The Misunderstood Web Metric

In the world of web metrics, one that is commonly misunderstood is the metric of entry page.  Even in the research done for this post, many sources confuse this metric based on its name.  Entry page is literally the page where a visitor enters the website, as the name indicates.  However, many confuse this metric with the landing page, which is the first page of a website.  The entry can be the landing page, but it is not just limited to the page that is supposed to be the first page visitors see.  Initially, this metric does not seem as important as some of the other, more obvious metrics.  However, it is a great indicator on its own as well as providing information for calculations. 

First and foremost, the entry page metric will help to, “quickly figure out if visitor behavior is differing from the patterns you expected or intended,” (Bager, 2016) which can be a negative or a positive.  The entry page can be bringing visitors into what is most searched, perhaps a specific product’s page.  This metric can indicate that perhaps this product should be featured more prominently or at the very least, direct visitors back to the main page in some way if that is the preferred path.  On the negative side, if the entry page is not as clean or branded as the landing page, viewers may be seeing a poor representation of a company.  This is why it is important to monitor all pages so that they have a smooth cohesive look and are all up to date. 

Looking at entry page in conjunction with bounce rate could indicate if users are coming to the page and finding what they are looking to find.  If a specific page is often the entry page and has a high bounce rate, perhaps users are being incorrectly directed to this page.  Browse rate is another indicator that is impacted by entry page in conjunction with how many pages are browsed.  If entry page was a suitable first page for visitors, the browse rate would be able to indicate the effectiveness that, “pages are at pulling people into the website” (Fishkin, 2006). 

Entry pages can also indicate the success rate of a specific campaign.  For example, Kate Spade is having a surprise sale and sent out email invites.  Based on the number of visitors using that surprise sale specific link (surprise.katespade.com) as their entry page, could be an indication of the success of the email campaign.  Another underrated metric, event could pair with this metric to provide a call to action for the specific campaign (more on this metric later). 

The entry to exit ratio could also be examined to understand how often visitors enter, browse, and then exit.  Similar to bounce rate, one could look at the entry page and see how often it is the start of a multi-page visit.  It would be worthwhile to look at this in more detail, deciding if that action is what is wanted of that entry page.  Does it perhaps lead to a desired conversion? 

Entry page is an often overlooked and confusing metric.  When it is understood to be the first page that a visitor encounters, landing page or not, it gains importance in reporting indicators.  As “each piece of a Web site has a particular function and that its effectiveness in this function can be measured by using statistics that are highly tailored to its role” (Angel, 2006), lesser metrics like entry page gain importance in reporting.  By using the entry page metric on its own and in combination with other metrics, visitor behavior can be further analyzed.   

References: 

Angel, G. (2006). A better recipe for Web measurement. B to B, 91, 11, 11. Retrieved October 24, 2016, from http://search.ebscohost.com.www.libproxy.wvu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bsh&AN=24718033&site=ehost-live

Bager, I. (2016). How are people entering my site and why does it matter? Retrieved October 24, 2016, from https://siteimprove.com/blog/website-entry-pages/

Fishkin, R. (2006). Tracking Browse Rate - A Cool Stickiness Metric - Moz. Retrieved October 24, 2016, from https://moz.com/blog/tracking-browse-rate-a-cool-stickiness-metric