Diving into Web Analytics for Non Profits
What is it about web analytics that make it so hard for organizations to take on? At The JAR Group we’ve worked with many small businesses who understand the importance of analytics but simply don’t have the time or resources to invest in it. While time and resources also pose a challenge for mission driven organizations like Faces and Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, identifying where to begin is the primary hurdle.
A recent study done by the Web Analytics Association on the state of Web Analytics in the Public and Not-for-Profit sector points out web analytics rarely gets dedicated staff and is often a secondary function to one’s role. It’s likely that only a few hours per week are available for such tasks. Considering these constraints, we thought we’d identify some quick tips for those who are responsible for diving into website analytics in their public sector or non-profit organization:
1) Focus on the performance metrics for your single most important goal
It’s simple to say but often the most overlooked part of any website analytics program is defining the primary goal of the site. Most websites will have multiple purposes but for anyone with limited time it makes sense to focus on just the primary goal. If you’re number one goal is to increase the number of online donations spend time looking at and analyzing conversion percent and average donation amount and allow yourself to set aside metrics like time on site and page views per visit for the time being.
2) Take advantage of free analytics tools that help you understand the what and why of your site
Thankfully there are plenty of great, free analytics tools out there for organizations to take advantage of. Google Analytics provides quantiative insights into what is occurring, while usability tools like Clicktale and survey tools like 4Q are effective sources for gathering qualitative information on why users perform the actions they do. All require just an easy implementation of code on your pages and deliver powerful insights that will challenge the assumptions you’ve made and inform future decisions with regards to website design and usability.
3) Stop creating reports!!!
Customized Excel reports are fun to build and can be quite useful but often these efforts take away from time that could be spent on analysis and strategy. Allow yourself to take advantage of the dashboard features that already exist within your analytics tools (check out some of the sweet custom reporting features in Google Analytics!) so that you can focus on understanding the story of your website rather than the multitude of data points in your spreadsheet.
In future posts we’ll dive into more specific ways to gather insights from your data; for now we hope that we’ve provided you with a decent foundation to start with.
