Getting Results with WebTrends How to Improve Your Business with Web Analytics

1. Getting Resultswith WebTrends How to Improve Your Business with Web Analytics

2. Introducing … Web Analytics Product Manager Brian Induni Brian.Induni@netiq.com Web Analytics Product Marketing Manager Amy Duryea Amy.Duryea@netiq.com

3. Agenda • State of the Web • Today’s Challenges • Setting the Stage • 5 Key Areas to Measure • GeoPassage Case Study • Questions and Answers

4. As the Web Matures… …the Focus Shifts to ROI Pre-1997 1997 - 1999 2000 2001 Great Expectations Wake-upCall Reality Check Pioneer Days Source: Forrester Research, 2001

5. The Value of Web Analytics “It has long been said you cannot manage what you cannot measure. Nowhere is this more true than on the Web – where examining what works and what doesn’t directly influences the bottom line.” – Gartner Group, 2001 “Web Analytics: Getting Down to Business”

6. Challenges in the Market • Scalability • As data volumes increase, business analysts are becoming overwhelmed trying to understand how it all maps together. Source: Aberdeen Group, December 2000

7. Challenges in the Market • Scalability • As data volumes increase, business analysts are becoming overwhelmed trying to understand how it all maps together. • Insight-to-effort ratio • Enterprises are challenged that high-end solutions require so much effort. At the same time, entry-level solutions typically offer little in-depth reporting. Source: Aberdeen Group, December 2000

8. Challenges in the Market • Scalability • As data volumes increase, business analysts are becoming overwhelmed trying to understand how it all maps together. • Insight-to-effort ratio • Enterprises are challenged that high-end solutions require so much effort. At the same time, entry-level solutions typically offer little in-depth reporting. • Aligning the organization to the technology • Technology is only part of the solution, organizations must coordinate across departmental boundaries to be successful at utilizing web analytics to impact change. Source: Aberdeen Group, December 2000

9. Setting the Stage Quick Review of Terminology & Fundamentals

10. The Log File - Contents • IP Address or domain name of requesting user • Username (if necessary to access protected pages) • Time/date of request • Status of request (whether or not the request was successful) • The page, image, or other file that was requested • Any parameters associated with a dynamic request • The browser that requested the file* • The page and domain of the request immediately preceding the current request* • How long the server took to transfer the file • The user’s cookie and cookie parameters * Information is available when the server logs in extended file format

11. Visits (or “Sessions”) • Activity for one visitor • default 30 minutes of inactivity • also called a visit

12. 5 Key Areas to Measure

13. 5 Key Areas • Top Referrers • Content Groups • Top Paths • Technical Stats • Qualified Visits (by product)

14. #1 How are people finding your site? Gain insight into your SEO strategy * (do you have one?) • What search phrases or terms are people using to find your site? • Which search engines or directories are driving the most visitors to your site? • What sites are referring traffic to yours?

15. #1Top Search Phrases

16. #1Top Search Engines

17. #2 What content are your visitors most interested in? Gain insight into: • What specific or top pages are people accessing? • What content areas are they visiting most? • Are there areas of my site that people are interested in but are buried too deep? • What content should you consider positioning on the homepage?

18. #2Top Pages

19. #2Content Groups

20. #3 Is the navigation through your site effective? Gain insight into: • Is your navigation leading visitors to desired actions? (top paths through site) • Are they getting to the content you want them to? (top destination paths) • Where are people dropping off? (top exit pages)

21. #3Top Paths Through Site

22. #3Top Destination Paths • Forward path analysis -- Isolate a page and track where visitors go after that page • Reverse path analysis – Isolate a page and track where they came from to reach that page Where is this important? Leveraging path analysis to optimize conversion events • Check-out process • Registration process

23. #3Top Exit Pages

24. #4 Is your site optimized and free of errors? Gain insight into: • Did any visitors experience errors submitting registration or order forms? • Were there any problems with the servers? • Are any visitors experiencing the forbidden 404 ‘Page Not Found’ error?

25. #4Dynamic Page Errors

26. #4Server Load Balancing

27. #4Client Errors

28. #5 Is your site supporting your business objectives? • Are you attracting “qualified visits”? • Are you converting visitors to desired actions? • Which “products” are your visitors most interested in? • Are you increasing or decreasing conversion when you make changes to your site? Note: • A “qualified visit” is one that results in specific actions that you define. • A “product” can be any action you wish to track.

29. #5Defining Qualified Visits

30. #5 QualifiedVisitor Conversion Ratio • Conversion Formula • (Qualified visits) / (Total visits) • Understand if you’re successfully converting visitors to your desired actions

31. 15.5 $30,000.00 $61,100.00 103.6% $31,100.00 $30,000.00 $61,100.00 103.6% $31,100.00 #5Visitor Conversion: ROI Summary • ROI Formula • (Total Revenue Forecast) – (Cost this period) • Understand if your return on a specific deliverable outweighs the investment

32. GeoPassage Case Study

33. Business Overview • World wide tour company • Customizable planning and booking of travel based on customer interests • Traditional package tours • Destination • Theme www.geopassage.com http://travel.aande.com

34. GeoPassage Business Challenge • Measure the effectiveness of expensive search engine submissions and web banner advertising • Increase return visits to site • Gain a better understanding of what it takes to get visitors to convert to customers • Increase newsletter recipient base

35. GeoPassage Solution • Provide information to decision makers out of the box • Intuitive and easy to use reports • Report on dynamically generated pages • Solution for small to mid sized business with a cost-effective solution

36. GeoPassage Results – Measure effectiveness of on-line campaigns • Determined which search engines resulted in the most traffic • Measured specific words that generated the most visits • Optimized keyword selection which provided the most visits • Concentrate efforts where they have the most influence • Now a strategic tool for the marketing department

37. GeoPassage Results – Increase Return Visits to Site • Used Top Destination Paths through Site and Top Exit Page • Track route of visitors through the site • Look for strengths to be exploited • Eliminate weaknesses of path navigation • Home page was top exit page • Experiment with layout and organization • Study Most Requested Pages and Top Destination Paths • Feature top destination countries on top navigation bar • Increased return visitors by 30 percent • Removed the home page as the top exit page

38. GeoPassage Results – Convert visitors to purchasing customers • Gain a better understanding of what needs to be done to convert visitors to customers • Analyze New versus Returning Visitors to determine how many visits it takes for a visitor to book an online adventure • Typical sale is made only after the purchaser has made 4 of 5 visits to the site previously • Increase revenue by converting more visitors

39. GeoPassage Results – Increase Newsletter Recipient Base • Constant deliberation of what to feature • Examined traffic analysis reports • Most Requested pages would show what country or activity was creating the most interest • Featured most requested information in newsletter • 400 percent increase in traffic

40. “WebTrends … has proven to be a critical tool used by our marketing and IT departments, allowing us to make strategic, fact-based decisions rather than shooting in the dark. We have been able to prove return on investment (ROI) on our marketing initiatives and spend our money more wisely.” - Arturo Castellanos, System Adminstrator, GeoPassage

41. To Recap - 5 Key Areas • Top Referrers • Content Groups • Top Paths • Technical Stats • Qualified Visits (by product)

42. Questions and Answers

43. Thank you for attending How to reach WebTrends: • Brian.Induni@netiq.com • Amy.Duryea@netiq.com • Web: http://www.webtrends.com • e-mail: sales@webtrends.com • Phone: 503.294.7025 or 1-888-932-8736