Designing great dashboards – part 3 now available

Further to my post a few weeks back on Designing great dashboards parts 1 and 2 from Juice Analytics, part 3 is now available.

"The third part of our dashboard design guide provides practical tips for putting information on the page in a way that communicates effectively to your audience…"

To register please visit http://www.juiceanalytics.com/registration/dashboard_design/

Using Google Analytics to Track Email Newsletters (and RSS feeds)

I often get asked how can I see if my email subscribers are looking / reading the newsletter I send out. Google Analytics provides you with an easy and free way of doing this. Today I will take you through the process step by step.

1. You need a Google Analytics account

• Set up a Google Analytics account
• If you don’t have one – all you need is a gmail email address
• Register here http://www.google.com/analytics/
• Place the code in the footer of all your web pages (How do I add tracking code to my website)

2. How does it work?

• Tracking email campaigns in Google Analytics uses a process called link tagging
  – for example the eGovernment Resource Centre Newsletter uses link tagging Eg., http://www.egov.vic.gov.au/newsletters/200809.html would be modified to look like: http://www.egov.vic.gov.au/newsletters/200809.html#?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=aug2009news
• When someone lands on your site after clicking on a tagged link from your newsletter (or RSS feed), Google Analytics removes the information from the URL and puts it in a cookie
• This way Google Aanalytics can now link all that particular visitor’s actions on your site from that email link.
• You can then view the results in the Google Analytics interface

3. How do you make the tags?

Google provides a tool called the URL builder –

 

• Campaign Source (utm_source) – Required. Use utm_source to identify a search engine, newsletter name, or other source.  Example: utm_source=egovnewsletter
• Campaign Medium (utm_medium) – Required. Use utm_medium to identify a medium such as email or cost-per- click.  Example: utm_medium=email
• Campaign Term (utm_term) – Used for paid search. Use utm_term to note the keywords for this ad.  Example: utm_term=government+2.0
• Campaign Content (utm_content) – Used for A/B testing and content-targeted ads. Use utm_content to differentiate ads or links that point to the same URL.  Examples: utm_content=logolink or utm_content=textlink
• Campaign Name (utm_campaign) – Used for keyword analysis. Use utm_campaign to identify a specific product promotion or strategic campaign.  Example: utm_campaign=aug2009news

For example I use the following for the eGov site:

• For email newsletter content : #?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=aug2009news
• For RSS feed items : #?utm_source=rssfeed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rssaug2009
• Why use the # ? This stops the campaign tracking urls being spidered by search engines and appearing in the search results.

4. What do you see in the GA interface?

Your campaign data is listed as ‘Other’ in your Traffic Sources section

For the eGov site this = 12.56% of visits for the month

You can also segment you data and look at what topics visitors arriving via your newsletters look at on the site – but that is a topic for another day.

So that’s how you track visitors to your site who arrive from your email newsletters or RSS news feeds. Have fun and experiment.

Accessibility toolkit version 3 now available

The Victorian Government’s Accessiiblity Toolkit (version 3 – Sept 2009) has now been published on the eGovernment Resource Centre.

The Victorian Government’s Accessibility Standard requires that: All websites must be Level AA compliant (W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Version 1.0 – WCAG 1.0). However, where audience needs are specific, websites should become Level AAA as appropriate.

This toolkit shows departments and agencies how to conform to this policy and the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, Version 1.0. The toolkit is designed for Victorian Government business managers and web site owners to enable them to effectively present the business case for accessibility and manage the processes involved.

An HTML version of the toolkit is currently being developed.

At over 270 pages the toolkit provides very detailed guidance on how to make government websites accessible to all visitors.

Designing Great Dashboards

Juice Analytics has published a 3 part book called “A Guide to Creating Dashboards People Love to Use“. To register to receive a copy, visit Juice Analytics and sign up.

To quote an introductory paragraph from the document:

This document will approach dashboard design in a holistic way, beginning with general goals and evolving to specific data presentation. Part 1: Foundation will help you identify your target audience, understand what type of dashboard you want to create and why it is valuable to your organization. It concludes with guidance regarding how to focus your message on the information and metrics that matter. Part 2: Structure will get you started on designing your dashboard, including what form it should take, how to arrange for audience understanding, and what navigation, interactions, and capabilities will make the dashboard useful and engaging. Finally, Part 3: Information Design dives into the details of interface and information design. You will learn how to lay out your dashboard and best practices for charting and data presentation.

Parts 1 and 2 are now available – part 3 is not far away…..

Google search snippets

Google has announced that they will now be making use of anchor tags and section headings in their search snippets, displaying them where it makes sense in their search results.

For most search results, Google shows you a few lines of text to give you an idea of what the page is about — we call this a “search snippet.” Recently, we’ve enhanced the search snippet with two new features that make it easier to find information buried deep within a page.

Normally, a search snippet shows how a page, as a whole, relates to a your query by excerpting content that appears near and around where your query terms show on the page. But what if only one section of the page is relevant to your search?

That’s where these new features can help, by providing links within the snippet to relevant sections of the page, making it faster and easier to find what you’re looking for.

To make this happen you need to ensure:

1. you use descriptive headings for your sections, especially in long multi-topic html documents. Use for example, Victorian Government web 2.0 initiatives, NOT Section 1.3.

2. you use a table of contents at the top of the page which uses anchor text to link to your section headings.

3. you don’t forget the anchor text for your section headings.

A Search Engine Land article by Barry Schwartz shows examples of how descriptive headings can be used in search snippets.

More reasons to use appropriate keywords that your searchers are using in the text of your documents, rather than bureaucratic policy speak.

Enjoy!

Matt Cutts from Google on SEO

Matt Cutts, the guru from Google, has given a great presentation on the ins, outs and best practices for search engine optimization at Word Camp in San Francisco on May 30, 2009.

done

Social media usage in Australia

comScore has released the results from a study on 14 August 2009 which has found that more than 70 percent of Internet users in Australia visited a social networking site in June, up 29 percent from the previous year.

Top Social Networking Sites in Australia Based on Unique Visitors June 2009 Total Australian Internet Audience*, Age 15+ – Home & Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	Jun-08	Jun-09	% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	11,044	12,386	12
Social Networking	6,862	8,857	29
FACEBOOK.COM	3,125	6,102	95
MySpace Sites	3,369	3,530	5
Windows Live Profile	N/A	1,962	N/A
Bebo	1,627	1,475	-9
TWITTER.COM	13	800	6,122
DEVIANTART.COM	259	505	95
DIGG.COM	329	494	50
TAGGED.COM	246	475	93
Buzznet	269	409	52
Orkut	36	252	60

*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

More information is available from comScore.

CeBIT publishes Twitter for Government

Twitter for Government: a quick reference on the value of Twitter to the Public Sector has just been published.

Topics covered include:

• What is Twitter:
• The value of Twitter
• What does it mean for me?
• How does Twitter work?
• Sending messages
• Sending links
• Following people
• Search Twitter
• Things to avoid

Available from the CeBIT conference site www.gov2.com.au – Suggest you download it today and add it to your social media tool set.

eGovRC – adds member’s forum – section on government websites and SEO

The eGovernment Resource Centre has just launched the eGov Forums for registered members to share information, ask questions and answer other’s on all issues eGovernment.

There is a section on Government websites and SEO as well as Social media and Government 2.0.

If your forum topic is not covered, there is a section where you can ask to have it considered for inclusion.

The forum is governed by rules and there is a help post to guide you through how it works.

Time for government web people to get involved and start sharing and questioning!

WAA releases report on Government and Non-Profits use of Web Analytics

The Web Analytics Association (WAA) in the US has recently released its 2009 survey findings on "Tapping the Potential of Web Analytics for Public Sector and Non-Profit Sites".

The survey asked three questions:

1. How are Web site managers in the public and non-profit sector measuring the performance of their web sites?

2. Can any KPIs used by many non-commerce organizations be used to measure the impact, effectiveness, and contributions of all non-commerce Web sites?

3. Can we develop a series of benchmarks for the key dimensions of visitor online interaction with the Web sites in the public and non-profit sectors?

124 respondents completed the survey – 83% of those came from the United States,.

Some of the findings include:

• 60% only dedicate a few hours a week to web analytics – only 12.5% of respondents described themselves as web analysts and nearly 70% of organisations don’t have a dedicated web analyst;
• monthly reporting is the norm;
• traffic reporting is used by 82% of organizations;
• only 10% link web analytics to return on investment;
• US government sites track file downloads more often than others surveyed; and
• Segmentation is not widely used.

The report provides some thought provoking key takeaways for government web analysts:

1. Conduct high-value, deeper analyses

2. Focus your analytics evangelizing on people in your organization who stand to benefit from Web analytics and have shown an interest in using analytics.

3. Use voice of customer, usability testing, and focus groups in tandem with Web analytics

4. Build official and unofficial alliances

5. Give more thought to how people want to consume Web analytics data.

It is interesting to compare these findings with the results from the 2008 Australian Web Analytics Survey conducted by Hurol Inan of Bienalto. Of the 208 respondents for the Australian survey, 20% were from government. When analysing the government respondents, the survey found that 60% of government organizations looked at web analytics as not important or less important as other web functions. Most government analysis consisted of reporting traffic – no one reported using advanced analysis.

Hurol’s analysis concluded that "Government remains significantly challenged in terms of identifying the objectives
and KPIs of web analytics, and also lacks the key support of management."

There are many similarities between the US and the Australian studies. It seems government still has some way to go when it comes to really analyzing their data and applying their findings to optimising their websites.

If you want to read more about these surveys, the Web Analytics Association has made their report available from their web site for a small charge. A presentation of the report’s findings is also available for free!

The 2008 Australian Web Analytics Survey is also available from Bienalto.

If you want more information about how to develop KPIs for your website, the eGovernment Resource Centre has a collection of links you might find useful as well as a section on Return on Investment.