INTRODUCTION Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data and traffic for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage. It is possible to track information of a visitor to a website with the help of third party cookies which can be shared between different web sites. Personal information can’t be collected through cookies because it is only possible to automatically collect technical information through this method, such as the operating system's version and the web browser's version. Web Analytics Servicer fetches details from Webstat (webstat.nic.in), a service that monitors the government websites hosted and managed at NIC servers. It analyses the visit statistics and computes it to rank websites enlisted, based on the number of visits. It does not crawl or fetch any information directly through the websites, as all the required information is collected from Webstat server log. Web analytics is not just a tool for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool to assess and improve the effectiveness of a web site. It helps gauge traffic and popularity trends which are useful for research related to reach and popularity of a particular service, information or a scheme. It helps one to estimate how traffic variation to a website after the launch of a new campaign or user section or any major change in layout, presentation, navigational architecture, color schemes and page set-up. WEB ANALYTICS SERVICE BY NIC AND YOUR WEBSITE Webstat measures a visitor's behavior once it appears on your website. This includes its drivers and conversions; for example, extents to which different landing pages are associated with the parent page or Home Page. This data is typically compared against key performance indicators for performance, and used to improve a web site for audience response. It tracks visits to a website and calculate its ranking as compared to other government websites, which are being monitored. At present near-about 700 Government websites are being monitored and soon it will encompass all major Government websites. The Rank is calculated on the basis of traffic driving to a website for past week and month. IS YOUR WEBSITE LISTED ON WEB ANALYTICS SERVICE? You need to visit http://www.webanalytics.gov.in , to find rank of your website as compared to other government websites enlisted for monitoring. The home page displays top 20 Websites with their rank based on their respective traffic in past week and month. There is a quick search on side-left corner which helps you find; if your website is being monitored. In case, you do not find your website listed, you need to register an account by visiting (http://webservices.nic.in/webstat/default.aspx) and submit your website to enable monitoring and rank. This may be helpful in getting insight into some better websites to seek help while you rejuvenate your own campaign. BADGE Web Analytics Service also offers webmasters a badge that can be embedded on their website to show their rank. The badge is available only for top 20 websites. The HTML code to embed a badge is available in the user area available after login. The badge helps in gaining credibility in the eyes of visitors and in promotion of your web campaign. OPTIMIZING A WEBSITE TO ENSURE BETTER RANKING Webmasters put in a lot of efforts in maintaining a quality website and ensure traffic to it. Analytics help webmasters to get the most of out of every effort invested and drive great benefits for them and their organization. Data collected at each step of the way to conversion can help webmasters and their organization in optimizing each campaign's performance. By ‘Campaign’ we mean your drive to promote any service, information or scheme amongst the visitors. Some handy tips on how to use the data to maintain a balance between the visitors’ satisfaction index and content promotion is mentioned below. • Know your visitors For a campaign or your website in total, to have any chance of succeeding, it has to reach the right audience. Clearly defining visitors’ segments is a critical component of any campaign. You can use the data from previous campaigns or website’s with similar nature of content or service to determine which visitors are more likely to respond to your campaign. Alternatively, if the website is meant for some specific group of people or a particular genre, it becomes easy for you to analyze and conceptualize, the way you should put the data and the extent of instructiveness you need to offer for interactivity. For an in-house email list, you can use attributes that you have available in the database and create a segment of visitors with those attributes that have responded in the past. • Target the Right Channels for Promotion The question webmasters often struggle with is where to start promotion of a website to make it popular among masses. Which channel (e.g. direct mail, email, display, search, social, etc.) or combination of channels is likely to be most effective for that particular campaign? Use historical data to figure the channels that your target segment is more likely to respond to. Visitors’ use various channels in their journey in becoming a regular reader and likely to browse your services/information as first source. They use those channels differently. Use data (current and historical) to figure what a typical visitors' (your desired segment) journey is and then determine where you should focus your efforts. • Proceed Strategically, Focus on Quality and Up-To-Date Content If your creative and messages do not work you will notice it immediately in the form of clicks. It is one basic rule that matters most and that is usually overlooked. Your website should have sufficient and latest updates for the target audience group. You should keep an eye on keywords that are being searched for and also the search terms that are deriving traffic to your website. The landing pages should be user friendly, fast loading and with quick navigational menus. To help you make your website compliant to the Guidelines for Indian Government Website, you may visit http://web.guidelines.gov.in. It is highly recommended to follow the guidelines in order to ensure it proper accessibility, validity and performance. It is expected from all the governments functional at state, ministries and districts to enroll into Web Analytics Service to help them keep an eye on traffic to their respective websites, which may further be helpful in better web administration.