Measure What Matters: Defining KPIs and Driving Business Performance

WHITE PAPER
Measure What Matters:
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Analytics
INTRODUCTIONThe beauty of Web analytics-and the promise of the Internet-is the ability to capture nearly unlimited amounts of data about your Web site. That said, without a clear strategy to "measure what matters"-and a powerful analytics tool to help you turn that informa-tion into answers-your Web analytics initiatives will quickly drown in a sea of data. So how can you turn these incredible data resources into clear and actionable insights? A good place to start is by defining key performance indicators or KPIs.
BY BRENT DYKES, SENIOR CONSULTANT, BEST PRACTICES GROUPThis paper is designed to help you understand KPIs; define metrics that support your organizational goals; and create intuitive dashboards to benchmark, monitor, and improve these key indicators. What data should you focus on? Who needs this infor-mation? How different are the data needs and delivery mechanisms between various teams and job functions? And what is the most effective and impactful way to share key metrics across the enterprise?
We'll cover these questions and show you how SiteCatalystT and Omniture Best Practices Group streamlines the process.
What Are Key Performance Indicators?Key performance indicators are quantifiable metrics that reflect the performance of an organization in achieving its goals and objectives. In other words, each KPI ties directly to a strategic objective your organization would like to achieve-whether it's revenue growth, profitability, market expansion, cost reduction, etc.
Key performance indicators SiteCatalyst can closely monitor these metrics and share real-time results with primary are quantifiable metrics that stakeholders throughout your company via graphical dashboards, e-mail alerts, or direct reflect the performance of an access. By closely monitoring KPIs, your organization can continually refine your Web site organization in achieving its to improve processes, enhance business performance, and better serve your customers. goals and objectives.
Understanding Your Business ObjectivesKey performance indicators bridge the gap between your Web analytics data and your business objectives. Before you can determine specific KPIs, you must first understand the following:
. What your business is trying to accomplish through its Web site. What defines the success of its online efforts
Business objectives vary according to your type of business or a specific function within the business. For example, an e-commerce business is concerned primarily with driving online sales, while a content site is concerned with advertising metrics, such as reach, frequency, and online registrations. If lead generation is your key function, KPIs should efficiently capture and qualify prospects for future communications while a customer support organization should strive for efficient Web self-service. Optimizing the self-service functionality not only reduces costly call center inquiries, but can also result in greater customer satisfaction and retention.
As you can see, the business objectives and KPIs vary for each of these business mod-els. However, as you'll see in the following day-in-the-life scenarios, once the business issue becomes clear, defining KPIs becomes second nature. Then, it's simply a matter of building the appropriate dashboard to measure and monitor each KPI and choosing the most efficient way to share these insights.
Key Performance indicators WHITE PAPER Business Model Objective Typical KPIs
WINE.COM
E-commerce Drive site visitors to Revenuepurchase products or Ordersservices online ProfitConversion RateRevenue-per-visitProfit-per-visitAverage Order Value
SPORTSLINE.COM
Content & Attract repeat visitors who Page ViewsAdvertising explore the site in depth Visits and Unique Visitors (Reach)Average Page Views per VisitConversion Rate (Actions/Visit)SubscriptionsRegistrationsLoginsCancellations
NIKE.COM
Lead Generation Capture information about Leadsa visitor to use in future Cost-per-leadcommunications Conversion RateRegistrationsNewsletter Sign-UpsPartner ReferralsPrice QuotesDemo QuotesCollateral Downloads DISCOVER C ARD.COM
Customer Support Quickly an... [download for more]