In this 3-question interview, Laura tells us about an interesting analytics challenge and a favorite Google Analytics before discussing what will make a big difference for higher ed analytics in 2017.
1) What’s the most challenging yet interesting part in your work with analytics?
My biggest challenge is transforming raw numbers into something meaningful that everyone can understand and use for making decisions. I am so immersed in Google Analytics that it is hard sometimes to step back and make it understandable and interesting to someone who is not. In the past few years I have shifted towards telling a story with data rather than just exporting and sharing reports, and it has been really beneficial for informing the direction of web projects.
2) What is your favorite GA feature, why and how do you use it at your school?
Segments have made my life a lot easier! I began using segments a few years after I started working with GA. I used to create custom reports for everything and now I can use segments to get answers in a much quicker and easier way. I use them for things like comparing desktop and mobile traffic, segmenting traffic by region, or digging into data for a specific goal. Segments allow you to quickly get answers to very specific questions.
3) What do you think will make a big difference for higher ed analytics and measurement in 2017?
Google Data Studio is going to help many people create interesting, dynamic dashboards and allow them to use data to tell a story or answer questions about their website. It capitalizes on the popularity of infographics and makes it easy for non-designers to create something very professional-looking to share with colleagues. Not only is the tool itself great, it helps people start to think about what they can do with Google Analytics beyond reporting pageviews.
A conference on digital analytics for higher education?
The HEA conference has become a must-attend event for digital marketing and communication professionals in higher education looking for new ideas and best practices.
Read below what a few of your higher ed colleagues who attended the past editions of the Higher Ed Analytics Conference say about the event.