Conducting quantitative research for website evaluation is useful as actionable statistics are drawn out that paint a broad picture of the usage of a website. Qualitative research techniques enable us here newfocus to test the usability, functionality, and user-friendliness of the website. Web Clinics which are mixed modal are a useful methodology conducting both quantitative and qualitative research that reveals insight about the usage of a website.
One useful measure is the Systems Usability Scale (SUS) which can be used in a variety on contexts to measure the usability of website interfaces. newfocus can modify measures such as the SUS and put them into a understandable context.
Web metrics can be determined that can reveal the behaviour of a visit to a website:
| Objectives and metrics | What it measures | How it is used | What it is used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visits | Number of user sessions | Measures site exposure | To evaluate the message of exposure |
| Average time per unique visitor | Time spent on site | Measures usefulness and comparison over time | Evaluates usefulness and interest |
| Stickiness | Composes number of users, frequency, average time per visit | Measure of stickiness | Evaluation of advertising and appeals |
| Clicks | Number of clicks from originating links | Measure of communality with other sites | Evaluate marketing patterns |
| Path analysis | Paths taken through site by visitors | Indicates most popular paths to site | Review and change content and site navigation |
| Global geographic | Visitor’s country | Assess exposure by country | Evaluate and improve targeting of message by country |
| Observed profiling | Visitor’s previous site behaviour | Understand what visitors do on the site | Improve the targeting of messages |