Web Analytics

Definition - What does Web Analytics mean?

Web analytics is a set of strategic methodologies implemented to maximize online and e-commerce activities. Web analytics extracts and categorizes qualitative and quantitative data to identify and analyze on-site and off-site patterns and trends. Analytic techniques and requirements vary according to organizational requirements.

Web analytics services may be supplemented with related sources, including email marketing response rates, direct mail, sales and website performance data.

Techopedia explains Web Analytics

Web Analytics studies reveal the following Web trends and patterns:

  • User viewpoints and opinions
  • Website traffic, links and page views related to products and services
  • Offline and online website experiences via blogs, news and audio/video

Web analytics tools were originally limited to on-site user analysis, but modern tools effectively combine on and off-site data for enhanced Web activity analysis.

  • On-site Web analytics: Key approaches to user data collection and report generation are log-file and page tagging. When a user accesses a Web browser, JavaScript facilitates page tagging and third-party server communication. In addition, log file analysis transfers data to a Web server to record all website transactions.
  • Off-site Web analytics: Measures potential and actual website influence through page view opportunities, site visibility and comments, or buzz.

Popular data analytics tools include Konstanz Information Miner (KNIME), Data Applied, R, DevInfo and Zeptoscope Basic.

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