5 things Local Authorities could do to improve their use of website analytics
We explain why the website data we requested from Welsh local authorities is important and can help to deliver better quality public services.
We’ve been busy
Over the last few weeks the Satori Lab has been investigating website analytics data held by local authorities in Wales.
Using our findings we have compared the data with similar research we collected back in 2015.
The results are interesting (read the 2018 Welsh local authority website results here).
The research suggested most local authorities are not using their website data as well as they could be.
So we decided we’d write this blog to explain why we think it is important that local authorities are able to understand and use the data we requested.
Hopefully it will help local authorities improve their use of website analytics.
What data did we ask for?
Due to the sheer amount of data a website analytics tool collects we decided to limit the scope of our requests.
We felt the following data sets would give us a reasonable indication as to how advanced the local authority is with its use of website analytics:
- The total number of sessions (visits) made to the website
- The overall bounce rate of the website
- The proportion of sessions on the website made on desktop devices, mobile devices and tablet devices
- Number of conversions (what Google Analytics calls Goals)
- Any advertising campaign data held (CPC, clicks etc.)
- What system is used to measure site usage (e.g. Google Analytics)
We asked for the data over a period of 12 months.
Why is the data important for local authorities?
The following explanations breakdown why we think each data set we asked for is important for local authorities and why we think they should be given priority in their web analytics setup.
As 81% of respondents said they use Google Analytics to monitor their website data I’ll explain using Google Analytics language.
1. Filtered vs unfiltered data
Across 21 councils in Wales:
90% do not exclude internal IP address traffic from their website data.
What does it mean?
We asked local authorities to let us know if the data they sent back was filtered or unfiltered. This is to identify whether traffic from internal IP addresses is separate from their external IP address data.
When setting up Google Analytics it is good practice to set up filters. Filters can be setup to improve data reliability by removing bots and dirty data from your results.
Filters can be setup to include or exclude certain data and should be applied to the master and test views, not raw views. Another key thing to remember is that a filter cannot be applied to data retrospectively. So if you’ve not filtered your data for the last 12 months you won’t be able to go back and apply one.
Why is it important for local authorities?
There is debate about the value of filtering out traffic from internal IP addresses. Using internal IP addresses would commonly mean that the visit was from a member of staff, which is why some councils choose to filter them out. It is worth noting that it is not possible to tell if such a visit is being undertaken by someone in their role as a council employee or as a local resident.
Other people may visit from internal IP addresses, for example, which might include public access PCs in libraries. It might also include professionals in schools who are customers of the education authority.
Similarly some internal users may visit the website from other IP addresses because they are working from home.
Understanding what proportion of visits originate from internal IP addresses and whether these users behave differently would be helpful in understanding the impact of filtering out this traffic.
2. Bounce rate
Across 21 councils in Wales:
The average website bounce rate was 48%.
What does it mean?
In simple terms you can think of a ‘bounce’ as a user landing on a page on a website, not clicking through to any other pages and then leaving the website.
The ‘bounce rate’ is the percentage of people that immediately leave, rather than stay and venture deeper into the site. Google Analytics collects an average bounce rate for the website overall and for each individual web page.
Why is it important for local authorities?
A websites bounce rate is a key indicator to help a local authority establish whether their content is targeted to their visitors wants and needs.
Knowing how to interpret their bounce rate can help them to better understand:
- the type of traffic they are attracting
- the effectiveness of their websites design and navigation
- the clarity of the messages/content on their web pages
- the speed and usability of their website
A high bounce rate would suggest that it is easy for users to locate the service (or information) they seek. A low bounce rate suggests that users have to navigate from the first page they arrive on to locate the service (or information) they seek.
Even so, rational design decisions could radically affect bounce rate. It is certainly not possible to take one website with a bounce rate of 40% and another of 50% and say that one is a better site than the other.
For example, local authorities tend to display quick links to their most popular services on the home page of their website. A bounce rate would show what percentage of users land on the homepage and go on to use a service.
If the bounce rate showed 100% it meant that every visitor landing on the homepage left the site without visiting any other page (or it might be a sign of a more sinister setup error — a post for another day).
In this context local authorities might want their homepage bounce rate to be lower. For other pages, like a simple blog post, a higher bounce rate would be more acceptable.
Understanding what is a normal bounce rate for local government would be useful for local government web managers and decision makers.
3. Devices used
Across 21 councils in Wales:
38% of website visits were made using a desktop device.
49% of website visits were made using a mobile device.
14% of website visits were made using a tablet device.
What does it mean?
It shows how many users are visiting a website using a desktop computer, mobile phone or tablet.
Why is it important for local authorities?
Comparing our latest results with our 2015 findings we see a noticeable switch from desktop to mobile visitors accessing local authority websites.
Therefore it is very important that local authorities optimise end-to-end mobile and tablet accessibility throughout their digital services to provide a good user experience.
Here’s an example.
A citizen is using their mobile to use a service on a local authority website. As part of the service sequence, the user is redirected to different web pages within the local authorities web estate. They reach a page which hasn’t been optimised for mobile or tablet. The page is clunky and doesn’t work properly. They cannot continue using the service so they leave the website and call the organisation instead.
By utilising the websites device data the local authority can use the information to pinpoint the specific parts of the user journey which is causing certain device users to drop off. It can then investigate and fix any problems.
4. Goal conversions
Across 21 councils in Wales:
86% have not configured goals (conversions) in their analytics setups.
What does it mean?
A goal measures how often users complete a specific action. They measure how well your site fulfils your target objectives. In Google speak ‘goals’ mean conversions.
Why is it important for local authorities?
Tracking conversions is fundamental for evaluating the effectiveness of your organisations web strategy and marketing campaigns. Local authorities can assign goals to give them a quick and straightforward look at how well their website is meeting their targets. Goals become even more powerful when event tracking is implemented using tag management software such as Google Tag Manager.
Here’s an example to explain.
A local authority releases an online questionnaire about the state of their area on their homepage. They want to know how many people start the questionnaire vs the number of people who complete it.
They have setup event tracking in Google Tag Manager which gives them the ability to assign a goal to trigger each time a user clicks both a questionnaire field and the form submit button. This gives the local authority the ability to track how many times the survey was started but not finished.
5. Ads campaign data
Across 21 councils in Wales:
90% have not configured advertising tracking in their analytics setups.
What does it mean?
Google Analytics has the ability to merge with advertising platforms such as Google Ads, Twitter, Facebook etc and pull in advertising campaign data which can be used to deepen insights with other captured website data.
Why is it important for local authorities?
Local authorities run advertising campaigns to promote services, campaigns, job vacancies etc.
Here’s one final example to explain.
A local authority sets up adverts on Facebook and Twitter to promote a health and safety awareness campaign for citizens in their area.
When a user clicks on the advert they are re-directed to a page on the local authorities website. The web page incorporates a sign up form encouraging users to sign up to local initiatives.
Behind the scenes the local authority has setup advert tracking meaning they can view all the data for their advert, (e.g. number of clicks, cost per click etc) as well how many people signed up using the contact form, in Google Analytics.
That’s all Welsh Folks
We’ve finished collecting data from local authorities in Wales.
It’s now time to move onto England and Scotland.
If you haven’t done so already, read our 2018 Welsh local authority website report.
Satori Lab Data Services
We recognise the need in local government to get better with data and it’s our mission to help them do this.
We do that in different ways:
Thanks for reading.
I work at The Satori Lab.
You might be interested to read our blog about the first things we look at on Google analytics or perhaps what data analytics services we offer.
