Why is Visit Tracking Helpful?
Web site visitor tracking is an important tool for councils that wish to better understand their online audience and improve their digital presence. By tracking website visitors, councils can gain valuable insights into what their citizens want, what they’re looking for, and how they’re engaging with the council website. Such information can help councils make data-driven decisions and improve digital engagement, potentially reducing costs and improving response times by handling these online. Though visit tracking is popular in a commercial settling it is also true that non-profits and local government can benefit from visitor tracking too:
- Better understanding of visitor behaviour. Councils can gain insights into how visitors interact with their website, including which pages they visit, how long they stay, and what actions they take. Such information can help councils understand their citizens’ needs and preferences.
- Improving user experience. By tracking visits, councils can identify areas for improvement in the user experience, such as slow loading times, confusing navigation, and other obstacles that may prevent visitors from getting the information they need.
- Reducing Costs: Visits can be used and analysed to improve the web site so that citizens can find information they need can reduce the workload of the Clerk, staff and councillors.
Commercial Solutions May Not Meet the UK Technology Code of Practice
The UK Technology Code of Practice (SEE HERE) provides guidelines for the responsible use of technology in the public sector and local parish councils are encouraged to follow these best practices. Although the code is not legally binding, it is incumbent upon all parts of government to use technology solutions which are open source.
Using an open source visit tracking system on a council website aligns with the principles of the code; commercial visit tracking tools provided by Google or Microsoft are neither open source nor are they focused on user privacy. They do not adhere to the code and they’re not inherently private.
In conclusion, an open source visit tracking system is a cost-effective, customizable, and privacy-sensitive solution that aligns with the principles of the UK Technology Code of Practice. It can provide valuable insights and improve the user experience for visitors to a local parish or town council website. By adopting this technology, local councils can better serve their constituents and deliver on their mission to provide efficient and effective services.
Please see our main article – Are you damaging your reputation with Google Analytics? … And why we use Matomo!
How can IT Norwich Ltd help?
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