SEO Step Eight Of Ten: Statistics Analysis

Alright, so we know what to use - but what are we looking for? There are some universally applicable measurements that virtually everyone should look at:

When we're using more advanced stats packages such as Google Analytics and ClickTracks we can start to further tailor the information to receive. You'll be able to see the entry and exit pages for visitors from specific engines or who came to your site after using a specific phrase. You'll be able to track the value of a visitor if you have an e-commerce site or track which visitors are contacting you most often.

When you're trying to increase your conversions you need to first understand what's going on with your site. In some cases you will be monitoring for problems, in others you'll simply be looking for missed opportunities. In the end the truth of the matter is - there is always room for improvement. No matter how well designed the site, there will always be a top exit page which means there is always testing to be done.

To give you an idea of the range of issues you will be looking for I'll take a page from Beanstalk's history. When we first started out our primary phrase was "search engine positioning" (and thus our company name) with "search engine positioning services" as one of the secondary phrases. When we hit the first page for the services-based phrase we started getting some good traffic. It took us a few more months to rank for "search engine positioning". After about a month we reviewed our stats and what did we find? Using ClickTracks I was able to specify wanting to know which visitors landed on one of our thank you pages (indicating filling out our contact form or interest in one of our services). After collecting a few weeks of data I discovered that the majority of the people who contacted us had entered with "search engine positioning services" and that not a single person who came to our site with "search engine positioning" filled out a form.

Obviously this changed the entire SEO strategy from that point on. After changing our keywords dramatically and working on increasing the traffic from keywords that would convert higher we then switched our focus to streamlining the process and working on our top exit pages. Now, our blog is a main exit and entry page but that's acceptable given that most of the visitors to the blog are there to read current news (i.e. they'll only be visiting the index page of the blog and then leaving). When we see that a services page is a main exit page however we know we need to take a good look at the page and see what we can do to get the visitor to visit more pages or communicate with us.

In another example, we were working for a client that was undergoing a complete redevelopment of their site. This time we ransacked the stats from prior to the change as well as after to understand exactly how the visitor's interaction with the site changed. As can happen, I was surprised with many of the changes and a lot of issues that I (not having gone all the way through the cart once told it was functioning) did not see coming but which a look through the stats clearly outlined. There was serious abandonment at the cart level as the final steps were made more difficult than they had previously been. The client had thought their traffic had declined however we were able to show that other than a few days' dip it held pretty steady and that it was a drop in conversions that was responsible for the drop in sales despite having a site that otherwise performed better (in regards to navigation and search functionality).

The one things that's true in every case is that you need to check your stats. You don't have to look at them every day but a weekly check is going to help make sure you always know what's going on, where your traffic is coming from and what they're doing.

If you have the patience to learn how to use the more advanced tools (and I highly recommend you do or hire someone who can) you'll get a feel for where things could be improved and where there are critical issues. With what can often be a few minor adjustments you can see significant increases in sales and the ROI from the site as a whole.

Unfortunately there is no way for me to cover all the the possible areas you would want to look at in your stats. What I've tried to do here is to give a brief outline of what you can use and the basics of what you'll be looking for and some example of how they can be useful. Unfortunately this only covers about 1% of what can really be understood about stats, the tools that can be used, and the uses for it.

Fortunately we're going to have a chance to hear from the fine folks at Enquiro next week (who will be writing part nine of this series and who will also be on the radio show with me). They will be able to discuss some different stats techniques though they will be focusing on the next step in the process - conversion optimization. Once you have your stats you need to know what to do to fix the issues you've found. Next week we'll discuss what that is.

If you take only one thing away from this article and the radio show I hope it's this - your statistics are the key to understanding your site's health and to making the most of it. They are the key to maximizing the ROI from a website and need to be reviewed regularly. If you don't know how to read your stats or what specific things mean - that's what forums, articles and the support documents for the stats program you're using are for. And if you can't find the help you need there (or just don't have the patience) - contact your SEO or contract one to help you get the understanding you need to have to make the right decisions.