As part of our comprehensive approach to our web development, we
offer a range of training. The training team is involved at the
beginning of projects to conduct focus groups, prior to roll out
with content management system user training and then during the
life of the website, to train staff members in website maintenance
and optimisation.
For the past couple of years we have been incorporating Google
Analytics into our web developments. However, what we don’t see is
every client taking up Google Analytics training, and I have been
asking myself why?
Good use of website analytics is hard work, and requires an
advanced skill set. Statistical analysis is a complex field,
requiring a good level of numeracy. Additionally, you need to have
a good grasp of web technologies and know how your analytics
solution records and presents data. It is not just a case of
turning analytics on, looking at a few numbers and then sending off
a report by email (well you can, but your email will end up in
Deleted Items).
I’ve become more puzzled by this the more I deliver Google
Analytics training courses, as I’m constantly surprised by what
delegates do not know. I think organisations do not buy analytics
training because they think they are getting the best from their
analytics (and their analyst!), when they are not. You don’t know,
what you don’t know.
Therefore, I have come up with a checklist to help you
understand if you are using your analytics well, or whether you
would benefit from training. Try the simple health check
questionnaire below (which focuses on Google Analytics, but should
help with others), and see how you score:
| Question |
Mark out of 10 |
| 1. Do you understand how your analytics tool collects the data
for your website? |
|
| 2. Do you understand what can affect the quality of the
data? |
|
| 3. Do you know if you are collecting data correctly on your
website? |
|
| 4. Do your analytics reports filter out extraneous data? |
|
| 5. Have you identified the key foundational reports created in
your analytics tool? |
|
| 6. Have you identified the key reports for your website that
align to your business objectives? |
|
| 7. Do your reports effectively communicate your findings to
business users? |
|
| 8. Is your analytics tool correctly recording campaign, event
and search traffic? |
|
| 9. Should your website have goals, and are they set up in your
analytics tool? |
|
| 10. Are you using segmentation in your reports to understand
your audiences better? |
|
| 11. Are you using benchmarking to gauge your performance
against that of your industry? |
|
| 12. Have you customised your analytics tool to use it
efficiently? |
|
| Total |
|
Clearly this is not scientific (nor sometimes is Website
Analytics!), but it should give you an insight into how you could
improve your use of website analytics. If you have found that you
are significantly ‘out of shape’, then maybe a
training course (opens new window) is the shot in the arm you
need.