get better content with analytics and user testing
DESCRIPTION
So you're going to Confab Higher Ed. You're already pretty excited about content strategy. But your boss and colleagues? Not so much. To outsiders, content strategy is just another buzzword. And as more schools move to become "data-driven" organizations, talking about content can sound hopelessly qualitative. So don't say "content strategy": do it. This session will look at content strategy practices you can introduce to show even your most quantitatively-oriented colleagues the value of content strategy: content analytics, social media analytics, and user testing techniques. Rack up successes first—then start talking content strategy. • Introduce content strategy practices into your organization when your organization doesn't care about content strategy. • Use analytics to identify what needs improvement. • Learn how user-testing techniques can improve your content.TRANSCRIPT
Get Better Content withAnalytics and User Testing
Mike PowersDirector of Electronic Communications
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
About Me
About Me• Director of Electronic Communications at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
About Me• Director of Electronic Communications at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
About Me• Director of Electronic Communications at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
About Me• Director of Electronic Communications at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
• Taught web writing at Higher Ed Experts
About Me• Director of Electronic Communications at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
• Taught web writing at Higher Ed Experts
• Ph.D. in English
About Me• Director of Electronic Communications at
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
• Taught web writing at Higher Ed Experts
• Ph.D. in English
• @mjpowers
It’s almost over
What happens to the excitement back at the office?
How do your co-workers feel about content strategy?
Big DataHTML5
Digital Natives
Mobil
eSocial Media
User Experience
ROI Best Practices
Infor
mat
ion A
rchit
ectu
re
Content Management System
Branding Analytics
Enterprise
The Cloud
Big DataHTML5
Digital Natives
Mobil
eSocial Media
User Experience
ROI Best Practices
Infor
mat
ion A
rchit
ectu
re
Content Management System
Branding Analytics
Enterprise
The CloudContent Strategy
How does your boss feel about content strategy?
Higher Ed is becominga data-driven world
You need to goquantitative
quantitative(ish)You need to go
quantitative
Analytics and user testing are for
everyone.
“a data-driven life is “the sexiest digital “life you can imagine.”
—Avinash Kaushik
You’re doing it wrong.
Pageviews aren’t the goal.Your goal is the goal.
Higher Ed Goals
Higher Ed Goals
1. Get students
Higher Ed Goals
1. Get students
2. Help students, faculty, alumni succeed
Higher Ed Goals
1. Get students
2. Help students, faculty, alumni succeed
3. Get money to keep doing 1 and 2
In content terms...
Content...
Get students
Help students, faculty, alumni succeedGet money
• Appeals to H.S. students• Provides correct, useful information• Persuasive
• Helps students register, add/drop, etc.• Continues to market school• Gets audience’s attention
• Shows value of school• Gets donors through donation
process
Once you know your goals, you can measure them
Before you start, turn your goals into questions
Image by Cyberslayer http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyberslayer/
Without goal-related questions, you won’t find
the answers you need
Image by Cyberslayer http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyberslayer/
Some Questions• Can readers understand my content?
• Does this page encourage donations?
• Does this page encourage applications?
• What should this section of the site be named?
• What kinds of social content are most effective?
• What content on this page is getting the most attention?
Sampling of Measures and Methods• User Test• Survey• Card Sort• Navigation Test• Heat Maps• A/B Test
• Readability Score• Sharing Metrics• Social Media Engagement• Pageviews• Bounce Rate• Avg. Time on Page• Page Value
Sampling of Measures and Methods• User Test• Survey• Card Sort• Navigation Test• Heat Maps• A/B Test
• Readability Score• Sharing Metrics• Social Media Engagement• Pageviews• Bounce Rate• Avg. Time on Page• Page Value
Five questions.Five ways to answer them.
For answering and generating questions:
Usability Test
For answering and generating questions:
Photo source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/l-i-n-k/3654390818/
Do a User Test First
• See people experiencing your content.
• Experience their pain and joy.
• Find some blindingly obvious stuff that you wish you had seen earlier.
Advice for First-Timers• Just do three tests. (Use Jacob Nielsen’s useit.com
to convince colleagues)
• Write tasks that center on your goals.
• Who you get to do the test matters less than you think. But—choose a reasonable audience to help colleagues accept your results.
Advice for First-Timers• Just do three tests. (Use Jacob Nielsen’s useit.com
to convince colleagues)
• Write tasks that center on your goals.
• Who you get to do the test matters less than you think. But—choose a reasonable audience to help colleagues accept your results.
Advice for First-Timers• Just do three tests. (Use Jacob Nielsen’s useit.com
to convince colleagues)
• Write tasks that center on your goals.
• Who you get to do the test matters less than you think. But—choose a reasonable audience to help colleagues accept your results.
Can readers understand my content?
Readability
Can readers understand my content?
Readability scores measure how easy to read a text is.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
4 sentences72 words90 syllables
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
Flesch Kincaid Grade Level Formula
0.39 × (words ÷ sentences)
+ 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words)
− 15.59
read-able.com
read-able.com
read-able.com
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 6.2
Our undergraduate and graduate classes are designed to offer future journalists—and private and public sector leaders who will interact with them—a thorough understanding of the role of the press in the policy making process. Through instruction and internships, students learn about the principles and the practice of journalism, while mastering the broader background of studies in public policy, politics, economics, history and other liberal arts.
2 sentences67 words113 syllables
Our undergraduate and graduate classes are designed to offer future journalists—and private and public sector leaders who will interact with them—a thorough understanding of the role of the press in the policy making process. Through instruction and internships, students learn about the principles and the practice of journalism, while mastering the broader background of studies in public policy, politics, economics, history and other liberal arts.
2 sentences67 words113 syllables
Grade Level: 17.4
Our undergraduate and graduate classes are designed to offer future journalists—and private and public sector leaders who will interact with them—a thorough understanding of the role of the press in the policy making process. Through instruction and internships, students learn about the principles and the practice of journalism, while mastering the broader background of studies in public policy, politics, economics, history and other liberal arts.
2 sentences67 words113 syllables
Grade Level: 17.4
Our undergraduate and graduate classes are designed to offer future journalists—and private and public sector leaders who will interact with them—a thorough understanding of the role of the press in the policy making process. Through instruction and internships, students learn about the principles and the practice of journalism, while mastering the broader background of studies in public policy, politics, economics, history and other liberal arts.
2 sentences67 words113 syllables
Grade Level: 17.4
We don’t need elevators.We’re only going to put athletes in this dorm.
• Makes web reading easier, even for highly skilled readers
• Readers read more, understand more
• Readable content gets shared more often
Why care about readability?
Solutions for poor readability
• Shorter words
• Shorter sentences
• Less passive voice
• Less jargon
A LITTLE BIT OF A TUMBLER.
A shining indication of yellow consists in there having been more of the same color than could have been expected when all four were bought. This was the hope which made the six and seven have no use for any more places and this necessarily spread into nothing. Spread into nothing.
A LITTLE BIT OF A TUMBLER.
A shining indication of yellow consists in there having been more of the same color than could have been expected when all four were bought. This was the hope which made the six and seven have no use for any more places and this necessarily spread into nothing. Spread into nothing.
“Data is your eyes, “not your brain.”
—Colleen Jones
Does this page encourage donations?
Bounce Rate
Does this page encourage donations?
A bounce is a one-page visit.
The bounce rate is the % of visits to that page
that bounce.
36 entrances ÷ 23 bounces =63.89% bounce rate
What does it mean?
“I came,“I saw,“I puked.”
So a lower bounce rate is better
So a lower bounce rate is better
Except when it’s not
So a lower bounce rate is better
Except when it’s not
Solutions for a high bounce rate• Is there an audience that hits this page
with the wrong expectations?
• Are there useful links on the page? Anyplace to go?
• Does the content actually interest people?
Solutions for a high bounce rate• Is there an audience that hits this page
with the wrong expectations?
• Are there useful links on the page? Anyplace to go?
• Does the content actually interest people?
Solutions for a high bounce rate• Is there an audience that hits this page
with the wrong expectations?
• Are there useful links on the page? Anyplace to go?
• Does the content actually interest people?
Solutions for a high bounce rate• Is there an audience that hits this page
with the wrong expectations?
• Are there useful links on the page? Anyplace to go?
• Does the content actually interest people?
Solutions for a high bounce rate• Make it shorter
• Improve readability
• Make it more useful
Analytics Tip #1:For content strategists,
pageviews do and don’t matter
Pageviews: how many times a page has been loaded into a browser.
Why not hits?
• A hit is the download of a single file
• 1 page = 10, 20, 30 or more files
One thing about pageviews...
One thing about pageviews...
$50 Million
Average Net Worth in This Elevator
If pageviews are low, other scores may not mean much
Does this page encourage applications?
Page Value
Does this page encourage applications?
To use page value, first set up monetary goals in Google Analytics
Higher ed goals1. Get students
2. Help students, faculty, and alumni succeed
3. Get donations to keep doing 1. and 2.
Higher ed goals1. Get students
2. Help students, faculty, and alumni succeed
3. Get donations to keep doing 1. and 2.$
GA allows these as goals
• Getting to a page
• Clicking on something
• Seeing a certain number of pages
• Staying a certain number of minutes
Set up goals in Google Analytics
Donation [donation value]
Application $???
Visit registration $???
Set up goals in Google Analytics
Donation [donation value]
Application $200
Visit registration $100
Set up goals in Google Analytics
Donation [donation value]
Application $2,000
Visit registration $1,000
Page value is...
Value of any “transactions” that happen
after a visit to this page
÷
Number of unique
pageviews for this page
Home Page Admissions B.S. in Math
Visit CampusVisit Sign-Up
FormThanks for Registering
Home Page Admissions B.S. in Math
Visit CampusVisit Sign-Up
FormThanks for Registering
$100
Home Page Admissions B.S. in Math
Visit CampusVisit Sign-Up
FormThanks for Registering
$100$20$20
$20$20$20
Solutions for low page value
• Is this page related to a goal?
• Shorter, more readable, include calls to action
• Usability test
• Content experiment (A/B test)
Analytics Tip #2:What’s a good score? It depends.
Grade me! Look at me! Evaluate and rank me!
I’m good, good, good and oh so smart! GRADE ME!
Problems with analytics
• Sites are different
• Google Analytics installs can be different
• Goals are different
• Analytics isn’t always accurate...
40?
40?
40?
40?
40?40?
Use analytics data in comparison• With last week, last month, last year
• With similar pages on your website
• Dept. vs. dept.
• Major page vs. major page
Analytics Tip #3:Use segments
Bounce Rate: 95%
How did they get to the site?Segment by Source
How did they get to the site?Segment by Source
How did they get to the site?Segment by Source
Are they new to the site?Segment by Visitor Type
Are they new to the site?Segment by Visitor Type
Are they new to the site?Segment by Visitor Type
Where are they?Segment by Metro
Where are they?Segment by Metro
Where are they?Segment by Metro
Were they on mobile?
Were they on mobile?
Were they on mobile?
What should this section of the site be named?
Card Sort
What should this section of the site be named?
Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosenfeldmedia/3343501403/
Open• Users stack cards then
• Give each pile a name
• Give users header cards
• They assign cards to the header cards
Closed
What should our top-level portal pages be called?
What kinds of social content are most effective?
Engagement
What kinds of social content are most effective?
Followers
Engagement
Shares/Actions
From follower to “customer”
Followers
Engagement
Shares/Actions
From follower to “customer”
Social media engagement measures show how many of your followers interact with
your content.
Most go something like this:
clicks ÷ posts ÷ followers
This gives you the percentage of followers who engage with each post.
What’s a click?
Facebook Twitter
Like Mention
Comment Retweet
Share Link click
So the formula forFacebook would be:
(likes + comments + shares) ÷ posts ÷ followers
(30,286 likes +703 comments + 7,170 shares) ÷
1 post ÷ 4,165,311 fans =
(30,286 likes +703 comments + 7,170 shares) ÷
1 post ÷ 4,165,311 fans =
0.92% engagement
“0.92%? That’s tiny. “George Takei is “bad at social “media.”
(101,010 likes +2,266 comments +
9,144 shares) ÷ 2 posts ÷
4,165,311 fans =1.35% engagement
But isn’t a share or a comment worth more than a like?
The Varsity Outreach Formula
The Varsity Outreach Formula
The Varsity Outreach Formula
(30,286 likes +703 comments + 7,170 shares) ÷
1 post ÷ 4,165,311 fans =
0.92% engagement
(30,286 likes × 2 +703 comments × 2 +
7,170 shares) ÷ 1 post ÷
4,165,311 fans =1.66% engagement
(30,286 likes × 2 +703 comments × 2 +
7,170 shares) ÷ 1 post ÷
4,165,311 fans × 1,000 =
1,660 engagement
Choose a formula that works for you and stick with it.
Presenting Analyticsand User Research
Content analytics spreadsheet
Content analytics spreadsheet
Content analytics spreadsheet
0
375
750
1,125
1,500
1/16/2011 1/23/11 1/30/2011 2/6/2011 2/13/2011
Visits Campus Tours
Some Questions• Can readers understand my content?
• Does this page encourage donations?
• Does this page encourage applications?
• What should this section of the site be named?
• What kinds of social content are most effective?
• What content on this page is getting the most attention?
Some Questions• Can readers understand my content?
• Does this page encourage donations?
• Does this page encourage applications?
• What should this section of the site be named?
• What kinds of social content are most effective?
• What content on this page is getting the most attention?
Most important: Answer the questions and show how content
strategy makes things better
Questions?