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Web Analytics Definitions - WAA - IndexTools Compliance

- by Dennis R. Mortensen. Sunday, March 9, 2008 email  print   share

Summary:
IndexTools Web Analytics offer 23 of the 26 metrics defined in the WAA Web Analytics Definitions document - and comply directly with 20 of them.

All major Web Analytics vendors are members of the Web Analytics Association, because that is what we are supposed to! BUT if it really meant anything, we (the vendors) would make an effort to adhere to the standards we (as participants and members of the WAA) set ourselves. Find a first - vendor commentary – to the 26 standard web analytics definitions. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Compliant

Term

WAA Definition

IndexTools Definition
yes

Page

A page is an analyst definable unit of content.

Same definition.
yes

Page Views

The number of times a page (an analyst-definable unit of content) was viewed.

Same definition.
yes

Visits/Sessions

A visit is an interaction, by an individual, with a website consisting of one or more requests for an analyst-definable unit of content (i.e. “page view”). If an individual has not taken another action (typically additional page views) on the site within a specified time period, the visit session will terminate.

Same definition.

Note: The term denotes one continuous visit to a web site. When a visitor first loads a web page, a unique visit ID is created to track that visitor’s activity. The visit ends after 30 minutes of inactivity.
yes

Unique Visitors

 

The number of inferred individual people (filtered for spiders and robots), within a designated reporting timeframe, with activity consisting of one or more visits to a site. Each individual is counted only once in the unique visitor measure for the reporting period.

Same definition

Note: For clients using the Visitor metric the definition is the same! - There is a different definition for clients not migrated to the Visitor metric. These clients still have the following unique visitor metrics:

Daily Unique Visitors:
The number of separate visitors who came to a web site during a 24-hour period. The 24-hour period considered is the 24 hours before the visitor’s last visit, and is not influenced by the reporting time that is selected.

Weekly Unique Visitors:
The number of separate visitors who came to a web site during a 30-day period. The 30-day period considered is the 30 days before the visitor’s last visit, and is not influenced by the reporting time that is selected.

Monthly Unique Visitors:
The number of separate visitors who came to a web site during a 30-day period. The 30-day period considered is the 30 days before the visitor’s last visit, and is not influenced by the reporting time that is selected.

Each visitor is counted only once in the Unique Visitor metrics, regardless of how many times they returned.
yes

New Visitor

 

The number of Unique Visitors with activity including a first-ever Visit to a site during a reporting period.

 

Same definition

Note: Different label - “First Time“

Methodology: The first time a visitor comes to a web site, IndexTools sets a one-year, first party, persistent cookie in
their browser that includes a unique visitor ID number. During the first visit, IndexTools identifies them as a first time visitor. On subsequent visits, IndexTools resets the cookie life to one year beyond the date of the visit, and identifies them as a returning visitor for the duration of that visit. If IndexTools is unable to set a cookie, then it will identify the visitor as a first time visitor. If the visitor has deleted
the cookie, then IndexTools will identify them as a first time visitor and re-issue a new first party cookie.
no

Repeat Visitor

The number of Unique Visitors with activity consisting
of two or more Visits to a site during a reporting period.

 N/A
no

Return Visitor

 

The number of Unique Visitors with activity consisting of a Visit to a site during a reporting period and where the Unique Visitor also Visited the site prior to the reporting period.

Note: Different definition - “Returning Visits“. The number of returning visits to a web site, inferred on the basis of the visitor ID contained in the cookie.
yes

Entry Page

The first page of a visit.

Same definition
yes

Landing Page

A page intended to identify the beginning of the user
experience resulting from a defined marketing effort.

Same definition

Note: Different label - “Entry page“. IndexTools does not distinguish between Entry Pages and Landing Pages and uses Entry Pages for both terms suggested by WAA.
yes

Exit Page

The last page on a site accessed during a visit, signifying the end of a visit/session.

Same definition.
yes

Visit Duration

The length of time in a session. Calculation is typically the timestamp of the last activity in the session minus the timestamp of the first activity of the session.

Same definition.

Note: different label - “Avg. Time Per Visit“. The average duration of a visit. Calculated by dividing the total time visitors spent on a web site by the number of Visits.
yes

Referrer

 

The referrer is the page URL that originally generated the request for the current page view or object.

Same definition.

Note: Different label - “Referring URL“. It shows the URLs of the domains that referred visitors to a web site.
no

Internal Referrer

 

The internal referrer is a page URL that is internal to the website or a web-property within the website as defined by the user.

 

Note: IndexTools generally do not work with a Internal referrer concept, but provide the same information in different concepts such as Internal Campaigns - to measure the effectiveness of internal
advertising. Internal campaigns are identified with a unique URL string
that must contain the _s_icmp variable.
no

External Referrer

The external referrer is a page URL where the traffic is
external or outside of the website or a web property defined by the
user.

 N/A
no

Search Referrer

 

The search referrer is an internal or external referrer for which the URL has been generated by a search function.

Note: Different concept where IndexTools provide External Search Phrases: the keywords or phrases that visitors used to reach a web site and the name and URL of the Search Engine. Internal Search Phrases: the keywords or phrases used by visitors on a web site’s internal search functionality.
yes

Visit Referrer

 

The visit referrer is the first referrer in a session,
whether internal, external or null.

Same definition.

Note: Different label - “Referring URL“. It shows the URLs of the domains that referred visitors to a web site.
yes

Original Referrer

 

The original referrer is the first referrer in a visitor’s first session, whether internal, external or null.

Same definition.

Note: Different label - “Referring URL“. It shows the URLs of the domains that referred visitors to a web site.
yes

Click-through

 

Number of times a link was clicked by a visitor.

Same definition.

Note: Different label - “Campaign Clicks“. The total number of clicks performed by campaign visitors.
yes

Click-through Rate/Ratio

 

The number of click-throughs for a specific link divided by the number of times that link was viewed.

Same definition.

Note: CTR (Click Through Rate) – The average number of clicks generated by the views of online ads (Impressions). Calculated by dividing the total number of Clicks to the number of Impressions, expressed as a percentage.
yes

Page Views per Visit

 

The number of page views in a reporting period divided
by number of visits in the same reporting period.

Same definition.

Note: Page Views per Visit: The average number of pages viewed during a visit. Calculated by dividing the number of Page Views by the number of Visits
yes

Page Exit Ratio

 

Number of exits from a page divided by total number of
page views of that page.

 

Same definition

Note: Different label - “Exit Rate“. The percentage of page views that resulted into an exit from the specified web page. Calculated by dividing the number of Exits by the number of Page Views.
no

Single-Page Visits

Visits that consist of one page regardless of the number
of times the page was viewed.

 N/A
yes

Single Page View Visits (Bounces)

Visits that consist of one pageview.

Same definition.

Note: Bounce, The number of visits that ended without proceeding further into the web site.
yes

 

 

 Bounce Rate

Single page view visits divided by entry pages.

Same definition.

Note: The percentage of visits that did not proceed further into the web site after entering it. Calculated by dividing the number of Bounces by the number of Visits
yes

Event

 

Any logged or recorded action that has a specific date
and time assigned to it by either the browser or server.

Same definition.
yes

Conversion

 

A visitor completing a target action.

 

Same definition.

Note: Conversion Rate: The percentage of visits that resulted in an action out of the total number of visits. Calculated by dividing the number of unique or nonunique Actions by the number of Visits.

If anybody knows about other web analytics vendors and their compliance documents; feel free to use the content above to create a bigger industry wide conclusion.

N.B.
..And before I forget; a big thanks to Mihaela for working on all the definitions.
Cheers and see you all in New York - for Search Engine Strategies.

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10 Comments:

  1. Avinash Kaushik Says:
    March 9th, 2008 at 23:09

    Dennis: Let me be the first of many to applaud this absolutely wonderful, transparent and brave effort by IndexTools.

    It takes courage, you have shown that here.

    It takes a commitment, you have shown that here.

    My thanks to Mihaela as well.

    I hope other vendors will follow.

    -Avinash.
    WAA, Board of Director (Standards).

  2. Bryan Eisenberg Says:
    March 10th, 2008 at 1:22

    Dennis,

    I congratulate you on being the first vendor to step up and publish your compliance on the WAA standard definition. These standards will go a long way to not only help practitioners in the future but hopefully as more companies follow your lead it will help today.

    Bryan Eisenberg
    Co-Founder of the Web Analytics Association and Director Emeritus

  3. Steve Jackson Says:
    March 10th, 2008 at 2:34

    Let me be the third to applaud IndexTools’ effort.

    A very good step in the right direction, the sooner all the vendors follow your lead the better.

    Steve Jackson
    International Co-chair
    Web Analytics Association.

  4. Dennis R. Mortensen Says:
    March 10th, 2008 at 3:16

    Hi Avinash, Bryan and Steve

    Thank you very much for the heads up on publishing the Compliance Chart. This is very much appreciated and this alone makes the effort worthwhile.

    In regards to courage; … we choose not to take the $65M funding, like our green friends from Utah. However; we did get the “Big Kahunas” influx at the beginning. :-)

    Cheers
    dennis

  5. Jens Says:
    March 10th, 2008 at 8:26

    Hey Dennis:
    What a great Post! Thanks a lot… this will save me lots of time from explaining several definitions to customers! And still: It reminds me on my anger with this little annoying “singlepageviews”-problem… i think i need a good psychiatrist ;-)

  6. Dennis R. Mortensen Says:
    March 10th, 2008 at 8:47

    Hi Jens,

    Thanks. … and anybody decent in Analytics - needs a bit of psychotherapy from time to time :-)
    Cheers

  7. angie Says:
    April 11th, 2008 at 3:21

    Dennis, I apologize for not replying sooner, but wanted to let you know that the WAA Standards Committee saw your post — we actually discussed it a couple weeks ago during one of our meetings. The Committee and I would like to extend big kudos for compiling this comparison, and thanks to Miheala, too.

    One of the things the committee would very much like to accomplish is vendor transparency. We realize there are a number of good analytics tools out there, so it’s critical for an analyst to know exactly what s/he is looking at when using the metrics from these tools. To take the initiative to publicly post your definitions with respect to ours is a courageous act of leadership and goodwill, both toward your customers and toward the industry as a whole.

    Thank you!

    Angie Brown
    Co-Chair, WAA Standards

  8. Dennis R. Mortensen Says:
    April 11th, 2008 at 4:06

    You are most welcome Angie!
    Cheers, Dennis

  9. Greg Says:
    June 6th, 2008 at 7:54

    Dennis,

    Awesome post and Congrats on the Yahoo Acquisition. We have posted our compliance on our blog, and I challenge the other Mobile Web Analytics vendors to do the same.

    I look forward to reading more of your blog.

    Greg Harris

    http://www.mobilytics.net

  10. Dennis R. Mortensen Says:
    June 6th, 2008 at 8:25

    Hi Greg,

    Thanks and Thanks and .. Thanks again. :-)
    I think it is absolutely wonderful to see you guys do the same - and I wish more people had the nerve to do so!

    Cheers.
    Dennis

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