- Advanced Strategies
We Share Advanced Strategies to Measure Performance and User Interaction on Websites
We live in a hyper-connected and fast-paced era! All our daily routines take place online: banking, gaming, bills, shopping, keeping in touch with loved ones… all with a click! But when we come across unfriendly pages, sites that load at a snail’s pace or technical glitches, our loyalty wavers. This is not good for companies, especially those in the world of e-commerce. And you know what’s even worse? Not knowing the behavior of users.
Smooth-flowing websites and tracking user movement are essential for online business. An optimally operating website attracts more visitors, and deeply understanding their preferences and actions drives continuous improvements. Consequently, it is vital to measure both aspects, as they provide valuable insights for business growth.
Techniques to improve your site's performance:
Website performance encompasses the speed at which a website loads, its usability, interactivity, and reliability. It is the first thing visitors evaluate when entering a site, and is a key metric that influences:
- Brand perception: A brand with a well-performing website is recognizable, trustworthy, and professional.
- Search Engine Ranking: The better your website performs, the higher its visibility in search results as algorithms rank and index sites based on user engagement metrics.
- Bounce Rate: The percentage of users who leave the website after viewing only one page.
- Conversions and sales: Fast and fluid websites motivate users to take actions such as making purchases, filling out forms, subscribing to newsletters, etc. This increases conversion rates and boosts sales.
Given the stakes, measuring performance is vital. There are numerous techniques for doing so. Here are the most common ones:
- Page load time: This is the time it takes for a web page to fully load in a user's browser. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, and WebPageTest can provide detailed information about page load speed.
- Speed Index: The speed index evaluates how quickly the visible sections of a web page are displayed. WebPageTest and Google PageSpeed Insights are some of the tools that offer statistics on the speed index.
- Time to First Byte (TTFB): This is the time it takes for the browser to receive the first byte of data from the web server. This indicates the responsiveness of the server. TTFB can be measured using tools such as Pingdom or New Relic.
- Page weight: The size of web page elements (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, and other media) determines the overall efficiency of a website. Tools like Google Chrome DevTools, WebPageTest, and GTmetrix can examine resource sizes and the number of requests.
- Mobile Performance: As mobile devices become more popular, it is crucial to evaluate and optimize website performance for mobile use as well. Google's Mobile-Friendly Test and Lighthouse can help in this regard.
- User Experience Metrics: Metrics such as bounce rate, time on page, and conversion rates can indirectly reflect a website’s performance. Web analytics platforms such as Google Analytics offer useful insights in this area.
It is imperative that website performance measurements are performed from multiple locations and under different network conditions. This helps to gain a broader perspective.
Additionally, consistently monitoring and analyzing performance metrics over time can help you recognize patterns, potential challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
Now is the time to address another crucial aspect to increasing sales in e-commerce: user behavior.
User behavior and measurement techniques:
Unlike a physical store, where direct visibility allows for immediate assistance to customers (such as guiding them through the aisles and making adjustments) and holding conversations to understand their needs, an e-commerce website lacks this physical interaction. As a result, it becomes more challenging to discern user preferences.
This is where studying user behavior becomes crucial. User behavior refers to every action visitors take on a website, including clicks, scrolling patterns, pain points, and page exits. By tracking user activity, you can gain insights into how people interact with the site, what they find engaging, and where they encounter roadblocks.
With a high volume of daily users, advanced techniques such as User Behavior Analytics (UBA) are necessary to track activity effectively.
User activity generates a range of qualitative and quantitative data. The UBA collects, combines and analyses this data with the help of various tools that offer a complete view of the user experience. Some of the tools used by the UBA are:
Heatmaps: These provide visual representations of the specific areas on a website where customers spend the most time and how they navigate. This allows you to identify the most clickable elements: buttons, calls to action (CTAs), etc.
Session Recordings: These provide a live recording of every user movement: mouse movements, clicks, direction changes, and page clicks.
On-site surveys: These help collect personal responses from users through targeted questionnaires on aspects that work and need changes.
Feedback Widgets: Feedback widgets on specific pages help collect feedback on specific parts of the page.
These tools provide valuable insights that inform the implementation of improvement measures.
Every second and every user counts:
Regardless of the style and content of the website, or the industry it is targeted at, efficient website performance is essential. Even incremental changes can significantly impact user experience and perception.
Therefore, continuous monitoring of website performance and user behavior is vital for businesses to optimize their online platforms, improve user experience, and ultimately drive growth and success in the digital marketplace.
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