Web Administration devBlog » Analytics http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu University of Florida: Web Administration Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:38:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.2-alpha en hourly 1 Spring of Web 2009 Post-Event Summary http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/04/22/spring-of-web-2009-post-event-summary/ http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/04/22/spring-of-web-2009-post-event-summary/#comments Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:40:58 +0000 Bruce Floyd http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/?p=641 Now that the dust has settled on our Spring of Web 2009 event, I wanted to summarize the event and surveys handed out to attendees.

Dave Stanton, a professor from the College of Journalism, was the first to present and he focused on how his 3-year-old daughter interacts with different interfaces and how it helps him understand how to design usable and intuitive interfaces.

Prentiss Ladkani from the College of Education followed with a presentation on search engine optimization at UF, cleverly disguised by her title “Why doesn’t my site show up on UF Google Search?” Prentiss did a fantastic job of teaching the group how search engines work and how building better web pages using appropriate HTML coding produces better search results.

Web Admin’s Joe Spooner taught us about site analytics and how to interpret (or how not to misinterpret) the information from server logs and tools such as Google Analytics.

Finally, Carl Smith from nGen Works dazzled us with his top 10 list of usability mistakes that web managers can’t afford to make. Carl did the heavy lifting of going through the exhaustive Usability.gov “Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines” and focused on the most strongly supported ones.

Throughout the presentations, we had great questions from attendees in person and on the web, thanks in part to our Twitter backchannel conversation.

Overall, attendees seemed to agree the event was a success. Not only did we get high marks for overall satisfaction, but everyone felt the conference helped make you better at your job.

The entire conference is available on the Spring of Web site, if anyone is interested in reviewing either the terrific content or my horrible cowlick.

]]> http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/04/22/spring-of-web-2009-post-event-summary/feed/ Responses to Google Analytics Webinar http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/31/responses-to-google-analytics-webinar/ http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/31/responses-to-google-analytics-webinar/#comments Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:30:20 +0000 Jessie DaSilva http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/?p=487 After the Google Analytics Webinar held last week, participants were asked to fill out a form to rate the class.

Overall, attendees gave it relatively high marks, but I decided to contact a few people and get some more detailed responses. Here they are:

Prentiss Ladkani, College of Education

“I can’t express how much I enjoy everything that the Web Admin group does. I have attended several Higher Ed webinars that the Web Admin group has hosted, as well as conferences and other sessions, and have enjoyed them all.

I was very happy to learn that there would be a session on Analytics because it is a topic we have been trying get a handle on here at the College of Education for a while. Currently, we use Web Trends to analyze our web traffic, but I have been looking into Google Analytics to use in conjunction with WT since they both seem to have benefits.

I have played with GA on my personal site, but it was really nice to see how powerful it can be with a larger data set. Plus, these seminars hosted by the Web Admin group are really nice because I get to interact with other web managers across campus to see what they’re doing in their units.”

Sarah Zachrich Jeng, College of Dentistry

“The first day (when I wrote my comments) seemed like an intro geared more to a complete analytics beginner who might be wondering about why they should even take the time to implement GA - the second and third days definitely got a little bit more into specifics of how to use it. Obviously three hours of lecture, encompassing a fairly wide range of Google Analytics topics, is not going to get that in-depth - but it seemed like a good overview of what is possible.

This might not be feasible, but it would be really nice to have a more hands-on workshop where participants could get guidance implementing GA (if they haven’t already) and tweaking settings, setting goals, etc. on the sites that they work on.

That said, I did learn some things and appreciate … this training!”

Barbara Lindsey, Department of Neurosurgery

“There was a LOT of information provided, but it went very quickly. I would have liked more in-depth information spread out over more than one session on those topics. I do not feel that I picked up much information I could immediately bring back and start using as a result of that session, which is why the mediocre evaluation.

I intend to review the recorded session again.

The discussion on KPIs and the fact that they are not all relevant to all pages of your site, and it depends on what you are trying to accomplish with your pages, was helpful.”

If anyone else has any comments they would like to add, feel free to post them here.

]]> http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/31/responses-to-google-analytics-webinar/feed/ Google Analytics Webinar Videos Available http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/25/google-analytics-webinar-videos-available/ http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/25/google-analytics-webinar-videos-available/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:02:10 +0000 Bruce Floyd http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/?p=451 For those of you who either did not get a chance to attend or those who want to revisit the Google Analytics webinars again, we have posted links to the webinar archives and the slides that were presented. You’ll need to log in via Gatorlink, but otherwise it’s free for use by UF folks.

Please be aware, these archives are only available until April 3rd.

]]> http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/25/google-analytics-webinar-videos-available/feed/ Google Analytics Webinar for (almost) Free http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/05/google-analytics-webinar-for-almost-free/ http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/05/google-analytics-webinar-for-almost-free/#comments Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:34:02 +0000 Bruce Floyd http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/?p=181 In a recent post, we talked about the availability of some terrific (and terrifically reasonable) webinars. Now, thanks to our friends at the Center for Instructional Technology and Training, we will be offering the Google Analytics webinars to the UF web community — for free.

There are three one-hour classes that you must register for individually. The only catch is that you have to make sure to thank the terrific people at the CITT for the use of their classroom.

UPDATE: To be clear, the CITT is offering the space but the actual webinars are being paid for by us in UF Web Administration. Feel free to thank us as well. ;)

]]> http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/05/google-analytics-webinar-for-almost-free/feed/ Latest Webinars Offer Training and Savings http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/03/latest-webinars-offer-training-and-savings/ http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/03/latest-webinars-offer-training-and-savings/#comments Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:16:58 +0000 Bruce Floyd http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/?p=137 While doing my standard, obsessive reading on all things web, I ran across two webinars that I thought would be of interest to the UF web community. Not only are these conferences interesting and relevant, they provide the opportunity to get top notch training without having to travel — all at a great price!

Usability Testing in the Wild

This webinar is presented by USA.gov and features Dana Chisnell, usability expert and co-author of “Handbook of Usability Testing, Second Edition,” a step by step guide on everything involved in conducting usability testing. Best of all, it’s only $75 for educational institutions!

Analytics 360: How to track and measure (and show to your boss) the ROI of your online initiatives

This three webinar series provides information on analytics basics, planning an analytics program, how to interpret information for both web and email campaigns. It’s a great way to learn how to use Google Analytics and understand how your web visitors are using your site.

]]> http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/03/03/latest-webinars-offer-training-and-savings/feed/ Favorite Links from January http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/02/11/favorite-links-from-january/ http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/2009/02/11/favorite-links-from-january/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:07:16 +0000 Bruce Floyd http://blog.webadmin.ufl.edu/?p=46 Here are some notable Web site links we discovered in the month of January.

20 Websites with Beautiful Typography

Typography, as demonstrated by the 20 sites listed by SixRevisions.com, can provide artistic value in the same way as an icon or other graphic.

45+ New jQuery Techniques For Good User Experience

If you’re a fan of jQuery as a means of improving site usability through progressive enhancement, then you’re going to love the new techniques provided by Smashing Magazine.

Google Analytics Maximized: Deeper Analysis, Higher ROI & You

We’ve all probably used Google Analytics to track and analyze users, but are we fully understanding and interpreting the numbers? Writer Avinash Kaushik has put together a list of nine items that can verify if you’re an Analytics Newbie or a Maximizer.

If you have suggestions for sites that would be of interest, submit them in the comments or send to webmaster@ufl.edu.

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