Website efficiency....

[neilcarden]

Hi all, does anyone have any info regarding any companies or software that measure a websites effectiveness? ie ease of navigation, why people click off etc etc...

Thanks in advance.
Neil

[Ian J]

Site Solutions have a useful range of website tools here but I don't suppose any software can tell you why people click off a site.

[neilcarden]

Thanks Ian, will give it a shot....

[microbe]

The best way to do it is very expensive. There are a few market research companies who will set up user trials. You pay for staff, for premises, for kit so it mounts up. Sorry, I used one of these some years ago and can't remember the company's name.

The nearest you can get with just software is a stats packages which yields data on user paths, entry points and exit points. None of which will ever tell you why people do what they do.

If you can get a few bodies who fit your target group and get them to sit and click, then you can do a simple and unscientific version of the user test, if you have time and are prepared to ply them with beer (or wine if your site is upmarket) it might be illuminating.

[redcog]

Hi Neil

An excellent free service is www.statcounter.com

The log size is limited on the free service, but to increase it only costs about $10/month.

It will tell you a huge amount about your site i.e. entry points, exit points, keyphrases, vistor paths, hits etc etc.

This is a very cost effective way of seeing what is being looked at on your site, and the point at which people leave - you may find there is a pattern forming.

Hope this helps.

[Corabar Entertainment]

Another vote here for statcounter!

[alistair72]

Do a web search for (HCI) Human Computer Interaction, this will show what you need to know about user friendliness and ease of navigation etc, also goes into the psychology behind it all. It is a big subject but very interesting.