Variation and Trends in the Use of Two Health Websites: HealthTalk Online and Living Life to the Full
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Abstract
Background
Although it has limitations such as obscure geography, Google Analytics (Analytics) is used by many health website providers. Can Analytics be used to identify common trends and differences between websites and does this help providers design sites?
Objectives
To identify common trends and variation in use between two UK health websites.
Methods
Health Talk Online (HTO) had three (Jan 2010-Dec 2012) and LivingLifeToTheFull (LTTF) two (Jan 2011-Dec 2012) complete calendar years of Analytics data available for study. Number of visits by city, date, time of day, source of referral or access, and device used were compared between the two sites.
Results
Although the number of UK visits increased, access from elsewhere, particularly the USA, increased proportionately. For HTO only 62% of visits were from the UK in 2012. Comparison of the top 15 referring cities showed considerable regional variation in uptake. For example, Glasgow and Edinburgh ranked higher and Newcastle much lower than expected for the Scottish developed LLTTF. London seemed to have more users than its population would warrant.
Nearly twice as many people found HTO than LLTTF via search; LLTTF had a greater proportion of referrals from another site or direct entry of URL. The proportion using search to find both websites increased over the period of study, particularly HTO, which increased from 60 to 78%.
The weekend, particularly Saturday, was the quietest time (between half and two-thirds of Tuesday usage) for both websites. Both sites had very similar patterns of use over the week and over the day.
On HTO mobile access increased from 3% to 23% of all visits between 2010 and 2012. LLTTF showed a lower, but still substantial increase (5% to 12% from 2011 to 2012).Those using mobiles spent considerably less time than those on non-mobile devices (1m20s Vs 3m) on HTO.
Conclusions
Although globally available both sites showed variation in use between UK regions probably related to awareness among health professionals or general public. Providers could use Analytics to suggest location-based advertising so that their primary target population benefits, but it would be worth websites collecting location data directly from users, as Analytics location data, especially for London, may not be sufficiently reliable.
As most users found the sites by search, particularly Google search, providers may wish to reflect on the robustness of this recruitment.
The similar pattern of use over the week for both websites suggests many users access health topics on the Internet at work, or are otherwise distracted from these concerns at weekends. This insight may help design sites by situating users in the physical world.
Although still the minority of use, there was an expected trend to mobile access. That mobile users spent less time on site (particularly the largely video based HTO site) needs to be considered by website designers. It is not clear whether the shorter mean time of use indicated more abandoned episodes or shorter attention span. This warrants further investigation.
Although it has limitations such as obscure geography, Google Analytics (Analytics) is used by many health website providers. Can Analytics be used to identify common trends and differences between websites and does this help providers design sites?
Objectives
To identify common trends and variation in use between two UK health websites.
Methods
Health Talk Online (HTO) had three (Jan 2010-Dec 2012) and LivingLifeToTheFull (LTTF) two (Jan 2011-Dec 2012) complete calendar years of Analytics data available for study. Number of visits by city, date, time of day, source of referral or access, and device used were compared between the two sites.
Results
Although the number of UK visits increased, access from elsewhere, particularly the USA, increased proportionately. For HTO only 62% of visits were from the UK in 2012. Comparison of the top 15 referring cities showed considerable regional variation in uptake. For example, Glasgow and Edinburgh ranked higher and Newcastle much lower than expected for the Scottish developed LLTTF. London seemed to have more users than its population would warrant.
Nearly twice as many people found HTO than LLTTF via search; LLTTF had a greater proportion of referrals from another site or direct entry of URL. The proportion using search to find both websites increased over the period of study, particularly HTO, which increased from 60 to 78%.
The weekend, particularly Saturday, was the quietest time (between half and two-thirds of Tuesday usage) for both websites. Both sites had very similar patterns of use over the week and over the day.
On HTO mobile access increased from 3% to 23% of all visits between 2010 and 2012. LLTTF showed a lower, but still substantial increase (5% to 12% from 2011 to 2012).Those using mobiles spent considerably less time than those on non-mobile devices (1m20s Vs 3m) on HTO.
Conclusions
Although globally available both sites showed variation in use between UK regions probably related to awareness among health professionals or general public. Providers could use Analytics to suggest location-based advertising so that their primary target population benefits, but it would be worth websites collecting location data directly from users, as Analytics location data, especially for London, may not be sufficiently reliable.
As most users found the sites by search, particularly Google search, providers may wish to reflect on the robustness of this recruitment.
The similar pattern of use over the week for both websites suggests many users access health topics on the Internet at work, or are otherwise distracted from these concerns at weekends. This insight may help design sites by situating users in the physical world.
Although still the minority of use, there was an expected trend to mobile access. That mobile users spent less time on site (particularly the largely video based HTO site) needs to be considered by website designers. It is not clear whether the shorter mean time of use indicated more abandoned episodes or shorter attention span. This warrants further investigation.
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