Web Analytics Management

Metrics for Smart Content Management - Metric #6- Task Completion ROI

This is the last post in my series on metrics for evaluating the effectiveness of web site content. Over the last five weeks I’ve presented five metrics that you can use to benchmark site performance basaed on content and navigation effectiveness. Today's metric, Task Completion ROI, is built on the first metric I presented: Task Completion Effectiveness (TCE). It is actually pretty easy to calculate, and it is a great way to introduce concepts of value to content in organizations where this connection isn't seen clearly, such as government, healthcare, non-profits or corporate intranets.

Task Completion ROI: Measures ROI in Web site operations, content, applications, and labor relative to the budget spent on these initiatives.

Calculation of Task-Completion ROI: Number of task completions multiplied by a dollar value given to each task-completion type compared with the total spent on creating the task application or with the avoided-cost alternative to offline.

Calculation Note: Total expenditures will need to be determined based on budget allocation, set-aside funds, hourly labor rates, etc. Dollar values for completion of tasks will need to be assigned based on the calculated cost of completing the task offline.  Find out the costs for developing the application, the marketing program, the event, the video development, and then estimate a value for the completed task based on a time and materials calculation if the task had to be completed offline.  Then add a “goodwill” value.

Goodwill, according to the Merriam-Webster definition is “the favor or advantage that a business has acquired especially through its brands and its good reputation; the value of projected earnings increases of a business especially as part of its purchase price; the excess of the purchase price of a company over its book value which represents the value of goodwill as an intangible asset for accounting purposes.” So, you’re adding in “goodwill” over the costs. Sound like a stretch? Maybe a bit…think of this as a conversation starter or straw man for valuing content that may not have a clear dollar value. Even better, find out from the sponsors of the application what their business and revenue goals are before it ends up on the web site.

Example: There were 130 submissions of grant applications during the month.  Each submission is valued at $200. This amount is based on the time saved by having the applicant enter the data directly into the database, rather than having staff transcribe the data from printed forms. This results in avoided cost or savings of $26,000. 

Another Example: Calculate and compare the cost and success rates associated with promoting research studies and grants in the offline channels and the online channels to determine which one was most effective at attracting qualified applicants.

So, that about does it for this series. If you come up with other metrics for evaluating content sites, let me know. I think this is an area that could use some additional development.

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And lastly, hope to see you at eMetrics Toronto at Analytics in Real Life on Wed, 3/20 with Anuschka Van Dijke from KPMG and Nancy Duley, from American Society of Clinical Oncologists.

 

 

 

Metrics for Smart Content Management - Metric #5 - Navigation to Content Score (NCS)

NCS is a quick way to see if your visitors are spending too much time trying to navigate to content. The fewer pages it takes a visitor to content, or the more direct path, the better. NCS complements the Content Engagement Score (CES) which lets you know whether visitors are using the most important content on your site.

Navigation-to-Content Score: Compares number of navigation page views to all site page views.

Calculation: Percentage of navigation-type pages viewed compared with all content page views. This is derived from dividing navigation page views by all site page views. A lower percentage indicates a more efficient visitor interaction with the site.

Calculation Note: As with the other metrics in this series, you need to identify navigation pages and measure them separately. Pages include: 
o    home pages
o    portal pages
o    search engines
o    site maps
o    pages provided for navigational purposes

Example: There are 40,000 page views of navigation pages out of 150,000 total page views for the month. This equals a navigation-to-content score of 27%. Here’s how a report might look:

You can make this a much more valuable report by running this for different segments of visitors based on geolocation, domain, first time vs. repeat, as well as adding visit segmentation attributes such as acquisition source. If you use this with the segmentation, you’ll be able to see which visitor groups are having an easier time finding site content.
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If you're going to eMetrics Toronto, be sure to stop by Analytics in Real Life on Wed, 3/20. I'll be moderating a panel with Anuschka Van Dijke from KPMG and Nancy Duley, from American Society of Clinical Oncologists. They'll be sharing their stories on how to get resistant management to come around to the value of analytics. Hope to see you there...

 

 

 

 

Metrics for Smart Content Management - Metric #4 - Content Distribution Index (CDI)

The Content Distribution Index (CDI) is another engagement measurement that you can use for benchmarking.  The CDI gives you a sense whether visitors believe content is valuable and interesting enough to share through Facebook, Twitter, email and other sharing links that you have on your site, such as AddThis.This is an easy to calculate metric and one that can help you rate overall relevancy of your site.

Content Distribution Index:  Measures whether content holds value and relevance based on visitor opinion.

Calculation: Content shares based on total number of sharing links usage divided by page views. A higher percentage of content shares indicates that content was distributed more successfully.

Calculation Note: Sharing events will need to be captured by tagging the article sharing links. As with the other metrics in this series, you’ll have more accurate results if you do not include navigation, search and index pages.

Example: During the month, there were 200,000 total page views and 12,000 article shares. This equals a content-distribution score of 6%.  Here’s how a report looked for one of our clients.
 

Taking a look at the results, you need to account for the number and type of articles that are incorporating the share function. A further analysis is needed to understand whether the article content is relevant and whether the position and presentation of the share link is clear to the visitors. Conduct this with a visitor/visit segment and you’ll be able to see which of your audiences is really engaging with content and which ones aren’t.

Metrics for Smart Content Management - Metric #3 - Content Engagement Score (CES)

In this series on metrics for assessing your site’s overall content health and content strategy, I’ve so far focused on focusing on valuable content as defined by Task Completion and Mission Critical Content Engagement. These metrics help you determine whether visitors are using the most important content in your site.

Today, let’s take a look at the other side of the coin…understanding content that appears to have little value; content that you would consider removing prior to a site redesign or a content migration. Let’s say you want to create a metric that will give you the opportunity to do a before and after comparison. To accomplish this, I want to introduce you to the Content Engagement Score (CES). Think of this as your site’s Body Mass Index (BMI). Once you have the CES, you can do more detailed analysis on why certain content may lead to more engagement.

We’re currently working with a client that is planning a redesign and consolidation of dozens of sites into one. They selected 3 current sites that were representative of all of the sites.  Using the cut-off of at least one page view over the course of 10 months, we focused on specific site sections.  After doing this analysis, we found that some sections had a Content Engagement Score as high as 100% and as low as 33%.

Content-Engagement Score: Measures the overall site-content engagement based on viewing of all site-content pages.

Calculation: Percentage of all content pages on the site or site section receiving at least a pre-determined page view compared to percentage of all pages receiving less than the pre-determined number of page views.

Calculation Notes: You have to be able to identify content pages and then decide on a number of page views that you’ll use as a cut off for what is considered as a minimally acceptable engagement. Using only 1 page view as a cut off may work for low traffic sites, but I’d recommend generally at least 10 page views as an initial cut off. Filtering out the following pages will create more accurate results:
o    home pages
o    portal pages
o    search engine results pages
o    site maps
o    pages provided for navigational purposes

Example: There are 25,000 content pages on a site; 20,000 have received at least 20 page views during the last quarter. This results in a CES of 80%.

Do an analysis of the 80% that are receiving higher than the minimum page views to understand what is driving visitors to that content and how this content influences Task Completion.