What analytics do we want to track?

[phargogh]

The topic of analytics has come up regularly, but it would be very helpful if we could, before tossing an analytics solution on the site and calling it good, decide what questions we want to answer with analytics and then design the analytics solution around the questions.

In case we need it, a google analytics extension is available at https://github.com/ckan/ckanext-googleanalytics. I have, for a minute there, been able to get this working on the staging site.

[empavia]

Thanks for linking us all to this issue, James. Here are my suggestions:

• Which datasets are downloaded the most?
• Which InVEST models are searched the most? (ex. How often is each model from the dropdown selected?)
• What are the most common filters applied (both at the top-level, such as use of Keyword search, and the specific-level, such as specific keywords)?
• In which geographic areas is the hub accessed from?
• In which geographic areas are data downloaded?
• How many website visits are we getting, in general (maybe just on the landing page)?
  -How many people download full dataset vs. use the clipping app?

Curious what you all think! These are the main items that stick out to me.

[lmandle]

It's great to be thinking through and discussing this, @phargogh and @empavia!

I've been thinking about wanting to be able to answer the following questions to support decision-making:

• How much is the Hub being used overall and who is using it? (To help us raise ongoing funding for NatCap/the Data Hub and inform how resources are allocated to the Data Hub; is it a resource mostly for NatCappers? People from particular countries?)
• How often are different datasets searched for and downloaded? (Are there datasets that are rarely used and so we might want to drop/not need to update? Are there popular datasets that are a priority for updating/improving? Are there datasets that are commonly searched for but not downloaded, and could we figure out what the gap is?)
• What are people searching for through the search bar or through filters/keywords? (Are there things people are looking for that we are not providing and should be, or could provide more of? Is there demand more for InVEST input data or results or something else?)

So, in line with many of the suggestions @empavia already made, that leads me to wanting to track things like:

• Number of visitors to the Data Hub landing page (and any sort of information on them - geography, etc.) + what number and proportion of visitors search for data? + What number and proportion end up downloading data?
• Number of downloads over time for the different data sets + info on who is doing the downloading and where, if available
• Search terms being entered