The Use Of Web Analytics

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

6.1 Introduction

There are multiple categories of organization, some are private, and some public and others are referred to as Non-Profit Organizations. They are similar to other organizations but only have different ways and techniques for fulfilling their goals and objectives in a cost effective manner. These organizations have a limited budget and hence rely on online marketing for achieving their objectives.

Website is a necessity in today’s time for all the organizations striving to survive in the world of web. For Non-Profit organizations, online marketing is the only affordable and effective and efficient medium for reaching onto the mass audience unlike other medium and large-scale organizations. Therefore, it is essential for them to create and maintain a website thereby providing the customers with the information needed by them.

As stated above, online marketing is the easiest and cost effective way of marketing being used by Non-Profit organizations in today’s time; however, it continues to be the least tapped area in today’s time. The new age marketing involves a lot than just selling their products and services or providing the customers with the required information or for collecting donations, it involves strategizing and usage of right content and keywords to attract traffic and retain visitors. Therefore for Non-Profit Organizations to generate profits and reach out to the mass audience, it is essential for them to undergo Social Media Marketing and track them using web analytics tool.

Analytics tools helps the non-profit organizations to know more about the views of the customers, their likes and dislikes and what the customers are actually saying about their products; thereby leading to feedback generation and Relationship enhancement. As per a survey conducted, 89% of the non-profit organizations in today’s time use one of the many forms of social media for marketing themselves. This can be done by using either of the following - blogging, podcasting, message boards, social networking, video blogging, and wikis. Most of the non-profit organizations also stated that social media has played a very crucial role for them in designing and executing their fund raising strategies as stated by Peter (2005). Therefore it is essential for the non-profit organizations to look at all the available prospective before settling for anything.

6.2 Recommendations

This research paper outlines the use of Web analytics for measuring the performance of websites being hosted by Non-Profit organizations in UK. The researcher conducted the research by means of primary and secondary research. An in-depth study about Non-Profit organizations, web analytics, various tools of web analytics etc. was done to gain an insight into the topic. Furthermore, the researcher also conducted a survey by sending questionnaires to various managers and senior professionals working in Non-Profit organizations that were capable of undertaking decisions related to the online activities.

6.2.1 Non-Profit Organizations

For a company to understand the behaviour of a consumer, it is essential for them to conduct an extensive research on the consumer. The attitude a consumer holds while purchasing any goods online will significantly be influenced by the perception they hold about the retailer. Intentions of an individual directly affect the attitude and hence positive intentions will lead to positive attitude as stated by Tan (2003). Website performance for any organization is a total of single or small collections of financial measures. It may or may not be multidimensional varying from Website to Website, however it is important to measure their performance. If the organizations know about the visitors viewing his website, knows about their needs and requirements they can pay more attention to the same thereby increasing traffic and generating profits. Furthermore, if the organization cannot measure or count the number of visitors visiting their website, they cannot manage them as per their goals and objectives as stated by Hahn (2001).

For understanding the visitors and ensuring re-visits, it is essential for the non-profit organizations to evaluate and analyze the behaviour of a consumer online, know about their needs and requirements and what they are searching for online along with cross-checking them with the data available on your website.

6.2.2 Web analytics

Website designing or conducting social media marketing is not difficult. It can either be done in-house by hiring professionals or outsourced to a 3rd party. But it is important for the organizations to maintain their website and keep a track on the events happening. For doing so the organizations conduct web analysis using a tool called the Web Analytical tool.

Web analysis allows the organizations to – a) measure the efforts that have been put up by them on setting up their website and attracting customers to it, b) checking if the target audience is able to access the information as required by them from the website, c) know how and from where the customers are reaching onto the website – directly or via referrals or search engines etc. Web Analysis allows Non-Profit organizations to analyze and evaluate the impact of their website on their users thereby calculating their presence on the web. These evaluations can occur either on daily basis or weekly or fort-nightly basis depending on the needs and requirements of the organization as mentioned by Daniel (2004).

To measure and execute the process or web analysis, various organizations use Web analytics Maturity model. This model helps organizations to interpret the data collected into an easy to understand and simple language thereby making it easy for the organizations to evaluate and generate further strategies. According to Waisberg (2009), the Non-Profit organizations use web analytics for expanding their activities online and analyzing and evaluating the benefits available to them.

There are various web analytical tools available in the market. It is on the organization to choose the right one depending on their needs and requirements. Grassman (2009) stated three criteria for choosing the right web analytics tool from among the many others available in the market. According to him, the method of data collection - log file or content tagging, display and storage of data collected from these files and the cost of subscribing onto the tool are the major criteria that should be focused on while choosing a web analytical tool. Since the Non-profit organizations do not have a hefty budget, they rely on analytical tools that are provided for free by various firms. Google Analytical tool is one such tool that has been provided by Google for free.

The major web analytical tool being used by Non-Profit organizations in today’s time is Google Web analytical tool. It is readily available, provided free by Google and easy to use and convenient. Google analytical tool allows the organizations to study and track website statistics that will allow the organizations to monitor the traffic on each page and where it originated from thereby giving them an idea about their audience.

Google Web Analytical tool further allows the Non-Profit organizations to perform various functions like - tracking the visits of unique visitors and page views that keep a track of the number of users accessing the website, measure and study the impact of websites on its users, making it a valuable tool for calculating the presence on the web for analyzing thereby keeping a track of the visitors, navigation and study the pattern of traffic visiting their website to know about their likes and dislikes and preferences on the web. As stated by respondents, it is highly important to track the customers online and monitor their response via reports.

According to Hawkins (2012), the first and foremost step for any non-profit organization in web analytics is tracking the visits of unique visitors and page views that keep a track of the number of users accessing the website. By tracking the visits, the organizations get a fair idea of visitors viewing their website; it is one of the most accepted and approved methodology to start with that tells us about the least and most popular area of the website. In case of least popular or least accessed areas, the non-profit organization can take initiatives to push it and enhance its presence via social media or by linking them directly to the homepage and other popular pages.

6.2.3 Future research

For the purpose of making improvements on the website, it is essential for the Non-Profit organizations to keep a track on the online behaviour of the consumers by means of web analytics tools. Web Analytics helps the Non-Profit organizations to improve and amend their website and its overall performance on the web. Using Web analytics for undertaking various decisions and performing analysis is essential for Non-Profit Organizations. The statistical data collected by Non-Profit Organizations is not just analyzed and evaluated for a single purpose, rather it is used for multiple purposes like monitoring and evaluation the value of a given website to providing reports to managers for improving it, determining the success and failure of the improvements and further implementations that need to be made. Maintaining customer relationship using web analytics is similar to using CRM software to monitoring the customer behaviour, however web analytics is more focused on online activities. It provides the Non-profit organizations and other organizations using the tool with a Internet Killer application that helps them to know more about the views of the customers, their likes and dislikes and what the customers are actually saying about their products; thereby leading to feedback generation and Relationship enhancement. Websites are evaluated on various criteria like assessment and evaluation of the website traffic, their unique visitors, the conversion rate of visitors into actual sales, repetitive visitors and repetitive sales online. However according to the respondents, "unique visitors" and "conversion rates" were the major key indicators for measuring the website success of their Non Profit Organizations. It is crucial for managers to undertake decisions and implement changes on the basis of the findings in web analytics report.

6.3 Conclusion

Web analytics is a field that is still being explored by most organizations. Similarly, Google analytical tool also requires a lot of research and analysis as they are also still being explored. Non-Profit organizations feel that the there still exists areas that are yet to be tapped and catered to. They allow non-profit organizations to measure and study the impact of websites on its users, making it a valuable tool for calculating the presence on the web. Calculating the number of relevant users and analyzing their needs and requirements in terms of data will help the non-profit organizations to ensure traffic flow and improve their websites from time to time. However Web Analytics is a complex and growing field that is evolving with change in technology and therefore needs to be revised from time to time.