Event Tracking
Another foundational metric to web
analytics is Events. Events are “any
logged or recorded action that has a specific date and time assigned to it by
the web browser or the server” (Reed College of Media, 2015). According to Kaushik, new event tracking
tools “provide next-generation collection models to capture data from [user’s]
rich experience” (Kaushik, 2010). Adding
to a user’s experience, events are now being built with new technologies that “embed
pieces of rich content such as videos, widgets and so on” (Kaushik, 2010). These websites that “understand rich-media experiences”
can use event tracking to collect a great deal of data about their user’s
experiences. Kaushik states “the sky is
the limit” as to what can be collected.
How so? Event tracking “works by giving you empty
containers for storing data” (Kaushik, 2010).
Google Analytics’ containers provide the following information:
Category, Action, Label and Value. Website
owners can then determine how and what users choose as popular features or
elements in each container. (Kaushik, 2010).
Kaushik suggests that page views are something of the past and event
tracking is the future.
Pratt & Lambert Paints
Case in point, Pratt & Lambert
Paints is a paint company that dates back to 1849. According to the website:
Pratt
& Lambert is the unsurpassed, uncompromising paint choice for designers, architects,
professional painters and discerning consumers who insist on a flawless finish,
beautiful, trend-right colors and true color accuracy.
The
author had personal experience recently with Pratt & Lambert Paints’
website. Pratt & Lambert Paints’
website has an ideal feature on its website for event tracking. Pratt & Lambert uses a color visualizer
on its website (see picture). The tool
is easy and fun to use. An individual can select a scene, select a color,
upload the scene with the selected color and then can even save the scene in a
user created account. The color
visualizer not only collects data for Pratt & Lambert Paints but is most
helpful for customers. The data created allows
a company to put its “own spin on it” (Kaushik, 2010). Not only can Pratt & Lambert find out
which may be popular colors but for what rooms.
The company can “dive deeper into its data” to conclude favorites by
even by geography (Kaushik, 2010).
Pratt & Lambert Paints’ website,
from personal experience, does accomplish an intended goal of a website of “Why
does your website exist?” in the first place. Pratt & Lambert Paints’ website gives customers’
an engaging and helpful experience. According
to RankW, “the number of unique users visiting Pratt & Lambert Paints
website every day is 500. Each individual visits 4.8 unique pages per day. Approximate
time spent on a web site 04:19. It has an average of 2,540 pages indexed in
major search engines like Google™” (RankW, 2015). A time of 4:19 on the web site is much more
than the average of 15 seconds that 55 percent of the visitors spend on a web
site (Soskey, 2014). Is the color visualizer
keeping visitor on the website longer? The author’s answer to this question is yes. Of
course Pratt & Lambert Paints is not the only paint company to use a color
visualizer tool. Most paint companies do offer something similar on their
website. Just one final note, when a
company chooses to use this type of technology, the company needs to remember
to make these pages easy to load. In
Pratt & Lambert case the page loads easily.
References:
Kaushik,
A. (2010). Web analytics 2.0: The art of online accountability &
science of customer centricity. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing. ISBN#
978-0470529393
RankW.
(2015). http://rankw.org/site/prattandlambert.com
Reed
College of Media. (2015). Web Metrics and SEO. Lesson 2: Basic Web Analytics.
Soskey,
G. (2014). 55% of visitors spend fewer
than 15 seconds on your website should you care? Retrieved November 1, 2015
from: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/chartbeat-website-engagement-data-nj
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