{"id":32391,"date":"2024-10-06T04:03:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-06T04:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brandfinity.ch\/?p=32391"},"modified":"2025-09-16T14:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T14:49:34","slug":"mastering-school-website-analysis-real-use-cases-with-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brandfinity.ch\/en\/2024\/10\/06\/mastering-school-website-analysis-real-use-cases-with-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastering School Website Analysis: Real Use Cases With Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”]\n\t\t\t[et_pb_row admin_label=”row”]\n\t\t\t\t[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]\n

Schools need more than a digital presence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They need a site that actively engages potential students and their families, guiding them effectively from visitor to applicant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this post, we\u2019ll dive into how to conduct a school website analysis to improve performance, identify opportunities, and use actionable data to drive meaningful results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll cover: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Requirements for Conducting a School Website Analysis
<\/a>How to Conduct a School Website Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide
<\/a>Analyze Traffic
<\/a>Analyzing Referral Sources
<\/a>Explore User Behavior Insights
<\/a>Analyzing Your Content
<\/a>GA4 AI: Analytics Insights<\/a>
Automating Your School Website Analysis<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udcdd Note<\/strong>: We\u2019ll explore how to analyze your school\u2019s website performance using real use cases. For privacy, some data will be obfuscated. Since most schools use GA4, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll use in this guide to show you step-by-step how to uncover insights, improve your website, and optimize student acquisition.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Requirements for Conducting a School Website Analysis<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before jumping into the analysis, there are two key elements you\u2019ll want to keep in mind:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Have a clear question before diving into reports<\/strong><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Approaching reports with a specific question keeps you focused and on track. Think of it as heading to a store with a particular item on your list. Instead of browsing every aisle, you go directly to what you need. This approach not only saves time but also prevents information overload from irrelevant data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Set Up Conversion Tracking in GA4 <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      While you can still analyze performance without conversion tracking, you\u2019ll be quite limited. Setting it up as soon as possible is key, as it lets you monitor the most important actions on your website, like form submissions or applications. For example, if people are filling out your contact form, improving this process can really strengthen your lead generation efforts. Instead of trying to improve everything, you can focus on what directly supports your website’s goals and make a real impact on your overall performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
      \n

      For this you\u2019ll first need to clarify your goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Do you want to increase inquiries, encourage event sign-ups, or boost application submissions? Or All of them? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Clear goals will guide your analysis and help you focus on what truly matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Do your best to know your averages for your key metrics if you have enough data.
        <\/strong>
        For example:

        Number of Active users or Total users per month (or week)
        Number of pageviews (ex: Views for a sales page)
        Number of key events (ex: generate_lead, downloads etc.)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

        Measuring this data helps you quickly identify performance trends, providing valuable insights for further investigation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

        <\/div>\n\n\n\n

        How to Conduct a School Website Analysis: A Step-by-Step Guide<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        \n
        \n

        Most school websites today are powered by GA4, so this guide will walk you through analyzing your website using GA4\u2019s tools and reports. Remember that there’s nothing set in stone regarding data interpretation. However, this is how the structure of our analysis generally is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        1. Analyze Traffic<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. Analyze Referral Sources<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. Explore User Behavior Insights<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        4. Analyzing Your Content<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        5. Automating Your School Website Analysis<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
        6. GA4 AI: Analytics Insights<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          We\u2019ll explore each of these in detail in their own sections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

          <\/div>\n\n\n\n

          1. Analyze Traffic<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Traffic Overview<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

          A quick health check for any school\u2019s website often starts with understanding how many people are visiting and where they\u2019re coming from. It\u2019s something we all do to get a general sense of performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

            \n
          1. Go to Reports<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
          2. Click Reports snapshot<\/strong>
            <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
            \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


            Note<\/strong>: take advantage of the Insights card, which uses artificial intelligence to identify anomalies and spikes in your data. More on AI later in this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            <\/div>\n\n\n\n

            Traffic Sources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
            \n
            \n

            Two key reports to analyze your website’s traffic are the User Acquisition <\/strong>and the Traffic Acquisition <\/strong>reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \n
            1. User Acquisition Report<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              This report shows the traffic sources for users visiting your website for the first time. It highlights the channels that brought new users, making it helpful in understanding how first-time visitors discover your site<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                \n
              1. Traffic Acquisition Report<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                Unlike the User Acquisition Report, this one includes all users, both first-time and returning visitors. It provides a broader view of your traffic, showing the most popular sources overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                You’ll usually spend more time analyzing the Traffic Acquisition Report<\/strong> to answer questions like “<\/em><\/strong>What are our most popular traffic sources?<\/em>” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                However, if you focus on understanding what drives new visitors, the User Acquisition Report<\/strong> is where you’ll want to look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                To access them, go to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
                  \n
                1. Reports<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                2. Expand the Acquisition <\/strong>section<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                3. Chose either User Acquisition <\/strong>or Traffic Acquisition<\/strong>
                  <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
                  \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                  <\/div>\n\n\n\n

                  How to Analyze Traffic Reports<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

                  Let\u2019s look at the Traffic Acquisition<\/strong> report to understand better where our users are coming from and how our marketing channels perform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  First, you want to change the grouped channels into ones broken down even further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                    \n
                  1. Click the primary dimension called Session primary channel group (Default Channel Group)<\/strong>
                    <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      \n
                    1. Then select Session source \/ medium<\/strong>
                      <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Now let’s do some analysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      The first step is identifying which traffic source brings the most users or visits. The Traffic Acquisition <\/strong>report measures this by sessions, which you can think of as the overall traffic volume, though it’s not exactly the same as users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      To answer this question, focus on the Sessions <\/strong>column and sort the data using the arrows to rank traffic sources in ascending or descending order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Next, analyze Engagement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Engagement can mean different things to different people. To illustrate, it could be a button click or a scroll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      However, you can look at Engaged Sessions<\/strong> and Average Engagement Time per Session <\/strong>for a quick overview, although I usually focus on Average Engagement Time <\/strong>to see which channel brings the most engaged users. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Without changing anything on the table, you can already spot which channels outperform the overall average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      <\/div>\n\n\n\n
                      \ud83d\udcddNote<\/strong>: Remember when we mentioned knowing your averages? Now is the time to check if your channels meet their usual benchmarks. If you don’t remember your benchmarks yet, it’s a good opportunity to start tracking them in GA4 and draw insights after 2-3 months to gauge overall performance.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
                      <\/div>\n\n\n\n

                      In the following image, for instance, if the average engagement time is 59 <\/strong>seconds, and google \/cpc<\/strong> (paid search) shows a significantly higher average, this channel performs well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      On the other hand, if a channel is underperforming, you’ll want to explore why and think about improving it based on what works for your top-performing channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Finally, move on to Events <\/strong>to determine which channels users who fulfill your website’s main objectives come from (e.g., users who purchase, click a specific button, etc.). You can look at either All Events<\/strong> in the Event count<\/strong> or Key Events<\/strong> columns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      Before drilling down, glance at the columns to see which traffic sources contribute the most to events in general. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      We can see google \/ organic<\/strong> and google \/ cpc<\/strong> contribute to most Events:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


                      To get more specific, click on the arrows next to All Events<\/strong> to filter by individual events and analyze which traffic sources drive specific event interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                        \n
                      1. Click on an the drop down arrow for All Events

                        <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                        \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          \n
                        1. Select your event (we\u2019ll chose course_file_download<\/strong>)
                          <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
                          \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                          <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          \ud83d\udcddNote<\/strong>: If you’re ever unsure how to name your events, Brandfinity has developed the first GA4 standards for higher education. These standards, now adopted by leading schools, help standardize tracking and make it easier for agencies and new analytics teams to stay aligned. Download it for free here<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                          Do the same for the Revenue <\/strong>column.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          However, many higher education institutions don\u2019t have revenue data as they use more lead generation strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          \"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                          <\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          2. Analyzing Referral Sources<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

                          We\u2019ll stay within the same traffic report as in the previous section. However, due to its importance, we believe referral traffic deserves its own section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          Referral traffic in GA4\u2019s Session source\/Medium<\/strong> dimension is frequently overlooked but indicates potential partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          Even if the traffic numbers are low, the sources driving these users can lead to collaborations that drive more qualified traffic in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          By experience, we often notice that these referral channels bring higher engagement across industries, not just in our example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                          These websites bring traffic to us and should be contacted for collaboration. As you can see, they get some of the highest engagement in terms of time spent on our site: <\/p>\n\n\n\n