Posted 1/13/2011
By Angie Kilbourne, AAM

Web Wise: Exploring Website Analytics, Part 1

We get a lot of questions about how to improve website traffic, but many times, the person inquiring doesn't know the site's current analytics stats. In our opinion, you can't improve something you're not measuring.

So let's spend some time over the coming year looking at some of the information-rich reports you can get from your website's analytics program and what you can do with that data. (Refer to the May 2010 Net Worth if you need a refresher on analytics terminology.)

1. Examining Traffic by Reporting Dates: Many analytics programs will, by default, show you the last 30 days of activity on your site. This is always nice information, but it's better to review the information for a specific time period - a calendar month or a series of calendar months to compare data. Your program should provide you with the means to create custom reports based on specific reporting dates.

2. Discovering Traffic Sources: Your software should be able to provide you an in-depth view of where visitors are coming from. This parameter gives you a breakdown by percentage of the external websites that are referring visitors as well as "direct traffic," which indicates the person knew your URL and typed it in directly to his or her browser address bar. If you find a particular site is referring a lot of visitors, investigate what prompted them and use that to build traffic from the other external sources.

3. Keywords and Phrases: The keywords and key phrases used by your visitors in search engines to reach your site are a jackpot of information. This data gives you a clear snapshot of a visitor's needs, allowing you to begin customizing your content to capitalize on what is bringing people there.

4. Content and Pages: These reports provide stats on your visitors' favorite pages, as well as the top entrance pages (what page they landed on when arriving at your site) and exit pages (the last page they viewed before leaving). There are more pages providing depth to this information, and we'll talk about that in the next edition.

ASA Web Ways: Find Local Media Outlets

A few months ago, we reminded you about the ASA PR Kit, available to members in the Members Only section of ASAshop.org. Now that you have your press release ready, it's time to distribute it to local media. But do you know how to reach them? Let ASA help you. Visit the TakingTheHill.com website's Press Center and select "Find Local Media Outlets." Simply input your ZIP code, and you'll get a full list of local media outlets, as well as national ones if you wish.