On-site analytics. On site. In person. With a clipboard.
Instead of a dashboard telling you somebody bounced, we come out and stand behind them while they use your website, and write down that they couldn’t find the phone number.
The joke is only half a joke.
Analytics tell you what happened. They almost never tell you why. You can see that people leave the pricing page without going any further, and no amount of staring at that number will tell you whether it’s because the price frightened them or because the button looks like a heading.
The quickest way to find out is still the oldest one. Sit next to somebody who has never seen your website, ask them to do the thing you want customers to do, and then say absolutely nothing while they try. It is deeply uncomfortable and it works every time.
The dashboard version, meanwhile, fills in the gaps with guesses.