Site-side analytics are systems employed by site publishers -- from news outlets to ecommerce sites -- to track user interactions on their sites. Among the most common site-side analytics platforms are Omniture, Google Analytics and Webtrends. These systems measure the number of pageviews generated by users, the amount of time they spend on the site, and other interactions such as whether they clicked to learn more about a product. Such information can be used to customize content delivered to particular visitors, and ensure sites are running properly and are well-optimized for user traffic flows.

Jennifer Shadi, partner, director, lead digital strategist at MEC on site-side analytics:

With site-side analytics, the data is oriented around the activity on the owned site property, facilitating analysis from a user-experience standpoint. Metrics are based on two parameters: volume, which consists of visits and pageviews, and rate measures, which includes bounce rates and content consumption per visit.

Site-side analytics complement information gathered through server-side analytics which can track user interactions across various websites. This enables a more holistic approach to optimization of the customer experience by improved segmentation of site traffic and digital media audience and the associated conversion propensity of these various groups. It also facilitates more efficient and effective campaign management through coordinated evaluation of behaviors from both a traffic driver and site navigation perspective.