Benchmarking Your Hyperlocal Site
Martin Reeves
As way of a short introduction, i'm the tech half behind http://www.alderleyedge.com
I would be interested in a session where those running hyperlocal
sites openly share some of the numbers behind their sites. I would
imagine the majority are using Google Analytics or some alternative.
Whilst Google Analytics provides some fabulous information the data
would be much more helpful in identifying opportunities for
improvement when benchmarked against similar sites rather than just
reviewed in isolation.
I'm talking about the follow sort of stats:
* page views per visit
* visits per user
* bounce rate
* avg time on site
May also be worth looking at stats at a content level. What sort of
articles prove popular? (for us its contentious planning applications,
serious crime, new local businesses etc). If the site goes beyond
straight news delivery what is working? If you have a business
directory is it getting used? How popular are photo galleries? can
adding a forum help build community and onsite discussion? etc etc
Regards
Martin
Chris Condron
I'd happily participate in this session.
I'm coming along primarily as someone who worked on one of the
successful regional news consortia bids, but I've also worked online
(on some pretty big sites) for 13 years, and have worked a lot with
these sort of metrics and KPIs. I've got loads of stuff filed away in
the back of my brain about 'what works'...and a bit of background
behind some of the metrics ;-)
One thing I'd throw into the mix to think about before the session -
the metrics big media use (essentially page impressions) have been
chosen because they best reflect(ed - this is changing) the way of
measuring the value to advertisers, via CPM. That was one of the early
drivers behind picture galleries!
But IF the motivation of a hyperlocal site is not the same advertiser-
driven model it might not be sensible to use the same metrics to
measure success. It sounds like a statement of the bleedin' obvious,
but the first question to be really clear about is 'What is my site
for and how will I know if it's doing it?' Other, less-generic
measurements (eg Number of comments on a planning application or
number of people who turn up at an offlline school meeting) might be
more appropriate.
Love to talk with folks about this stuff on the day.
Cheers,
Chris
On Apr 14, 10:17 am, Martin Reeves <martin.ree...@focusdigital.co.uk>
wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> As way of a short introduction, i'm the tech half behindhttp://www.alderleyedge.com