance by running effective server performance and operational readiness tests using web trends inputs. Designed effective cross selling process based on the authenticated visitor history. Optimized portal content based on internal search and help article analyses. Improved customer satisfaction by optimizing usability of application with respect to user behavior analyzed. Improved customer satisfaction by optimizing application content and reducing page not found errors. Identified top performing business units and products based on the customer feedback and target customers with personalized content and e-mails. 14
Conclusion Most of the organizations have identified Web analytics as a key to measure the success of web portals. Web analytics tool vendors and service providers realized a long way to uncover the scope of Web analytics. Vendors and service providers are showcasing the effective business cases to the portal owners to take this offering successfully into the market. References [1] Corporate s by Heidi Collins, AMACOM 2001 [2] Enterprise Knowledge s: Next-Generation Solutions for Dynamic Information Access, Better Decision Making, and Maximum Results by Heidi, AMACOM 2003 [3] Realizing the Promise of Corporate s: Leveraging Knowledge for Business Success by Jose Claudio Terra and Cindy Gordon Butterworth-Heinemann 2003 (CHI 00) (The Hague, The Netherlands, April 1-6, 2000). ACM Press, New York, NY, 2000, 526-531. [4] Lamport, L. LaTeX User s Guide and Document Reference Manual. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1986. [5] Encyclopedia of Technologies and Applications by Arthur Tatnall (ed) IGI Global 2007 [6] www.ibm.com [7] www.webtrends.com [8] http://webanalyticsdemystified.com/ 15
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