The report should lead from data to decision. It is worth selecting several indicators related to the task of the site and completing them with a description of changes that may have affected the observed result.
Start with a business question
Does more people get to know a new service, or do visitors go to contact, or do guidebooks help find an offer? Only after determining the question, select data. A set of dozens of graphs without purpose can make it difficult to evaluate instead of making it easier.
Also determine the meaning of indicator names. Sessions, users and views do not describe the same. The basic distinction can be found in guide on number of inputsIn the report, consistently use agreed terms.
Show reference point
Compare periods of understandable scope and highlight unusual events. Campaign, holiday, failure or publication of popular material may change the picture of the movement. If the measurement method has changed, this must be pointed out before drawing conclusions about growth.
For example, the month of campaign launch should not be described as evidence of a permanent increase in organic interest without dividing sources. First check where visits come from and which content was viewed.
Combine numbers with short comment
With an important indicator, write down observation, possible explanation and next step. Differentiate what results from the data, from the hypothesis that needs to be checked. “Less notifications” is an observation, and “the form is too long” may be one of several reasons.
A clear report may contain:
- the purpose and scope of the comparison;
- major changes in traffic;
- visited services and guides;
- the contact actions to be measured;
- the team's comments on the quality of the queries;
- a list of decisions for the next period.
Save actions between reports
Keep a simple register of publications, amendments and campaign changes. Then you can refer the graph to actual work instead of relying on memory. However, do not automatically assign the entire result of one change just because it happened at a similar time.
The report is useful when it leads to reasoned decisions and allows you to return to their basics. Read more about comparisons in analysis of visiting groupsand the planning of changes in SEO priorities.
