2006
Welcome aboard, Travis!
Travis has accepted a position with Neoteric Design beginning in January '07. Many of our clients have had the opportunity to work with him on issues ranging from content updates to email management. His official title will be "interaction designer": a position that ties closely to his graduate studies in Human Computer Interaction at DePaul University. By definition, interaction designers focus on the relationship between products and humans -- how we interact with devices and interfaces of all kinds. At Neoteric Design, Travis will be working with website wireframes, task flows, user scenarios, mockups, and site mental/conceptual models, as well as content inventories, documentation, and training.
Congratulations Travis, and warm welcomes!
Understanding Web Traffic: A Three-Part Guide for Business Owners
The Problem
The majority of small business owners don't take advantage of web traffic data. After all, it's often difficult enough to develop a website that works. Compound the usual demands of small business with the technical language of web traffic, and web statistics become something that's easy to set aside. Technical people often aren't asked to create web traffic reports. Most small businesses don't have the luxury of a large staff to dedicate a position to web analytics, a role which can bridge the gap between business needs and technical know-how. So rather than traffic reports, we reply on customer reports: "I love the new site," "I had a hard time finding the right product," "I didn't buy online, because you don't accept American Express."
Why Bother?
Imagine for a moment the following scenario: at a networking event you're talking with a retail store owner, learning a bit more about his business. You ask how people find out about his shop. "I don't know," he answers, "I just keep my eye on the register." Sales do keep the wheels moving, you agree. Where does he market his store? "I don't do much marketing... the phone book, I guess." How have his customers learned about him? "I'm not sure. Word of mouth?" From whom? "I really don't know," he answers. Well, how many customers come into his shop? "I don't track that. Really. All I do is watch my sales."
We'd probably think this store owner peculiar; maybe just lucky to have a self-running business. While sales are the lifeblood of any company, we know intuitively they don't provide the sole picture. To the contrary, most retailers closely track coupon effectiveness, marketing campaigns, foot traffic, product placement... why not bring this level of sophistication to the web as well?
Well, it is possible for a small business owner to move from "I think people look at my web page" to "8% of the people who view our revised home page target message go on to buy our products." In this three-part series, we'll cover the basic groundwork and vocabulary of web traffic, discuss how to create useful reports for typical business questions, and review some of the software tools that are available to help make sense of it all.
The Groundwork
Web statistics work in a surprisingly simple way. Every time a user views a page, their web browser talks to the web server by requesting a specific "page" through the URL -- the Universal Resource Locator. The URL often ends with the name of a file ("about_us.html"), which the server fetches from storage and sends to the browser. That file, in turn, might include a business logo, pictures of the president or the board, page graphics, a typographic style sheet.. all sorts of things that go on to make up the page as it loads. It's the server's job to send each of those to the browser as well. On a slow dial-up connection you can literally watch the page be constructed before your eyes, element by element.
Each of these requests stores a bit of information to the server as well. Obviously, the requested file. But also the date and time, possibly the web page that the user was at beforehand, and some information about the web browser that made the request. This might include the browser type, the type of computer, and the computer's IP address -- a unique series of numbers that identifies every computer on the Internet. These data are the building blocks for web statistics. Everything is built from here.
Key Terms
Page views are easy enough: a count over a period of time of the number of times a web page was viewed. In many ways, this is the most useful and important count of your web traffic. If normally 100 people view your home page on a given day, and suddenly this jumps to 800 for about a week and falls off, then you know something interesting has happened. Was your company mentioned in a newspaper article? Did a newsletter campaign link to the site? Have bloggers found something interesting and linked in? All of these might be reasons.
Sessions are a bit more abstract: a session is composed of a user browsing a set of pages over a given period of time. So, if one user clicks through to your home page, your about page, and then the contact page, then picks up the phone to call, that would count as three page views and one session.
How much time? Here's where some problems begin. Web traffic reports are always just estimates. Typically, we assume that a session consists of a user clicking around a site, where each page is within 20 minutes of each other. If the user goes to lunch, comes back, and continues surfing, that would count as a new "session."
And how do we identify the user? Again, another problem. Web statistics can't actually track users -- they track IP addresses, numbers assigned to computers when they're connected to the Internet. And these numbers can change. Some DSL suppliers, for example, change everyone's IP address once an hour. Other users have "fixed" IP addresses. So again, sessions count 'users,' but this is really an approximation.
Hits are, unfortunately, the most over-used, least understood, and least useful measure of web traffic. This is, in part, because it's so fun to say things like, "our website receive 50,000 hits this past month!" But in the above example, each element that was downloaded to create the about us page would count as a hit: one for the page, one for the logo, one for the president's headshot, a dozen or so for page graphics, etc. Since the number of elements that creates a web page is arbitrary, hits don't count much that's useful for business reports. Ignore them, and focus on page views.
This Month's Action Items
To get your own business started on understanding web statistics, try one of the following:
- Have bi-monthly web statistics reports emailed to you. Your web provider or office guru should be able to configure your web statistics software to email reports. Have a basic, "executive view" report sent to you twice a month. Include the most popular pages of your site, your overall page view traffic for the time period, and (coming in the next installment) the site that sends the most referrals to you.
- Evaluate your site content from your customer's perspective. As a user, what pages do you think would be most important? Create a short-list of your key site pages. Then, look at your traffic: do the feet in the door reflect your priorities? Why or why not?
- Look for surprises or irregularities. Is a particular product page getting far more traffic than you expected? Perhaps it should be highlighted on the home page! Are people searching for particular content? Make it easier to find! People will remember your site as being helpful and friendly if they're able to better use your site.
- Evaluate your traffic before and 4 weeks after a promotion or campaign. Are particular pages more popular than before? Are products being moved as expected? If your campaign was an HTML email, you should see an uptick on the newsletter's landing pages, as well as associated pages. Find out what people find interesting about your site!
Next Steps
Even with this simple introduction, as a business owner you can now move from the meaningless ("50,000 hits last month!") to the useful ("Last week, our home page page views increased by 30%."). A great start! But there's much more that can be done. Consider:
- How valuable is an advertisement on an industry-related website?
- Of our affiliates, who refers the largest number of customers?
- How much income has some particular advertisement generated?
- How many people fail to complete the checkout process, and where do they abandon?
To answer these questions, stay tuned for parts two and three of this article. We'll explore web traffic tools, identify site goals, and learn about tuning up one's site to obtain the best results from these analytics.
Summer Internship Position Filled
Travis Mandrell has extended his summer internship for the fall term. We couldn't be happier. His summer projects included revamping our client documentation, training clients on content management issues, editing hours of digital audio recordings created during an intranet usability test, and generally helping out around the studio. Not to mention taking over our music selection. Our standards have certainly been raised.
Neoteric Design redesigns itself!
It's been two long years since we've sat down and really thought through a website redesign for ourselves. Although we've been "tuning up" the old site several times a year, this represents a ground-up rethink of the site, our site contents, and how we manage it over the long run.
We've rethought how a sidebar traditionally works, and incorporated more iconagraphy and portfolio work previews. To keep ourselves on our feet and trying new things, we've implemented WordPress as our content management system. We've worked through a long series of customizations to handle our pages, portfolios, project news, and HTML email newsletters.
We'd love to hear what you think!
Christine's Concepts in Design
Client: Christine's Concepts in Design
Site: christines-concepts.com
We've redesigned and relaunched Christine Cmerjrek's website for her interior design, home furnishings and accessories shop. Christine's Concepts in Design is a magazine format website that highlights Christine's Lincoln Park boutique, past work, and custom design consultation skills. Her clients' testimonials, displayed on nearly every page, express her amazing skills and customer dedication.
Civitas Schools Intranet launched
We've launched Civitas Schools' private intranet this week. The web-based information and document distribution website keeps teachers and administrators across their four campuses up-to-date on school events and important news. Key curriculum documents are now shared between teachers at various grade levels as well, which helps to ensure the schools' consistently high quality programs.
Welcome U of C Masters Program
It's our pleasure to be working with the bright folks at the one year Masters program of the University of Chicago on their website redesign. A renewed information architecture, visual design, and site messaging will help their department better convey its value and relationship to the school at large, while offering improved information and services to its current and prospective students.
Usability study for Midwest Fortune 100 Healthcare Company
We completed a usability study on a proposed navigation redesign for this company's intranet. During our testing, we interviewed a variety of employees to learn about their expectations, needs, and concerns regarding their intranet. The interviews were recorded, and key sound bites were included in our report of findings.
The outcome? We learned that a new way of thinking about this company's products and services worked well and was very welcome, and that some of the navigation labels weren't as clear as they could be. Our findings helped to support this company's redesign efforts, and will one day save it hundreds of hours of productivity time.
Bridgehouse Museum site launched
We're thrilled to launch the McCormick Tribune Bridgehouse and Chicago River Museum website today. A project of Friends of the Chicago River, the museum website features accessible museum content, news and updates, and visitor information for the museum.
And while it's amazing to learn that there's coyotes and yellow perch along the Chicago River, nothing beats the view from the museum itself. If you time it right, you can even catch a bridge lift and watch the Bridgehouse's gears do their job.
Friends of the Chicago River site redesigned
Friends of the Chicago River faced a not-uncommon problem: their content managed website grew organically over the years, to the point where some pages were five, six, or seven clicks deep, and some site features were completely abandoned.
We worked with Friends to think through a new information architecture that made sense of their content. The redesigned site, in addition to offering a fresh and modern design, has been built to grow with ease.
Internship position open closed
UPDATE: Thanks. The summer intership position has been filled.
Job Description
You'll be working in a fast moving, two-person design shop in the heart of Chicago's design district, River North. Expect to handle multiple projects throughout the day, and experience web development from client proposal through research, design and development to deployment.
Content wrangling
Intern will be responsible for working with client documents, preparing documents for the web, and loading client content management systems. You'll be creating client documentation and training clients on content managed websites.
HTML Production
Intern will be involved with creating web standard xHTML/CSS documents from Photoshop page mockups. All markup is hand crafted; Dreamweaver is not used in our shop.
Coding
Depending on your interest and experience, some PHP coding, or template coding in Movable Type and other content management tools may be involved.
Experience Requirements
A strong liberal arts background is required: language skills are essential. Experience with hand coded HTML required. You'll be marking up and designing with CSS--a clear understanding of the CSS box model is required, as is a desire to push your CSS skills. Don't be concerned if you're not a CSS guru--you'll learn our approach and CSS style during your stay. You must provide three examples of your own web design work. Strong familiarity with Adobe's Photoshop is required. Flash is a bonus, but not terribly important. We're mostly a Macintosh shop; you should be comfortable on either platform.
Interested? Email us at info@neotericdesign.com
ABOV redesign launched
Congratulations to Josh Schwartz at ABOV Inc on his recent award! He's won the "Favorite Gallery of River North" award at the River North Association's annual Meeting & Spring Fling at Sound-bar.
We're proud to have just completed the redesigned the Abov Inc. website - it highlights unique works of art crafted from satellite data. Be sure to catch Larry Ammann's Chicago Series - they're particularly breathtaking.
Hyde Park Art Center: A-List
Client: Hyde Park Art Center
Site: hydeparkart.org
The Hyde Park Art Center's A:List is a curated online artist database. It showcases some of the many artists who have exhibited or taught with the Center over the years. It's primary goal is to connect artists with teaching opportunities, commissions, curators and researchers.
It offers extensive information about artists' professional experiences, an online gallery of artists' work, and contact information for interested users to find out more.
The site was built on Movable Type, and allows staff to easily maintain artists profiles, the home page highlights, and various static pages throughout the site.
LPBDI Talk
Coming May 2nd, I'll be presenting a seminar at the Lincoln Park Business Development Institute's spring series, a four part mini-course titled "Unleash the Power: Internet Marketing A to Z."
Interested in getting a handle on a solid Internet marketing strategy? Wondering how to make your current website more effective? Come on by for this evening seminar hosted by the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by AT&T.
Art de Triumph redesign launched
Congratulations to Ron and Nancie King Mertz on the launch of their redesigned site, ArtdeTriumph.com! We worked with Ron and Nancie to create an online portfolio of their work - Ron's company creates collectible giclée prints and fine art cards from Nancie King Mertz's amazing oil and pastel paintings. Don't miss the Chicago series, which showcase some of my favorite spots in town.
Stir Crazy DVD Revised
In conjunction with the good folks at Good Studio, we've revised the POP video displays for Stir Crazy, a wild and exiciting restaurant that features freshly prepared pan-Asian cuisine. The Macromedia Flash DVDs cycle through menus, ingredients, and drink options, highlighting how much fun it can be to dine with Stir Crazy.
SVIAZ/Expo Comm Manual ‘06 launched
In partnership with Allmer Global Image Management, we're please to have launched the 2006 Expo manual for Russia's largest and most successful international exhibition and conference for telecommunications, information technology and wireless/broadband technology.
The web application - written in English and Russian - allows world-wide exhibitors to submit the many forms needed to specify their show booth requirements. Their forms are distributed directly to vendors, and monitored by the show's staff to ensure timely delivery and accurate information.
For more information, see our portfolio highlight, which offers a downloadable PDF case study.
