Analytics is “the discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in data.” In the web world, analytics help track, quantify, and analyze user behavior and make the abstract more concrete by measuring user interactions with your content. Web analytics tools identify how users are finding your site, which content they use most/least, how they navigate through the site, etc.
WPI uses multiple web research/analytics tools to track and understand user behavior on the site. Google Analytics has been embedded in all site pages to provide robust audience tracking and enable content creators to better understand how people are using your website (such as the routes people take to reach your site, the content they viewed, and even the devices they use to get there). Analysis of these metrics can assist in marketing decisions to allow for continued improvement of the sites.
Heat map technology is used to understand how people interact with content on specific pages on the site, which helps inform how to optimize content placement. A/B and multivariate testing is conducted to increase user interactivity across the site. User experience testing is conducted to ensure that the site is easy to use.
We encourage you to learn more about Web Research/Analytics and how your department can best utilize it. If you are looking for metrics for your site, contact Marketing Communications at cmshelp@wpi.edu and the department will assist you.