KPI Metrics

Navu tracks a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) for the site, and for many different subgroups of these visitors. You will see these metrics displayed in a consistent way throughout the app. So it is a good idea to understand what each of these metrics mean.

Metrics are always reported for a certain date range. You can choose that range using the date selector controls in the top-right corner of the window. It will affect all of the metrics you see as you move around the app. The range is inclusive and if the end date is today will include real-time data as it is collected.

There are 8 KPIs that are reported for any given group:

• Visitors: This is the total number of visitors for the selected group over the specified date range. However, this over-reports visitors that return on multiple days during the date range. Note that this automatically excludes certain visitors including bots, those from a foreign territory (you define in settings), ignored (via settings), etc.
• First-time visitors: This is the total number of visitors during the date range that have arrived on the site for the first time since Navu started tracking. Unlike visitors, this is a precise measure. It also excludes the same visitors as described above. Note that to correlate visits from the same visitor, we depend on a first-party cookie. So this may over-report first-time visitors when cookies are being discarded by the browser.
• Wanderers: This is the subset of visitors who consume more than one different page on your site — whether on a single visitor or over multiple visits. Note that this is not the simple inverse of what Google calls "bounces". A bounce is a single-pageview visit. It refers to a single visit/session. To be a wanderer, you must not only not bounce, but you must visit a new distinct page — not a simple refresh of the same page.
• Content consumed: You may see others report the number of pageviews per session. This can offer a distorted view of engagement. Content consumed is the total number of distinct content items visited by a wanderer AFTER their landing page. For example, a visitor may have 10 pageviews, but because of the landing page and repeated pages, the content consumed may only be 3.
• Key content consumed: Navu's job is to guide visitors. We call the "key content" that which is appropriate to guide a given visitor to. Different visitors will have different key content. This metric tells you the number of distinct items from this key content list that were visited by a wanderer after their landing page.
• Activity: Many analytics will report "session time" which is almost meaningless because of browser windows that are left open indefinitely. Navu reports "activity" which is the active time spent on the site by a wanderer after leaving the landing page. For time to be counted as "active", we watch the visitor behavior for certain signs (such as scrolling and clicks) that tell us that the visitor is reading.
• Key activity: Key activity is the same as Activity above, except it is only counted for time spent on any of the target content for that particular visitor, and only after the landing page.
• Conversions: Conversions can mean many different things to different people. Currently, Navu reports a conversion when it sees a visitor who has not previously been identified who fills in a form that includes identity information, including (at least) an email address. There are site settings available to narrow this definition when appropriate.

If you see a metric reported anywhere in the Navu app, you can hover your mouse over it to see a detailed explanation along with additional relevant data.

Below a metric you may see a percentage shown which is the change in that metric over time. A note in the bottom-left corner of the KPIs card will tell you the reference period that was used in determining that change. For example, you might see that activity per wanderer is currently 2m 12s and has increased by 24% over the past 4 weeks. If you don't see a change reported, it may be that there is insufficient earlier data to provide a useful comparison.

Note: When the current date range includes today, the data for today will be partial and therefore today and its counterpart in the reference period are excluded when calculating the percentage change.

On the KPIs card, you may see multiple groups listed in the top-right corner of the card, such as "all", "guided", and/or "a/b test". Suppose you are looking at the metrics on the Site tab. The "all" group shows metrics for all qualified visitors to the site. The "guided" group shows metrics for the subset of all visitors who were targeted with guides. If you have been running a/b tests, the "a/b test" group shows you the metrics for two groups — the "test" group (those who were shown a guide) and the "control" group (those who were not shown a guide).

Hint: the date range selector can help you move to other date ranges so that you can see how metrics are evolving over time. For example, choose a one-week date range and then use the left and right arrows to step forward and backward in time one week at a time.