How to get your content creators to care about web analytics

The Government Web Analytics Group is a cross-government group focused on getting the most out of website and online service statistics and analysis. This post by Clarion Wells, webmaster of the New Zealand Law Society, is the second in a series of monthly In Development blog posts from the group.

In the first web analytics blog post, Alex Herdman told you why you should care about web analytics. In this post, I am going to suggest how you can get your content creators (and managers) to care about (and use) web analytics.

Report to content creators

We often report to managers but overlook reporting to content creators. This is a huge oversight. Content creators are often specialists in their own fields who control the information on their websites. They need to know what is and what isn’t working because they are the folks who, more often than not, can immediately fix it.

The first step is to get your content creators in one room and start asking them about their users and their website objectives. Web analytics for the New Zealand government has a wonderful section on Evaluation and reporting which will help.

This does not have to be a painful task. A simple document outlining the audience and the goal should do the trick. Don’t file the document away and forget about it. Print it out, pin it up and refer to it often.

Regularly meet and talk about web analytics with content creators. Give them access to web analytics tools so they can see what’s going on between meetings.

Translate metrics into plain English

You may have read Avinash Kashik’s books from cover-to-cover twice, but don’t be surprised if no-one else in the room has. You will need to translate web metrics into plain English for your content creators.

Define what metrics are, how they work and what they tell us about a website. I append a list of definitions to all reports, but nothing beats talking about metrics in reference to a live website.

In my experience, this is where the excitement lies. Content creators start seeing in concrete terms how users interact with their websites.

Ask your content creators questions. Among my favourites - “Any surprises?”; “Is this what you thought would happen?” Define expectations. This helps people focus on measurement that matters and avoids them getting hung up on visitor numbers without context. With only 11,000 lawyers in New Zealand, we (at the New Zealand Law Society) have to keep in mind what proportion of these potential visitors we should expect, and to look beyond just visitor numbers when measuring success.

Translate metrics into to-dos

Because Government websites aren’t commercial in nature, we often lack that commercial urgency to get them right. Don’t forget, Government websites are tax-payer funded!

It’s pointless reporting on web analytics without acting on them. Agree with content creators on how to improve your website from meeting to meeting. Add small, actionable goals to your to-do list. Small improvements stack up.

For example, measure the bounce rate of your most visited pages. Take a hard look at them to see why users are leaving. Are you delivering the content your users expect to see? Find the problem and fix it.

Report bad news

Sometimes, a lot of money has been sunk into a website but you are not getting the users you want. How do you tell your content creators that their websites might, well ... just suck?

It’s important to report good news as well as bad news. Even having proof that your website sucks is good - you have a starting point and an opportunity to make it great. Keep your eye on the data. Listen to your users. Keep reporting to your content creators even if it causes disappointment.

Look beyond web analytics

Content creators often have access to useful data beyond web analytics. Survey results, user feedback, anecdotal evidence can all add to better management of websites. Bring them to the table and share them alongside web analytics.

Getting content creators to care about web analytics is not difficult. In my experience, content creators care about users. They’re excited when they see how users are interacting with their content. They’re bummed when users don’t. They’re motivated to improve.