Principles of Web Analytics

Barcelona Fall Institute Principles of Web Analytics Hadi Kharrazi MHI MD PhD kharrazi@jhu.edu Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health School of Medicine 1.5 hrs / ~75 slides

Overview Web Analytics Basics Basic steps of the web analytics process Web analytics data sources (server log vs page tagging) Web Analytics Definitions Building block terms Visit characterization Content characterization Conversion metrics Sample Web Analytic Platforms List of web analytics software Google Analytics PiWik Open Web Analytics 2

Web Analytics Basics

Web Analytics Basics Definition Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of web data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. Web analytics is not just a process for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool for business and market research, and to assess and improve the effectiveness of a website. Web analytics applications can also help companies measure the results of traditional print or broadcast advertising campaigns. It helps one to estimate how traffic to a website changes after the launch of a new advertising campaign. Web analytics provides information about the number of visitors to a website and the number of page views. It helps gauge traffic and popularity trends which is useful for market research. 4

Web Analytics Basics Process (cont.) Most web analytics processes down to four essential stages or steps: o Collection of data: This stage is the collection of the basic, elementary data. Usually, this data is counts of things. o Processing of data into information: This stage usually take counts and make them ratios, although there still may be some counts. The objective of this stage is to take the data and conform it into information, specifically metrics. o Developing KPI: This stage focuses on using the ratios (and counts) and infusing them with business strategies, referred to as Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Often KPIs deal with conversion aspects, but not always. o Formulating online strategy: This stage is concerned with the online goals, objectives, and standards for the organization or business. These strategies are usually related to making money, saving money, or increasing marketshare. Each stage impacts or can impact (i.e., drives) the stage preceding or following it. So, sometimes the data that is available for collection impacts the online strategy. Other times, the online strategy affects the data collected. 5

Web Analytics Basics Process (cont.) Basic Steps of Web Analytics Process 6

Web Analytics Basics Process (cont.) New perspectives in Web Analytics (2.0) 7

Web Analytics Basics Process (cont.) Mind-set evolution mandated by Web Analytics 2.0 8

Web Analytics Basics Process (cont.) The Web Analytics 2.0 Multiplicity strategy and tools 9

Web Analytics Basics Types of Web Analytics Off-site web analytics refers to web measurement and analysis regardless of whether you own or maintain a website. It includes the measurement of a website's potential audience (opportunity), share of voice (visibility), and buzz (comments) that is happening on the Internet as a whole. On-site web analytics, the most common, measure a visitor s behavior once on your website. This includes its drivers and conversions; for example, the degree to which different landing pages are associated with online purchases. This data is typically compared against key performance indicators for performance, and used to improve a website or marketing campaign's audience response. Google Analytics is the most widely used on-site web analytics service; although new tools are emerging that provide additional layers of information, including heat maps and session replay. Historically, web analytics has been used to refer to on-site visitor measurement. However, this meaning has become blurred, mainly because vendors are producing tools that span both categories. 10

Web Analytics Basics Data Sources Server Side (Website) There are two main technical ways of collecting the data: Web Server Log Files: The first and traditional method, server log file analysis, reads the log-files in which the web server records file requests by browsers. Server Logs Page Tags (JS): The second method, page tagging, uses JavaScript embedded in the webpage to make image requests to a thirdparty analytics-dedicated server, whenever a webpage is rendered by a web browser or, if desired, when a mouse click occurs. HTTP request HTML file Page Tags Cookies Client Side (Browsers) IP and GoeCode DBs 11

Web Analytics Basics Data Sources (cont.) Web Server Logs In the early 1990s, website statistics consisted primarily of counting the number of client requests (or hits) made to the web server. This was a reasonable method initially, since each website often consisted of a single HTML file. However, with the introduction of images in HTML, and websites that spanned multiple HTML files, this count became less useful. Two units of measure were introduced in the mid-1990s to gauge more accurately the amount of human activity on web servers. These were page views and visits (or sessions). A page view was defined as a request made to the web server for a page, as opposed to a graphic, while a visit was defined as a sequence of requests from a uniquely identified client that expired after a certain amount of inactivity, usually 30 minutes. The extensive use of web caches also presented a problem for log file analysis. If a person revisits a page, the second request will often be retrieved from the browser's cache, and so no request will be received by the web server. This means that the person's path through the site is lost. 12

Web Analytics Basics Data Sources (cont.) Web Server Log Format A server log is a log file (or several files) automatically created and maintained by a server consisting of a list of activities it performed. A typical example is a web server log which maintains a history of page requests. The W3C maintains a standard format (the Common Log Format) for web server log files, but other proprietary formats exist. More recent entries are typically appended to the end of the file. Information about the request, including client IP address, request date/time, page requested, HTTP code, bytes served, user agent, and referrer are typically added. This data can be combined into a single file, or separated into distinct logs, such as an access log, error log, or referrer log. However, server logs typically do not collect user-specific information. These files are usually not accessible to general Internet users, only to the webmaster or other administrative person. A statistical analysis of the server log may be used to examine traffic patterns by time of day, day of week, referrer, or user agent. 13

Web Analytics Basics Data Sources (cont.) 127.0.0.1 user-identifier frank [10/Oct/2000:13:55:36-0700] "GET /apache_pb.gif HTTP/1.0" 200 2326 o o o o o o o 127.0.0.1 is the IP address of the client (remote host) which made server request user-identifier is the RFC 1413 identity of the client frank is the userid of the person requesting the document [10/Oct/2000:13:55:36-0700] is the date, time, and time zone when the server finished processing the request, by default in strftime format %d/%b/%y:%h:%m:%s %z "GET /apache_pb.gif HTTP/1.0" is the request line from the client. The method GET, /apache_pb.gif the resource requested, and HTTP/1.0 the HTTP protocol. 200 is the HTTP status code returned to the client. 2xx is a successful response, 3xx a redirection, 4xx a client error, and 5xx a server error 2326 is the size of the object returned to the client, measured in bytes One line of a Web Server Log (Common Log Format) For the extended format see: http://www.w3.org/tr/wd-logfile.html 14

Web Analytics Basics Data Sources (cont.) Sample Web Server Log (Windows IIS) 15

Web Analytics Basics Data Sources (cont.) Web Server Logs Advantages o o o o o The web server normally already produces log files, so the raw data is already available. No changes to the website are required. The data is on the company's own servers, and is in a standard format. This makes it easy for a company to switch programs later, use several different programs, and analyze historical data with a new program. Logfiles contain information on visits from search engine spiders, which generally do not execute JavaScript on a page and are therefore not recorded by page tagging. Although these should not be reported as part of the human activity, it is useful information for search engine optimization. Logfiles require no additional DNS lookups or TCP slow starts. Thus there are no external server calls which can slow page load speeds. The web server reliably records every transaction it makes, e.g. serving PDF documents and content generated by scripts, and does not rely on the visitors' browsers cooperating. 16

Web Analytics Basics Data Sources (cont.) Page Tagging In the mid-1990s, Web counters were commonly seen these were images included in a web page that showed the number of times the image had been requested. In the late 1990s this concept evolved to include a small invisible image instead of a visible one, and, by using JavaScript, to pass along with the image request certain information about the page and the visitor. The web analytics service also manages the process of assigning a cookie to the user, which can identify them during their visit and in subsequent visits. Collecting website data using a third-party data collection server requires an additional DNS look-up by the user's computer to determine the IP address of the collection server. On occasion, delays in completing a successful or failed DNS look-ups may result in data not being collected. With the increasing popularity of Ajax-based solutions, an alternative to the invisible images is to implement a direct call back to the server from the page. 17

Web Analytics Basics Data Sources (cont.) Sample Page Tagging Script (JS) 18

Web Analytics Basics Data Sources (cont.) Page Tagging Advantages o o o o o o Counting is activated by opening the page (given that the web client runs the tag scripts), not requesting it from the server. If a page is cached, it will not be counted by the server. Cached pages can account for up to one-third of all page views. Data is gathered via a component ("tag") in the page, usually written in JavaScript or Flash. Ajax can also be used in conjunction with a server-side scripting language (such as PHP) to manipulate and (usually) store it in a database. The script may have access to additional information on the web client or on the user, not sent in the query, such as visitors' screen sizes and the price of the goods they purchased. Page tagging can report on events which do not involve a request to the web server, such as interactions within Flash movies, form completion, and mouse events. The page tagging service manages the process of assigning cookies to visitors Page tagging is available to companies who do not have access to their own web servers. 19

Web Analytics Definitions

Web Analytics Scenario Home About News Legal Blog Register Inter A Inter B Inter C Search Engines and Other Websites Confirm Success Web Directory / Map of a Hypothetical Website 21

Web Analytics Scenario (cont.) Home Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Home News Contact Register Confirm Success Google Register Confirm Success Hypothetical click paths 22

Web Analytics Scenario (cont.) Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Home News Contact Register Confirm Success Home Google Register Confirm Success Home Home Home Time start Time end User 1 User 2 User 1 User 3 User 2 User 1 User 1 Hypothetical user sessions 23

Building Block Terms Page Definition: A page is an analyst definable unit of content. Description: Most web analytics tools allow the client to specify what types of files or requests qualify as a page. Certain technologies including (but not limited to) Flash, AJAX, media files, downloads, documents, and PDFs do not follow the typical page paradigm but may be definable as pages (and their access counted as a page view) in specific tools. page Home About Blog Legal Home Contact 24

Building Block Terms Hits Definition: A request for a file from the web server. Description: Available only in log analysis. The number of hits received by a website is frequently cited to assert its popularity, but this number is extremely misleading and dramatically overestimates popularity. A single web-page typically consists of multiple (often dozens) of discrete files, each of which is counted as a hit as the page is downloaded, so the number of hits is really an arbitrary number more reflective of the complexity of individual pages on the website than the website's actual popularity. The total number of visits or page views provides a more accurate assessment of popularity. Home Home 3 hits for one page 9 hits for one page 25

Building Block Terms Page Views Definition: The number of times a page (an analyst-definable unit) was viewed. Description: Most web analytics tools allow the client to specify what types of files or requests qualify as a page. Certain technologies including (but not limited to) Flash, AJAX, media files, downloads, documents, and PDFs do not follow the typical page paradigm but may be definable as pages in specific tools. Content, such as XML feeds (RSS or Atom) and emails that can be delivered to both web browsers and non-browser clients are not typically counted as page views. Home One page view 26

Building Block Terms Visits/Sessions Definition: A visit is an interaction, by an individual, with a website consisting of one or more requests for an analyst-definable unit of content (i.e. page view ). If an individual has not taken another action (typically additional page views) on the site within a specified time period (e.g., 30 mins) the visit session will terminate. Description: Sessions are most commonly referred to as Visits. Sessions are usually a collection of requests from someone who is on your website. Different tool providers use different methodologies to track sessions. Home visit / session less than x minutes Google Register Confirm Success Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Home Time start Time end User 1 User 1 User 1 User 1 27

Building Block Terms Total Visits/Sessions Definition: Total visits is the count of all the sessions during a given time period. Description: Here s how it works: 1) If you use a JavaScript tag solution, when someone requests the first page or item from your website, then your analytics tool starts a session for that person from that browser. 2) Each additional request from that person is attached to a unique session ID. 3) When the person leaves your site, that unique session ID is used to stitch together the pages viewed into one cohesive visit. 4) When you run a report for any given period in your web analytics tools, Total Visits is the count of all the sessions during a given time period. Home Home Home Home Time start total visits/sessions Time end User 1 User 1 User 1 User 1 28

Building Block Terms Total Visits/Sessions (cont.) In most modern web analytics tools, a session, or visit, is defined as lasting from the first request to the last request. If the person simply leaves the browser open and walks away, then the session is proactively terminated after 29 minutes of inactivity. Please check with your web analytics vendor to learn what sessions are called in your tool. 29

Building Block Terms Unique Visitors Definition: The number of inferred individual people (filtered for spiders and robots), within a designated reporting timeframe, with activity consisting of one or more visits to a site. Each individual is counted only once in the unique visitor measure for the reporting period. Description: Authentication is the most accurate way to track unique visitors. Most sites do not require a user login, thus the most predominant method of identifying unique visitors is via a persistent cookie that stores and returns a unique id value. A unique visitor count is always associated with a time period (most often day, week, or month). Total unique visitors = 7 Unique = 2 Unique = 2 Unique = 2 Unique = 1 Time start User 1 User 2 User 1 User 3 User 2 User 1 User 1 User 1 User 2 User 1 User 3 User 2 User 1 User 1 Time end Total unique visitors = 3 30

Building Block Terms Unique Visitors (cont.) The deletion of cookies, whether 1st party or 3rd party, will cause unique visitors to be inflated over the actual number of people visiting the site. Users that block cookies may or may not be counted as unique visitors, and this metric is handled in different ways depending on the analytics tool used. Ask your tool provider how blocked cookies are managed in their tool. Absolute Unique Visitors is a metric as a proxy for how unique visitors should be computed correctly, regardless of the selected time period. 31

Building Block Terms New Visitor Definition: The number of Unique Visitors with activity including a first-ever Visit to a site during a reporting period. Description: Each individual is counted only once in the reporting period. A visitor can only be counted as a new visitor if it is the first time to your site. This is helpful in determining the overall loyalty and affinity of visitors to the site. Also, the new visitor behavior is helpful in determining the difference between how new and presumably unfamiliar visitors utilize a website versus the usage habits of experienced visitors. It is not possible for a Visitor be counted as both a New Visitor and Return Visitor in the same reporting period. Some tool providers may define new visitors differently. Total new visitors = 6 New = 2 New = 2 New = 1 New = 1 Time start User 1 User 2 User 1 User 3 User 1 User 1 User 3 User 1 User 2 User 1 User 3 User 1 User 1 User 3 Time end New visitors = 3 32

Building Block Terms Repeat Visitor Definition: The number of Unique Visitors with activity consisting of two or more Visits to a site during a reporting period. Description: Repeat Visitors is the measure of the amount of Visit activity during a reporting period. It is possible for a visitor to be counted as both New and Repeat or both Return and Repeat during a reporting period. It is not possible for a Visitor be counted as both New and Return in the same reporting period. For example, during a reporting period of one day, if a Visitor has their first ever visit in the morning and then a second visit in the afternoon the Visitor would be counted as New and Repeat but not Return. Total repeat visitors = 1 Repeat = 0 Repeat = 0 Repeat = 1 Repeat=0 Time start User 1 User 2 User 1 User 3 User 1 User 1 User 3 User 1 User 2 User 1 User 3 User 1 User 1 User 3 Time end Repeat visitors = 2 33

Building Block Terms Return Visitor Definition: The number of Unique Visitors with a Visit to a site during a reporting period where the Unique Visitor also Visited the site prior to the reporting period. Description: Each individual is counted only once in the reporting period. The return visitor metric, when compared with the new visitor metric, is helpful in determining the overall loyalty and affinity of visitors to the site being analyzed. It is not possible for a Visitor be counted as both a New Visitor and Return Visitor in the same reporting period. Total return visitors = 3 NA Return = 1 Return = 1 Return=1 Time start User 1 User 2 User 1 User 3 User 1 User 3 User 1 User 2 User 1 User 3 User 1 User 3 Time end NA Return visitors = 1 34

Visit Characterization Page Definition: The first page of a visit. Description: page is the first page in the visit regardless of how the sessions are calculated; different sessionization methods may give different results. page is typically presented as a list of URLs or their page titles, showing the top entry pages and the number of visits for which each was an entry. Because each visit contains at least one page, the total number of entry pages equals the total number of visits for any given time frame. page should not be equated or confused with landing page. Home = 6; Register = 1; Others = 0 Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Home News Contact Register Confirm Success Home Google Register Confirm Success Time start Home Home Home Time end 35

Visit Characterization Landing Page Definition: A page intended to identify the beginning of the user experience resulting from a defined marketing effort. Description: Landing pages are often optimized for specific keywords, audiences, or calls to action. A landing page is not necessarily an entry page although it could be. A useful metric may be number of landing pages per session which indicates the degree that visitors move on and off a website. Typically Landing Page is used in on-line marketing channels to describe the call to action of an advertisement. In some situations, it may be appropriate to limit landing pages to only those pages with an external referrer. Register = 1; No other landing page Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Home News Contact Register Confirm Success Home Google Register Confirm Success Time start Home Home Home Time end 36

Visit Characterization Page Definition: The last page on a site accessed during a visit, signifying the end of a visit/session. Description: In a tabbed or multi-window browser environment it should still be the final page accessed that is recorded as the Page though it cannot be definitively known that this was the last page the visitor viewed. Because each visit contains at least one page, the total number of exit pages equals the total number of completed visits for any given time frame. The use of cookies to track visit sessions or another reliable visit session method is necessary to accurately track this measure. Home = 4; Success = 2; Contact = 1; Others = 0 Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Home News Contact Register Confirm Success Home Google Register Confirm Success Time start Home Home Home Time end 37

Visit Characterization Visit Duration Definition: The length of time in a session. Calculation is typically the timestamp of the last activity in the session minus the timestamp of the first activity of the session. Description: When there is only one piece of activity in a session (a single-page visit or single-event visit), no visit duration is typically reported. 2 min 1 min 9 min 1 min 1 min 3 min 00:00 00:02 00:03 00:12 00:13 00:14 00:17 Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Total visit duration for this session = 17 min 38

Visit Characterization Referrer Definition: The referrer is the page URL that originally generated the request for the current page view or object. Description: The referrer is a field in the request header from a client. Most of the time the referrer is the value of this field. Also the original link may be redirected to another URL one or more times. Typically the redirecting server will maintain the original referrer so that rendered page will have the referrer URL of the page that started the sequence of requests. Each hit to a website has a referrer. However there are several situations where the referrer value is empty or null. Some user agents such as email clients or news readers may not set the referrer value in the request header. For browser user-agents, an empty referral string usually indicates that the user either directly entered the URL or selected from a list of bookmarks. These are often reported as "No Referrer". In the case when the visitor is coming from outside the website, the referrer value is the only way of determining where the visitor came from or who referred the visitor to the website. Furthermore the referrer URL may be accompanied by parameters that convey additional important information (e.g., keywords). Specific Referrer Types: Internal Referrer, External Referrer, Search Referrer, Visit Referrer (first referrer in a visit), Original Referrer (first referrer in the first visit) 39

Visit Characterization Referrer (cont.) Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Internal Referrer: Home = 2; About = 1; Blog = 1; Legal = 1; Contact = 0 Another site Home About Blog Legal Home Contact External Referrer: Another site Google Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Search Referrer: Google 40

Visit Characterization Click-through Definition: Number of times a link was clicked by a visitor. Description: Click-throughs are typically associated with advertising activities, whether external or internal to the site. Note that click-throughs measured on the sending side (as reported by your ad server, for example) and on the receiving side (as reported by your web analytics tool) often do not match. Minor discrepancies are normal, but large discrepancies may require investigation. Click-through Rate/Ratio: The number of click-throughs for a specific link divided by the number of times that link was viewed. Another site Home Home Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Google Register Confirm Success Home News Contact Register Confirm Success 41

Content Characterization Page Ratio Definition: Number of exits from a page divided by total number of page views of it. Description: Page exit ratio should not be confused with bounce rate, which is an indicator of single-page-view visits on your site. Page exit ratio applies to all visits regardless of length. Be aware that some tools may calculate page exit ratio using visits in the denominator instead of page views. Page view count is a more appropriate denominator because a visitor may travel through the same page multiple times in a visit. On paper, this metric is supposed to show the leakage from your website. Home = 4/7 = 57%; Contact = 1/2 = 50%; Success = 2/2 = 100%; Others = 0/x = 0% Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Home News Contact Register Confirm Success Home Google Register Confirm Success Time start Home Home Home Time end 42

Content Characterization Single Page Visits Definition: Visits that consist of one page regardless of the number of times the page was viewed. Description: For a single-page visit, the entry page and exit page are the same page. Single-page visits should not be equated or confused with single page view visits. Home Home = 1 Home Home Home Home = 1 43

Content Characterization Single Page View Visits (Bounces) Definition: Visits that consist of one page-view. Description: Just as for a single-page visit, the entry page and exit page are the same page. Single page view visits should not be equated or confused with single page visits. Home Home = 1 Home Home Home Home = 0 44

Content Characterization Bounce Rate Definition: Single page view visits divided by entry pages. Description: If bounce rate is being calculated for a specific page, then it is the number of times that page was a single page view visit divided by the number of times that page was an entry. If bounce rate is calculated for a group of pages, then it is the number of times pages in that group was a single page view visit divided by the number of times pages in that group were entry pages. Measure Bounce Rate for your search keywords (paid and organic). Perhaps you are optimized for the wrong keywords, or perhaps your landing pages stink; either way, you need to fix them. Home = 4/6 = 66%; Register = 0/1 = 0%; Others = 0/x = 0% Home About Blog Legal Home Contact Home News Contact Register Confirm Success Home Google Register Confirm Success Time start Home Home Home Time end 45

Content Characterization Bounce Rate (cont.) Blogs are a unique beast amongst online experiences: people mostly come only to read your latest post. They ll read it, and then they ll leave. Your bounce rates will be high because of how that metric is computed, and in this scenario that is OK. So, don t measure the Bounce Rate for a blog in aggregate. Segment your data, and measure Bounce Rate for your New Visitors. You don t want them to just come and leave after reading the post. You want them to subscribe to your RSS feed. (That s one click! No bounce!) You want them to read your About page (and be impressed with your magnificence and come to the site again). You want them to click ads (heavens!), and so on. All these actions are of business value to you. 46

Conversion Metrics Event Definition: Any logged or recorded action that has a specific date and time assigned to it by either the browser or server. Description: The occurrence of an event can be counted in three ways: (1) Event Each occurrence of the event is counted. (2) Visit Each visit where the event occurs at least once is counted. (3) Visitor Each unique visitor that executed the event at least once is counted. These counts are always associated within designated reporting timeframes such as an hour, day, week or month. These counts can be performed for any event. These can be page views, page events such as page load and unload, starting and completing transactions, clicks, ad impressions, and visitor state changes. These counts can also be applied to any conversion, since conversions are a type of event. When event counts are displayed, the report must make clear the method of counting (Event, Visit, or Visitor) and the time interval of the count aggregate. When all three count methods are displayed for the same time period, it should always be true that event count >= visit count >= visitor count. The differences in the counts reflect that an event can occur multiple times within a visit and a visitor can have multiple visits within a given time period. 47

Conversion Metrics Conversion Definition: A visitor completing a target action (outcome). Description: This is a method of segmenting behavior as visitors interact with a web property. The event represents a transition in the visitor state that may indicate 1) potential for future behavior such as clicking on an advertisement or registering for more information; or 2) completion of a goal milestone event such as completing a purchase on-line. The latter (2) are sometimes designated as target or goal conversions, and the former (1) are sometimes referred to as step, support, mini, or micro conversions. A conversion can be viewed and counted as any other event. In addition, conversions provide a general framework for segmenting visits or visitors and attributing various marketing activity and visitor actions to these segments. They provide the marketer an additional tool for segmenting visitors other than demographics. In practice the two approaches work together to understand the visitor and their on and off line behavior with respect to various marketing activities. The best conversions indicate that a visitor has successfully completed an objective of the site or business. Conversion Rate, expressed as a percentage, is defined as Outcomes divided by Unique Visitors (or Visits). Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): is a metric that helps you understand how you are doing against your objectives. 48

Conversion Metrics Conversion (cont.) 49

Conversion Metrics Cohorts Definition: Cohorts are groups of customers that have a common characteristic within a specified time period, usually day, week, or month. Preceding concepts, like segmentation or simple data events, can be used to define cohorts, but a common cohort characteristic is the date a person started using a product. Description: Cohort analysis is helpful in tracking two important product metrics at a high-level: engagement and retention. Pairing a useful cohort characteristic, like start date, with one of your key performance indicator metrics is a powerful way to make sure each new cohort group is staying engaged. 50

Conversion Metrics User Behaviors The difference between accuracy and precision 51

Conversion Metrics User Behaviors (cont.) Nonlinear customer behavior scenarios 52

Conversion Metrics User Behaviors (cont.) How automated behavior targeting works 53

Conversion Metrics User Behaviors (cont.) Offline marketing controlled experiment 54

Conversion Metrics User Behaviors (cont.) Multitouch campaign exposures prior to Conversion 55

Conversion Metrics User Behaviors (cont.) Click-path Analysis 56

Sample Web Analytics Platforms

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Self-hosted Free / Open Source Web Analytics Software https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_web_analytics_software 58

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Self-hosted (cont.) Proprietary Web Analytics Software https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_web_analytics_software 59

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Software as a Service (SaaS) Hosted Web Analytics Services https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_web_analytics_software 60

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Google Analytics Google Analytics is a freemium web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google launched the service in November 2005 after acquiring Urchin. Google Analytics is now the most widely used web analytics service on the Internet. Google Analytics is offered also in two additional versions: a subscription based Google Analytics Premium targeted at enterprise users and Google Analytics for Mobile Apps, an SDK that gathers usage data from ios and Android Apps. The newer version of Google Analytics tracking code is known as the asynchronous tracking code, which is significantly more sensitive and accurate, and is able to track even very short activities on the website. Google Analytics' approach is to show high-level, dashboard-type data for the casual user, and more in-depth data further into the report set. Google Analytics analysis can identify poorly performing pages with techniques such as funnel visualization. www.google.com/analytics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/google_analytics

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Google Analytics (cont.) Google Analytics - Functions

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Google Analytics (cont.) New Users Users Sessions Session by Browser Avg. Session Duration Bounce Rate Goal Completion Revenue Google Analytics - Dashboard

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Google Analytics (cont.) Google Analytics - Dashboard

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Google Analytics (cont.) Google Analytics Real-time Analysis

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Google Analytics (cont.) Google Analytics Mobile App

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Google Analytics (cont.) Google Analytics Path Analysis

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Piwik Piwik is a free and open source web analytics application written by a team of international developers that runs on a PHP/MySQL webserver. Piwik was released in late 2007 as a replacement for phpmyvisites, with full API support, a cleaner UI, modern graphs, better architecture and better performance. Piwik tracks online visits to one or more websites and displays reports on these visits for analysis. As of September 2015, Piwik was used by nearly 900 thousand websites, or 1.3% of all websites, and has been translated to more than 45 languages. New versions are regularly released every few weeks. The developers of Piwik offers commercial services including yearly support plans, training, managed hosting and general Piwik-related consulting (for installation, system configuration and maintenance, scaling and custom development). http://piwik.org http://demo.piwik.org https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/piwik

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Piwik (cont.) Piwik Analytics Dashboard

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Piwik (cont.) Piwik Analytics Visitor

Sample Web Analytics Platforms Piwik (cont.) Piwik Analytics Referrers

Sample Web Analytics Platforms OWA Open Web Analytics (OWA) is open source web analytics software written in PHP that uses a MySQL database, which makes it compatible for running with an AMP solution stack on various web servers. OWA is comparable to Google Analytics, though OWA is server software anyone can install and run on their own host, while Google Analytics is a software service offered by Google. OWA supports tracking with WordPress and MediaWiki, two popular web site frameworks. OWA provides tracking of and observing the influx of views on websites in addition to tracking competitors. www.openwebanalytics.com http://demo.openwebanalytics.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/open_web_analytics

Sample Web Analytics Platforms OWA (cont.) OWA Dashboard

Sample Web Analytics Platforms OWA (cont.) OWA Heat Map Analysis

Resources Books Title Web Analytics 2.0 Authors Avinash Kaushik Year 2010 Hardcover Yes Publisher Wiley Publishing Language English ISBN 978-0-470-52939-3 75

Resources Web Websites: DAA: http://www.digitalanalyticsassociation.org/ Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/web_analytics Google Analytics: www.google.com/analytics Piwik: www.piwik.org OWA: www.openwebanalytics.com Educational: Web Analytics 2.0: http://www.amazon.com/web-analytics-2-0-accountability- Centricity/dp/0470529393 Web Analytics an Hour a Day: http://www.amazon.com/web-analytics-an-hour- Day/dp/0470130652 Web Analytics Demystified: http://www.amazon.com/web-analytics-demystified-marketers- Understanding/dp/0974358428 Basics of Web Analytics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lfnoyu0zxa Google Analytics 101: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzmp_btpbsi 76

Summary Web Analytics Basics Basic steps of the web analytics process Web analytics data sources (server log vs page tagging) Web Analytics Definitions Building block terms Visit characterization Content characterization Conversion metrics Sample Web Analytic Platforms List of web analytics software Google Analytics PiWik Open Web Analytics 77