Web analytics definitions

The Web Analytics Association (WWA) has just published standard definitions for 26 web analytic metrics covering the areas of site visits, content and conversion. This initiative attempts to standardize the way we measure and report Web site traffic so that we can compare our results to industry benchmarks.

Having written about this recently, I can tell you that marketers are confused about what the various traffic statistics mean and how to tell if they're achieving their goals.

Jason Burby, co-chair of the WWA Web Standards Committee, explains how the new definitions will affect marketers in his ClickZ column, "The Importance of Web Analytics Standards." He concludes:

"Web analytics has left the hands of the über-technical folks and [gone] into the hands of marketers who can act on this data. These aren't Web analytics experts, they're Web strategy experts ... who may run a specific portion of the Web site. They must understand site performance is key, but they won't spend all day using an analytics tool. ... They must understand analytics basics so they can act on data and change the site accordingly."

Download the report for these very straightforward definitions.