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Web Stats Revisited. New Tools to Track Usage Phil Dickerson NAQC 2009. Find out what people have been doing on your web site Phil Dickerson, US EPA. Oh so 2005 …. The plot. Desperate air quality information seekers converge on AIRNow.gov Will they find the information they need?
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Web Stats Revisited New Tools to Track Usage Phil Dickerson NAQC 2009
Find out what people have been doing on your web site Phil Dickerson, US EPA Oh so 2005…
The plot • Desperate air quality information seekers converge on AIRNow.gov • Will they find the information they need? • Do we really know what they want? • How can we peek from behind the curtains of AIRNow and see what they’re up to? • Can we keep AIRNow from being pulled from the fall lineup?
Web Analytics to the Rescue • Back in 2005, I sang the virtues of “web log analysis” • Analysis is all grown up now and has become analytics • Analytics comes at the problem from a different direction • Analysis was after the fact, using logs that recorded actions after they occurred • Analytics allows us to capture actions as they occur, and the snippets can access more transaction data
An analogy. . . • Imagine a hardware store . . . • Web log analysis would be like taking inventory at the end of the month – how many bolts, nails, and plungers were sold • Web analytics would be like following the customer around the store – observing what he or she looked at AND what they bought, as well as how long they took to find what they needed.
What Analytics Can Tell Us • Analytics uses a “code snippet” that invisibly triggers each time a page is viewed. In addition to the “usual stuff”, i.e. domain, referring site, search terms, etc., analytics gets: • Where on the screen the click happened! • Time elapsed between clicks • The users’ window size • Much, much, more…
OK, Phil, I’m ready to order! • But wait just a minute, there’s more! • There are free, yes FREE, analytics packages, i.e. Google Analytics • The AIRNow team has purchased a product called “Crazy Egg” • I will demo the reports momentarily
My epiphany. . . • The very first time we ran a Crazy Egg report we saw: • Hot spots on the Outlook Map around North Carolina • During the June fire event! • Users must have been trying to get info on NC air quality
Live Demonstration • http://airnow-reports.reportsection.com/
So, practically, what can we do? • The AIRNow website redesign feedback loop • While not directly involving users, analytics represent them • The roles remain the same, but we have better information to drive the process
Wrapping up… • Analytics packages bring new possibilities • The feedback loop for web design • Better click experience, fewer desperate mouseclicks • Ability to “test” our design theories – did we really drive the users to the products? • More efficient use of dwindling IT resources • Knowing more about the customers’ habits without actually surveying them
What you can do • Ask your IT folks about analytics and encourage them to take a look • Adopt a web-design feedback loop methodology • As AIRNow partners, use our reports to see how we are driving your constituents • Perhaps do a few pilot projects? • Prevent your users from suffering “Desperate Mouseclicks”