Creating Segments in Web Analytics

Creating segments in web analytics means breaking your website’s visitors into
smaller groups based on certain characteristics. This helps you understand how
different groups behave on your site, so you can make informed decisions about
improving your website and targeting your marketing efforts. Here's a simple
breakdown:

1. Understanding Segments in Web Analytics

A segment is just a smaller group of users within your overall website traffic. For
example, instead of looking at your entire website traffic, you might want to focus
on people who came from social media, or people who bought a product. This
helps you understand the behavior of different types of visitors.

2. Steps for Creating Segments

a. Identify Key Metrics

First, decide what you want to measure or analyze. This could be things like:

● Bounce rate: How many people leave your site quickly.

● Session duration: How long users stay on your site.
● Conversion rate: How many visitors complete a desired action (like buying
something).

For example, you might want to track how many visitors make a purchase vs. those
who leave without buying.
b. Define the Audience Criteria

Next, decide how you want to divide your visitors into groups. You can segment
users based on:

● Demographics: This could include things like age, gender, or location. For
example, you might want to see how people from New York behave
compared to those from California.
● Behavioral: For example, you could create a segment for people who visit
your site often, or those who spend a lot of time on certain pages.
● Technological: You could create a segment for mobile users vs. desktop
users.
● Referral Source: Segment users based on where they came from, like
organic search (Google), paid ads, or social media.
● Conversions: This could be users who signed up for a newsletter or made a
purchase.

c. Create the Segment in Your Analytics Tool

Once you know the criteria, you can set up the segment in your analytics tool (like
Google Analytics). For example, in Google Analytics, you would go to the
"Segments" section, click "New Segment," and set up rules like:

● Users who visited more than 3 pages.

● Users who made a purchase in the last 30 days.

You can combine multiple conditions using AND or OR logic.

3. Common Segment Types

Here are a few common types of segments:

● New vs. Returning Visitors: This helps you see if new visitors act
differently than people who come back. For example, new visitors might
browse more but not make a purchase, while returning visitors might be
more likely to buy.
● Geographic Segmentation: If you sell products in different countries, you
can create a segment for visitors from each country to see how they behave.
 For example, you might find that visitors from the UK spend more on
average than those from the US.
● Device Type: You can separate users based on whether they visit from a
mobile, tablet, or desktop. This helps you understand if your website works
well on mobile, for example.
● Referral Source: Segment users who came from different sources. For
example, you could compare users who came from a Google search versus
those who clicked on an ad. You may see that users from organic search
convert better than those from ads.
● Goal Completions: This segment tracks users who completed an important
action, like making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
● Cart Abandoners: This segment tracks users who added items to their
shopping cart but didn’t check out. You can then target them with ads or
emails to remind them to complete their purchase.

Example:

Imagine you run an online clothing store. You could create these segments:

● Mobile Shoppers: Users visiting your site from mobile devices.

● Cart Abandoners: Users who added clothes to their cart but didn’t
complete the purchase.
● Returning Shoppers: Users who bought something before and came back
to buy again.
● Social Media Visitors: Users who clicked through to your site from
Instagram.

By creating these segments, you can focus on improving specific areas, like
offering discounts to cart abandoners or improving the mobile shopping
experience.

Understanding the Purpose of Segmentation

The purpose of segmentation in web analytics is to break down a large audience

into smaller, more specific groups, so you can better understand their behaviors,
target them more effectively, and improve your business strategies. Here's why
segmentation is useful and how it helps businesses:

1. Enhanced User Understanding

● Behavioral Insights: Segmentation shows how different groups of people

interact with your website. For example, new visitors might just browse the
homepage, while returning visitors might go straight to their cart. Mobile
users might prefer quick, easy navigation, while desktop users might
explore more details. This helps you understand what each group needs.
● Identify Trends: By looking at specific segments, you can spot trends. For
instance, you might find that users from California are more likely to buy,
or that visitors from Google (organic search) engage more than those from
paid ads.

2. Personalization and Targeting

● Tailored User Experience: If you know which segment a user belongs to,
you can give them a customized experience. For example, mobile users can
see a website optimized for smaller screens, while returning visitors might
get personalized product recommendations based on their previous
purchases.
● Targeted Campaigns: Segmentation helps you target specific groups with
relevant messages. For instance, if you know young adults in New York
tend to buy a specific type of clothing, you can create ads just for them with
discounts on those items.

3. Improved Decision-Making

● Data-Driven Strategies: Instead of analyzing everyone at once, you can

look at smaller, more meaningful groups. For example, if you see that users
from paid ads have a higher conversion rate than users from organic
search, you might decide to invest more in paid ads.
● Goal Optimization: Segmentation helps you see which groups are
achieving goals like making a purchase or signing up. If mobile users aren’t
 converting as well as desktop users, you might need to improve the mobile
experience.

4. Resource Allocation

● Optimizing Marketing Spend: By identifying high-performing segments,

you can focus more of your resources on them. For example, if users from
Instagram are more likely to buy, you can spend more on Instagram ads,
while reducing spending on other platforms.
● Channel Optimization: If you segment users by where they come from
(e.g., Google search, social media, email campaigns), you can figure out
which channels bring the most valuable traffic. You can then focus your
energy and budget on those channels.

5. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)

● Identifying Opportunities: Segmentation helps you find areas that need

improvement. For example, if mobile users are dropping off during
checkout, it may mean your mobile checkout process isn’t smooth, and you
can fix that to improve conversions.
● Targeted Testing: By testing different things (like designs or messages) on
specific segments, you can see what works best. For example, you might test
a special offer for first-time visitors and find that it increases conversions.

6. Tracking and Reporting

● Performance Metrics by Group: Segmentation lets you track key metrics

(like bounce rate, session duration, or conversion rate) for each group. You’ll
get a better idea of how each segment is performing. For example, if users
from paid ads have a higher conversion rate, you know the ads are
working.
● Trend Monitoring: Regularly analyzing segmented data helps you track
how different groups behave over time. For instance, if users from social
media are engaging more over the past few months, you might want to
invest more in social campaigns.

7. Strategic Growth and Optimization

 ● Expanding High-Performing Segments: If you notice that a certain
segment, like young female shoppers from California, is performing really
well, you can focus on attracting more of these visitors through targeted ads
or promotions.
● Minimizing Risks: By identifying low-performing segments, like desktop
users from certain regions who aren’t converting, you can adjust your
strategy before wasting resources. For example, you might decide to
improve the user experience for those visitors.

Examples:

● E-commerce Website: If you run an online store, you might segment by:
○ New vs. Returning Shoppers: Tailor ads and offers based on their
past shopping behavior.
○ Mobile vs. Desktop Users: Optimize the website layout differently
for each.
○ Cart Abandoners: Send them an email reminder with a special
discount to encourage them to complete their purchase.
● Content Website: If you run a blog or news site, you could segment by:
○ Geographic Location: Show localized content or ads based on where
users are.
○ Device Type: If mobile users are reading articles but not subscribing,
you might improve your mobile sign-up process.

Visualizing Data in Web Analytics

Visualizing data in web analytics is important because it helps businesses

understand complex information quickly and make decisions to improve their
website, marketing efforts, and user experience. Here’s how it works in simple
terms with examples:

1. Common Visualization Techniques

● Dashboards:
○ What: A collection of key metrics (like traffic or conversions) shown
in one place.
 ○ Example: A dashboard showing website visitors from different
sources (e.g., social media, Google search, paid ads) and how long
they stay on the site.
● Line Graphs:
○ What: Tracks changes in data over time, like daily website traffic.
○ Example: A line graph showing how many people visited your site
every day over the past month.
● Bar Charts:
○ What: Compares different categories, such as device types or traffic
sources.
○ Example: A bar chart comparing how many people visited your site
from mobile, desktop, or tablet.
● Pie Charts:
○ What: Shows the proportion of different parts of a whole.
○ Example: A pie chart showing that 60% of your visitors come from
Google search, 30% from social media, and 10% from other sources.
● Heatmaps:
○ What: Shows where users click or scroll on a webpage.
○ Example: A heatmap showing that users mostly click on the top
navigation links and ignore the footer of your website.
● Funnel Visualizations:
○ What: Tracks user progress through steps on a site, like from viewing
a product to completing a purchase.
○ Example: A funnel showing that 100 users added an item to the cart,
but only 30 completed the purchase, highlighting where users drop
off.

2. Best Practices for Data Visualization

● Simplicity and Clarity:

○ Keep your visuals simple and avoid too much data in one chart. Use
easy-to-read labels and clear designs.
○ Example: A clear bar chart comparing website traffic across different
months.
● Choose the Right Metrics:
 ○ Focus on the most important data for your goals, like conversion rates
or session duration.
○ Example: If your goal is to increase sales, focus on metrics like
conversion rate or average order value.
● Use Comparative Data:
○ Compare current data with past data or benchmarks to spot trends.
○ Example: Compare this month’s traffic to last month’s to see if a
marketing campaign worked.
● Real-Time vs. Historical Data:
○ Use real-time data to track ongoing activities and historical data to
analyze trends.
○ Example: Use real-time data during a sale to monitor traffic spikes,
and historical data to see trends over the past year.
● Interactive Dashboards:
○ Allow users to interact with the data, like filtering by date or region to
get deeper insights.
○ Example: An interactive dashboard where you can click on a specific
country to see how its visitors behave.

3. Popular Tools for Data Visualization

● Google Analytics:
○ Built-in visualizations like graphs and charts to track traffic, behavior,
and goals.
● Google Data Studio:
○ A free tool to create interactive reports and dashboards using Google
Analytics data.
● Tableau:
○ A powerful tool for creating advanced visualizations and complex
reports.
● Power BI:
○ A business intelligence tool that helps create detailed reports from
web analytics.
● Heatmap Tools (Hotjar, Crazy Egg):
 ○ These tools visualize user interactions on a webpage, showing where
users click and scroll.

4. Use Cases for Data Visualization

● Traffic Analysis:
○ Visualize where your visitors come from, such as search engines,
social media, or ads.
○ Example: See that most traffic comes from Google search, so you
focus more on SEO.
● Conversion Rate Optimization:
○ Use funnel visualizations to see where users are dropping off and fix
those areas.
○ Example: If users leave during checkout, you might simplify the
process.
● Audience Segmentation:
○ Visualize data by user demographics (age, location) or behavior to
tailor your marketing.
○ Example: If younger users spend more time on mobile, create
mobile-friendly content for them.
● Campaign Performance:
○ Compare how different marketing campaigns are performing in terms
of clicks and conversions.
○ Example: A campaign on social media brings in more traffic than
paid ads, so you might allocate more resources there.

Tracking Acquisition and Conversions, Reports and Visualizations for Mobile

Visitors

Tracking acquisition and conversions for mobile visitors is essential because

mobile users often interact differently than desktop users, and tailoring strategies
can help improve their experience and increase conversions. Here’s a simplified
approach to tracking and reporting mobile visitors, with examples.
1. Tracking Acquisition for Mobile Visitors

Tracking how mobile users find your site helps improve mobile-specific strategies
for getting visitors.

● Mobile-Specific Acquisition Channels:

○ Organic Search: Mobile users finding your site via Google search.
For example, if you own a blog, you’ll want it to rank well on
Google’s mobile search so more people on mobile can find it.
○ Paid Ads: Ads targeted at mobile users. For instance, a
mobile-friendly ad for an online clothing store can direct users to a
mobile-optimized landing page.
○ Social Media: Traffic from Instagram, TikTok, etc., where users
typically use mobile. If you share a link to your website on Instagram,
you’re likely to get more mobile visitors.
○ Direct Traffic: People typing in your website’s URL directly on their
mobile browser.
○ Referral Traffic: Mobile users coming from links on other websites.
● Using Google Analytics:
○ Audience > Mobile > Overview: Shows how many users visit via
mobile and their behavior.
○ Acquisition Reports: Filter by mobile to see which channels bring
the most mobile visitors, like social media or ads.
● Tracking Campaigns with UTM Parameters:
○ Use UTM tags to track mobile-specific ads. For example:
https://example.com?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&u
tm_campaign=summer_sale&utm_device=mobile
○ This helps see if Instagram ads bring mobile users to your sale.

2. Tracking Conversions for Mobile Visitors

Conversions are actions mobile visitors complete, like purchasing an item or filling
out a form.

● Key Mobile Conversions:

 ○ Mobile Purchases: Track sales on mobile to see if people buy more
on their phones.
○ Form Submissions: If you have a newsletter signup, check how many
mobile users are signing up.
○ CTA Button Clicks: Track clicks on mobile-specific CTAs, like “Call
Now” buttons.
○ App Downloads: If you promote an app on your site, track downloads
initiated from mobile.
● Setting Up Goals in Google Analytics:
○ Destination Goals: Track visits to specific pages, like a "Thank You"
page after a mobile purchase.
○ Event Goals: Track actions like tapping a “Download App” button.
● Mobile-Specific Funnel Analysis:
○ Visualize each step of a mobile user’s journey, such as from landing
on a product page to purchasing, to see where they drop off. For
example, many may abandon the cart if the checkout process isn’t
mobile-friendly.

3. Reports and Visualizations for Mobile Visitors

Creating visual reports focused on mobile users helps identify trends and areas for
improvement.

● Mobile Traffic and Conversion Dashboards:

○ Use Google Analytics or Google Data Studio to track:
■ Traffic volume by channel (e.g., Instagram vs. Google search).
■ Conversion rates for mobile visitors.
■ Bounce rate and session duration for mobile visitors (high
bounce rates may mean the site is hard to navigate on mobile).
● Visualizing Mobile Data:
○ Bar Charts: Compare conversion rates between mobile and desktop
to see which performs better.
○ Line Graphs: Track mobile traffic over time, such as spikes during a
social media campaign.
 ○ Heatmaps: Use tools like Hotjar to see where mobile users are
clicking or scrolling. This can help identify if they’re missing
important buttons or sections.

4. Improving Mobile Performance Based on Analytics

Using insights from mobile analytics can help optimize user experience on mobile.

● Identifying Mobile UX Issues:

○ Heatmaps: See if users are tapping on elements that aren’t clickable.
For example, users might tap on an image expecting it to enlarge, but
it doesn’t, causing frustration.
○ Page Speed: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to check
mobile load times. A slow-loading page may cause users to leave
before the page fully loads.
● Optimizing Mobile Landing Pages:
○ Test mobile landing pages for ease of use, like simplifying forms to
have fewer fields or enabling auto-fill options for faster form filling.
● Creating Mobile-Specific Campaigns:
○ Run ads that target mobile users with a message suited for small
screens, and ensure that mobile visitors are taken to a mobile-friendly
landing page.

Incorporating Web Scraped Data into Analytics Reports

Adding web-scraped data to analytics reports can bring valuable insights that
typical sources, like Google Analytics, might miss. Web scraping involves
collecting information from websites (like competitor prices, customer reviews, or
social media comments) and can give you a more in-depth view of the market and
customer behavior. Here’s how to use web-scraped data to improve your analytics:

1. Practical Uses for Web-Scraped Data

● Competitor Analysis
 ○ Pricing: If you're tracking competitor prices on sites like Amazon,
you could analyze price patterns to adjust your own prices or
promotional offers. For instance, if you notice competitors lowering
prices during holiday seasons, you might do the same.
○ Product Availability: Knowing when a competitor’s product is out of
stock gives you a chance to promote similar items, boosting your
visibility when customers look for alternatives.
● Customer Sentiment Analysis
○ Product Reviews: Scraping reviews on platforms like Yelp lets you
understand what customers love or dislike. If many reviews mention
“fast shipping” positively, you can focus on highlighting your
shipping speed too.
○ Social Media Sentiment: Gathering comments from Twitter or
Instagram allows you to see how people feel about your brand.
Positive trends might correlate with increased traffic or sales, so you
can track what messaging works.
● Industry Trends
○ Market Trends: Monitoring industry blogs or news sites keeps you
updated on trends, such as the growing demand for sustainable
products. You could use this information to focus on eco-friendly
options in your own inventory.
○ Content Engagement: Scraping blogs and forums helps you see what
type of content your audience finds engaging. If “how-to” guides on
specific products perform well, you might add similar content to your
blog.
● Lead Generation
○ Business Information: Gathering contact info from business
directories helps build your list of potential leads. For example,
scraping emails and contact names from LinkedIn can give you
insights into potential partners or clients.

2. Web Scraping Techniques

● Automated Scraping Tools: Tools like BeautifulSoup and Scrapy

(Python) can extract specific info from websites, like product names or
 prices, and save it in CSV format. If you want to track competitor prices
daily, you could set up Scrapy to run this automatically.
● APIs: Some sites offer APIs (like Twitter’s or Google’s) that let you access
data more reliably. For example, Twitter’s API lets you pull social media
mentions without needing to scrape directly.
● Custom Scripts: Python libraries like Selenium handle dynamic content
(like pop-ups), making it easier to get data from complex sites.

3. Incorporating Web-Scraped Data into Reports

● Data Cleaning and Transformation

○ Cleaning: Web-scraped data can have duplicates or errors. Make sure
it’s clean by removing inconsistencies, such as duplicate prices, and
standardizing date formats.
○ Enrichment: Combine scraped data with your existing data to add
context. For example, linking competitor pricing with your sales
metrics shows how pricing impacts conversions.
● Importing Web-Scraped Data into Analytics Tools
○ Google Sheets and Data Studio: Import web-scraped data into
Google Sheets (using functions like IMPORTXML). Then, link it to
Google Data Studio to visualize it alongside your other metrics.
○ Database Storage: Save data in databases (like MySQL) and use
SQL to combine it with other sources. For instance, you can create a
report in Tableau that shows how competitor pricing affects your sales
trends.
● Data Visualization
○ Competitor Pricing Trends: Use line graphs to see how competitor
prices change over time. Overlay your conversion rates to find
patterns.
○ Sentiment Analysis: Display customer sentiment with word clouds or
bar charts to track if certain product features drive positive reviews.
○ Market Share Analysis: Use bar charts to see how your product
launches or sales compare to the industry average, based on scraped
data from competitor sites.
4. Combining Web-Scraped Data with Other Analytics

● Cross-Referencing with Acquisition Data: If a competitor launches a sale,

you might see an effect on your own traffic or conversion rates. Analyzing
this lets you respond with new campaigns.
● Integrating Reviews with Conversion Data: Correlate scraped reviews
with sales; if negative reviews increase, you may notice a drop in
conversions. Adjusting product descriptions can help improve customer
perception.
● Tracking Industry Events: Link scraped news data to your analytics to see
if, for example, an industry trend leads to a traffic spike on related products
on your site.

5. Challenges and Tips

● Legal Considerations: Some sites prohibit scraping, so check each site’s

terms of service.
● Data Quality and Maintenance: Web-scraped data can be inconsistent.
Regularly update scripts to keep data current.
● Handling Large Data: Web scraping can create a lot of data. Use cloud
storage (like AWS) or big data tools (like Hadoop) to manage large datasets
efficiently.