Download Web Site Performance

Strategies for improving
Web site performance
Google Webmaster Tools +
Google Analytics
Marshall Breeding
Director for Innovative Technologies and Research
Vanderbilt University
http://www.librarytechnology.org/
Abstract
With the investments that libraries make in developing
websites, it is critical to constantly measure use levels,
discern patterns and trends, and spot hotspots and areas
of strengths, as well as areas that aren’t working like
you anticipated. Google Analytics, a free service offering
a very sophisticated approach to website analytics,
enables libraries to use methodologies well tuned in the
ecommerce arena such as action-oriented web
development and search engine optimization. Breeding
demonstrates how he uses Google Analytics to assist in
the management of sites such as Library Technology
Guides, the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, and
components of the Vanderbilt University Library’s web
presence.
Objective
Determine whether your web site meets
its goals
 Are there usability issues with the site?
 Are parts of the Web site invisible?
 Understand normal use patterns
 Mode of constant improvement
 Action / Goal oriented change
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Enterprise approach to analytics
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Multiplicity of Resources to track
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Web Servers
OPACS
E-Resources
Databases
Repositories
Important to track the flow of use among all the library’s
Web-based resources
Beyond the library: study flow to and from higher-level
Web sites and portals (University -> Courseware ->
Library)
Collection and Measurement
Multiple techniques
 Server logs
 Third party collection
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Web server logs
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Web servers are routinely configured to
record detailed information about each
request. Common elements include:
– File requested
– Date / time stamp
– Status code
– Request directive (get, post, head)
– Referrer (where the user came from)
– User agent (browser and platform data)
Exploiting referral data
The query string component of the referrer can
be parsed to reveal search terms and other
interesting information
 http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe
=off&q=september+11+television+archive
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– User typed “september 11 television archive” in
Google to find our site
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Important to study how users get to your site
[example: TV News Public Web queries vs
OpenWeb)
Google Analytics Data
Does not use Web server logs
 Based on data sent dynamically based on
Google Web site
 Complete URL
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– Including referral data
IP / Domain of requestor
 Aggregated patterns of use
 Personally identifiable data?
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Analysis methodology
Go beyond simply counting pages
 Identify Sessions
 Categorize users
 Determine use patterns
 Measure interest
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– Time spent on Web site
– Bounce rate
– Page overlay analysis
Move from measurement to
impact
Establish site goals
 Benchmark current use
 Implement goal oriented improvements
 Measure impact
 Repeat as needed
 (Example: enhancement of TV News
OpenWeb)
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Appropriate data filtering
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Requests from indexing bots (crawlers) can
skew statistics
Count user requests and bot requests separately
Performance monitors
Link checkers
Monitoring crawler activity is an important
component of SEO and Web site discoverability
strategies.
Note: Different analytics products may involve
different ways of counting bot traffic.
Resource Discovery
Few users begin with library Web sites
 How do users get to your site?
 Track performance of the Web site relative
to major search engines
 SEO – Search engine optimization
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Web Discovery
Web
TV News Web site
Sucessful search Terms:
“tv news” “vanderbilt tv archive”
“vanderbilt television news archive”
“news archives”
Search and Retrieval
+ e-commerce request
system
TV-NewsSearch Database
OpenWeb Strategy
Web
TV News Web site
OpenWeb
Mirror Site
Generate 805,000+
Static Pages
Search and Retrieval
+ e-commerce request
system
Successful search Terms:
All words and phrases in
TV-NewsSearch Database
TV-NewsSearch Database
Implementation Details
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Create OpenWeb mirror site
– Static Web page for each database record
– Design each page to maximize content terms
exposed to Google
– Funnel users to existing site
– Not meant to be an alternative interface
Search engine optimization
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Strategy to make your site more visible in
Internet search engines: Index > page rank
Tune site structure and page content to
maximize exposure in search engines
Systematic harvesting of pages from Web site
Use of XML Sitemap API can help
Monitor with Google Webmaster tools
Monitor with Google Analytics
Action-oriented incremental changes
Sitemap Protocol
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XML specification for systematically submitting
URLs that represent a Web site
Makes indexing more efficient but does not
affect PageRank
SiteMap interface provides utilities for
monitoring how the site has been indexed with
some analytical information on terms used to
find your Web site.
Originally proposed by Google, now used by
Yahoo, Microsoft and others
See: sitemap.org
Webmasters Tools
Submit Sitemaps
 Monitor harvesting of sitemaps
 Robots.txt
 Keyword performance
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Google Sitemap
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Details
Google Sitemap
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Sitemap Details
Google Sitemap
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Top search queries
Sitemap Protocol
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Sitemap.xml
Sitemap Protocol
Measuring Web Site Use
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Log-based tools
– Analog (basic / free)
– Web Trends
– NetTracker
– Urchin
– External perspective
– Google Analytics
Google Analytics
Free tool available for measuring Web site
use
 Based on data sent from Web server to
Google
 No personally identifiable data transmitted
 Javascript snippet added to each page
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Google Analytics
Visits
 Pageviews
 Trends over time
 Content
 Traffic sources
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Goal-oriented analytics
Define Goals
 Measure site performance through
completed goals
 Funnels
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Google Analytics
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Selection Menu
Google Analytics
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Dashboard
Google Analytics
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Visitors
Google Analytics
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Two Factors
Google Analytics
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Visitors by Country
Google Analytics
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Keywords
Google Analytics
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Referring Sites
Google Analytics
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Content by Title
Google Analytics
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Goals
Google Analytics
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Goal Conversion
Google Analytics
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Ecommerce
Questions and Discussion