How to Bring Your Website’s Data to Life

Comments Off on How to Bring Your Website’s Data to Life, 10/09/2013, by , in General

Website DataWhether you manage your own blog or provide services to an independent entity, data, metrics and analytics are among some of the most important aspects when it comes to goal verification and proof of improvement. Many people – particularly those in business who do not have a background in search engine optimization or social media – will glaze over at the discussion of various metrics that show how a given site has performed. This hurdle can be frustrating for those of us who love data and can make it more difficult to justify the work that you have done. Whether you need to detail your strategies to a client or wish to incorporate data into an infographic for your visitors, continue reading to find out how you can bring your website’s data and metrics to life.

Create a Narrative

It comes as no surprise that lists of data are among some of the least popular or engaging types of media available online. Only those who derive their incomes or enjoyment from data will find this approach pleasing – your clients will expect either something that is brief or more digestible than pages of metrics. If you are pinging search engines with keywords and content, then explain this in a way that does not blandly outline the action. An ounce of creativity combined with data can make a compelling case as to how your efforts have improved overall traffic, conversions or revenue. When you take a literary approach to disseminating data, more people will be intrigued and interested in the subject.

Use Visuals

This cannot be stated enough: go visual, go visual, and go visual. Large sets of data can be difficult to absorb for even the most trained analytics gurus, which is why many analytics platforms now offer various forms of visual data representation to outline key aspects of your search engine optimization and content creation strategies. Nobody wants to be bored by lists of information, but visual representation stimulates areas of the brain that are traditionally not active when reading or evaluating written/printed information. If you want your clients and visitors to be active and aware of the metrics you outline, then graphic representation is vital.

Incorporate Data into Your Goals

Particularly helpful with social media, you can incorporate data into select posts and updates in order to demonstrate progress or the need for a response from your users. For instance, a non-profit website that seeks to raise a certain amount of money over one week or one month can mention the number of visitors and the percentage of individuals who have contributed in order to encourage further participation. As you are pinging search engines with fresh content about your data, you can also attract new individuals to your social media via the combination of the aforementioned two strategies.

Conclusion

Anyone who has a plethora of datasets to present to clients or readers will do well to first create a narrative to make the presentation more interesting, incorporate a variety of visual representations of the data in question and outline future goals via the use of this information. Whether you operate your own website or work for someone else, this summarization of information can make data evaluation and goal monitoring much easier for yourself and those around you.