Just when Google Analytics became the nearly unanimous single source of web analytics for higher education, new tools came around. Google launched their own new tools — Universal Analytics was released this year and Google Tag Manager launched a couple of years ago. We also have Google Webmaster Tools. Add in Facebook Insights, YouTube Analytics and Twitter Analytics and suddenly the analytics landscape isn’t so simple anymore. Where do web communicators on campuses start with all of this?
The unique mix of technology, marketing, and communications strategy make analytics a difficult fit for any one person’s job description on campus. We hear from many clients who have Google Analytics installed, and have used it to answer basic questions about overall traffic to the website, that they haven’t had the time to fully understand the tools or do enough planning to get focused results on the objectives that matter to them. We think a little bit of dedicated time spent understanding the tools available, considering the approach to business objectives and key performance indicators that matter, and seeing some real world examples can go a long way in advancing the cause of data-driven website improvement.
Next week, Patrick Powers and I will kick off the first of three webinars focused on analytics. We’ll start with the basics — what the tools are and how to approach analytics to make it meaningful. While it sounds simple, taking a step back to understand the tools and plan for how to use them is the best first step for folks who have limited time to devote to analytics.
We will advance to our Intermediate Google Analytics webinar two weeks later, during which we will show some examples from higher education of ways to get focused information from the tools, and take a closer look at Google Tag Manager and Google Webmaster Tools. Finally, our guest presenter Nick DeNardis of Wayne State University will present Making Smart Decisions Using Web Analytics, including his insights on a host of real world techniques he uses to improve his University’s website every day.
Greg Zguta Director of Web Strategy I've been working on education web projects since the late 90's and enjoy visiting campuses and watching how technology has transformed higher education since I got my first email account at Oberlin College in 1992. Back then, I mostly used the web to check weather radar and sports scores . . . I suppose technology hasn't transformed everything yet.