A few thoughts on KPIs to to start with:
- Measures that help you understand how you are doing against your objectives.
- Are indicators of Success
- Require comparison across time periods
- Depend on the industry and type of website
We must be careful to set success measures for the project, as these may not be the same as for the web site over the long term.
We need baseline data to make the measurement effort worthwhile.
Suggested measure from Business Justification Case
Based on a reading of the Business Justification Case and the scope documents (as well as listening o the team for a few weeks) I propose the following objectives (with associated benefits in brackets) and the measure (as bullet points)
WIP II will be successful if we :
Make greater use of the new templates
These being the same as or similar to those developed in WIP I for the home site, as they are mobile-friendly/responsive, channel-focused, use our brand consistently, ensure that all content being moved is reviewed, will support reduced duplication of content and will lower future maintenance costs). Measures include:
- Number or percentage of old pages moved on to new templates (including those collapsed or removed altogether)
- Number or proportion of faculties (or schools) moved on to new templates (including those collapsed or removed altogether)
Number of CSU sites (yet to be defined) moved on to new templates
Improve the ease with which students can find appropriate information and complete action while online
As this will increase the user satisfaction by ensuring that they can better achieve their intent for visiting the site. Measures include:
- Bounce rates and time on site provide insight as to how well people seem to be doing what they want
- Conversion actions, where appropriate (e.g. enrol, apply, request, book, download, call, email, etc.), are a better measure but do require more work. It shows we are focusing on outcomes and will will force the conversation to be about objectives (without these you can't have conversion rates)
- Attention needs to accurately measure if action engagement with content downloaded (not just downloading it). In GA look at Virtual Pageviews or Events (% of video watched). E.g. subscribe to updates, book/register for an event, request something mailed, enrol in a course, email/call a contact/staff member
- Goal conversion rate is even more powerful but takes more thinking/set up.
- Task completion rates means asking (i.e. survey based) people if they successfully completed the thing they came to do. It allows for a conversation about conversion measures/actions
- Percentage of site search exits: Assuming that many visitors to our site will use the search, maybe we should examine how well it is working for people and this metric could help with that.
Increase online interaction (cutting cost of f2f engagement)
Research more easily discoverable/accessible, especially outside of the university
Reduced duplication or templates and content saves money on managing and maintaining websites.
Allow items for special interest groups to be more easily gathered together
Attractive and usable