Splitting the Web Analytics Atom: From Page Metrics and KPIs to Sub-Page Metrics and KPIs

Abstract

Web analytics Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are important metrics used to evaluate websites and web pages against objectives. The power of KPIs is in their simplicity. Every web page can be assessed by numeric KPI values, which can be easily calculated, compared, and tracked over time. KPIs highlight the strengths and weaknesses of individual web pages and significantly help in maintaining, improving, and optimizing websites. Current web analytics metrics and KPIs, in academic studies as well as in commercial tools, relate to entire websites and web pages. This paper advocates extending KPIs use to sub-page elements, such as paragraphs, as an effective way to refine knowledge and leverage web analytics capabilities. We discuss the potential and challenges of sub-page web analytics and define a framework for calculating sub-page metrics from accumulated in-page user activity data, such as mouse and keyboard events. Then we propose potential KPIs that may be effective in highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of individual page parts, such as paragraphs. We use web usage data from a sample website to demonstrate these ideas. This study is the first step towards sub-page web analytics metrics and KPIs. Further work is required in order to gain more knowledge about potential KPIs that are introduced in this work, as well as to explore new methods, metrics, and KPIs.