book

Web Site Measurement Hacks

Name: Web Site Measurement Hacks
Author: Eric T. Peterson
ISBN: 9780596009885

by Eric T. Peterson

August 2005

Beginner

430 pages

12h 34m

English

O'Reilly Media, Inc.

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Web Site Measurement Hacks
Copyright
Foreword
Credits
About the Author
Contributors
Acknowledgments
Preface
Why Web Site Measurement Hacks?
How This Book Is Organized

About the Use of Screenshots and Vendor Information in This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Using Code Examples
How to Contact Us
Safari Enabled
Got a Hack?
1. Web Measurement Basics
1.1. Hacks 1–13: Introduction
1.1.1. Why Measure Your Site?1.1.2. A Brief History of Web Site Measurement1.1.3. What Web Measurement Is Not1.1.4. Why Not “Web Analytics?”1.1.5. About the “Build Your Own” Hacks1.1.5.1. Requirements
1. Talk the Talk
1.2.1. Hits1.2.2. Page Views1.2.3. Visits1.2.4. Unique Visitors1.2.5. Referrers1.2.6. Tying It All Together
2. Best Practices for Web Measurement
1.3.1. Identify Your Objectives Before You Begin1.3.2. Make Sure You Have Executive Buy-In1.3.3. Build the Right Team1.3.4. Measure and Improve: The Continuous Improvement Process
3. Select the Right Vendor
1.4.1. Software1.4.2. Hosted Services1.4.3. Popular Vendors Providing Software and Services1.4.4. Tying It All Together
4. Staff for Web Measurement Success
1.5.1. Staff for Measurement Success1.5.2. Skills for a Web Data Analyst1.5.3. Finding a Web Data Analyst1.5.3.1. Put the word out that you’re looking for some serious talent.1.5.3.2. Be prepared to hire someone senior enough to be truly effective.1.5.3.3. Provide additional financial incentive based on successful attainment of goals.
5. Get to Know Your Visitors
1.6.1. Totally Anonymous Visitors1.6.2. Mostly Anonymous Visitors1.6.3. Known Visitors
6. Understand Common Data Sources
1.7.1. Problems with Web Server Logfiles1.7.2. Enter the Packet Sniffers1.7.3. JavaScript Page Tags Are Born1.7.4. Evaluating Data Sources
7. Understand Visitor Intent
1.8.1. Determining Intent Explicitly1.8.2. Determining Intent Implicitly1.8.3. Once You’ve Determined Intent, Then What?
8. Know When to Use Packet Sniffing
1.9.1. The Ugly, Ugly Details1.9.2. How to Use a Network Collector in a Switched Environment1.9.3. Using a Network Collector with Encrypted (SSL) Traffic
9. Write a Useful Web Measurement Request for Proposal (RFP)
1.10.1. Focus on Your Current Needs1.10.2. Ask Only Well-Qualified People for Input1.10.3. Send Your RFP to as Few Vendors as Possible1.10.4. Remember, Less Is More
10. Find a Free or Cheap Web Measurement Solution
1.11.1. Free Web Measurement Solutions1.11.2. Inexpensive Web Measurement Solutions
11. Use Analog to Process Logfiles
1.12.1. Analog: Where to Get It!1.12.2. How to Install Analog1.12.3. Telling Analog Where Your Logfiles Are1.12.4. Creating Basic Reports in Analog1.12.5. Running the Hack
12. Build Your Own Web Measurement Application: An Overview and Data Collection
1.13.1. Collecting the Data1.13.2. Returning the Image and Logging the Page View1.13.3. The Code1.13.4. Running the Code
13. Build Your Own RSS Tracking Application: An Overview and Data Collection
1.14.1. The Data Collection Code1.14.1.1. Tracking code to be placed into the feed or article you want to track.1.14.1.2. Tracking code to be referenced externally (the track_rss.js file).1.14.1.3. Code to parse the JavaScript into an RSS logfile (write_rss_tag.cgi).1.14.2. Running the Code1.14.3. The Results
2. Implementation and Setup
2.1. Hacks 14–36: Introduction
2.1.1. Once You’ve Selected a Vendor2.1.2. Relax, and Don’t Forget to Breathe
14. Optimize the Implementation Process
2.2.1. Know What to Collect in Advance2.2.2. Work Closely with Your Vendor2.2.3. Get the Five Most Important Reports Right Away2.2.4. Get Training, but Have the Right Expectations2.2.5. Know Who to Call
15. Improve Data Accuracy with Cookies
2.3.1. Session Cookies for Short-Term Accuracy2.3.2. Persistent Cookies for Long-Term Measurement2.3.2.1. First-party cookies.2.3.2.2. Third-party cookies.2.3.2.3. When a first-party cookie is a third-party cookie.2.3.3. Improve Accuracy with Persistent Cookies2.3.3.1. Use true first-party cookies whenever possible.2.3.3.2. Use DNS to make it look like you’re using first-party cookies.2.3.3.3. Make sure your privacy and P3P policies accurately reflect what you’re doing.
16. Know When to Use First-Party Cookies
2.4.1. The Advantage of First-Party Cookies2.4.2. Third-Party Cookies Have Their Place2.4.3. How Can I Tell If I’m Using a First- or Third-Party Cookie?
17. Alternatives to Cookies
2.5.1. Reasonable (If Not Great) Alternatives to Cookies2.5.1.1. Using the IP address.2.5.1.2. Using IP address and user agent strings.2.5.1.3. Using the authenticated username (when available).2.5.1.4. Using a session identifier (when available).2.5.2. Alternatives to Cookies for Identifying Repeat Visitors2.5.3. Tying It All Together
18. Use Macromedia Flash Local Shared Objects Instead of Cookies
2.6.1. The JavaScript Code2.6.2. The Flash ActionScript Code2.6.3. Running the Hack2.6.4. A Note About Whether This Is a Good Idea
19. Fine-Tune Your Data Collection
2.7.1. Web Server Logfiles2.7.2. JavaScript Page Tags2.7.3. Why Not Just Collect Everything?2.7.3.1. It takes time to reprocess data.2.7.3.2. There are costs associated with collection and storage.
20. Define Useful Page Names and Content Groups
2.8.1. Good Names, Bad Names, I Know You’ve Had Your Share2.8.2. Rules for Naming Pages and Content Groups
21. Understand Where Data Gets Lost
2.9.1. Data Collection Issues Common to Page Tags2.9.1.1. A page tag did not get placed in the page.2.9.1.2. The page tag doesn’t work as intended.2.9.1.3. Page tagging is your only data collection method.2.9.1.4. The visitor’s browser has JavaScript turned off.2.9.1.5. The request was blocked by security software.2.9.1.6. The information is never received by the data collector.2.9.2. Data Collection Issues Common to Web Server Logfiles2.9.2.1. The browser serves the request from the local cache.2.9.2.2. The content is served from a content distribution network (CDN).2.9.3. Knowing All This, What Should You Do?
22. Deconstruct Web Server Logfiles
2.10.1. Anatomy of a Web Server Logfile2.10.2. Types of Web Server Logfiles2.10.3. The (Occasional) Need for Translation
23. Exclude Robots and Spiders from Your Analysis
2.11.1. Strategies for Limiting the Impact of Robots and Spiders2.11.1.1. Identify known robots and spiders.2.11.1.2. Be on the lookout for new robots and spiders.2.11.1.3. Build and deploy a robots.txt file.2.11.2. Remember That Some Spiders Are Good!
24. Bust the Cache for Accuracy
2.12.1. Bust the Cache Using Document Headers2.12.2. How Cache Busting Affects the Visitor Experience2.12.3. “Unbusting” the Cache for Images and Scripts2.12.3.1. Deploy an “images never expire” policy.2.12.3.2. Use caching defaults for occasionally changing content.2.12.3.3. Consider a content distribution network (CDN) for images and code.2.12.4. The Obvious Alternative to Cache Busting
25. Use Query Strings Effectively
2.13.1. Some Common Uses for the Query String in Web Measurement2.13.1.1. Properly identifying dynamically generated pages.2.13.1.2. Identifying marketing campaign response.2.13.1.3. Collecting HTML form data for analysis.2.13.2. Putting the Query String to Work
26. Web Measurement and Visitor Privacy
2.14.1. It’s Not About the Technology, It’s About the Practices2.14.1.1. Notice.2.14.1.2. Choice.2.14.1.3. Access.2.14.1.4. Security.2.14.2. How to Assemble a Good Privacy Policy2.14.2.1. Know where you’re collecting personably identifiable information.2.14.2.2. Explain clearly and truthfully what you’re going to do with the data.2.14.2.3. Consider third-party privacy certification.2.14.2.4. Beware of the spookiness factor.2.14.3. P3P Technology2.14.4. For More Information
27. Establish a P3P Privacy Policy
2.16.1. Sounds Great, How Do I Set One Up?2.16.1.1. Step one: Create a written privacy policy.2.16.1.2. Step two: Determine which policies apply to which pages.2.16.1.3. Step three: Select a P3P policy generator.2.16.1.4. Step four: Enter the information.2.16.1.5. Step five: Create a policy reference file.2.16.1.6. Step six: Validate your policy.2.16.2. Wait, How Do I Deliver the Compact Policy?2.16.2.1. Apache Web Server.2.16.3. Consequences of Omitting a Privacy Policy2.16.3.1. The “red eye”.2.16.3.2. Visitors will wonder why you don’t care about their privacy.2.16.3.3. Eventually, the press will wonder why you don’t care.
28. Deconstruct JavaScript Page Tags
2.17.1. How Do Web Measurement Tools Use JavaScript?2.17.2. How a JavaScript Page Tag Works2.17.2.1. Step one: JavaScript in web pages is executed.2.17.2.2. Step two: JavaScript source file is requested and returned to the browser.2.17.2.3. Step three:The page tag collects data and reports back.2.17.2.4. Step four: A cookie and P3P privacy policy are returned.2.17.3. Deconstructing an Archetypical JavaScript Page Tag
29. Understand Web Bugs
2.18.1. Really, What Is a “Web Bug”2.18.2. The Consumer Mindset About Web Bugs2.18.3. Be Explicit About Your Use of Web Bugs and Beacons2.18.3.1. Ensure that your privacy policy reflects your use of page tags.2.18.3.2. Ensure that your P3P policy reflects your use of page tags.2.18.3.3. Have a good explanation ready if people complain.
30. Hack the JavaScript Document Object Model
2.19.1. Placing the Beacon2.19.2. Returning Document Information2.19.3. Finding the Browser Width2.19.4. Track Form Entry Errors2.19.5. Form Analysis–Manna from the DOM
31. Use Custom Variables Wisely
2.20.1. Uses for Custom Variables2.20.2. One-to-One Direct Marketing and Custom Variables2.20.3. Custom Variables in Action: An Example
32. Best Practices for Data Integration
2.21.1. Examples of Common Data Integrations2.21.1.1. Integrate cost data to calculate gross margin contribution.2.21.1.2. Integrate marketing cost data to determine real campaign ROI.2.21.1.3. Integrate customer registration data to drill into demographics.2.21.1.4. Integrate customer satisfaction data.2.21.1.5. Integrate data from targeted email campaigns.2.21.2. Taking Action to Integrate Non-Web Data2.21.2.1. Identify the problem you’d like to solve.2.21.2.2. Identify the sources of web and non-web data that will be required.2.21.2.3. Determine how you’re going to tie the data sources together.2.21.2.4. Integrate the data.2.21.2.5. Generate reports and take action.
33. Measure Your Intranet or Extranet
2.22.1. Justifying Return on Investment2.22.2. Measuring Content and Application Adoption2.22.3. Examining Internal Searches2.22.4. Named User Analysis2.22.5. Tying It All Together
34. Measure Your Mistakes
2.23.1. Types of Mistakes2.23.1.1. Web site is slow or fails to respond.2.23.1.2. Broken hyperlinks.2.23.1.3. Aborted page views and downloads.2.23.1.4. Client-side script errors.2.23.2. How to Measure Your Mistakes2.23.2.1. Using logfiles as a data source.2.23.2.2. Using page tags as a data source.2.23.2.3. Measuring client-side JavaScript errors.2.23.3. Investigating Your Mistakes2.23.3.1. Investigate errors in relation to traffic loads.2.23.3.2. Investigate errors in relation to web browsers.2.23.3.3. Investigate errors in relation to your servers.2.23.3.4. Investigate errors in relation to dynamic URLs.
35. Build Your Own Web Measurement Application: The Core Code
2.24.1. Parsing the Data into Sessions2.24.2. The Code2.24.3. Next Steps
36. Build Your Own RSS Tracking Application: The Core Code and Reporting
2.25.1.2.25.1.1. RSS_Article.pm.2.25.1.2. RSS_Articles.pm.2.25.1.3. RSS_Data.pm.2.25.1.4. RSS_Event.pm.2.25.1.5. RSS_Request.pm.2.25.1.6. Bringing the packages together with rss_report.pl.2.25.2. Running the Code2.25.3. The Results2.25.4. Hacking the Hack
3. Online Marketing Measurement
3.1. Hacks 37–53: Introduction
3.1.1. It’s Only Data3.1.2. ROI
37. Understand Marketing Terminology
3.2.1. Reach and Acquisition3.2.1.1. Click-though rate (CTR).3.2.1.2. Cost-per-click (CPC).3.2.1.3. Response rate.3.2.1.4. Cost-per-acquisition (CPA).3.2.2. Conversion3.2.2.1. Conversion rate.3.2.2.2. Cost-per-conversion (CPC).3.2.2.3. Revenue per visit or visitor.3.2.2.4. Order and buyer conversion rates.3.2.2.5. Return on investment (ROI).3.2.3. Retention3.2.3.1. Visitor retention rate.3.2.3.2. Lifetime value of a campaign.
38. Identify Your Business Objectives
3.3.1. Every Site Has Business Objectives3.3.2. Translate Business Objectives into Measurable Activities
39. Define Conversion Events
3.4.1. Identify Your Conversion Events3.4.1.1. Be open-minded.3.4.1.2. Don’t limit your definition to a single session.3.4.1.3. If you’re not sure how to set conversion events, consult your vendor.3.4.1.4. Make an attempt to assign a dollar value to non-revenue conversion events.3.4.2. Measure Conversion3.4.2.1. Overall conversion.3.4.2.2. Scenario conversion.3.4.3. Bringing It All Together
40. Measure Banner Advertising
3.5.1. Impressions3.5.2. Response3.5.3. Conversion3.5.4. The Measurements You Need to Make3.5.4.1. Click-through rate (CTR).3.5.4.2. Click-to-conversion rate (CTC).3.5.4.3. Cost per acquisition (CPA).3.5.5. Measuring Banner Advertising: A Checklist
41. Measure Email Marketing
3.6.1. Things That Can Be Measured3.6.1.1. Hard bounces.3.6.1.2. Tracked opens.3.6.1.3. Tracked click-through.3.6.1.4. Unsubscribes.3.6.2. The Fundamental Email Response Metrics3.6.2.1. Response rate and basic response metrics.3.6.2.2. Click-through rate.3.6.2.3. Landing page “stickiness”.3.6.2.4. Conversion events and rates.3.6.2.5. Value metrics.3.6.3. Things That Should Be Tested3.6.3.1. Format and layout.3.6.3.2. Length and tone.3.6.3.3. Date and time of delivery.3.6.3.4. Return email address.3.6.3.5. The subject line.3.6.3.6. The call to action.3.6.4. How to Put This Data to Work!
42. Measure Paid Search Engine Marketing
3.7.1. How to Identify Paid Search Traffic3.7.1.1. Low data gathering strategy.3.7.1.2. Medium data gathering strategy.3.7.1.3. Large data gathering strategy.3.7.2. Which Data Should You Be Collecting3.7.2.1. Response rate (click-through rate).3.7.2.2. Cost-per-click (CPC).3.7.2.3. Conversion rate by search engine and keyword.3.7.2.4. Revenue (or loss) by search engine and keyword.3.7.2.5. Lifetime value of visitors from paid search marketing.3.7.3. What Do You Do with the Data?3.7.3.1. Low data gathering strategy.3.7.3.2. Medium data gathering strategy.3.7.3.3. Large data gathering strategy.
43. Measure Organic Search
3.8.1. The Nature of the Problem3.8.2. The Solution3.8.3. Welcome to the World of Tracking URLs3.8.4. Tell Your Web Measurement Software to Ignore the Paid Search Traffic3.8.5. Now That I Can Tell Them Apart, What Do I Do?3.8.5.1. Cost-per-click.3.8.5.2. Conversion rate by engine and keyword.3.8.5.3. Revenue (or loss) by search engine and keyword.3.8.5.4. Lifetime value of visitors from organic search.
44. Contrast Paid Keywords Versus Actual Search Queries
3.9.1. Paid Search Visits Versus Organic Search Visits3.9.2. Paid Search Keywords Versus Actual Search Queries3.9.3. Exact Matching Versus Broad Matching3.9.4. How Can I Capture the Necessary Information and Create This Report?
45. Measure Affiliate Marketing
3.10.1. Pay for Clicks, Leads, or Revenue: Which Is Better?3.10.2. Use Web Measurement to Identify Affiliate Successes3.10.2.1. Paying for clicks? Determine your per-affiliate click-through rate.3.10.2.2. Paying for leads? Measure lead generation rates.3.10.2.3. Paying for performance? Paying commissions based on sales.3.10.2.4. Other useful metrics used to measure affiliate marketing.3.10.3. Tying It All Together
46. Use Unique Landing Pages
3.11.1. Unique Landing Pages Are Focused3.11.2. Unique Landing Pages Are Not Always Unique3.11.3. Hacking Unique Landings Pages: The Mini-Site Model3.11.4. Measuring Unique Landing Page Activity
47. Measure Content Syndicated via RSS
3.12.1. Easy Things You Can Do to Measure RSS Readership3.12.2. Hacking Your Web Measurement Tool to Track RSS3.12.2.1. Simple RSS tracking using web server logfiles.3.12.2.2. Simple RSS Tracking Using JavaScript Page Tags.3.12.3. Treat RSS Like Email or Banner Advertising
48. Segment Visitors to Understand Specific Group Activity
3.13.1. Examples of Visitor Segments3.13.2. General Requirements for Segmentation3.13.3. Defining Good Visitor Segments3.13.4. Tying It All Together
49. Measure Conversion Through Multiple Goals
3.14.1. How to Measure Conversion Through Multiple Goals3.14.1.1. Understand the capabilities of your web measurement application.3.14.1.2. Clearly identify your value events.3.14.1.3. Clearly delineate multiple value events.3.14.1.4. Decide what information is to be captured at each value event.3.14.2. Types of Calculations for Visit Conversion3.14.2.1. Calculation of conversion to one value event.3.14.2.2. Calculation of conversion to one or more value events.3.14.2.3. Calculation of conversion through more than one value event.
50. Leverage Referring Domains and URLs
3.15.1. How Referring URLs Are Typically Reported3.15.2. Common Problems with Referrers3.15.3. Using Referrers to Your Advantage
51. Calculate Click-to-Visit Drop-off
3.16.1. Make Sure Your Measurement Strategy Is Working3.16.2. The System Is Working, So Where Did the Clicks Go?3.16.2.1. Is your landing page a bandwidth hog?3.16.2.2. Is your tracking code in the optimal location (for tag-based solutions)?3.16.2.3. Is your tracking code still deployed properly (tag-based solutions)?3.16.2.4. Are you tracking page views, visits, or visitors?
52. Create Visitor Loyalty Segments
3.17.1. Use Visitor Segmentation to Measure Visitor Loyalty3.17.2. Profitable Loyalty Segmentation Strategies3.17.2.1. By media source of the visitor.3.17.2.2. By the “offer” you make to the visitor.3.17.2.3. By the advertising copy you use.3.17.2.4. By content area.3.17.2.5. By category or item of purchase.
53. Build Your Own Web Measurement Application: Marketing Data
3.18.1. The Code3.18.2. Running the Code
4. Measuring Web Site Usability
4.1. Hacks 54–67: Introduction
54. Measure the Value of Pages and Clicks
4.2.1. Measuring the Value of Clicks4.2.1.1. Link tracking.4.2.1.2. Browser overlays.4.2.2. Measuring the Value of Pages4.2.2.1. Page allocation.4.2.2.2. Page participation.4.2.3. Tying It All Together
55. Measuring Clicks the Old-Fashioned Way
4.3.1. The Code
56. Use Language to Drive Action
4.4.1. Know Your Visitors Motivations and Create Scent Trails4.4.2. Use Two Types of Hyperlinks4.4.3. Put More Effort into Copy4.4.3.1. What Matters to People Matters to Search Engines.
57. Deconstruct Time Spent on Site
4.5.1. The Basic Terms and Concepts4.5.1.1. Time spent per page.4.5.1.2. Time spent on site.4.5.1.3. Visit expiration.4.5.2. Sources of Inaccuracy When Calculating Time Spent on Site4.5.2.1. Delays due to download and rendering time.4.5.2.2. Variability in treatment of the final page in a visit.4.5.2.3. The randomness of human behavior.4.5.3. Hacking Time Spent on Site4.5.4. Assessing Page View Times4.5.4.1. Think about your pages in context.4.5.4.2. Compare page times to ideal ranges.4.5.4.3. Identify why problems occur.
58. Use the Entry, Exit, and Single-Access Page Report
4.6.1. Entry Pages4.6.1.1. Page caching.4.6.1.2. Missing page tracking tags.4.6.1.3. Expiration of visit session.4.6.2. Exit Pages4.6.3. Single-Access Pages4.6.4. Using All Three Reports Together4.6.4.1. Page “stickiness.”4.6.4.2. Ratio of page entries to exits.
59. Measure Multi-Step Processes
4.7.1. Identify the Leaks4.7.2. Analyzing Multi-Step Processes4.7.3. The Payoff
60. Measure Usability in the Checkout Process
4.8.1. Stylized Checkout Process4.8.1.1. Step one: Adding a product to the shopping cart.4.8.1.2. Step two: Logging in.4.8.1.3. Step three: Billing and shipping.4.8.1.4. Step four: Payment and confirmation.
61. Measure “Internal Campaigns”
62. Use Browser Overlays
4.10.1. Optimize Site Design4.10.2. Identify and Minimize Page Abandonment4.10.3. Optimize Multi-Step and Transactional Processes4.10.4. Engage the Previously Unengaged
63. Run Your Own Split-Path Tests
4.11.1. The Code4.11.2. Check for Test Participation: Pages and People4.11.3. Assign to a Test or Control Group4.11.4. Tag the Visitor4.11.5. Redirect Test Subjects to the Appropriate Page4.11.6. Monitor for Completion of Goals4.11.7. Running the Hack4.11.8. Hacking the Hack
64. Measure Internal Searches
4.12.1. Understanding How Visitors Search Your Site4.12.1.1. Percentage of visits using search.4.12.1.2. Searches per search visit.4.12.1.3. Percentage of exits from the search return page.4.12.1.4. Conversion of search visits to sales, leads, or other desired conversion.4.12.1.5. Average items per order for search visits versus non-search visits.4.12.1.6. Percentage of searches with no results (“zero results” searches).4.12.1.7. Percentage of searches that generate no clicked links (“zero yield” searches).4.12.1.8. Top search terms.
65. Take Advantage of “Zero Results” Internal Search Results
4.13.1. Measuring “Zero Results” Searches4.12.1.9. How to track “zero results” searches.4.13.2. Decreasing Search Failure4.13.2.1. Point your search index to the “right” information.4.13.2.2. Improve site navigation.4.13.2.3. Loosen spelling requirements.4.13.2.4. Make sure new pages are indexed correctly.4.13.2.5. Take Advantage of “Zero Results” Searches
66. Effectively Measure the “Known” Visitor
4.14.1. Identify Known Visitors4.14.2. Types of Known Visitors4.14.3. Reports That Help Build Relationships with Known Visitors4.14.3.1. Application usage/activity reports.4.14.3.2. Content consumption reports.4.14.3.3. Customer support reports.4.14.3.4. Sales analysis reports.4.14.4. Hacking Known Visitor Reporting Using Content Groups4.14.5. Tying It All Together
67. Build Your Own Web Measurement Application: Usability Data
4.15.1. The Code4.15.2. Running the Code
5. Technographics and “Demographics”
5.1. Hacks 68–80: Introduction
5.1.1. Why the “Quotes” on Demographics?
68. Measure Site Performance
5.2.1. Web Performance Measurement: The Basics5.2.2. Integrating Performance and Visitor Data Meaningfully5.2.2.1. Basic aggregate performance and availability integration.5.2.2.2. Detailed performance and availability integration.5.2.2.3. Geographically correlated performance and availability integration.
69. Measure Connection Type
5.3.1. The Code5.3.2. Running the Code5.3.3. The Results
70. Know How to Use Screen Resolution Data
5.4.1. Use Your Screen Resolutions Report5.4.2. So When Do We Switch Over?5.4.3. The Code5.4.4. Running the Code
71. Know How to Use Browser Version Information
5.5.1. Build for Your Top Five Browsers5.5.2. Pay Attention to Emerging Trends5.5.3. Monitor Internet Averages
72. Know if People Are Bookmarking Your Site
5.6.1. How to Measure Bookmarking with favicon.ico5.6.2. Hacking the Hack: Differentiate IE from Firefox Requests
73. Measure Browser Plug-ins
5.7.1. Ask the Browser5.7.2. The Code5.7.3. Hacking the Hack
74. Know Which Technographic Data to Ignore
5.8.1. Technographic Data to Use5.8.2. Technographic Data to Ignore5.8.3. Technographic Data that Depends on Your Specific Needs
75. Know How to Use Visitor Language Reports
5.9.1. Visitor Language Reporting5.9.2. How to Use Language Information5.9.3. Knowing When and How Much to Translate
76. Hacking into Page-Level Details for Language
5.10.1. The Code5.10.2. Running the Code5.10.3. The Results5.10.4. An Alternative to Hacking for Page-Level Details
77. Track Demographic Data Using Custom Variables and Visitor Segmentation
5.11.1. How to Pass Demographic Data to Your Measurement Application5.11.1.1. Pass demographic data to a server log analyzer.5.11.1.2. Pass demographic data to a client-side page tag.5.11.2. What to Do with Demographic Data Once You Get It5.11.3. Things to Keep in Mind5.11.3.1. It is usually not easy to do.5.11.3.2. It requires tremendous planning to pull off properly.5.11.3.3. Most often your sample size will not be significant.5.11.3.4. Some consumers are liars when filling out forms.5.11.3.5. Not every report is always available for every segment.5.11.3.6. Occasionally the payback is hardly worth the effort.5.11.4. Simple Demographic Segmentation
78. Track Your Geographic Visitor Distribution
5.12.1. Geographic Distribution Reports5.12.2. How Do They Do That?5.12.3. How to Really Use Geographic Distribution Data
79. Accurately Measure Downloads
5.13.1. Multiple Levels of Measurement Can Be Used to Track Downloads5.13.1.1. Mine basic HTTP requests.5.13.1.2. Mine basic HTTP requests for download completion.5.13.1.3. Compensate for download managers.
80. Build Your Own Web Measurement Application: Technographic Data
5.14.1. Installing IP::Country and Geography::Countries5.14.2. The Code5.14.3. Running the Code
6. Web Measurement and the Online Retail Model
6.1. Hacks 81–90: Introduction
81. Know How to Use Retail Analytics
6.2.1. Optimize Your Marketing Spend6.2.2. Analyze Product Placement and Look to Book6.2.3. Streamline the Checkout Funnel
82. Measure the Shopping Cart
6.3.1. Measuring Products Being Added to the Cart6.3.2. Measuring Products Being Abandoned in the Cart6.3.3. Measuring Maximum Shopping Cart Value6.3.4. Measuring What Matters in Shopping Carts6.3.5. When Is a Shopping Cart Not a Shopping Cart?6.3.5.1. The cart as a shopping list.6.3.5.2. Persistent shopping carts.
83. Measure the Checkout Process
6.4.1. Step One: Establish a Baseline6.4.2. Step Two: Diagnose Problems6.4.3. Bringing It All Together
84. Understand Frequency and Lifetime Value
6.5.1. The Limits of the “Percent Returning Visitors” Metric6.5.2. Use Frequency and Lifetime Value to Better Understand Your Visitors and Customers6.5.2.1. Frequency.6.5.2.2. Lifetime value.6.5.3. Use Frequency and Lifetime Value to Segment Your Customers6.5.4. Use Lifetime Value per Visit to Drive Action
85. Measure Potential Customer Value Using Recency and Latency
6.6.1. Recency6.6.2. Use Recency to Drive Revenue6.6.3. Latency6.6.4. Use Latency to Drive Revenue
86. Manage Lifetime Value Using the Visitor Segment Value Matrix
6.7.1. Use the Matrix to Drive Content Decisions6.7.2. Hacking the Hack
87. Use Cross-Sell Data to Sell More Products
6.8.1. Quantify the Value of Product Recommendations6.8.1.1. Step one: Track cross-sell links separately.6.8.1.2. Step two: Measure cross-sell performance.6.8.1.3. Step three: Take action.6.8.2. Data-Driven Analysis: Find the Low-Hanging Fruit6.8.2.1. Tracking cart overlap.6.8.2.2. Tracking common buyers.6.8.3. Leverage Cross-Sell Data
88. Use Geographic Segmentation to Measure Offline Marketing
6.9.1. Key Measurements6.9.2. An Example
89. Measure New and Returning Customers
6.10.1. Serve Your Own First-Party Cookie6.10.2. Have Your Application Provider Serve a First-Party Cookie for You6.10.3. Using the Information
90. Build Your Own Web Measurement Application: Commerce Data
6.11.1. The Code: Page Tag and Tag Processor6.11.2. The Code: readlog.pl6.11.3. Running the Code
7. Reporting Strategies and Key Performance Indicators
7.1. Hacks 91–100: Introduction
7.1.1. Sometimes It’s How You Say It7.1.2. Patience, Patience, Patience7.1.3. Microsoft Excel: the World’s Most Popular Analytics Application
91. Distribute Reports Wisely
7.2.1. Give the People What They Want, or Better Yet, What They Need7.2.2. Use the Same Language Your Audience Uses Whenever Possible7.2.3. A Picture Says a Thousand Words7.2.4. Ratios Are Better than Counts7.2.5. Distribute Reports Regularly
92. Know If the News Is Good
7.3.1. Comparing Your Site to Industry Standards and Competitors
93. (Don’t) Benchmark Your Site
7.4.1. The Foolproof Benchmarking Hack for Anyone7.4.2. The Only Way to Benchmark Against External Data7.4.2.1. Fireclick Index ().7.4.2.2. Coremetrics LIVEmark ().
94. Use Key Performance Indicators
7.5.1. Best Practices for Defining Key Performance Indicators7.5.1.1. Use KPIs to drive action.7.5.1.2. Present KPIs visually whenever possible.7.5.2. Use the language of the business to increase familiarity.7.5.2.1. Explain the how and why of KPIs.
95. Know the Difference Between a KPI and a Measurement
96. Key Performance Indicators for Online Retailers
7.7.1. Basic Key Performance Indicators for Online Retailers7.7.1.1. Sales per visitor.7.7.1.2. Average order value (AOV).7.7.1.3. Percent new and returning visitors.7.7.1.4. Ratio of new to returning visitors.7.7.1.5. Customer retention rate.7.7.2. Advanced Key Performance Indicators for Online Retailers7.7.2.1. Order conversion rate.7.7.2.2. Buyer conversion rate.7.7.2.3. Cart add to purchase conversion rate.7.7.2.4. Checkout-to-purchase conversion rate.7.7.2.5. Search to purchase conversion rate.7.7.2.6. New and returning visitor conversion rates.7.7.2.7. Percent of visits less than 90 seconds.7.7.3. Other Important Measurements
97. Key Performance Indicators for Advertising and Content Sites
7.8.1. Basic Key Performance Indicators for Content Sites7.8.1.1. Average pages viewed per visit.7.8.1.2. Average visits per visitor.7.8.1.3. Percent new and returning visitors.7.8.1.4. Ratio of new to returning visitors.7.8.1.5. Average time spent on site.7.8.2. Advanced Key Performance Indicators for Content Sites7.8.2.1. Percent of visits less than 90 seconds.7.8.2.2. Percent committed visits.7.8.2.3. “Stickiness” for key pages.7.8.3. Other Important Measurements
98. Key Performance Indicators for Customer Support Sites
7.9.1. Basic Key Performance Indicators for Customer Support Sites7.9.1.1. Average pages viewed per visit.7.9.1.2. Percent new and returning visitors.7.9.1.3. Average time spent on site.7.9.2. Advanced Key Performance Indicators for Customer Support Sites7.9.2.1. Percent “zero results” searches.7.9.2.2. Support satisfaction rate.7.9.2.3. Percent “zero yield” search results.7.9.2.4. Percent of visits less than 90 seconds.7.9.2.5. “Stickiness” for key pages.7.9.2.6. “Information find” conversion rate.7.9.3. Other Important Measurements
99. Key Performance Indicators for Business Sites (Lead Generation)
7.10.1. Basic Key Performance Indicators for Business Sites7.10.1.1. Lead generation conversion rate.7.10.1.2. Average visits per visitor.7.10.1.3. Percent new and returning visitors.7.10.1.4. Ratio of new to returning visitors.7.10.1.5. Average time spent on site.7.10.2. Advanced Key Performance Indicators for Business Sites7.10.2.1. Average hours to response (online inquiry).7.10.2.2. Percent of visits less than 90 seconds.7.10.2.3. Percent interested visits.7.10.2.4. Percent committed visits.7.10.2.5. “Stickiness” for key pages.7.10.3. Other Important Measurements
100. Build Your Own Web Measurement Application: Reporting
7.11.1. Running the Application7.11.2. Extending This Application7.11.2.1. Add simple visitor segmentation.7.11.2.2. Clean up duplicate page names.7.11.2.3. Improve the reporting.7.11.2.4. Add user configuration.7.11.2.5. Improve program efficiency.7.11.2.6. Add error checking.7.11.2.7. Track exits from the site.7.11.2.8. Add multi-session tracking functionality.7.11.2.9. You could get the logfile from a remote location via FTP.
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Content preview from Web Site Measurement Hacks

Measure the Shopping Cart

For online retailers, there is perhaps nothing more important than measuring visitor flow and abandonment through the shopping cart. Your use of metrics and measurement in these pages can make or break your business.

In retail web analytics, measuring the shopping cart is analogous to gazing into a crystal ball. Each visitor interaction with the shopping cart is a measurable activity that generates data useful for sales and demand forecasting, promotion planning, and shopper behavior analysis. This hack introduces measurement approaches for key shopping cart interactions and also discusses factors that can degrade the accuracy of shopping cart measurement.

Measuring Products Being Added to the Cart

Think of this interaction in terms of distinct products (line items or SKUs), item quantities, and visits or visitors. More importantly, think of each of these metrics in relative terms to arrive at meaningful conversion rates for the add-to-cart action, often termed shop action and expressed as a percentage:

Item-Based Shop Action Conversion = Items Added to Cart / Total Item Views (for a specific product)
Visit-Based Shop Action Conversion = Visit Adding Items to Cart / Total Visits
Visitor-Based Shop Action Conversion = Visitors Adding Items to Cart / Total Visitors

As an online retailer, one of your primary objectives is to drive shop action conversion through effective product selection, presentation, pricing, and messaging on availability, shipping costs, and ...

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ISBN: 0596009887Errata Page

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Web Site Measurement Hacks

by Eric T. Peterson

Measure the Shopping Cart

Measuring Products Being Added to the Cart

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
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Julian F.

Addison B.

Amir M.

Mark W.

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