Why is website analytics nearly useless?

A website analytics company just emailed me tips for website performance. MAN, it was so 2009 about testing the colour of buttons. I spent too many years staring at graphs because of stuff like this.

The power is in the words, not the numbers.

Stadium analogy?

Glad you asked.

Analytics is like measuring football stadiums.

Matt Lambert

If I played a hundred football games in the English Premier Football League, I still wouldn’t score—even if I changed the colour of my boots. I am a spectator, not a player.

We shouldn’t measure the whole stadium

Measuring website pages and links is like measuring everyone in the soccer stadium instead of keeping track of which players are scoring.

If you are investing, it helps to know what you’re measuring.

How much difference in value is there between players and spectators?

It is the averages that obscure results

If you hide the amazingly valuable within the almost zero value, you can’t see anything.

  • 1000 clicks keyword A – one lead 
  • 100 clicks keyword B – one lead
  • 10 clicks keyword C – one lead

The total would be 1110 clicks and 3 leads – which looks rubbish.

Don’t measure spectators.

Low-volume clicks are worth way more than the high volume

How do we get more of those C Type 10% clicks?

How to figure out which keywords are going to score?

Don’t look at the keywords as phrases.

Look at every single word within the phrase; they each mean something different.

  • Topic: (what interests them)
  • Level of intent: The stage in the buying process
  • Niche Audiences (who they are) 

Intent Signals

It means ‘intent to make a decision’. We can tell by the words people use whether they have potential. Whether they convert or not then relies on other factors!

Those who use more niche words in their searches are easier to sell to; they have more intent, too!

When the words are specific, you don’t have to guess what to say.

It beats the hell out of changing the colour of a button.

With the Data, Use the Words, not the Numbers.

Look at the words on the striker’s shirt, not the numbers.

When you start to recognise the names, it gets easier.

  • The names of all the players are freely available in your Search Console.
  • Knowing which players are which will be most valuable
  • We can help you with that
  • Website analytics is not entirely useless, better to know what you’re measuring.