Web analytics

Web analytics: turning data into actionable insights

Data is a crucial tool for understanding how a website or platform performs. By gathering the right insights, we learn what works well and where there is room for improvement. That is exactly where website data is valuable: it helps us see which directions have great potential for improvement. By looking at data, we don't have to rely blindly on intuition and assumptions alone. That doesn't mean, of course, that we should rely solely on web analytics. Data is particularly valuable when we can turn it into actionable insights. Not measuring for the sake of measuring, but measuring what truly matters.

How to Make Smart Use of Website Analytics?

Choose the Right Goals to Aim For

Gathering the right website data all starts with a clear digital strategy and defining concrete platform goals. Only when we have a crystal-clear vision of where the platform needs to go can we determine when we are successful and what data is needed to assess this. Ultimately, we want to measure what truly matters. In practice, this means measuring progress against the chosen goals.

KPIs That Provide Focus

You can measure every tap, scroll, or click, with the risk of getting lost in general statistics that tell you little about actual performance. Good KPIs provide focus and create clarity. They help in making the right decisions. We also refer to these as actionable metrics, useful statistics. Besides usability, we always ensure that KPIs are understandable and easily comparable.

Data Must Lead to Usable Insights

Data alone does not say much; the ability to convert data into valuable insights and concrete improvements is why we use platform analytics. Usability is once again a key concept here. We consider data usable when it shows how you perform relative to your goal. Therefore, we always ask two questions:

1. What platform decision can we make based on this KPI?

2. Can we intentionally reproduce this result?

When the answer to both questions is positive, we are sure that we are looking at KPIs that will provide us with usable insights, and we can set up the analytics accordingly.

Segments, Events, Funnels, and Goals

When we start working with web analytics, we set up the chosen tools so that the most important information is quickly visible. For example, we look at smart segmentation. Your platform likely serves multiple target groups, and by considering them separately, we gain valuable insights per target group. We also determine what the most important events, goals, and funnels are and ensure they are well measured. We bring together the most valuable information in dashboards, so they can be found at a glance.

A Process Focused on Growth and Optimization

Digital Natives follows a fixed process to convert data into concrete optimizations that lead to sustainable growth.

Based on digital strategy and goals, we determine the right KPIs and corresponding targets in a workshop. We then create a measurement and implementation plan and set up the corresponding data sources. Think of tools like Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Matomo, and Hotjar. We set up dashboards and choose a rhythm in which we review the data together. This is ultimately what it's all about: identifying optimizations that help achieve the goals. We do this by conducting analyses, formulating hypotheses for improvement, generating and prioritizing ideas, and testing whether our assumptions are correct.

Digital Natives: Platform Analytics Specialist

Digital Natives, a digital agency from Amsterdam, designs and develops digital platforms with a focus on growth and impact. Our experienced team of product strategists and UX experts is happy to help you set up your analytics.

Here is a selection of the Digital Natives clients with whom we work on this: