Web analytics

Web analytics: turning data into actionable insights

Data are 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 are valuable: they help us see which directions have a lot of potential for improvement. By looking at data, we do not have to rely solely on intuition and assumptions. Of course, that does not mean we should rely solely on web analytics. Data are primarily valuable when we can turn them into actionable insights. Not measuring for the sake of measuring, but measuring what really matters.

How to Make Smart Use of Website Analytics?

Choose the Right Goals to Aim For

Collecting the right website data all starts with a clear digital strategy and defining concrete platform goals. Only when we have a crystal-clear understanding of where the platform should 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 bring focus and create clarity. They help in making the right decisions. We also call these actionable metrics, meaning useful statistics. Besides usability, we always ensure that KPIs are understandable and easy to compare.

Data Must Lead to Usable Insights

Data alone doesn't 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 useful when it shows how you perform against 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 useful insights, and we can set up the analytics accordingly.

Segments, Events, Funnels, and Goals

When we start working with web analytics, we configure 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 audiences, and by considering these separately, we gather valuable insights per audience. We also determine what the most important events, goals, and funnels are and ensure they are well-measured. We bring the most valuable information together in dashboards, so it can be found at a glance.

A Process Focused on Growth and Optimization

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

Based on digital strategy and goals, we determine the right KPIs and associated 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 look at the data together. That's what it's all about: identifying optimizations that help achieve the goals. We do this by conducting analysis, formulating hypotheses for improvement, coming up with 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 Digital Natives clients we work with on this: