Analyze 1hat!

An Analysis of Site 1raffic

for Reporting 1exas


By Julie Bissinger, Shamoyita Dasgupta and Mason Scheer


2
1able of Contents

Lxecutie Summary....................3


1raic Report and Analysis..............................................................................4


Suggestions...........................13



3
xecutive Summary


Ater analyzing the Google Analytics statistics or Reporting 1exas, seeral major issues
presented themseles. 1he biggest issue relates to the ery high bounce rate, as it shows that more
users are leaing the website than users who are staying. 1he high bounce rate makes up nearly 80
percent o all traic to the website, demonstrating that only a ew people are staying long enough to
read the content. Another major issue on the site relates to the aerage length o time isitors spend
on the site. \hile the bounce rate is ery high to begin with, the aerage length o time or new
users is merely 41 seconds. In comparison, the aerage length o time or returning isitors is 2:51
minutes. 1otal page iews also represent telling inormation about site traic and what isitors are
reading. Another major inding dealt with the use o reerrals, and the major dierences between
which sites lead people to Reporting 1exas. 1he top two sites or generating traic were lacebook
and Mobile lacebook. \hile the 1exas 1ribune was ninth on the list o actie reerrals, it`s reerred
isitors spend the most time on the website leads. 1he last major inding relates to the keywords
that are actiely drawing in isitors to the site. 1he top keyword or generating traic was
Reporting 1exas,` meaning that isitors are already actiely looking or the website. All o these
indings encompass the idea that people are seeking out the website, but the site is not ulilling their
content wants or needs, and immediately leae the site.
4
1raffic Report and Analysis

1he traic statistics or Reporting 1exas oer some key insights on isitors who iew the site.
Many o the measurements correlate with one another and help explain the site`s low traic leels.
1he most telling statistics include: bounce rates, isitors, page iews, time spent on the site, reerrals
and keywords. 1aken as a whole, these measurements demonstrate that Reporting 1exas has a small
audience o regular iewers while an oerwhelming majority leae the site within seconds o
entering.

Bounce Rate

Reporting 1exas has a ery high bounce rate. lrom July , 2011, through October 22, 2011,
approximately 80 percent o all isitors let the site immediately upon accessing it, and do not spend
time reading the content.



1his high bounce rate can be attributed to a number o causes. Visitors may accidentally access the
website and leae upon making this realization. 1he site may not proide the content that isitors
are seeking. 1he site may also not be user-riendly, and isitors do not want to spend time searching
or inormation.

Upon closer examination o the bounce rate, it appeared that seeral weeks experienced higher
bounce rates than others. 1he highest bounce rate occurred during the week o July 31 through
August 6, 2011. 88.11 percent o isitors immediately let the website. Again, this high bounce rate
can be attributed to a number o causes. Because Uniersity o 1exas students generate all o the
site`s content and because this bounce rate occurred during the summer, a lack o updated, recent
content on the Reporting 1exas website could hae played a major role in causing isitors to leae.
5


'isitors

Reporting 1exas tallied a total o 6,822 isitors rom July , 2011, through October 22, 2011. 1he
month o July experienced the lowest isitor leels while October experienced the highest. Similar
to the bounce rate, this could be explained because school was out o session, and U1 students may
constitute a large chunk o Reporting 1exas site users. Visitor leels gradually increased once school
began at the end o August.



New isitors made up a majority o the site`s total isits, with 5,235 ,6.4, isits. 1he new
isitors also contributed to the site`s high bounce rate. \ith a bounce rate o 83.13 percent, new
isitors immediately let the site at a higher rate than the site`s aerage bounce rate ,8.63,. 1hese
users also spent a mere 42 seconds on the site, demonstrating that they were not absorbing and
actiely seeking out the site`s content. New isitors accessed 1.43 pages per isit, less than the site`s
aerage 1.63 pages per isit. 1hese statistics point out that Reporting 1exas is not giing new
6
isitors reasons to stay and peruse the site. Site usability and the type o inormation on the site may
dissuade new isitors rom exploring the site.



Returning isitors contributed to 1,58 ,23.26 percent, page isits. Most telling is how the bounce
rate or returning isitors was well below the site`s aerage. 63. percent o returning isitors
immediately let the site, approximately 20 percentage points lowers than the site`s aerage bounce
rate. Returning users also spent close to three minutes on the site and isited 2.53 pages per isit.

Although these numbers are much higher than those o the new isitors, they still illustrate how the
site may not ully engage returning isitors. Clearly the returning isitors are spending more time
reading through and accessing the site, howeer, they still do not appear to ully digest much o the
site`s content. More reading and skimming o the content may occur, but these isitors still seem to
leae the site too quickly. Neertheless, the higher numbers or this group o isitors shows that
people are seeing some o site`s content, and Reporting 1exas should work to encourage these
iewers to continue accessing the site.


7
6.4 percent o isitors accessed the site only once. 1he isitor loyalty statistics orm a parabola
cure as the number o isits increase. Light site isits represent the base o the cure, and the
statistics increase on both sides. Once iews surpass 200, the number o isits substantially
decreases, and the cure drops o. 1hese statistics are encouraging because they represent a group
o isitors who regularly access Reporting 1exas. 1he site should continue to woo these isitors,
which could result in an increase o total traic to the site.



Page 'iews

Reporting 1exas receied 11,498 total page iews rom July , 2011 through October 22, 2011. O
those page iews, 9,395 were unique. 1otal page iews exhibited their lowest leels during July and
their highest leels during October. Like the site isitor rates, this can possibly be attributed to
school not being in session, and students not haing a need to access Reporting 1exas. Page iews
steadily increased once school began towards the end o August.



Seeral o the site`s pages receied a higher proportion o page iews than others. lor instance, the
main page tallied 2,56 page iews, earning the title o most-isited page. 1he second most isited
page eatured a story on homecoming mums. 1his page receied 13 page iews. loweer, these
pages exhibited disparities in bounce rates. 1he main page earned a bounce rate o 55.66 percent,
8
much lower than the site`s aerage, while the mum story earned a bounce rate o 84.95 percent, a
ew points higher than the aerage.



1he time spent on each page also aried. 1he site`s aerage time spent per page is 1:45 minutes.
lor the two most isited pages, a time discrepancy exists. Len though the main page receied
many more iews than the mum story, isitors to the mum story spent an aerage o 3:16 minutes
on the page. 1his means those who isited the mum story more likely read through the article and
absorbed the inormation. Contrastingly, those who isited the main page spent an aerage o 1:16
minutes on the page. 1his lower amount o time could hae resulted because the main page is
supposed to act as a portal or isitors to access other pages, and once a isitor ound a useul link,
they clicked it and let the page.

8.9 percent o all isitors access only one page on the site. 1his statistic decreases as the page
iew number increases. Approximately 10 percent o isitors iew two pages, and 4 percent iew
three. 1his decrease may result because the site does not encourage isitors to continue looking or
inormation. 1wo culprits that discourage using the site include the search eature and the archie
section. Both are diicult to use. Visitors do not hae the patience to sit through the site, causing
them to limit their page isits. I the inormation is not readily aailable, isitors will not seek it out.

9


1ime Spent on the Site

More than 80 percent o isits to Reporting 1exas lasted between zero and ten seconds. 1his
correlates with the site`s high bounce rate. People may accidently access the site, and immediately
leae. An inerse parabola cure ormed as isitors spent more time on the site. Approximately 13
percent o all isitors spent at least 61 seconds on the site. Reporting 1exas needs to capitalize on
this number. 1hese isitors are clearly spending more time looking at the site and the content
aailable. In order to increase site traic, Reporting 1exas must continue to oer content that
isitors will want to spend more time reading and using.



All isitors spent an aerage o 1:12 minutes on the site, howeer, this aerage is not representatie
o the total time most o the isitors spent on the site. As preiously mentioned, more than 80
percent o isitors spent less than ten seconds on the site. New isitors may constitute a majority o
those who spent minimal time on the site. 1hese isitors aeraged 42 seconds on the site, compared
to returning isitors` 2:51 minutes spent on the site. Reporting 1exas should try to entice new
isitors to remain on the site longer. 1his will not only increase site traic in the long run, but will
10
also proide more aenues or the students` content to be iewed by other media outlets, a key
objectie o Reporting 1exas.



Referrals

Reerring websites contributed 1,930 site isits to Reporting 1exas. More than 135 dierent site
sources made up the reerrals. 1he bounce rate or reerring websites ,5.18 percent, is a ew
percentage points less than the site`s aerage. lacebook and Mobile lacebook reerred the most
isitors to Reporting 1exas. 1he main lacebook site led 910 isitors to the site while Mobile
lacebook directed 213 isitors. 1his may mean that isitors who accessed the site are posting links
on lacebook, and their network members are clicking those links, or isitors are using Reporting
1exas`s lacebook page and are linking to the site rom there. Reporting 1exas should continue to
cultiate its presence on social media sites in order to obtain more reerrals.

Although both lacebook sites contributed the most reerrals, isitors who linked through the main
lacebook site spent much more time on Reporting 1exas than those who linked through Mobile
lacebook. Visitors who ollowed links rom the main site spent an aerage o 1:1 minutes on
Reporting 1exas while those who linked rom the mobile site spent an aerage o 34 seconds. Ater
iewing the Reporting 1exas site on arious mobile phones, there are seeral possibilities that help
explain this limited amount o time spent by mobile isitors. lor instance, the text is ery small and
the page takes a ew seconds to load. Users do not want to spend time magniying the text or
waiting or items to load, causing them to leae the site quickly.

11


Although the 1exas 1ribune ranked ninth in reerrals, the 1ribune contributed to the highest
aerage time spent on Reporting 1exas by reerred isitors. 1ribune reerrals spent an aerage o
2:21 minutes on the site. 1hese isitors may be actiely seeking other sources o news content and
spend time going through parts o Reporting 1exas. Although the 1ribune reerrals spent more
time on the site, there is still reason to beliee that those isitors did not ind what they were looking
or. 1hey did not spend enough time on the site to really absorb the inormation or read through
ull articles.

eywords

Search engines contributed to 3,538 isits through 2,150 keywords. Reporting 1exas` was the
most popular keyword and added 568 isits to the site. \ith a ery low bounce rate ,53.98,, high
aerage time spent on the site ,2:38 minutes,, and high numbers o pages per isit ,2.98,, isitors
who use this keyword are intentionally accessing the site and iewing the inormation. Seeral o the
other keywords may cause isitors to land on the site, howeer, it is obious that they did not
intentionally access Reporting 1exas. lor keywords like children o 9 11 grow up` and 21
st

century smoke electronic alternatie cigarette,` isitors spent less than two seconds on the site and
had bounce rates o more than 95 percent.

12


13
Suggestions

As it stands now, the Reporting 1exas website could undergo a number o changes in order to
improe usability and increase site traic. I the ollowing changes are implemented, they could
improe the eectieness o Reporting 1exas`s mission o promoting U1 students` work to other
media outlets.

Although one o the Reporting 1exas`s primary unctions is to target other news organizations in an
attempt to showcase student work, the likelihood o media outlets seeing this work will increase i a
greater number o people in general are iewing the site and staying interested in it long enough to
read the articles.

One o the main improements that could increase traic relates to the website`s content. lirst and
oremost, it would be beneicial to generate more content and to hae this content be timely. One
way to do this would be to seek out more students to create work or the site, so site isitors hae
more content to choose rom. Reporting 1exas should allow students rom across U1 to contribute
content. In addition, haing more attention-grabbing headlines would entice isitors to iew more
pages other than the home page. 1his also relates to the subject matter o the stories. 1he stories`
subject matters do not appear to cater to any particular audience. 1he stories should be about topics
that may catch and hold the attention o other media outlets or students.

Making certain changes to the layout o the site would also help improe usability. 1he menu bar
displayed across the top o the page should be moed, so it is below the Reporting 1exas banner.
Since the more detailed menu in the middle o the page contains many o the same links as the menu
bar, it should be remoed entirely because it is redundant. 1his also makes more space aailable or
site isitors to peruse articles. 1he story titles that are below the old` in the home page should be
turned into a sidebar, so isitors are able to see more o the articles without haing to scroll through
to ind more content. Another change that would improe usability is to moe the links to external
pages like lacebook and 1witter to the top o the page. It would also help to moe the Google
search bar to one o the top corners o the page. Make sure that the search bars on all o the site`s
pages are unctional since they currently do not work. Although the scrolling story bar on the
homepage is an interesting addition, the stories scroll by too rapidly, and the scroll bar becomes
distracting. It would be adantageous to gie users more control oer the scroll bar, and allow them
to click and choose which story appears in the bar.

Additionally, the archies section does not hae an immediately discernible organization, and the
articles in the section are not dated. It would help users i the articles were more clearly organized
and dated. Since one o the main purposes o the site is to showcase the work o the students, it
would be useul to link the authors` names to another page containing more o their work and some
biographical inormation.

1o better market the site, it may help to include broader story tags, so the tags link to more stories
on the site. Since KU1 is a well-known news organization, it could help to hae the organization
adertise their partnership with Reporting 1exas. 1o urther promote the site`s work, Reporting
1exas should also take adantage o its partnership with the Carnegie Corporation in New \ork.

Although there is a decent amount o actiity on 1witter, it would be beneicial to use proper
hashtags more requently, so more people iew the tweets with links to stories. Using the reply
14
eature to tag other news outlets can improe isibility by guaranteeing they see the stories being
produced by Reporting 1exas` students.



Reporting 1exas can also use adertisements through Google`s Ad\ords serice. By targeting a
speciic audience, Reporting 1exas can enhance it promotion o students` work. Instead o people
searching or Reporting 1exas, the site can ind` the people. 1he ads would be geared toward a
speciic audience, such as other media outlets and students, and people within those groups would
iew the ads. 1his could attract more people to iew the Reporting 1exas website.



In terms o getting more attention rom the uniersity community, it would also help to promote the
work o students writing or Reporting 1exas all around campus, and perhaps een adertise with
1he Daily 1exan since so many students regularly read that newspaper. Also, because the editors o
Reporting 1exas are well known, established journalists, more actie promotion o the site on their
part may increase the number o isitors and readers as well.

Should all o these suggestions be considered and implemented, we are conident that there will be
an increase in national, state and local media audiences. In addition, more students may be
interested in reading the publication or in participating in its production. 1he changes to the site will
also increase the amount o traic it receies. Ultimately, we hope that these improements will
make Reporting 1exas a stronger outlet or U1 students to publish content and subsequently build
their portolios.