We’ve all heard the “actionable vs. interesting” argument before:

There is a surplus of interesting information that you will be able to determine from your Web Analytics package, but not all of it is actionable.

For example, it may be interesting for a marketer to know how many visitors use IE versus Firefox, but it isn’t necessarily actionable (whereas that data may very well be actionable for a developer).

Presenting the most relevant data only gets more complicated as you move up the organization to Senior Management. There are lots of rabbit holes to run down when it comes to looking at Key Performance Indicator (KPI) data, and it is important to stay on track.

Ideally, KPIs should be determined based on both organizational and responsibility levels. Each management level should receive their own filtered report based on their respective, specific needs. The simple fact is that providing the most actionable data in the smallest possible quantity gets people moving in the right direction. This is especially important to remember when presenting to Senior Management, who rely upon focused, concise presentations to steer programs and the company overall.

Senior Management needs to be given highly digestible information that will facilitate strategic, optimal decisions. Here are a few things that work for us:

Financial (Cost and Revenue) Measurements:
Average Cost Per Visit
Average Cost Per Conversion
Average Revenue Per Visit
Average Order Value

Traffic Measurements:
Average Page Views Per Visit (most important if a content site; others, not as important)
Percent High Time Spent Visits
Visitor Frequency

Lead Generation and Commerce Measurements:
E-mail Subscription Conversion Rate
Lead Generation Conversion Rate
Buyer Conversion Rate
Order Conversion Rate
Percent Revenue from First-Time Customers
Percent Revenue from Repeat Customers

Customer Satisfaction Measurements:
Average Time to Respond to E-mail Inquiries
Visit Satisfaction

That’s the core. You’ll notice that three common measurements have been left off – Visits, Visitors and Page Views. Why? Simply put, those three components are measurements and not Key Performance Indicators. They are used in calculating the KPIs but aren’t KPIs themselves. Tracking the trend of these numbers can certainly be useful but is generally not the responsibility of Senior Management. (More on that in a future post.)

These items can be cut down further depending on the type of site you’re running. For example, sites that do not have a support component or do not survey satisfaction wouldn’t use the Customer Satisfaction Measurements (though we strongly recommend measuring your customers’ satisfaction with your site). In addition, sites that exist purely to generate leads would not have any need for the Revenue or Commerce KPIs.

Hopefully, you see that sticking with a predefined set of actionable KPIs enables Senior Management to quickly and easily make decisions. The noise of the interesting factoids fades away and, with added color commentary from Web Analytics experts, provides Senior Management with the essential data they need to devote more time to guiding the success of your company.

If you’re interested in more details on the KPIs mentioned above, keeping your Web Analytics program on track, or even having someone else manage your program, shoot us an e-mail with your contact information to discuss this post or other topics relating to Analytics as a marketing discipline or in relation to your business needs.