Marissa Goldsmith, Beaconfire Consulting

I love details. I could write a three-page specification for an "Email this page" button. I challenge myself to find new and exciting OS/Browser combinations to test. (Yes, I do still have Lynx on my computer). And when it comes to cutting HTML, I'm a total pixel-pusher. (Shouldn't that column be one pixel over to the right?)

So when I log into Google Analytics, I never even glance at the dashboard, but instead dive straight into meaty 100-row reports. To me, the dashboard report is good for big picture, but is too vague to tell me what I really need to do to make my site better.

But organizations love their dashboard reports. I have spent hours creating Excel spreadsheets for monthly, quarterly, and annual reports. I have filled them with all different kinds of stats, from pageviews to visits to most-printed pages. I have taken my data from several analytics packages and CRM databases.

These reports may result in kudos for an increase in pageviews, or grimaces for the decrease in returning visitors. But the only action that I have to look forward to is spending several more hours creating the same spreadsheet next month/quarter/year.

And so I became a dashboard report hater.

They never tell the whole story. Sometimes, they don't tell any story. One thing I've learned is that the most important thing in analytics is not the numbers, but rather the story they tell. 

The Epiphany

I have spent much of my time these past few years belittling the dashboard report and have often advised clients that if they want to get anywhere analytics-wise, they have to "go beyond the dashboard report." I even used that expression at the NTC conference last April, but when it was time for Q&A, a gentleman in the back raised his hand, and asked the question "Why do you hate the dashboard report so much?"

I really had to think. Many people believe the dashboard report is very useful. It gives you a concise way to let your colleagues know the success of the work you are doing. It communicates to the higher-ups what's going on down below in an easy-to-digest format.

So why did I hate the dashboard report so much?

I realized it wasn't the dashboard report I hated, it was the culture that the dashboard report fed into -- the culture that values the existence of a report over what the report itself is telling you; the culture that values numbers over the story the numbers tell; the culture that prefers inertia to action.

Enabling a Culture shift

Since that epiphany, I have worked to actively change the nature of the reports themselves. Here are a few ways how:

Tell a Story

Your Excel spreadsheet skills aren't the star of your report, nor are the color-coded numbers. The story is the star. Precede your numbers with a narrative. It will help others make sense of the report. 

Explain Yourself

Did October see a 20% drop in visits? Don't just let those red negative numbers linger. Explain why, and don't guess. Your web site analytics can help you find out where things went wrong -- or at the very least, where they didn't.

Take Some Action

Your analytics career is not just about numbers. Always follow your numbers with a recommended course of action. Do most of your users go to the search page? Maybe you need an IA facelift. Did December see a dip in traffic? "December is traditionally a slow month" is not good enough. Instead, try "December is traditionally a slow month, but it is an important time of year to connect with donors, so next year we should work on a campaign to increase our donor prospect traffic."

Mix it Up

Nothing is duller, for you or your colleagues, than staring at the same table, month after month, with different numbers. Identify a few core stats that must be in every report, and then rotate other stats in and out, or include interesting tidbits:

• Look beyond the top ten. Some of the most interesting tales of your web site appear beyond the top 10 rows of your web reports. What do you see there? Is there anything new, unusual, or interesting?
• Feed your curiosity. Have you ever wondered about the different browsing habits of IE and Firefox users? The attention span of Californians vs. New Yorkers? Want to know the age inclination of your audience? Using stats to figure these things out can be fun, and can give you a valuable look at your users. [1] But don't just report a number for its own sake; report on something you can act on.
• Ask and answer a question. In every report ask and answer a question that will help you make your web site and/or web presence stronger. If you have a homepage slide show that takes up a lot of real estate, maybe you want to ask "How many people actually click on the homepage slideshow? How many of them convert? How many of them return?" Let the statistics answer the question.
• Be Current. Did your organization put out a huge, game-changing press release? Then make sure to include some information in your dashboard report that includes the quality of the traffic regarding that particular event.

Make the Process Efficient

You will never steer completely away from a dashboard report. So find ways to make the process efficient. I love Excellent Analytics, an Excel Plugin that pulls your analytics information into an Excel Spreadsheet. Thanks to the wonderful world of APIs, there are new things being developed all the time.

Finally, Don't go Too Crazy

If you've been sending out the same dashboard report for five years, a sudden shift in how it looks and feels may not bode well. Make a few changes each month. First, begin with the narrative to accompany the data. Then, start adding some more actionable statistics. Bit by bit, colleagues in your organization will begin to see the value in these changes.

[1]You can use sites like http://gorumors.com/crunchies/, which give you interesting statistics about Internet users around the world. It's not the same thing as asking your users how old they are or what their income is, but it is a way to get a larger picture of your audience.