You want to increase engagement on your site, but where do you begin? Those pesky users could be skipping right over the carefully crafted slideshow image suggested by your director and heading straight for a colored text box that's not even clickable.  Tools that track user behavior like CrazyEgg, UnBounce, Qualaroo, and, of course, Google Analytics, can give you the real data you need to make strategic decisions, focus arguments, and optimize your site for the ways audiences are actually using it. You'll learn ways to test that content is answering users’ questions, priming them for action, and making the right impression. Along the way, you’ll figure out how you can save time and resource and concentrate your efforts on content that has the most impact.

1. It’s What’s Inside That Counts.
Testing Content
Effectiveness
#psuweb
@misb

2. Hello! My name is…
Melissa Beaver
Director of User Experience
NewCity, insidenewcity.com
#psuweb
@misb

3. Is our content doing what we think it’s doing?
#psuweb @misb

4. Is anyone using/reading it?
#psuweb @misb
CrazyEgg Heatmap

5. Wrong place?
#psuweb @misb
Source: Think Education with Google, “Education Trends through the Eyes of Your Customer (April 2012),
http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/research-studies/education-trends-through-the-eyes-of-your-customer.html

6. Web content
is free!
#psuweb
@misbPhoto courtesy Jesslee Cuizon, Flickr.

7. The Hidden Cost
#psuweb @misb
Editing Writing
1/2 –1
hour
1–3
hours
2–5
hours
10–20
hours
to copy edit to edit or rewrite
existing content
to research &
write original
content
to research &
write 1 feature
article

8. 50 articles
500-1,000
Hours

9. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
Every page has a job to do
Support conversions
Answer user questions
Leave users with the intended impression

10. Quantifiable
Effectiveness
#psuweb
@misb

11. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
Where do I look?
Identify outliers
Examine top entrances
Look at recurring content types
Map to stakeholder & project goals

12. #psuweb @misb
Establish your baseline
‣ Unique sessions, users,
pageviews
‣ Traffic sources
‣ Bounce rate
‣ Session duration
‣ Entrances

13. Make fair comparisons
#psuweb @misb

14. #psuweb @misb
Define clear goals
This report is base
Page path level 4
All Sessions
From New York
From Not US
All Sessions
Explorer
Pageviews Unique Pageviews Avg. Time on Page
All Sessions
15,355
% of Total: 1.97%
(780,172)
13,081
% of Total: 2.25%
(581,869)
00:01
Site Avg: 00:01:05 (1
From New York
553
% of Total: 0.07%
(780,172)
467
% of Total: 0.08%
(581,869)
00:01
Site Avg: 00:01:05 (29
From Not US
1,915
% of Total: 0.25%
(780,172)
1,647
% of Total: 0.28%
(581,869)
00:01
Site Avg: 00:01:05 (21
1. /index.aspx
14,225 (92.64%) 12,116 (92.62%) 00
524 (94.76%) 439 (94.00%) 00
1,744 (91.07%) 1,493 (90.65%) 00
2. /natural­sciences.aspx
433 (2.82%) 369 (2.82%) 00
+
Pageviews ( )All Sessions Pageviews ( )From New York Pageviews ( )From Not US
Jun 15 Jun 29 Jul 13
500500500
1,0001,0001,000
All Sessions
1.97%
From New York
0.07%
From Not US
0.25%
Increase…
‣ Quality?
‣ Quantity?
‣ Awareness/Visibility?
For…
‣ Which programs?
‣ Which regions?
‣ Which audiences?

15. #psuweb @misb
Be specific
By Site Section/Page
‣ Navigation paths
‣ Page elements
‣ Conversions
‣ Unique pageviews by
site section
‣ Bounce rate
‣ Time on page
‣ Scrolling
Segment by…
‣ location
‣ device
‣ traffic source
‣ referrer
‣ custom segments

16. Content groups
#psuweb @misb
Rows 1 ­ 8 of 8
365,569
% of Total: 100.00% (365,569)
365,569
% of Total: 100.00%
(365,569)
1. 96,900 26.51%
2. 77,120 21.10%
3. 63,282 17.31%
4. 50,873 13.92%
5. 30,970 8.47%
6. 30,829 8.43%
7. 8,819 2.41%
8. 6,776 1.85%
Pageviews
Jun 29 Jul 6 Jul 13 Jul 20 Jul 27 Aug 3 Aug 10 Aug 17
5,0005,0005,000
10,00010,00010,000
Main site sections (Content
Group)
Pageviews Pageviews Contribution to total: Pageviews
Resources
26.5%
21.1%
8.4%
8.5%
13.9%
17.3%
Homepage
Research
About
Work & Study
Sanger directory
Search results
(not set)
© 2014 Google
• Navigate to Behavior » Site Content » All Pages for an overview. (Also available in other Site
Content reports.)
• Select “Main site sections (Content Group)” in the “Content Grouping:” drop down, just to the
right of the “Primary Dimension:” field, in between the explorer graph and the data table.

17. Segments
#psuweb @misb
• Available in most reports, at the top underneath the gray bar, series of boxes showing the applied
segments. Click “+ Add Segment”
• To define a new segment, click the red “+ New Segment” button.
• To share your custom segment with other analytics users, select “Share” from the “Actions” menu.

18. Entrances by traffic type
Segments
#psuweb @misb

19. Tracking impact after big news story
in national media
#psuweb @misb

20. Any increase in traffic?
#psuweb @misb
Sessions
Unique Pageviews

21. Other impacts?
#psuweb @misb
• Navigate to: Audience » Mobile » Overview.
• In visualization: Explorer Tab » Motion Chart View (upper right corner).
• Change to line graph view (far right tab in chart).
• Change options to: “Sessions” for y, “Bounce Rate” for color.

22. Mobile & tablet traffic changed
#psuweb @misb
• Navigate to: Audience » Mobile » Overview.
• In visualization: Explorer Tab » Motion Chart View (upper right corner).
• Change to line graph view (far right tab in chart).
• Change options to: “Sessions” for y, “Bounce Rate” for color.
• Uncheck desktop.

23. Where did mobile traffic enter?
#psuweb @misb
• Navigate to: Behavior » Site Content » All Pages.
• Change segment if desired (Mobile in this example).
• In visualization: Explorer Tab » Motion Chart View (upper right corner).
• Change view options to y=“Unique Pageviews”, Color = “Bounce Rate, Size = “Entrances”
• Drag timeline (at bottom) to appropriate date.

24. … and where did they go?
#psuweb @misb
Previous Page Path Pageviews % Pageviews
19 82.61%
2 8.70%
1 4.35%
1 4.35%
Next Page Path Pageviews % Pageviews
5 38.46%
1 7.69%
1 7.69%
1 7.69%
1 7.69%
1 7.69%
1 7.69%
1 7.69%
1 7.69%
Entrances Jun 25, 2014 ­ Sep 24, 2014: 71.14%
Previous Pages Jun 25, 2014 ­ Sep 24, 2014: 28.86%
Exits Jun 25, 2014 ­ Sep 24, 2014: 77.85%
Next Pages Jun 25, 2014 ­ Sep 24, 2014: 22.15%
Navigation Summary
Group pages by: Current Selection: /about/press/2014/140801.html Show rows: 10
Pageviews
July 2014 August 2014 September 2014
303030
606060
Ungrouped
/
/about/press/
/about/people/
/about/press/2014/140721.html
/
/about/engagement/
/about/history/
/about/how/
/about/press/
/about/press/2014/
/about/press/2014/140730.html
/about/press/2014/140805.html
/workstudy/
© 2014 Google
• Navigate to Behavior » Site Content » All Pages.
• Change segment if desired; (mobile in this example).
• In visualization, click “Navigation Summary” tab.
• Change “Current Selection:” to page of interest.

25. Did they click on the accordion, click on the
tabs, watch a video, interact with forms … ?
#psuweb @misb
Event Category
Rows 1 ­ 12 of 12
Total Events Unique Events Event Value Avg. Value
201,402
% of Total: 100.00% (201,402)
51,269
% of Total: 100.00% (51,269)
11,647,434
% of Total: 100.00% (11,647,434)
57.83
Site Avg: 57.83 (0.00%)
1. Reading 75,421 (37.45%) 10,590 (20.66%) 11,613,031 (99.70%) 153.98
2. Accordion 63,538 (31.55%) 12,629 (24.63%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
3. External Link 19,508 (9.69%) 14,991 (29.24%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
4. Interest Form 13,460 (6.68%) 1,121 (2.19%) 4,727 (0.04%) 0.35
5. Engagement Module 11,324 (5.62%) 8,506 (16.59%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
6. Event Registration Form 10,803 (5.36%) 1,853 (3.61%) 7,412 (0.06%) 0.69
7. Video 6,157 (3.06%) 631 (1.23%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
8. Download 632 (0.31%) 595 (1.16%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
9. Mailto 263 (0.13%) 195 (0.38%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
10. Application 173 (0.09%) 67 (0.13%) 22,264 (0.19%) 128.69
11. Campus Visit Registration Form 110 (0.05%) 79 (0.15%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
12. Error 13 (0.01%) 12 (0.02%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
Total Events Pages / Session
Jul 8 Jul 15 Jul 22 Jul 29
5,0005,0005,000
10,00010,00010,000
555
101010
Google
Analytics
Events

26. Is anyone watching?
#psuweb @misb

27. But are users really watching it?
#psuweb @misb
Jul 5, 2014 ­ Aug 4, 2014Top Events
ALL » EVENT CATEGORY: Video
Event Action
Explorer
Event
Total Events Unique Events Event Value Avg. Value
6,157
% of Total: 3.06% (201,402)
631
% of Total: 1.23% (51,269)
0
% of Total: 0.00% (11,647,434)
0.00
Site Avg: 57.83 (­100.00%)
1. Start 919 (14.93%) 627 (13.85%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
2. 1% 794 (12.90%) 561 (12.39%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
3. 5% 725 (11.78%) 523 (11.55%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
4. 10% 704 (11.43%) 513 (11.33%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
5. 20% 663 (10.77%) 490 (10.82%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
6. 33% 622 (10.10%) 462 (10.21%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
7. 50% 563 (9.14%) 433 (9.56%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
8. 67% 504 (8.19%) 393 (8.68%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
9. 90% 437 (7.10%) 345 (7.62%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
10. Ended 226 (3.67%) 180 (3.98%) 0 (0.00%) 0.00
+ Add Segment
Total Events Pages / Session
Jul 8 Jul 15 Jul 22 Jul 29
200200200
400400400
151515
303030
All Sessions
1.23%

28. Where are users clicking?
#psuweb @misb
CrazyEgg
Heatmaps
Note;
Recommend cross-
referencing data with
Google Analytics.
Relative sizes of clickable
elements influence
intensity. E.g., buttons with a
proportionally smaller
clickable area can seem
more clicked than a
slideshow or hero image
with a large clickable area.

29. Did they scroll that far?
#psuweb @misb
CrazyEgg
Scrollmaps

30. Qualitative
Effectiveness
#psuweb
@misb

31. #psuweb @misb
Perceptions
Is our website making
the right impression?

32. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
Use to…
See how you might be influencing users’
impressions
Figure out why traffic is good but
conversions are poor
Include a user’s voice in design decisions
Inform disagreement among stakeholders

33. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
How to ask…
After completing some information seeking tasks
Impressions about the people
Describe what kind of [customer, student, etc.]
you think is a good fit for this [organization,
product, program, etc.]
Impressions about the institution
What 3 adjectives or phrases would you use to
describe [organization or company] based on
your visit to this website?

34. What students are a good fit?
#psuweb @misb

35. “The polar opposite of me -
i.e., someone who loves the
outdoors and wants to be
part of a tight knit
community…”
Describe what kind of student you think
would be a good fit for this college.
#psuweb @misb

36. Which design makes the right impression?
#psuweb @misb
“Seems
clearer,
less like a
business.”
“This one
feels more
academic”

37. Which design makes our institution feel like
the right fit?
#psuweb @misb

38. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
Impressive
“Top 3%—that’s pretty
awesome.”
“I now know that the Science
Center is part of the University
of Texas. I didn’t even notice
that on the others...
I did see UT but wasn’t sure
what that stood for. Nice to
know who they are affiliated
with.”

39. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
Too much research
“He looks very scientific...
I don’t get a health care
impression...
Seems more focused on
research aspect—doesn’t
make me want to choose
this.”

40. #psuweb @misb
What is a Health Science Center?
Google
Consumer
Survey

41. #psuweb @misb
What does UT Health Science Center do?
‣ “It provides healthcare, is a medical school, and
research center, and these 3 aspects combined
make for an excellent healthcare experience.”
‣ “It’s a teaching medical center that offers all sorts
of resources—medical and dental care, a learning
environment, and research facilities.”

42. #psuweb @misb
Rating Helpfulness
Which content do users find
helpful, useful?

43. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
Use to…
Determine if content answers questions
completely
Gain insight into how your users answer
fuzzy questions that don’t always have
clear answers
Understand placement in the user’s
journey

44. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
How to ask…
Specific task-based scenario
Part 1. You want to find out [this
amorphous topic]. What information do
you look for on this website?
Part 2. How do you evaluate if this
[program/product/service] fits your
needs?

45. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
How to ask…
General browsing scenario
Part 1. You’d like to check out
[organization].
Think about what qualities you look for in
[that type of organization].
Part 2. Exploring this website, how do
you find out if [this organization] is a
good fit for you?

46. “So, what did they do,
exactly?”
Unmoderated User Testing
#psuweb @misb

47. I want examples…
#psuweb @misb

48. Receptiveness
#psuweb @misb
“Eyesore.” Seems
made up, “fake.”
“Impressive…Meeting
their patient’ needs—not
just making money.”

49. #psuweb @misb
Comparison
Which one do users “pick” and why?

50. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
Use to…
See how your site compares to your
peers or competitors in terms of
usefulness (not just look and feel)
Observe more realistic behavior
Understand less tangible influences

51. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
How to ask…
Same question as before…
Part 1. You want to find out [this]. What
information do you look for on this
website?
Part 2. How do you evaluate if this
[college or program] fits your needs?
But repeat with 3–4 other competitors.
Randomize or place your site
somewhere in the middle.

52. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
How to ask…
Follow-up with some ranking
questions…
Which [organization or company]
seemed the most [welcoming, innovative,
goal adjective] based on their website?
Why?
Ask up to 3 of these.

53. Comparing schools
#psuweb @misb
Cheerful
Depressing

54. Comparing doctors
#psuweb @misb

55. Publications…huh?
#psuweb @misb
What are
these?
Impressive

56. Specialist content could be more helpful
than you may think
#psuweb @misb
Show me
what kind of
surgeon he is

57. “Love/hate relationship with
pictures because they were
helpful but disturbing.”
Unmoderated User Test
#psuweb @misb

58. Where do I
start?
#psuweb
@misb

59. Experiment
Image courtesy BigdogLHR, Flickr.

60. https://d14tj3xbwh88sx.cloudfront.net/assets/snapscore-screenshot-
a32c0b3353d5dff3aba41c5a2a7dcd33.png
#psuweb @misb
Some tools in your lab kit
UserTesting.com (More qualitative)
‣ Try peek.com for a free, lightweight version
Try My UI
Typeform
VerifyApp Testing Suite
Optimal Workshop
Crazy Egg
Heap Analytics
Google Analytics
Try Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to recruit participants inexpensively.

61. Albert Einstein
“No amount of
experimentation
can ever prove
me right; a single
experiment can
prove me wrong.
#psuweb
@misbImage Universiteit Leiden, Flickr.

62. I don’t know.
Let’s test it.
Said by you
#psuweb @misb

63. #psuweb @misb
Thank you!
@misb
What do you think about the future of
digital communications in higher education?
http://bit.ly/future-he