As an information professional with a recently completed web analytics course under my belt, I looked forward to reading this guide to see how well it lived up to its title.
The aim of the book is to provide information professionals with a practical guide to implementing web analytics in a library setting. While many books and resources exist for learning about web analytics in an e-commerce environment, few focus on strategies for library and information professionals.
The text, organized as a two-part work, is easy to read, and even more so if one has some familiarity with the subject of web analytics. Although the tome is not a hefty one, there is much to absorb and digest, and readers may find a measured approach works best.
Web analytics is about understanding customer behavior through analyzing the spectrum of data from web sites, social media platforms, blogs, RSS feeds, and mobile devices. The aim of a web analytics strategy for any organization is to derive the most relevant insights from the available data in order to increase the number of positive outcomes between the customer and the organization. In an e-commerce environment, for example, a positive outcome would be an increase in sales; in a library environment it might be an increase in the number of patrons visiting the library web site and finding the resources they need.
Part One of Web Analytics Strategies for Information Professionals focusses on the fundamentals of web analytics and why libraries must embrace these techniques; Part Two presents four in-depth case studies. A solid introduction to the basic concepts in web analytics is set out in the first two chapters and includes the relevance of page views, top content, duration and depth of visit, entry and exit pages, and new vs returning visitors and referrers. Especially helpful is the contextualization of the definitions in library terms. For example, the authors define referral traffic for a library as “traffic that arrives on your site via links on another web site,” adding that common referring sites for a library's web space are web pages from parent institutions.
Selecting and evaluating a web analytics tool is the subject of Chapter Three. The authors stress the importance of libraries working out their web analytics requirements as part of the selection and evaluation process because not all tools will have the requisite functionalities. Failure to include this step in the selection process could result in purchasing the wrong tool and being unable to get the necessary data to understand patrons’ needs and behaviors. Of the many web analytics tools on the market ranging from open source to paid, full-service tools, three are highlighted in the books – Google Analytics (free version), Piwik, and AWStats – and were chosen by the authors because they are either free or inexpensive, an important consideration for many libraries and information departments.
Building reports is discussed in Chapter Four, with an explanation of the three types of report available in most of the analytics packages–standard out-of-the-box, semi-customized, and fully customized. The authors draw attention to the differences between each, noting that customized reports are often the best way of getting the data needed to turn insight into action, and make ample use of screenshots to illustrate the reports and techniques – particularly helpful for those less familiar with reporting tools.
Chapter Five, “Turning data into decisions,” addresses the essence of web analytics–the business of transforming insights into action, without which a web analytics strategy is pointless. The authors cite numerous examples of web analytics in action, for example, improving the usability of a web site or web page, tracking a library marketing campaign, or redesigning library web sites for a better user experience. Chapter Five also includes a helpful example of how to write a web analytics strategy (taken from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs) which demonstrates how a web site's goals and key performance indicators cascade down from the library's mission.
Once the actions are identified, they need to be communicated to the right people in the organization, including those that will actually implement the actions. Here, again, the authors provide clear examples. Considering a library web site redesign? There may be a redesign committee that needs to be kept informed. The authors also stress the importance that the style and method of communication of web analytics reporting plays – in short, the more complex the report, the less likely the action will happen.
Part One finishes with a look at mobile analytics and the challenges associated with mobile content and mobile platforms from a library perspective.
The four case studies in Part Two, written by different contributors to supplement the theory and practice in Part One, show how web analytics strategies have been used to effect in a number of library projects:
using analytics to drive design examines the approach taken by Kansas State University's library to gathering and employing data from various sources to prepare for a web site redesign;
using web analytics tools to revise a humanities library web site studies the use of web analytics to revise the web site for the new literatures and languages library at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign;
web analytics applied to online catalog usage at the University of Denver illustrates how Google Analytics was used to provide evaluative statistics to support decision making; and
optimizing open-source web analytics tools for increased security of WordPress and Drupal demonstrates how these tools can be used to monitor web site security and vulnerabilities.
The case studies are all from the academic sector, but nonetheless do a good job of illustrating the manner in which web analytics was effectively used to change the design of library web sites, increase usage, improve user experience, and proactively identify web site errors and security risks. All the libraries are located in the USA, and while this does not detract from the case studies themselves, a more international mix, and the inclusion of one or two private sector institutions, might be something to consider in the next edition.
The book includes a helpful glossary of web analytics terms and concepts, profiles of the different web analytics tools, and a good bibliography and further resources in three appendices. Well laid out, with numerous illustrations, and key points highlighted, this is a good reference manual that fills a void and makes a timely addition to the literature for library and information professionals.
