Using ClickTracks
Part 1: Getting Started
If you're just getting started with ClickTracks, you'll find
it's a very versatile tool. It presents information by
overlaying it on your actual Web pages. It also allows you to
create reports "on the fly" so that you can look at your
visitors' behaviour on your site in very different and detailed
ways.
But if analyzing Web metrics is new to you, the charts, figures
and mass of potential data can still be quite overwhelming. It's
helpful to have some starting points and questions in mind as
you study the reports so that you can find the most useful
information.
This article offers some ideas and examples to spark your
thinking:
Navigation Report
This report shows you (among other things) how many visitors
clicked on each link, and how long they spent on this page.
If you have links that receive few or no clicks:
* Is the link image or the link text too small? * Is it in a
colour that doesn't show up well or could pose problems for
visitors with visual impairments? * Is it badly placed or hard
to find on the page? * Is it too far down? - check the time
spent on the page to get an idea of whether * visitors are
reading most or all of the content. Remember that the first
screenful of the page has the best chance of being seen.
If none of the above seem true:
* Is the link text confusing - perhaps the wording is different
or not included on other pages? * Is the link not attractive or
engaging to your visitors? * Or, is the content behind the link
simply not of interest?
Links that receive many clicks:
* Should the content behind this link be highlighted even more
on your site, since it is clearly of interest?
Placements to think about:
* If you have an internal search engine on your site, is it
linked in a prominent place on each page? * Featured products or
other items - can you increase the clicks that they receive by
improving their position?
Time spent on the page:
* Does the average time on this page seem too short, especially
if the page is long? - check the number of visitors who are
exiting the site from this page. If a lot of people are spending
a short time on a page and leaving, consider splitting the
content across more pages:
* This can be especially helpful, e.g. when displaying a list of
items for purchase - showing each on a separate page allows you
to track which offerings are the most interesting to visitors,
and to highlight them better
* Shortening pages also reduces the risk that visitors will miss
items further down if they choose not to scroll
Search Report
This report shows the keywords and phrases that brought visitors
to your site, broken down by individual search engines.
Which keywords or key phrases are most effective for you:
* Which search words or phrases draw the most traffic?
* Which search words or phrases result in the most time spent on
your site? These are the visitors who are most engaged in your
content, but what were they looking for when they came to you?
* Are there any surprises? Sometimes search engines pick up
keywords from your site copy that you may not have thought of as
significant - these can be valuable information about how your
visitors describe or think about what you offer. A lot of demand
for something on your site can give you ideas for enhancing or
expanding your products and services.
Which search engines are the most effective?
* If your site is optimized for one search engine in particular,
is that engine bringing you traffic? If you're paying for search
engine optimization (other than pay per click), is your service
providing a justifiable return on investment?
* If you have very effective keywords on one search engine, can
you improve their position on others?
* Do you recognize your non search engine referrers?
* How are you linked to? Are the references to you legitimate?
Are there sites that link to you that you're not comfortable
with - either because they're not describing your site offerings
correctly, or perhaps you simply don't want to be associated
with them!
* Should you thank the referrer? Often, sites will link to you
without letting you know. If you appreciate them for doing this,
you can create an even stronger -and potentially more profitable
relationship.
For help in creating specific ClickTracks reports, see Part 2:
Labelling Options. For help in using ClickTracks to evaluate
your "must-see" pages, see Part 3 of this series.
Part 2: Labelling Options
ClickTracks allows you to segment your visitors in many ways
using the "Create Labels" tool. You create instant reports to
answer questions about the patterns of specific types of
visitor, and track their responses to your site.
Here are some ideas for using this option:
Comparing Search Engine / Non Search Engine Traffic
Visitors come to your site either from search engines, from
other sites that link to you, from e-mail marketing messages or
e-zines, or perhaps from their own bookmarks.
Use the ClickTracks "Create Labels" tool, and select "referred
from any search engine" as your criteria to track all search
engine visitors. Then, create another label using the same
criteria, but select "Inverse" to identify all the visitors not
referred from a search engine.
Now you can investigate:
Are search engine visitors more responsive to your site than
those who find you in other ways:
* Which type of visitor spends longer on the site?
* Which type of visitor is more likely to reach one of your
"goal" or "must-see" pages? (see Part 3 of this series for more
on this topic).
If you have very specific keywords, then probably search engines
will produce your most valuable traffic.
However, if you are publishing content on external sites that
link to you, visitors from these sites may be more valuable than
those from search engines, since they already know about your
products or services, maybe have read something that you've
written, and are more ready to do business with you.
Comparing Short / Long Visits
Looking at the amount of time spent on your site can give clues
as to how well it's meeting visitor expectations and engaging
their interest.
Use the ClickTracks "Create Labels" tool, and select "had a
certain session length" combined with "at most 5 seconds" as
your criteria to track people who left your site almost
immediately. Then, create another label using the same criteria,
but select "at least 60 seconds" (or your preference) to
identify all the visitors who spent some significant time on
your site.
Now you can investigate:
Which are your best performing keywords and referrers:
* Which keywords and referring sites result in long visits?
* Which result in short visits?
If you have a lot of traffic from certain keywords, but these
result in very short visit lengths, check the landing pages for
those searches (see Part 3 of this series for more on this
topic). It may be that the first page that visitors see is not
meeting their expectations, and should be modified.
If you have keywords that are very successful in generating
visitors who stay on your site, check that you've optimized them
for as many search engines as possible.
Which pages do the people who stay on your site (long visits)
see:
* Which pages engage your visitors the most? (check the time
spent on the page from the Navigation report). Then ensure that
you have appropriate calls to action on these pages to drive
your traffic to the next step, so that visitors are not leaving
from these points.
* Are these pages attracting enough traffic?
If you have pages which are clearly successful once you've got
visitors to them, are there ways to increase the number of
people who see them? Is the navigation to these pages
sufficiently attractive from other parts of your site? Should
they be better positioned?
For help in using ClickTracks to evaluate your "must-see" pages,
see Part 3 of this series.
Part 3: Evaluating Critical Pages
Landing Pages
It's important to know the exact pages of your site that the
various search engines link to for each of your major keywords
and phrases. These are called "landing pages", and are the first
pages that visitors see when they click on search results.
Landing pages are critical for initial impressions and
credibility, especially for people who are not familiar with
your business. It's also important to ensure that these pages
fulfill the visitors' expectations based on their search terms.
Use the ClickTracks "Create Labels" tool, and select "used a
certain search engine query" combined with the keyword or phrase
as your criteria to track people who came to your site with that
search.
Now you can investigate:
What are the Top Entry Pages (i.e. "Landing Pages") for this
search term:
* Is the search term included in the page content? Often,
visitors will be looking for their keywords to confirm that
they're in the right place. If your page doesn't seem relevant
to them, they'll leave.
Combine the landing page information with Top Exit Pages or
Short Visits for this term for clues as to whether your landing
page is sufficiently engaging.
Does the Landing Page drive visitors into the rest of your site:
* If you do have relevant content on the page, but visitors
still leave, could there be other reasons for their lack of
engagement?
Landing pages are also those that you link to in your e-mail
marketing messages - and again, are the first thing that the
reader sees when they click through from one of your campaigns.
Often, site owners assume that every visitor sees their home
page, which is the primary means of navigation. Your landing
pages are the first that visitors will see, so they need to act
as mini-home pages too.
Use this information about what visitors are seeking when they
arrive at your site and what their expectations may be to direct
them to other pages that will meet their needs.
Goal or "Must-See" Pages
The key pages on your site where people make decisions to buy a
product, download a sample, subscribe to your newsletter, etc
are known as "goal" or "must-see" pages. These are the places to
which you drive your traffic to in order to achieve your site
objectives.
Use the ClickTracks "Create Labels" tool, and select "visited a
certain page" combined with your goal page name as your criteria
to track people who visited that page.
Now you can investigate:
Is this page hard to find?
* Do visitors take a long time to reach this page? (check the
average time to the page from the Navigation report)
* Are there other "must-see" pages that are critical on the path
to this page? (check the "Previous Page" information in the
Navigation report)
These findings can give you ideas for improving the navigation
to, and positioning of your "Goal Page".
Does how the visitor found your site affect the success of the
"Goal Page"?
* Are there critical keyword searches or referring URL's that
generate better traffic in reaching your goal?
Combine this information with your most effective keywords data
to ensure that you're paying for the best return on investment
in generating quality traffic.
(c) Philippa Gamse. All rights reserved.