subject: Web Data Analysis For Site Improvization [print this page] The content in any ebusiness transaction or on the web is the raw material for user experience. Web analysts and researchers need to know what the users saw, reason being to understand the context of users' reactions. Web site are dynamic, web site performance keeps changing as the rich media content, site components keep changing with newer functionality which get added periodically. With web page monitoring and changing technologies, pages get customized to users preferences, ad banners and a single page may render different pages depending on visitor stats.
Most of the larger websites are complex and users take their paths to navigate through the website. Although web designers have created navigation trails for users to navigate easily through the web, users still like to follow what they think so feel is liked by them, be it an image, a link or simply interesting content to read more on. Data collection and study needs to be made to capture and study these paths that the users follow and to understand these patterns in transitioning to different pages, between pages and how pieces of the site are experienced together. This clustering of pages, helps in a big way.
Data need to be collected based on the group of users and and the study you are planning on along with the right methodology. The dilemma of quality versus quantity is always faced where your quantity of data comes from log files and the quality comes from reports generated from usability labs. The solution or the common objective is to get to the middle from both areas and mutually agree upon on common factor that satisfies both sides of the data. When collecting hundreds or thousands of sessions in a sample, the method of collection is crucial to the final quality of the data gathered for analysis. Automating testing of any Web site is a difficult challenge at best, especially in light of the need to balance data quality and quantity to improve website performance. Web monitoring plays a crucial role here. Monitoring and collection of rich data is the key to a site's success factors.
