4CInteractive Blog

Below are some popular website analytic / metric calculations, the list is not comprehensive because calculated metrics are user-defined. If you have a request on how to calculate a metric not mentioned below post it in the comments and I will give you the math.

Bounce Rate (Percent)
Single Access/Entries
When a given page is the entry page, how often do visitors leave the site without accessing any other pages

Weighted Bounce Rate (Percent)
(Single Access/Entries) * (Page Views/Total Page Views)
Same as Bounce Rate, but gives a higher value to pages that are viewed more often on the site, thus pushing your most popular pages with this problem to the top of the list

Page Views per Visit (Numeric)
Page Views/Visits
What is the average number of pages per visit

Page Views per Visitor (Numeric)
Page Views/Daily Unique Visitors
What is the average number of pages per unique visitor (daily uniques, weekly uniques, monthly uniques, etc.)

Exit Rate (Percent)
Exits/Visits
When a certain page is part of a visit, how often is it an exit page

Entry Rate (Percent)
Entries/Visits
When a page is part of a visit, how often is it an entry page?

Multi-Page Visit Entry Rate (Percent)
(Entries – Single Access) / Entries
When a page is the entry page, how often does it lead to at least one other page

Visits per Visitors (Numeric)
Visits/Daily Unique Visitors
What is the average number of visits per unique visitor (daily, weekly, monthly, etc.)

Page Views/No Reloads (Numeric)
Page Views – Reloads
How many page views did a page get, not counting reloads, but counting Back button or additional path views to the page

Reload Percentage (Percent)
Reloads/Page Views
What percentage of the page views were reloads of that page.

Entry to Exit Ratio (Percent)
Entries/Exits
What is the ratio per page of how often it is the entry page vs. how often it is the exit page

Average Order Value (Currency)
Revenue/Orders
Average revenue per order

Order Conversion (Percent)
Orders/Visits
What percentage of visits results in an order

Buyer Conversion (Percent)
Orders/Visitor
What percentage of visitors results in an order

Checkout Conversion Rate (Percent)
Orders/Checkouts
What percentage of checkouts results in an order

Checkout Initiation Rate (Percent)
Checkouts/Visits
What percentage of visits results in a checkout

Average Order Size (Numeric)
Units/Orders
How many items are purchased in an order, on average

Event Conversion (Percent)
Orders/Event
Used for tracking success events, what is the percentage of visits that result in that success event. (For example, registrations per visit, form completion per visit, download per visit, etc.)

Product View Conversion (Percent)
Orders/Product View
What percentage of product views resulted in an order

Abandoned (Numeric)
Cart Adds – Orders
How many cart additions did not result in an order

Abandonment Rate (Percent)
1 – (Orders/Cart Adds)
What percentage of visitors added an item to their cart and then didn’t purchase it (This can be very interesting at a product level.)

Abandoned Revenue (Currency)
(Revenue/Orders) * (Cart Adds – Orders)
What is the general amount of revenue that has been abandoned (Revenue is based on the value of the average order.)

Event Conversion Rate (Percent)
Orders/Instances
What percentages of instances (or setting the variable) resulted in an order? For example, when setting a Event upon internal search, what percentage of searches on this keyword resulted in an order?

Campaign Conversion Rate (Percent)
Orders/Click-throughs
What percentage of click-throughs resulted in an order

Revenue per “Action” (Currency)
Revenue/Instances
When an event is set when someone clicks something (like an internal promotion or specific navigation), this will show the amount of revenue that was a direct result

Average Item Value (Currency)
Revenue/Units
What is the average revenue per item purchased

Popularity: 14% [?]

Online advertising has, for years, been one of the strongest, simplest, and most cost-effective ways of driving targeted traffic to your website. In a general sense, everybody knows the Internet can take a small company and virtually plaster them all over the map. What they may not know is how, specifically, to do that.

In this series we will take a look at some of the more common alternatives for driving traffic to your site. We will handle the basics first… and then eventually branch out into more complex topics. The two top names in online advertising are Google’s Adwords Program and Yahoo!’s Sponsored Search. Which is the better way to go?

Let’s start with a basic comparison. Both programs feature a sort of “try it out” service that won’t cost you anything. And both have additional resources to help ensure you get the best response for your efforts. Although admittedly they do this in very different ways.

Google Adwords has no minimum spending requirement. That’s a big plus. It means that what you pay for AdWords is only the amount you can afford. The reason for this is because Google Adwords only charge you when your ad is clicked. For example, if you set a $5 daily budget, and if it were, say, $0.10 every time someone clicked on your advertisement, well that is 50 times that your ad would get acted on and not just looked at. That’s an important distinction. You pay only for the person who is interested enough to actually take action; not just the casual reader.

In a similar way, Yahoo! Sponsored Search allows advertisers to decide on the maximum amount they want to pay for every click that their ad gets. These systems keep you in control of your budget and, in today’s economy, that’s important. In a separate article we will talk about conversion rates (the rate at which people actually buy something on your web site). The reason that’s important is because if you allocate only $50 for your advertising let’s say, then using the example above, that’s a 10 a day ad run. Well, if you’re watching your conversion rates closely you’ll be able to see how well that money is actually working on a per-customer basis, especially if you are watching the traffic flow on our site.

Google AdWords accumulates advertising clicks and sends you a bill every month. This means charges can be expected a regular basis, which is quite helpful for accounting purposes. Yahoo! Sponsored Search, conversely, sets a minimum account balance and sends you a bill when that amount has been reached—which may mean multiple charges each month. Neither one is an unmanageable process, it just depends on your preferences. Score so far: Even.

Google Adwords allows its clients to choose the keywords that relate to their business, and offers cost estimates as well as keyword traffic to allow its clients to make more-informed decisions on selecting keywords to help maximize their budget. I have used these tools and I must say, they are very comprehensive (especially Insights for Search (hands down amazing)). By the same token, Yahoo! Sponsored Search also comes with an interesting, but much less powerful keyword-help feature, where various keywords (relevant to your business) will be displayed for advertisers to select from. Score one for Google.

Google Adwords uses a technology called contextual targeting that automates the matching of ads to relevant web pages in the Google content network. Google Adwords also offers its advertisers greater control by allowing them to hand-pick particular sections of websites where they wish to see their ads appear. Using Yahoo! Sponsored Search, the maximum cost-per-click and the quality of your ad determines where the ad will be displayed in the search results. Yahoo! Sponsored Search calls this principle “Content Match.” Again it is similar, but done in a slightly different way. In this area, I score another one for Google, simply because you have more control.

Google Adwords advertisers can measure results using the placement performance report, through which an ad’s performance can be reviewed site-by-site, to determine better-performing websites that should be targeted more aggressively, as well as lower-value placements which may need optimization or exclusion of content. Google AdWords reports statistics on a real-time basis, while Yahoo! Sponsored Search data are only updated daily. I prefer real-time, so I score Google one here… you may find that once a day is enough for you.

Why do the two heavy-weights have such different reporting tools? Well, some online advertisers theorize Yahoo’s and Google’s audiences may be different, one being more consumer-inclined and the other, business-oriented. So the tools requested by each customer base would naturally differ. Others also observe that Google has the bigger share of the pie when it comes to search market, but that nevertheless, Yahoo drives considerable traffic. But this puts Yahoo in second place. To change that, they need to differentiate themselves from their competition… offering different tools is one way to accomplish this.

Although for me Google comes out as the clear winner here, you may want to split your budget evenly and run both search engine programs for at least the first month. This test stage will give a good picture of which engine delivers better results for your needs (which will naturally be different than mine). At month’s end, all the information gathered on your average cost-per-click for each of the engines, the number of clicks, and the online conversions made, if any, will help you decide which solution is better for you.

In addition, utilizing both Google Adwords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search engines will result in better advertising exposure and increased search engine optimization as a by-product (if you’re paying attention, that is). Either way, the expanded coverage area will provide you with marketing and branding benefits for your target market as well, simply because you will be in the public eye.

As we have already mentioned the cost for either service is quite low, so for about $100 you will have an answer either way. Now, expectedly, one is going to give you better results than the other, depending on your market. And maybe, once you know this, allocating more funds to the better-performing engine may be a good idea. However, if you do it properly, Google Adwords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search will both deliver you results. They will both reach your potential customers, and drive traffic to your site in different, yet specialized ways.

Who knows, if all goes well, you may not have to choose at all.

Popularity: 15% [?]