1. Web Analytics for Recruitment Success Robert E. Johnson, Ph.D. 2010 Marketing to Adult Students Education Dynamics Aslanian Conferences Chicago, IllinoisJune 3-4 , 2010

2. The first imperative Dont drown in data 3. The second imperative Know what to ask for 4. The third imperative Filter out internal traffic 5. When you start stats, stats, stats 6. Dont bother with screen resolutions 7. Or different browser versions 8. Marketing director must set priority

(1) The beat reporter approach

• Follow everything happening, all the time

(2) The investigative reporter approach

• Whats important to know? Why is that the case?

Marketing director as news editor:

• Assign the story to watch

• • • Melissa Burdon,http://www.grokdotcom.com/2008/04/30/web-analytics-report/

Select most important or need to know items from everything thats possible.

9. Key metrics recommended

Page views

• We buck the myth that page views are a dead metric forkey pagesthat feed our conversion funnel.

• REJ note: watch trends over time

Average time on a page

• If you have a 3 minute video on a page, and users are spending only 15 seconds on it, you might consider improving it.

10. Key metrics recommended

Browser compatibility every 6 months

• We are starting to notice more mobile browsers (iPhone, blackberry, etc) so this is a trend to watch.It will require a mobile web strategy eventually.

• • First noted in 2008

Even more important in 2010 and 2011

• • Mobile access is growing but not yet dominant

• • Gather facts for future resource allocation

11. Key metrics recommended

Trend over time or compare periods

• Analytics most valuable for trends

• Dont obsess on daily or weekly stats unless tracking a specific campaign

New visitors

• Landing pages where they start

• Bounce rate from the landing pages

• Navigation

12. Important first marketing metrics: New visitors and the bounce rate

Bounce rate

• Percent of new visitors who left an entry page (i.e., home page or other landing page) without going anywhere else on your website.

Good bounce rate

• Under 35%

• 20% is superlative

13. Set to report New Visitors 14. Where do new visitors start? 15. What did they do after arriving? 16. Search can influence entry pages

Undergraduate

Graduate

Departments

Schools & Colleges

Athletics

Human Resources

Faculty Central

Degree Programs

And a search box

17. Track interest in degree programs 18. What does a marketer need to know? At the start, best to focus on a few elements 19. Set goals

Your web marketing goals might include

• Watching a video

• Reading a blog

• Taking an online campus tour

• Completing an inquiry form

• Registering for a campus program

• Subscribing to a newsletter

• Applying for admission

20. Set analytics for your recruitment pages

For access to results for admissions and recruitment pages.

Ask IT to set your analytics to only report your pages.

Access this yourself or ask for regular reports.

21. Filter out internal use in your reports

Data on internal use is always there.

After you set the filter, youll never see it.

Get internal use out of your marketing information.

22. What marketing info from this page? http://www.worldcampus.psu.edu/iMBA.shtml 23. Lets make a list

How did visitors get here?

How many were new?

What did they do?

• Watch the video

• Print the page

• Email to someone

• Follow a link?

• • Online MBA curriculum

• • Integrates content

• • Residence experiences

Take an action?

• Read FAQs

• Ask for information

• Apply for admission

24. Start at the dashboard page 25. How did the visitors get here?

Direct traffic

• Typed .edu address or print/radio/email

Referring sites

• People online elsewhere who linked from other websites, including Twitter

Search

• Importance of organic search to your traffic

• Or paid campaigns

26. What keywords did they use to search?

Review top keywords for possible later use in

• Online advertising

• Print and radio advertising

• Billboards

27. Reporting features vary

Date range feature

Compare two metrics at the same time

Line chart, pie chart, bar chart

Email and export capability (PDF to print)

28. More Key Performance Indicators (KPI) 29. Start tracking for mobile access

Will grow in 2010 and 2011

• How fast isnt clear

Test your site from the devices people are using

Objective data for site design resources

Track monthly

30. Where do your visitors live? Distance learning? International recruitment? 31. Popularity of individual web pages

What pages are visited most often?

• How long do people stay on them?

• Do they exit from these pages or move to other pages?

Identify pages youd like people to visit that are being ignored

32. Trend data for average time on site

Average time on site is 1.06 minutes

Is this good or bad?

• Depends on why they visited

• These visits were to see Link of the Week page

• Read and link away

33. What happens with your own search?

Marketing research

• What do people look for on your site?

• What words do they use to find it?

• Does your search give the right answer?

• Are your Quick Links accurate?

Need special tech help to set this up

34. The proverbial summary

Pick a few key points to follow at the start

• Make sure they include the bounce rate for new visitors

• Consider pages most often visited and time spent

Monitor what people are doing with site search

Filter out internal users

Track monthly and watch trends

Attention to access from mobile browsers

35. Getting up to speed and staying there Recommendations from the brain trust 36. An informal brain trust Without responsibility for this presentation

Notes and experiences shared by

• Bates College

• • Jay Collier, Web Communications Manager

• Juniata College

• • Gabe Welsch, Assistant Vice President of Marketing

• • Rick Stutz, Coordinator of E-Communications

• St. Edwards University

• • Carmella Manges, Director of E-marketing

• University of Missouri

• • Lori Croy, Director of Web Communications

• University of Richmond

• • Eric Palmer, Director of Web Services

37. Especially for Google Analytics http://www.google.com/support/conversionuniversity/?hl=en 38. Buy this book first 39. A book to continue Make sure you get 2 ndedition 40. For ongoing reading http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/ ... http://analytics.blogspot.com/ 41. Glossary for reference http://www.webtrends.com/Education/Glossary.aspx#b 42. Professional association http://www.webanalyticsassociation.org/ 43. Thank You! Bob Johnson, Ph.D. President Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC Marshall, MI 49068248.766.6425[email_address] Customer Carewords Website Researchwww.bobjohnsonconsulting.com