Web Analytics: Transforming Numbers to Improve Usability
Does your website has the capability to measure its usability that converts visits into sales?
To compete with stiff competition in 2014, you need to have that strong desire to convert visits into good conversion rates. One essential factor is the usability of your website. You can monitor and check website usability. To check and evaluate your existing site usability is to identify and develop goals and standards you will need to be successful in your online business.
There are main fields where you can evaluate your website’s usability, namely web analytics, conversion rates, and Split tests (A/B). This article comes in three parts so that every factor to assess usability is explained.
Profiling Web Analytics
Web analytics refers to simple code that tallies and shows the number of visitors that a website is getting. There are advanced form of web analytics that can monitor the number of the unique IP addresses of visitors, sums up the number of views received by each web page, itemize the results by hours and days, identifies the countries or local areas the visitors are coming from, the type of browsers and OS the visitors are using, and the links or search engine keywords they are using to land to a particular website.
Web analytics are essential for those businesses with websites who want to monitor who are visiting their websites and how they have reached the site. Wise website owners place interesting and meaningful web pages with relevant keywords which score well in search engines like Google. Looking in this blog, you will find that relevant keyword is repeated consistently, but not in a way that can irritate Google and viewers. This blog has relevant keyword “web analytics.”
It was late 2005 when Google Analytics joined the web analytics field. Its services are incorporated with Google Adwords. AdWords are small ads that you can see on the right part of the screen when you look for a relevant keyword. Google charges the website for every “click” from the AdWord ads. Thus, the site should be certain that every “click” is beneficial.
Website owners want the type of visitors who will remain in their sites for reasonable time, views their pages, and add their websites in their favorite lists so that they can easily return when they want to. These are the kind of visitors that the web owners want. There are advanced types of web analytics tools that collect data about RSS feeds, watching videos; create different scatterplots, also known as scattergraphs, about visitor stats, and do other relevant functions.
How does web analytics work?
Every time you view your web analytics, remember that there are rarely “correct” responses. Concentrating on the absolute value can either confuses you or makes you feel odd. Websites differ and you have to understand your own website. We suggest that you concentrate on how to improve numbers and how to determine the reason for every number that you see.
These are useful tips to know some metrics that respond to issues of usability of your website:
Visits against Pages – One of the signs to usability of your website is when visitors stay on your site at reasonable time to view what you can offer them. They are impatient and hasty and this is the biggest challenge of the website’s usability. Checking on the average pages for every visit is a good way to determine if most of your visitors stay. It is not an issue of what definitely the “good number.” When most of your visitors reach your home page and view two to three more pages for every, then, that is already great enough!
Time Spent on the Site – Take note of the time spent by your visitors because it will provide you an idea if the experience of your visitors are positive and meaningful. This means that the more visitors spend more time on your website the better, particularly if this is an online business site.
Bounce Rate – Your site’s bounce rate will show you the number visitors leave right away after reaching your web page. Of course, no business owners ever want bounce rate. But you need to identify and understand the factors that contribute the bounce rate of your site. If there are plenty of visitors that land on your website but leave right away, this may indicate that you some usability problems. Or, you may have advertising campaigns or search engine results that defy the expectations of the web surfers. To drop your bounce rate, it is essential that the expectations and interests that are in your ads will match and blend with your visitors.
Exit Pages – These pages identify whether your website has some trouble areas. However, most of the web analytics have features that can give you information on the areas or web pages your visitors are leaving. Check on the unnatural exit points or if visitors leave at main entry point such as your home page. When there are a lot of visitors leave on the second page of your site like your online shopping cart, you may have some usability issues. Look and resolve these issues before it can have major effect on your online business.
Are you seeing differently on the numbers of your web analytics now? That is good because you will be able to know what areas you need to improve and enhance that can give boost to your website. Do not frantic when you see some numbers that indicate some issues. Concentrate on the general picture of how your website is working in terms of usability. Website usability refers to a continuing process of optimisation and the statistics you are getting can be your benchmark where you should begin improving and ensure success.