Analytics on Digital.gov

An introduction to data visualization

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Use data visualization to communicate insights, tell a story, and share actionable information.

Rebuilding CDC.gov

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 00:00:00 -0500

Learn how the CDC.gov team used a bold “Clean Slate” approach to reimagine the site and meet real user needs.

How we measure the success of coaching engagements

Tue, 10 Dec 2024 00:00:00 -0500

18F measures the success of coaching by tracking the progress of first-time product owners. Through self-assessments and ongoing support, they focused on developing key skills such as product discovery and vendor management. This approach allowed them to visibly track growth and ensure agency partners were empowered to lead their technology modernization projects with confidence.

Three ways to write fearless spreadsheet formulas

Tue, 05 Nov 2024 00:00:00 -0500

Spreadsheet formulas can be intimidating, especially given their critical role in government operations. Applying simple programming principles, 18F created a resource for making formulas clearer, easier to read, and less error-prone. 18F introduces three key techniques: using the LET function to name variables and organize code logically, adding comments to clarify complex formulas, and leveraging the LAMBDA function to break down problems into manageable parts. Together, these methods transform spreadsheets from sources of anxiety into tools of clarity and confidence.

Enhancing the customer-centricity of GSA websites

Wed, 30 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0500

An overview of GSA’s website evaluation process, which combines qualitative and quantitative data to assess website management and performance.

Making targeted improvements to NPS.gov: A case study from the National Park Service

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 00:00:00 -0500

NPS enhances user experience on NPS.gov by integrating Digital Analytics Program web analytics data and customer feedback from GSA Touchpoints.

Data.gov launches metrics tools

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0500

New Data.gov metrics dashboard provides information on most visited datasets, most downloaded files, most clicked outbound links, top search terms, and more.

Unsolicited data: A valuable resource for digital customer experience enhancement

Tue, 25 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Optimizing federal service touchpoints involves analyzing both actively-sought and spontaneous feedback, introducing new metrics and data points.

How the U.S. Department of the Navy is delivering IT that just works

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The U.S. Navy’s Program Executive Office for Digital and Enterprise Services is working to revolutionize how information technology is acquired.

An introduction to customer experience

Wed, 05 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Understand what customer experience (CX) is and how to leverage customer feedback and analytics to enhance the public’s experience when interacting with government services.

FedRAMP governance

Tue, 04 Jun 2024 00:00:00 +0000

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) has recently updated its governance structure to better serve its customers. Learn about their recently-formed FedRAMP Board, composed of federal executives; the FedRAMP Technical Advisory Group (TAG), composed of technology experts; and updates made to the Federal Security Cloud Advisory Committee (FSCAC). These groups collectively aim to strengthen and expand FedRAMP’s cloud service capabilities.

One year with the new USAGov

Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

It has been a year since USA.gov and USAGov en Español were relaunched using human-centered design principles. Using task backlog, the USAGov team has addressed content gaps, improved discoverability, and implemented technical updates. Through usability tests, visitor comments, and click behavior the team was able to unravel and respond to user feedback and unmet needs, leading to noticeable increases in visitor satisfaction and task accomplishment. Moving forward, the focus will shift to enhancing public engagement with the government, improving the search for benefits-related content, and exploring interactive and personalized user experiences.

Creating a blueprint for quality: How the PX Contact Center helps agents grow their skills

Tue, 23 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Every day, live agents at USA.gov’s Public Experience (PX) Contact Center answer questions from the public about government benefits and services. Learn how the PX Contact Center develops a workforce of excellent agents, using immersive onboarding, tailored and continuous training, feedback loops, and calibration meetings to empower their agents to deliver accurate information. USA.gov’s system for employee and contact center management ensures that every customer interaction leaves a lasting impact.

Google Analytics 4: Transition strategies for federal websites

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Learn how the Open Data, Design, and Development (ODDD) team at the Department of the Interior (DOI) transitioned from Google Analytics - Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4! Discover how the ODDD team coordinated with the Digital Analytics Program, developed explorations (instead of custom reports), and set up their own DOI agency property.

Progress towards delivering a digital-first public experience

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Each year, more than 400 million individuals, families, businesses, organizations, and local governments get information and services from about 430 federal agencies and sub-agencies. The Biden-Harris administration is driving a bold vision for how government agencies serve their customers digitally with OMB’s ten-year roadmap for a modern digital experience. Agencies have already made significant strides. Learn about recent successes by the IRS, CDC, NASA, and FEMA, and how OMB will continue to collaborate with agencies to ensure ongoing improvement in digital government services.

Delivering seamless customer journeys

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

GSA shares a 4-step process used to measure and analyze related websites, and additional plans to improve customers’ digital experience.

Determining the true value of a website: A GSA case study

Tue, 16 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

GSA has developed a composite indicator to visualize six key components of website success.

How USAGov uses data to improve content

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Each month, USAGov’s content designers spend many hours ensuring that the content on USA.gov and USAGov en Español is up-to-date, accurate, and meets user needs. Learn how their team does holistic reviews of each topic section based on a rolling calendar with the goal of updating all content at least every 6 months.

Search.gov year in review: 2023 report

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 08:23:00 -0500

Learn what types of information people searched for on federal websites in 2023, see emerging trends the team is exploring to improve customers’ search experience in 2024, and check out three new updates. The data tab provides insightful summaries for 13 popular topic areas—and lists the public’s top 25 search terms, in their own words, for each.

Customer experience: beyond surveys

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 09:00:00 -0500

Want to measure customer experience? Surveys aren’t the only way! Consider these guiding questions to help your team select an approach based on what you want to learn.

Maximizing impact of federal websites: Integrating metrics with annual goals and policies

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 15:05:00 -0500

The Open Data, Design, and Development (ODDD) team discusses how OMB’s recent memo, Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience (M-23-22), inspired them to reassess their metrics plan to harmonize with policies governing federal public websites.

An introduction to privacy

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 06:46:00 -0500

Introductory guidance on implementing privacy protections for users of federal websites.

An introduction to analytics

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 14:50:00 -0500

Learn how to set performance goals, and identify specific KPIs and targets to measure and meet them, using web analytics.

Defining benchmarks and targets for intranet KPIs

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 16:41:00 -0500

Discover the keys to intranet success by harmonizing objectives, metrics, benchmarks, and targets. Elevate your organization’s intranet to new heights!

Why the American People Deserve a Digital Government

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 13:26:00 -0500

OMB recently released new policy guidance for government that includes a variety of actions and standards to help federal agencies design, develop, and deliver modern websites and digital services. Memo M-23-22, Delivering a Digital-First Public Experience, will make it seamless for the public to obtain government information and services online, and help agencies fully implement the 21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act (21st Century IDEA).

Creating a functional inventory database for website content audits

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 08:06:00 -0500

The Office of Natural Resources Revenue recently completed a site-wide content inventory and audit. Here is how they modified an existing content inventory spreadsheet to act as a functional database for enhancing content throughout the site.

From pageviews to progress

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 15:05:00 -0500

A 10-year recap of GSA’s Digital Analytics Program (DAP) highlights its impact on federal government agencies and the public, high-level observations using government-wide website analytics and trends, and new goals set for the next decade to help generate useful answers to meaningful questions to make government websites better.

A conversation about content audits

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 10:12:00 -0500

Content audits can be tedious. Two content designers discuss why we do them anyway, and how to get started.

3 ways to improve communication between contact center agents and customers

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 10:41:00 -0500

The USAGov Contact Center is committed to meeting customers’ needs empathetically, efficiently, and accurately. Here are three tips recommended to USAGov agents for interacting with customers.

How to choose the right metrics for your intranet

Tue, 13 Jun 2023 15:25:00 -0500

Explore key metrics to optimize your agency’s intranet to foster improved user engagement, experience, and overall satisfaction.

Building Beta: The Foundation

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 10:41:00 -0500

The USAGov program has been developing a new iteration of our bilingual sites, USA.gov and USAGov en Español. In the process of building beta.USA.gov and beta.USA.gov en Español, we’ve been rethinking our work style and priorities. Follow the “Building Beta” series to learn how we’re reimagining the way we approach product management, usability, accessibility, content creation, analytics, and outreach.

Three Tips for Using Facebook and Instagram Stories

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 10:57:00 -0500

At USA.gov and USAGov en Español, we’re always looking for better ways to connect people to government information through social media. Using stories has helped us increase our engagement rate and our number of followers as we deliver helpful information to people. Stories may be a good addition to your agency’s social media strategy, too. These three tips can help you get started.

Introduction to QR codes

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 18:56:00 -0500

What is a QR code and how can you create one? What are some alternatives to using QR codes? This introductory resource will help you explore your options.

Sunsetting Go.USA.gov: Final User Statistics

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 16:05:00 -0500

The digital landscape has changed significantly since we launched the Go.USA.gov service in 2009. Over the last two years the team looked carefully at the program holistically, taking into consideration the future of the program, the current landscape related to using shortened URLs and alignment with strategic business goals. In early 2022 we made the difficult decision to initiate steps to sunset the service.

6 Important Factors To Consider for Digital Advertising in Government

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 12:38:00 -0500

The Federal Communicators Network community shares how agencies can approach digital advertising.

Webinar Recap: How to Measure Effectiveness of Your Digital Outreach and Communications

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 10:52:00 -0500

Panelists shared their experiences, lessons learned, and best practices for what works in federal government agencies that have robust programs reaching a diverse American public.

Measuring and Justifying the Government Experience

Fri, 19 Aug 2022 15:21:00 -0500

Private sector organizations use revenue as the primary measurement to justify improving experiences. Many government services don’t have revenue as a lever, so how can we justify work to improve experience? The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) leveraged a few metrics on their team that fall into three categories: laws and regulations, improving the experience for users, and saving time for employees.

Announcing Data Governance Charter Templates

Wed, 08 Jun 2022 16:25:00 -0500

Sunsetting Go.USA.gov: Frequently Asked Questions

Tue, 24 May 2022 08:08:00 -0500

Celebrating Digital.gov Communities: 2021 in Review

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 17:50:00 -0500

Happenings, milestones, and data points from the past year.

USAGov Fourth Quarter 2021 Insights

Tue, 07 Dec 2021 14:04:00 -0500

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Building a Tech Career in Government

Thu, 07 Oct 2021 15:56:00 -0500

Starting a civic tech career in government is not as unusual as you think. Current GSA employees share how they are building theirs.

Web Analytics Playbook

Mon, 09 Aug 2021 15:25:00 -0500

Use these plays to help strategize how your team can most effectively use web analytics for your website and target audience.

Join the Web Analytics

Wed, 07 Jul 2021 09:13:00 -0500

Make better decisions using web analytics and other optimization strategies.

The Federal Web in the Year of COVID-19

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 13:55:00 -0500

The past year was like no other. We take a look at how it affected federal website traffic and search data.

Become a DAP Certified Analyst

Mon, 28 Dec 2020 17:00:00 -0500

Become a DAP Certified Analyst—The Digital Analytics Program (DAP) now offers the opportunity to become a DAP Certified Analyst. Prospective analysts must complete the DAP Certification Exam with a score of 80 percent or better. The exam is 50 questions and is multiple choice. Prospective analysts can take the exam more than once.

How to Build an Analytics Strategy

Tue, 22 Dec 2020 14:01:00 -0500

A case study using Digital.gov as an example of how to assess, report, and take action using web analytics as part of an analytics strategy.

Zero Pageviews Is Your Goal: Finding Problem Pages with Website Analytics

Tue, 27 Oct 2020 10:00:00 -0500

Improve customer experience by turning your website analytics upside down to track the numbers for pages you DON’T want visitors to see.

True Crime Detectives: How We Used Free Web Metrics Tools To Uncover a Cybersecurity Incident

Mon, 26 Oct 2020 00:08:00 -0500

Join USA.gov as we slowly uncover a conspiracy to scam Americans using fake government websites… and then try to foil the caper!

Measure Performance to Make Continuous Improvements

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 12:00:00 -0500

This week, we’re exploring what it means to measure performance, and we’re taking a look at how listening to customers is the best way to continuously improve websites and digital services.

Giving Users the Information They Crave: Data and Analytics Tips From USAGov en Español

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 09:00:00 -0500

DigitalGov Year in Review: Our Top Blogs, Resources, and Writers for 2016

Fri, 03 Feb 2017 11:25:00 -0500

DigitalGov had a pretty great year in 2016, and that was largely due to a bevy of talented and dedicated writers from over 50 agencies and departments across all 3 branches of the federal government (Thank you!!!). Below, we’ll review some program highlights from the last year, including our top-viewed articles and resources, and tell you how you, too, can contribute to DigitalGov in 2017.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

DAP is a free analytics tool for measuring digital services in the federal government.

Digital Dashboard

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Measures how U.S. government domains are following best practices for federal websites.

Understanding the Site Scanning program

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 09:00:00 -0500

This program is available to automatically generate data about the health and best practices of federal websites.

Join the Web Managers

Thu, 21 Nov 2013 02:31:00 -0500

Create a better online experience for the public alongside government web content managers.

Analytics.USA.gov

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A window into how people are interacting with the government online. Powered by the Digital Analytics Program (DAP)

Digital Analytics Program

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A free analytics tool for measuring digital services in the federal government.

Understanding the Digital Analytics Program

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 09:00:00 -0500

The Digital Analytics Program (DAP) offers advanced, easy web analytics for federal agencies.

Requirements for delivering a digital-first public experience

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 15:00:00 -0500

Learn how to implement 21st Century IDEA to design and deliver better websites and digital services.

Spring 2024 Community Summit

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 10:00:00 -0500

Digital service experts across the federal government will share case studies and best practices on delivering a digital-first public experience.

Continuously improve your website by using customer feedback and web analytics: An IRS case study

Wed, 25 Jan 2023 13:00:00 -0500

Get tips and lessons learned from the Internal Revenue Service on how they collect user feedback and use web analytics to improve applications.

How Effective Is Your Communication?

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 14:00:00 -0500

Join us to learn about best practices for measuring communication and outreach efforts.

Overcoming Your Fear of Data

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 14:00:00 -0500

Learn how to overcome resistance to data analytics and visualization, ask the right questions, and improve customer experience.

FedRAMP & DAP Case Study Part 2: Reporting and Decision-Making

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 14:00:00 -0500

In this second part of our analytics case study series, we’ll address how to pull reporting and conduct analysis through the lens of your analytics strategy.

FedRAMP & DAP Case Study Part 1: Assessing Analytics Strategy

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 14:00:00 -0500

In this two-part Analytics Case Study, we’ll speak with the GSA’s FedRAMP team about their analytics strategy, data collection, reporting, and subsequent decision-making for a new site launch.

Tag Managers Part 2: Configuration Framework

Wed, 24 Mar 2021 14:00:00 -0500

This session will help DAP users configure and use their tag manager, to augment their reporting on more advanced interactions with their websites.

Tag Managers Part 1: The Data Layer

Wed, 24 Feb 2021 14:00:00 -0500

This session will help the audience expand analysis capabilities by using the tag manager data layer!

Customer Experience & Continuous Improvement: The USPS Digital Approach

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 14:00:00 -0500

This presentation lays out USPS.com’s continuous improvement approach and how it combines analytics and customer feedback with iterative heuristic reviews, design, and usability testing to monitor, improve, and evolve the USPS.com CX.

Analytics Case Study Part 3: Action

Wed, 21 Oct 2020 13:00:00 -0500

In this webinar, we’ll address how to use the analysis and insights you created using DAP Google Analytics, to take action.

Analytics Case Study Part 2: Analysis

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 15:00:00 -0500

In this workshop, we’ll address how to pull reporting and conduct analysis through the lens of your analytics strategy.

Operating Cloud Services Efficiently with Business-Driven IT

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 14:00:00 -0500

Program managers, IT acquisitions leads, and business-minded IT professionals will receive in-depth guidance to improve cloud efficiency, optimization, and effective cost controls.

Analytics Case Study Part 1: Assessment

Wed, 26 Aug 2020 14:00:00 -0500

In this workshop, we’ll address how to assess your web analytics strategy to ensure you’re pulling the most impactful and relevant data to enrich your analysis and understanding of your website performance.

Analytics Lessons From Canada.ca

Thu, 23 Jul 2020 14:30:00 -0500

In this session, we’ll be joined by Nicholas Pjontek of Canada.ca. Nick will talk about some of the analytics goals, lessons, barriers, and successes in the government of Canada.

Shifting Your Metrics Mindset

Wed, 24 Jun 2020 14:00:00 -0500

In this session, we’ll discuss the classic suite of “marketing metrics” vs what’s more important to us in government “content-based metrics”.

How USAGov en Español Uses Quantitative and Qualitative Data to Meet the Needs of Its Audience

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 14:00:00 -0500

In this workshop, we will show how USAGov en Español collects and analyzes data from across several social media channels and the USAGov Contact Center to design and improve content and outreach strategies.

Become a DAP Certified Analyst

Wed, 27 May 2020 13:00:00 -0500

In this session, we’ll tell you about the Digital Analytics Program’s Certified Analyst exam and how you can use it to demonstrate your analytics mastery!

An Introduction to the Basics of DAP

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 14:00:00 -0500

New to DAP? No problem. Join us to learn about the reporting interface, common terminology, and basic reports. This 2.5 - 3 hour session is designed for novice users to “get off the ground” with DAP and Google Analytics.

Listen to Customers by Asking the Right Questions

Mon, 20 Apr 2020 14:00:00 -0500

This week, we’re exploring what it means to listen, and we’re taking a look at ways to use feedback to drive continuous improvement.

18F Is Here to Help During Critical Times

Thu, 09 Apr 2020 19:00:00 -0500

Government agencies are seeing their systems and staff stretched to the max as they do their best to serve the public. 18F is a team of government employees with expertise in modern digital tools and practices, and we’re here to help.

Spring Cleaning Tips for Web Content

Tue, 07 Apr 2020 09:00:00 -0500

This week, we’re providing a few tips for tidying up redundant, outdated, and trivial content.

Justifying the Web Analyst's Role in Your Organization

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 14:00:00 -0500

In this workshop, we’ll address how to think about justifying an analyst role on your team, and talk about the role’s many hats, as well as making the business case to your leadership team.

Navigating Acquisition and Procurement for Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Data Analytics

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 14:00:00 -0500

We will provide guidance on how to manage the process of procuring AI products, services, and technologies, including considerations, pitfalls, and lessons learned.

Updates on 21st Century IDEA: Key Insights & Lessons Learned

Tue, 17 Mar 2020 12:00:00 -0500

We spoke to Ammie Farraj Feijoo, GSA’s 21st Century IDEA implementation lead, to get the rundown on what’s been accomplished and what’s on deck for 2020.

The YouTube Event Option

Wed, 19 Feb 2020 14:00:00 -0500

In this session, you’ll learn how to track plays of embedded YouTube videos on your DAP-enabled pages, and how to create reports for analysis.

10x Project Lightning Talks

Mon, 27 Jan 2020 14:00:00 -0500

In this webinar, 10x project teams demonstrate their work to date and provide brief overviews of each project. Topics range from federating data to agile budgeting to machine learning, and our hope is that these talks will inspire others to submit ideas to 10x.

Taking a Look at the USAGov Analytics Dashboard

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 11:40:00 -0500

The USA.gov’s team launched a new analytics dashboard that shows the top pages and topics that are trending on USA.gov and USA.gov/espanol. This gives agencies a better window into the information the public needs most so they can prioritize that information and make it more accessible to their users.

DevOps Holiday Special Event: Nicolas Chaillan

Tue, 03 Dec 2019 14:00:00 -0500

Join the Chief Software Officer of the USAF to learn: How the DoD moved to Kubernetes and Istio.

DAP Learning Series: Site Analysis, Live!

Wed, 20 Nov 2019 13:00:00 -0500

Join us for a live demonstration of a real site analysis - from defining website mission, goals, and KPIs, to pulling reporting to better understand site performance.

An Introduction to the A/B Testing Community of Practice

Tue, 19 Nov 2019 11:00:00 -0500

We know there are many ways to use A/B testing to inform decision making at your agency – this is a quick introduction on the many ways CFPB has used it to improve UX across their website.

DAP Learning Series: A Deep Dive Into Behavior Reports

Wed, 23 Oct 2019 14:00:00 -0500

A deep dive into behavior reporting to help DAP users understand how to use it and what are the pitfalls.

DAP Learning Series: A Deep Dive Into Acquisition Reports

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 14:00:00 -0500

In this webinar, we’ll review the acquisition reporting section in-depth, and discuss usefulness of reports and where there may be gaps in data.

DAP Learning Series: A Deep Dive Into Audience Reports

Wed, 21 Aug 2019 14:00:00 -0500

Build upon your audience report knowledge and learn how to leverage these reports to better understand your audience.

DAP Learning Series: Misunderstood Metrics

Wed, 24 Jul 2019 15:00:00 -0500

What are some examples of misunderstood metrics, and how and when should you use them? We’ll talk about these metrics and their potential misinterpretations and pitfalls.

DAP Learning Series: Agency Analytics Governance

Wed, 26 Jun 2019 14:00:00 -0500

We’ll talk to members of various agencies to find out how analytics programs and tools are governed at that agency.

DAP Learning Series: Using the analytics.usa.gov API

Thu, 23 May 2019 15:00:00 -0500

Learn how Analytics.usa.gov, the public window into how the public interacts with federal government websites, uses an API and allows you to query data in machine-readable formats.

DAP Learning Series: Using the Advanced Analysis Tool

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 14:00:00 -0500

We’ll demo the Advanced Analysis tool and show how you can use it to better understand your data and create drag-and-drop reports!

DAP Learning Series: Understanding When to Use Sessions vs. Unique Pageviews

Wed, 20 Mar 2019 15:00:00 -0500

In this webinar, Freddie Blicher, an analyst for the Digial Analytics Program, will discuss how to think about sessions and unique pageviews in reporting and content analysis.

Analyzing Web Metrics for Federal Privacy Professionals

Tue, 19 Feb 2019 15:00:00 -0500

For this event, DAP has partnered with the fine folks who run the Federal Privacy Council’s Tech Tuesday Series to teach us how to measure, analyze, and improve experiences for users visiting privacy pages on your agency websites.

DAP Learning Series: Basics of A/B Testing Part 2

Wed, 07 Nov 2018 14:00:00 -0500

We’ve teamed up with our friends at CFPB to bring you a two-part series on A/B Testing.

DAP Learning Series: Basics of A/B Testing Part 1

Thu, 01 Nov 2018 15:00:00 -0500

We’ve teamed up with our friends at CFPB to bring you a two-part series on A/B Testing.

DAP Learning Series: Creating Goals and Conversions

Wed, 17 Oct 2018 14:00:00 -0500

This online event will cover the Goals feature in Google Analytics.

DAP Learning Series: Writing Custom JavaScript for Tag Managers

Thu, 20 Sep 2018 14:00:00 -0500

This online event will focus on how to track specific events and write JavaScript to maximize the tag manager experience

DAP Learning Series: An Introduction to the Basics

Wed, 15 Aug 2018 13:00:00 -0500

This online class will provide an introductory training on how to use Digital Analytics Program (DAP) google analytics data.

DAP Learning Series: Analytics and Accessibility

Wed, 18 Jul 2018 14:00:00 -0500

This online event will cover how to check if behaviors change when people are using keystrokes to click, which might give insight into how users with disabilities interact with your site

DAP Learning Series: Using the Search Console

Thu, 07 Jun 2018 14:00:00 -0500

This online class will dive deeper into the benefits of integrating Google Search Console with your independently managed Google Analytics account

DAP Learning Series: Advanced Concepts

Wed, 23 May 2018 13:00:00 -0500

This half-day online class will expand upon the basics of Google Analytics.

DAP Learning Series: Creating Your Own Campaign URL Builder

Wed, 18 Apr 2018 15:00:00 -0500

This online event will cover how to create a campaign URL in Google Analtyics and how to effectively implement it.

New USAGov Program Aims to Help Agencies Market Within the Federal Government

Mon, 02 Apr 2018 12:00:00 -0500

The Outreach and Marketing team from USAGov helps agencies amplify their key messages through a variety of channels.

DAP Learning Series: A Deep Dive into Analytics Events

Thu, 22 Mar 2018 14:00:00 -0500

This online event will focus on events in Google Analytics

The Value of Federal Government Data

Wed, 14 Mar 2018 03:00:00 -0500

Dr. Bill Brantley covers the application of infonomics as a way to help agencies to measure and use data for organizational innovation and digital transformation.

DAP Learning Series: An Introduction to the Basics

Thu, 15 Feb 2018 13:00:00 -0500

This online class will provide an introductory training on how to use Digital Analytics Program (DAP) google analytics data.

Using Journey Mapping to Streamline Processes Across Agencies

Mon, 05 Feb 2018 11:52:00 -0400

How one team used journey mapping to improve the customer experience for newly naturalized citizens attempting to travel abroad.

Making Customer Satisfaction Data Actionable at the Peace Corps

Tue, 30 Jan 2018 09:30:00 -0400

Learn how measuring customer experience helped inform and guide website development at Peace Corps.

DAP Learning Series – Visualizing Analytics Data Part 2

Thu, 12 Oct 2017 14:00:00 -0500

In this online event, we’ll discuss how to use tools that are designed to import data and visualize it without report exports.

Machine Learning Paired with Skilled Data Scientists is the Future of Data-Driven Decision Making

Tue, 03 Oct 2017 12:05:00 -0400

ML can provide high-value services for data management and analytics, security threat detection, and process improvement but it doesn’t stop there.

A Conversation With ITIF About the State of Federal Government Websites

Wed, 20 Sep 2017 11:00:00 -0400

Since it’s been nearly six months since their report was released, we wanted to check in with ITIF and see what they’ve learned, what they’ve heard from agencies and what their future plans are to build on this research.

USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov Measure Content Efficiency With New KPI Metric

Tue, 12 Sep 2017 12:14:34 -0400

This post was originally published on the USA.gov blog.

2016 / 2017 Mobile Analysis: Mobile Device Trends on Government Websites

Mon, 14 Aug 2017 12:00:56 -0400

Now that we have seen the top level shift from desktop to mobile, let us drill deeper into mobile device specific trends.

Check out Data.gov’s New Metrics Page

Fri, 04 Aug 2017 12:00:38 -0400

Data.gov recently updated its Metrics page to provide greater detail and transparency to the progress of the Data.gov catalog. Data.gov is primarily a metadata catalog, providing information about, and links to, open datasets made available by federal agencies and participating non-federal sources such as state, county, and city

How Facebook Live Increased Reach and Engagement of Scientific Lectures at NIH

Mon, 22 May 2017 13:00:34 -0400

Helping patients manage chronic pain has become an increasing challenge for health care providers, particularly in the face of an ongoing opioid epidemic in the United States. In response, the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has made funding research on integrative health approaches to pain

Webinar Recap: Measuring Your Mobile Users

Mon, 15 May 2017 11:00:23 -0400

This Digital Analytics Program and MobileGov Community webinar focuses on using DAP’s analytics tools and best practices for mobile reporting.

New ITIF Report Inspires a Closer Look at Website Performance and Security—Here Is Where to Begin

Fri, 24 Mar 2017 11:02:04 -0400

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF) recently published a report, Benchmarking U.S. Government Websites, that looks at the performance, security, and accessibility of the top 297 government websites.

Letting Go of 85 Percent of Our Email Subscribers

Mon, 13 Mar 2017 13:04:16 -0400

Late last year, Business.USA.gov (BUSA) began transitioning its web presence to USA.gov and with its content, came its social media and email accounts. While transferring ownership of a Twitter account is fairly easy to do from a technical standpoint, transferring email ownership and tools is not. We had to tackle

Automatic HTTPS Enforcement for New Executive Branch .gov Domains

Thu, 19 Jan 2017 12:00:30 -0400

HTTPS is a necessary baseline for security on the modern web. Non-secure HTTP connections lack integrity protection, and can be used to attack citizens, foreign nationals, and government staff. HTTPS provides increased confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity that mitigate these attacks.

DigitalGov University in Review: 2016 Training Trends

Wed, 11 Jan 2017 12:00:02 -0400

Thanks to your participation, DigitalGov University (DGU), the events platform for DigitalGov, hosted over 90 events with 6,648 attendees from over 100 agencies across federal, tribal, state, and local governments.

Digging Deep Using the Core Model

Fri, 18 Nov 2016 10:00:34 -0400

The core model is a thinking tool that can be used to get team members from different perspectives (stakeholders, developers, editors, etc.) to start thinking collaboratively. The end goal is that the group will have a common understanding of user needs, business goals, and how different pages should be connected.

The Data Briefing: Four Steps to Becoming a Data-Driven Organization

Wed, 09 Nov 2016 11:00:45 -0400

As the Federal government agencies begin the digital transformation journey, becoming a data-driven organization is even more vital. What does it mean to become a data-driven organization? According to one definition, “[a] data-driven company is an organization where every person who can use data to make better decisions, has access to the data they need

Applying Customer Service Metrics to Improve Customer Experience (CX)

Thu, 03 Nov 2016 10:00:10 -0400

Lately, I’ve looked at how a government agency measures a customer’s experience. It’s such a complex topic that I would need more than one blog to discuss the nuances behind it. In my last blog, I examined and brokedown three types of customer service metrics: customer satisfaction (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Customer Effort

The Data Briefing: Learning from the U.S. Cities on How to Implement Big Data Initiatives

Wed, 02 Nov 2016 10:00:36 -0400

A recent study of big data initiatives in 65 cities has interesting guidance for Federal big data initiatives. The researchers studied how data is collected and then used for decision making in what they called “the framework for Big Data initiatives.” There are two major cycles in the framework: “The data cycle governs the tools

Social Media Data Deep Dive: Turning Findings into Action

Fri, 28 Oct 2016 11:00:55 -0400

GobiernoUSA, just like USA.gov, is part of a unique effort with a large mission—to guide people to the government information and services they seek. We cover a lot of topics in Spanish via our website, social media platforms, email sends, and contact center. One of the communication channels we focus a lot of attention on

The Data Briefing: Help Predict the Future of Federal Government Data

Wed, 26 Oct 2016 13:00:55 -0400

In December, I plan to write two postings detailing a scenario analysis for the next ten years of the Federal government’s data technologies. Governments are on the cusp of amazing technological advances propelled by artificial intelligence, blockchain technologies, and the Internet of Things. Also, governments will face new challenges such as the recent global cyber

The Essentials of an Editorial Calendar

Mon, 24 Oct 2016 10:00:37 -0400

Anyone engaged in content marketing or content production probably owns a robust editorial calendar. A calendar that is quickly updated, helps keep deadlines and is flexible can serve as a helpful blueprint of your content activities for the year. At USAGov we cover a lot of topics and partner with many agencies. Having an editorial

Dear Search: Reading Between the Lines of Search Data

Fri, 21 Oct 2016 11:00:34 -0400

Welcome to the first Dear Search article, an occasional series where the DigitalGov Search team addresses common search questions. Dear Search, Right now, I am building up user research services that can be offered to product owners on a regular or as-needed basis. So, being able to look at search trends and offer advice to

Analytics Success Series: USA.gov

Mon, 17 Oct 2016 11:00:04 -0400

USA.gov’s Analytics Success: using analytics data to inform design and responsivity to create a better experience for the user Last year, the USA.gov team found themselves facing a challenge. We were in need of a new content management system for our websites, USA.gov and Gobierno.USA.gov, which help people find and understand the most frequently requested

What Is Static Source Analysis?

Fri, 14 Oct 2016 11:00:40 -0400

In software development, we use a variety of techniques to help us understand the software we’ve written, whether it works as expected, and whether it will be easy to maintain over time. One of the techniques we use is called static source analysis, and it can tell us a lot about the maintenance requirements of

The Data Briefing: Twenty Years of USAJOBS

Wed, 12 Oct 2016 13:00:42 -0400

I recently sat down with Michelle Earley, Program Manager, to discuss the new changes for the 20th anniversary of USAJOBS. 1) What are the three big lessons learned from 20 years of building and managing USAJOBS? I think one of the greatest benefits of being an Agile program is that we are constantly learning. In

The Data Briefing: The Federal Data Cabinet—Promoting Data Literacy, Cultural Change, and the Federal Data Applications Ecosystem

Wed, 05 Oct 2016 13:00:21 -0400

Last Wednesday, the White House held the first Open Data Summit to showcase the open data accomplishments of the Obama Administration. One of the highlights was the formation of a government-wide “data cabinet.” Announced by Chief Data Scientist DJ Patil, the data cabinet is essentially a community of practice comprising the Federal agency’s data professionals. As

The New Vote.gov: Leaner, Faster and Multi-Lingual

Wed, 28 Sep 2016 11:00:27 -0400

One year ago this week, we launched vote.gov (also known as vote.usa.gov). It’s a concise and simple site with a single mission: direct citizens through the voter registration process as quickly as possible. It was created by a joint team of USA.gov staffers and Presidential Innovation Fellows, all of whom work within the General Services

Our New Center for Enhanced Analytics

Thu, 22 Sep 2016 11:00:55 -0400

Analytics and “big data” seem to be the next frontier in a number of arenas. Data researchers can use the large, real-time data sets that are available today to facilitate scientific discovery, improve the flow of traffic, and increase energy efficiency, among many other things. Last year, the White House appointed the first federal Chief

Analytics Success Series: Health Resources & Services Administration

Tue, 20 Sep 2016 02:00:17 -0400

Health Resources and Services Administration’s Analytics Success: Using Analytics to Reduce Content and Improve User Experience Unlike out-of-town guests, you want your web visitors to stick around. So, if your site continues to see a bounce rate that stubbornly refuses to drop—it’s time to make some changes. That’s exactly what happened to the Health Resources

Analytics Success Series: USAJOBS

Thu, 15 Sep 2016 13:00:46 -0400

USAJOBS’ Analytics Success: using analytics to create accurate testing strategies. Accurate testing strategies are crucial to ensure quality products. Hi-fidelity approaches ensure QA efforts are testing in a true-to-life manner, similar to real-world users. Inaccurate, lo-fidelity testing can miss situational bugs that become showstoppers in production. USAJOBS is leveraging the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) to

No Longer an Idea of the Future, Artificial Intelligence Is Here and You Are Probably Already Using It

Thu, 15 Sep 2016 11:00:12 -0400

It might surprise some of you to know that artificial intelligence (AI) is already in use and a routine part of our daily lives, but we leverage this technology when we use our smartphones or other devices to ask Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, Google Now, or Amazon’s Alexa a question to get the facts or data we

Analytics Success Series: Federal Trade Commission

Wed, 14 Sep 2016 15:00:39 -0400

FTC’s Analytics Success: Making mission-related tasks easier for the user to find In the summer of 2015, members of the Federal Trade Commission’s Office of Public Affairs (OPA) Web team worked with their FTC colleagues to analyze Digital Analytics Program (DAP) Google Analytics data (onsite search queries, landing pages, pageviews, etc.) for FTC.gov. We found

Webinar Recap: A Look At Google’s Media Tool and Platform Offerings

Tue, 13 Sep 2016 11:00:15 -0400

Suddenly, digital video is everywhere on your social timelines. As a government storyteller, you may be overwhelmed about all the tools available and all of the features each publishing platform has to offer.

Trends on Tuesday: Signs of the App-ocalypse

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 13:00:03 -0400

A new report from the Mobile Ecosystem Forum shows that most users delete apps because of security concerns. The report also said that 47% of survey respondents would pay extra for an app that didn’t share personal information and that the inability to find a privacy policy is one of the leading reasons for consumers losing trust

CSAT, NPS, and CES: 3 Easy Ways to Measure Customer Experience (CX)

Fri, 05 Aug 2016 14:00:45 -0400

Have you ever wondered how to measure a customer’s experience? I’ve thought about it, specifically about how to measure the experience with services from government agencies. This is a complex topic because government services can be vastly different from each other.

The Content Corner: Quality Over Quantity—a Case for Long-Form Content

Mon, 25 Jul 2016 15:00:38 -0400

Content can be categorized in many ways. While breaking down your website analytics, pay a bit of extra attention to the difference between your short- and long-form content; you may find some interesting discoveries. Let’s first define the two terms: Short – Content that is generally created quickly, and consumed just as fast; e.g., tweets,

Analytics Trainings: 2016 So Far

Thu, 14 Jul 2016 10:00:44 -0400

In 2016, the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) team has ramped up our training schedule. We appreciate all the DAP users that have attended our trainings and we’re happy to provide the material. We’ve had many users ask about video of our sessions, so we wanted to provide you with some of our recorded trainings from

The Data Briefing: Mobile Apps, Responsive Web Sites, and the “Mobile Moment”

Wed, 13 Jul 2016 10:00:43 -0400

The debate between responsive websites and mobile apps took a decisive turn this week when the United Kingdom’s Digital Service (UKDS) banned the creation of mobile apps. In an interview with GovInsider, the founder of UKDS, Ben Terrett, explained that mobile apps were too expensive to build and maintain. Responsive websites were easier to build

Trends on Tuesday: Adoption for Pokémon Go Mobile App Surges

Tue, 12 Jul 2016 10:00:37 -0400

Augmented Reality games have existed for years, but have mostly failed to catch a mainstream audience; Pokémon Go just changed all that this weekend. The game that launched early this month has exploded in popularity and is close to surpassing Twitter in daily active

The Data Briefing: Innovating Processes the Lean and Agile Way

Wed, 29 Jun 2016 11:00:41 -0400

In today’s world of big data, cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the rise of smarter artificial intelligence (AI) applications, processes have become even more vital.

The Data Briefing: NASA’s New Big Data Strategy

Wed, 22 Jun 2016 11:00:33 -0400

Few other federal agencies deal with as much data as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Big science creates big data, and NASA manages many of the biggest science projects in world history. Even in the early days of NASA’s history, NASA pioneered new ways to create and store data. So, in the world

Exciting Additions to Analytics.usa.gov

Fri, 17 Jun 2016 12:30:45 -0400

We’ve expanded analytics.usa.gov to include 15(!) more agency-specific dashboard pages. We now offer agency-specific analytics data pages for a total of 25 major federal agencies, and each one is accessible from the dropdown menu at the top of the site.

Google Analytics Download Data Lower Than Expected? Here’s Why (And How to Fix It)

Tue, 14 Jun 2016 10:00:36 -0400

What’s the best way to track file downloads in Google Analytics? Will the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) help me track PDF/.doc/.xls downloads? Are my download numbers accurate? Why aren’t my file downloads appearing in the web analytics data? The answers to these questions aren’t abundantly clear to even seasoned web analysts. But here’s the good news:

Why Switching to HTTPS Will Make Your Analytics Better

Mon, 06 Jun 2016 11:00:14 -0400

Federal agencies are required to make all federal websites accessible through a secure, HTTPS-only connection by the end of the 2016 calendar year. What you might not have known is that the switch to HTTPS will improve your ability to track which sites are directing web traffic to yours. Recently, a federal colleague reached out

Trends on Tuesday: What Kind of Apps Will Users Return To?

Tue, 24 May 2016 10:00:32 -0400

Flurry Analytics, a mobile application analytics company owned by Yahoo!, released a new report about app retention. Unless your app usage is around “gambling”—with cards (game apps), with your money (finance apps), with whether or not to bring an umbrella (weather apps), or with your health (fitness apps)—user retention and re-engagement is often a steep wall

Kids.Gov Reenvisioned

Mon, 23 May 2016 10:00:16 -0400

At USAGov, we always put our customers first. In the wake of our rebranding efforts, our desire to create a positive user experience across the organization has pushed us to turn a scrutinous eye toward Kids.gov; a site focused on providing information and resources to parents, teachers, and kids.

Customer Experience Performance Metrics: Two Sides to Every Story

Mon, 16 May 2016 10:00:06 -0400

Performance metrics, targets and public reporting are not new in government; however, customer-oriented metrics have been underutilized and under-reported publicly for a long time. Today, as the principles of customer experience as a management discipline gain momentum across the federal government, there is an opportunity to use data to tell more of the story where

Using Pirate Metrics to Analyze Your Mobile Application’s Audience

Thu, 12 May 2016 10:00:28 -0400

There are over 200 native applications in the federal government with various download numbers. Are the ones with the most downloads the most successful?

The Content Corner: Will You Read This Entire Post?

Mon, 11 Apr 2016 11:00:29 -0400

Deep down we’ve always known that people only read a small portion of any content shared online. In many ways that can’t be fixed but there are ways to help people read more or at least scan better. There was a book I loved as a child that featured the Sesame Street character Grover, titled

Additional Data Options With DAP

Tue, 05 Apr 2016 10:00:38 -0400

Agencies can participate in the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) by implementing the DAP script block. It’s a simple line of of code that enables you to take advantage DAP.

Tag Management: A Digital Analyst’s Best Friend

Thu, 31 Mar 2016 10:00:14 -0400

Tag managers can assist in collecting valuable data about visits to your website. Here at CFPB, we use Google Tag Manager (GTM), which is a free tool that works in tandem with Google Analytics to record and send data on how users interact with your website on an aggregate level, including which pages they view, where they

Trends on Tuesday: Google Will Rank ‘Mobile-Friendly’ Sites Even Higher Beginning in May

Tue, 29 Mar 2016 11:55:41 -0400

Last year Google began changing their search ranking algorithm to direct mobile users to mobile-friendly sites, and they recently announced that beginning in May they will be implementing an update to focus even more exclusively on boosting mobile-friendly sites.

The Postal Service Just Broke Analytics.usa.gov

Tue, 22 Mar 2016 12:52:55 -0400

Ok, so it didn’t really break it. But you might notice that the amount of “people on government websites now” on analytics.usa.gov is a lot higher than it used to be.

The Content Corner: Social Media Metrics and the Challenge of Effective Measurement

Mon, 21 Mar 2016 11:18:21 -0400

I’ve recently been required to focus more attention on social media from a federal agency standpoint and this has directly led to a greater consideration of content. One of my first steps was to begin sharing various forms of content and gauge the success of each type. In today’s post, I’ll share what I have

Seeing States the Right Way: How to Weigh Data by Population

Fri, 11 Mar 2016 10:00:58 -0400

One large issue my team has run into when analyzing and reporting data across different states is knowing whether sessions within an area are higher due to more interest, or a larger population. Time after time, we see the states with the largest populations show up with the largest amount of traffic, like the graph

Analytics.usa.gov: Now with Agency-Specific Dashboards

Thu, 18 Feb 2016 11:10:51 -0400

We’ve added agency-specific dashboards to analytics.usa.gov!

Preliminary Results from USAGov’s Voter Registration Partnership with Facebook

Tue, 09 Feb 2016 10:00:37 -0400

The first phase of our partnership with Facebook included Facebook “megaphones” being rolled out in a handful of states with rapidly approaching voter registration deadlines. Facebook’s megaphone is a featured box that is displayed at the top of all user’s News Feeds. (You may recall seeing these after certain disasters giving users the option to

4 Tips for Analyzing Mobile Traffic with DAP

Fri, 05 Feb 2016 10:00:17 -0400

It’s not a secret that mobile Internet viewership is booming, but according to a ComScore report released last June, 49% of the audiences for the top 100 digital properties are now mobile-only. Additionally, during the third quarter last year, Gartner reported PC shipments fell 7.7% while IDC Research reported a 10.8% decline. The switch to

The Data Briefing: Mapping the Big Data Ecosystem of U.S. Agriculture

Wed, 03 Feb 2016 10:19:49 -0400

The Congressional Research Service recently released a report (PDF, 688 kb, 17 pages, January 2016) describing the big data ecosystem for U.S. agriculture. The purpose of the report was to understand the federal government’s role in emerging big data sources and technologies involved in U.S. agriculture. As the report author, Megan Stubbs, points out, there is

What Are Your Customers Searching For?

Fri, 08 Jan 2016 01:00:28 -0400

What are your agency’s website visitors looking for? Can they find it easily? How do you know? Search analytics provide valuable data that can positively affect an agency’s Web strategy. This topic was the focus of a recent webinar, Show Me the Data: Leveraging Analytics in DigitalGov Search. Dawn Pointer McCleskey, acting program manager for

Tips for Adapting analytics.usa.gov from Tennessee, Boulder, and Philadelphia

Thu, 07 Jan 2016 13:19:21 -0400

When we launched analytics.usa.gov with the Digital Analytics Program, the U.S. Digital Service, and the White House last March, we purposefully made it very easy to adapt and wrote language on the website to let people know they could use the code without restriction: This open source project is in the public domain, which means

OCSIT’s 2015 Customer Survey—What We Learned

Mon, 28 Dec 2015 10:00:13 -0400

Three years ago, GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies (OCSIT) set out to design a system to consistently measure customer satisfaction across our office. We were inspired by the Digital Government Strategy, which tasks agencies to adopt a customer-centric approach to service delivery.

Best Practices for Remote User Experience Research

Thu, 10 Dec 2015 10:00:25 -0400

Once simply an idea, remote data gathering is now a very important reality in UCD (user-centered design) work. However, there are some challenges, particularly when your agency serves the entire nation and all of the groups in it. Identifying and finding solutions for these issues will help you best use this important tool.

Analytics.usa.gov: New Features and More Data

Tue, 01 Dec 2015 13:00:53 -0400

As of writing this post, 25,225 of the 124,878 total visitors on federal government websites participating in the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) are NOT located in the United States. And as a result of

Trends on Tuesday: What Mobile Devices Do People Use to Access Federal Sites?

Tue, 24 Nov 2015 10:00:40 -0400

Mobile users of government websites are growing in double digit percentages and will likely soon become the majority. For some recent internal project research, I dove into some of the federal government-wide analytics looking at mobile usage and found a few interesting tidbits to share: It’s an OS battle of the As. Apple devices slightly

How to Use Remote Data Strategically in UX

Tue, 17 Nov 2015 13:00:55 -0400

One of the challenges UX practitioners can face is how to communicate much of the data that’s out there. The key word is “communicate.” Since many of us are used to qualitative findings, making the jump to “hard data” can be a challenge. There are tools out there that make this easier, but we still

Gov Analytics Breakdown #2: Mobile Is Bigger than Ever

Wed, 21 Oct 2015 13:22:30 -0400

A review of the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) data confirms what many are already saying: Content is being viewed on mobile devices more than ever before, and the percentage of sessions via mobile devices is growing.

5 Factors to Building a Successful Government-wide Digital Analytics Program

Tue, 20 Oct 2015 03:15:07 -0400

Launched just three years ago, the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) continues to drive the 2012 Digital Government Strategy’s mission to improve the citizen experience by streamlining the collection and analysis of digital analytics data on a federal government-wide scale. The DAP officially launched on October 15, 2012 with a release of its first version of

Gov Analytics Breakdown #1 – Browsers: Chrome Takes the Cake

Thu, 15 Oct 2015 15:25:39 -0400

We wanted to take a look at overall browser usage now that DAP has a few years of data, and the changes tell an interesting story. Here’s a breakdown of the percent of total sessions of the top five browsers during the last three years.

Optimizing Social at Peace Corps: Not a Zero-Sum Game

Fri, 02 Oct 2015 10:00:12 -0400

At the Peace Corps, we continually try to find new ways to test, measure and optimize our marketing and communications initiatives. Recently, we embarked on a project to design a framework to test and optimize content on the social media platforms we use to engage our stakeholders. This process required us to reboot our expectations in terms of

How OSTP Crowdsourced A Crowdsourcing Toolkit

Wed, 30 Sep 2015 10:18:38 -0400

To promote crowdsourcing, one effective tool is, well, crowdsourcing. Today, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the Federal Community of Practice for Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science (CCS) unveiled the Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing Toolkit. The toolkit contains information, resources, and best practices federal agencies can use to harness the power

NASA + Lunar Eclipse = A Super(moon) Match Made in Metrics Heaven

Mon, 28 Sep 2015 03:20:04 -0400

NASA’s reach over the last 24 hours eclipsed that of the regulars typically seen in government digital metrics.

Setting Up a Performance Measurement Team

Thu, 24 Sep 2015 11:00:41 -0400

As part of an organizational shift to functional teams at GSA’s Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC), we created a Performance Measurement Team that consolidates data analysis for our websites, contact center channels, and marketing channels. Instead of looking at metrics within the bubble of each program, we’re beginning to leverage insights across programs. These are

Speed Matters: Optimizing Your Website For Maximum Performance

Wed, 16 Sep 2015 10:00:13 -0400

During a recent DigitalGov University webinar, Jeremy Vanderlan, Technical Deputy for AIDS.gov, explained how even fractions of a second can have a negative impact on a user’s impression of your website.

Caution: Your Web Analytics Might Not Be Human

Wed, 09 Sep 2015 10:00:14 -0400

A Digital Analytics Program (DAP) user recently contacted me with an observation/problem: The data he had from his website’s independent Web-analytics account was much, much higher than the data he was receiving in the DAP user interface. Theoretically, both tools (in this case, two separate Google Analytics accounts), were trying to measure the same thing,

Monthly Theme: Learning to Ride the Metrics Wave

Tue, 08 Sep 2015 12:00:26 -0400

We are awash in data. Data in our personal lives gives us information on everything from our nightly sleeping patterns to how many of our friends shared our latest quip on social media. So too in our professional world, where we can see the most popular devices people use to navigate our websites and are told

Analytics Pitfall: Avoid this Common Implementation Mistake

Wed, 26 Aug 2015 11:10:05 -0400

In large agencies, lots of Web teams touch digital analytics in one way or another, and we have had the pleasure of working with teams both within and outside our agency. For us, hearing from a diverse set of perspectives has been a great learning experience. However, over the course of many meetings, we have

Secure Central Hosting for the Digital Analytics Program

Fri, 14 Aug 2015 13:00:48 -0400

The U.S. government’s Digital Analytics Program (DAP) collects Web traffic and analytics data from across the federal government.

Journey Mapping the Customer Experience: A USA.gov Case Study

Wed, 12 Aug 2015 10:00:21 -0400

Journey maps are a visual representation of a customer’s end to end journey with your product or service. They are a powerful tool for exploring key interactions and experiences with your organization, programs, and/or services. Journey maps describe a customer’s entire journey, even the parts that occur before and after contact with your organization. They

DigitalGov Summit Recap: Leveraging Open Analytics

Fri, 07 Aug 2015 11:10:54 -0400

While government agencies may not have big budgets for data analysis, we do have tons of data—survey data, usability data, campaign data—that should be leveraged to drive decisions.

Analytics Restoration: Improving on a Classic

Thu, 06 Aug 2015 11:24:50 -0400

Sometimes it is important to take a fresh look at a classic. As we digital analysts can attest, the array of software now available to our respective analytics programs has grown tremendously over the past few years. Even as we play catch-up to our private sector leaders, many digital analytics programs across the federal government

Need Actionable Analytics Reports? Here’s Help

Thu, 06 Aug 2015 10:00:33 -0400

The Digital Analytics Program (DAP) provides a wealth of standard Web analytics reports within its current Web analytics tool (Google Analytics Premium). Yet, navigating through big data with a standard report can be a challenge and definitely takes a few clicks. To quickly get to the insights of your agency websites’ traffic, building your own

Monthly Theme: At Your Service

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 10:16:31 -0400

In this digital age, we know customers expect their government interactions to be on the same level as their interactions with the private sector. Agencies are always striving to improve the quality of their services to meet their customers’ needs. So too in our office, where we use the feedback, you, our agency customers, provide

Taking a Data-Driven Approach to Digital Marketing at the Peace Corps

Wed, 05 Aug 2015 10:00:47 -0400

What exactly does being “data-driven” mean for digital marketing and communications practitioners in the federal government? It is easy to be awed by the new shiny platforms and services that promise to change how things are done in government. Fundamentally, though, it is thinking about analytics not just from a descriptive mindset but one of

Explore Space with Smithsonian’s Chandra X-Ray App

Thu, 23 Jul 2015 11:57:23 -0400

We continue our celebration of American history and legacy this July 2015 with the New Horizons spacecraft’s dramatic flight past the icy dwarf planet Pluto and its moons—momentous in space exploration. Just think about it—New Horizons, a NASA space probe traveled over 3 billion miles to

The Content Corner: Determining Your User’s Needs

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 10:20:36 -0400

I recently wrapped up a series of user interviews as part of a review of our judiciary-wide intranet in order to provide better digital services to our customers (and yes, our internal users are our customers, not just the general public).

Dwarf Planet, Giant Numbers: NASA’s Mission to Pluto Goes Global

Thu, 16 Jul 2015 14:49:49 -0400

Even on a slow day, NASA is a pretty cool place to work, but the cool factor gets cranked way up when the whole world joins in the adventure. That’s what happened this week when the New Horizons spacecraft arrived at Pluto after decade-long, three-billion-mile journey through the solar system.

What’s in a Name? “Communities” in the Public and Private Sectors

Wed, 15 Jul 2015 10:00:21 -0400

Many of you are part of a government community. We lead a few of them here, and new ones are forming all the time. In fact, as I was writing this article, I stumbled upon a community for government Drupal users. A co-worker recently asked me for research on communities because she is trying to

Analytics Prove People Care About Space (and Pluto!)

Tue, 14 Jul 2015 11:48:43 -0400

Despite the fact that Pluto has been downgraded to a “dwarf planet”, the analytics of federal government websites prove there are still a lot of people who want to get an up-close look. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, a project over nine years in the making, flew by Pluto this morning at approximately 7:49 a.m. The

2015 Customer Service Trends: a Mid-Year Update

Wed, 08 Jul 2015 10:00:36 -0400

Earlier this year, we published 15 Government Customer Service Trends for 2015. We’re halfway through the year now—how are these trends holding up? 1. Centralized Customer Offices A few agencies have created centralized customer offices, while others question the need for a single organization that focuses on the customer. As the public’s overall satisfaction with

DigitalGov Podcast: DAP Delivers Data for 4,000 Websites

Mon, 29 Jun 2015 11:10:56 -0400

You cannot improve your digital outreach without data. Since 2012, the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) has provided agencies the critical information and metrics that they need to make their public-facing websites better.

Creating a Social Media Report That Matters

Mon, 29 Jun 2015 01:00:19 -0400

As with any communications effort, the social media bottom line comes down to impact. Can you prove that the time, money and effort put into social media helped achieve your agency’s goals? In a world obsessed with big data, it’s tempting to track every detail simply because you can. With more data comes more confusion

The API Briefing: the Challenge of Government’s Dark Data

Wed, 17 Jun 2015 10:00:23 -0400

By now, you are familiar with “big data” or datasets that are so large that they cannot be analyzed by conventional analytical methods. You may have heard of “long data” which is data that has a temporal context. I work with long data when I analyze hiring patterns over time in workforce data. There is

The Content Corner: Creating Engaging Content with Data

Mon, 15 Jun 2015 11:10:42 -0400

Over the last several years, continuing advances in computer processing power and storage have brought about the growth of what some call big data. Mobile and wearable devices now also generate large amounts of data via our

DigitalGov Citizen Services Summit: Reflections from Our Livestream Host, and Full Recording Now Available!

Fri, 12 Jun 2015 13:30:22 -0400

The second annual DigitalGov Citizen Services Summit was held at GSA headquarters in Washington, DC on May 21, 2015.

#SocialGov Round Up 2015

Mon, 08 Jun 2015 11:30:55 -0400

The SocialGov Community is coming up on three years of hard work and pushing the boundaries on using social tools across the federal government. I’d like to start this round up by taking a look at the event we hosted last year, State of the #SocialGov 2014: 2 Years of Smashing Silos + Elevating Citizen

Taking the Pulse of the Federal Government's Web Presence

Wed, 03 Jun 2015 13:10:57 -0400

The U.S. federal government is launching a new project to monitor how it’s doing at best practices on the Web.

USA.gov in Beta: Tell Us What You Think

Mon, 04 May 2015 14:30:34 -0400

Thirteen years in digital is an eon, and on the eve of its 13th birthday, we at USA.gov found ourselves reckoning with a mid-life crisis. In the thirteen years since Firstgov.gov was launched (and ten years for FirstGov en Español), the sheer volume and sophistication

Mobile-Friendly Park Websites on NPS.gov

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 10:00:20 -0400

Park websites on NPS.gov from A (Acadia) to Z (Zion) are now mobile-friendly. Visitors using phones and tablets to visit national park websites now have a user-friendly experience to enhance their virtual visits. Previously, visitors using mobile devices saw a smaller version of the website scaled to

Meeting Customer Needs Through Social Media

Fri, 24 Apr 2015 12:03:35 -0400

Social media tools can amplify your agency’s message, but they are also a meeting space for two-way conversations. They can be a key tool to resolve user issues and deliver excellent customer service. This is true for agencies in every corner of the government space. In honor of our monthly contact center theme, we reached

Using a Hypothesis-Driven Approach in Analyzing (and Making Sense) of Your Website Traffic Data

Thu, 16 Apr 2015 14:14:11 -0400

At the Digital Analytics Program (DAP), some of the most frequently asked questions we get are “how can I get access to the DAP data?” and “what do I do with all this data?” We all know that data is knowledge, and knowledge is power, but once we have access to it and realize that

Updated: Live Blogging the Analytics Dashboard on #TaxDay

Tue, 14 Apr 2015 15:00:08 -0400

2 a.m. EDT, April 16 Looks like the traffic peak for #TaxDay was around 3:00 pm when 194,301 people were on government sites. We’re now less than one-quarter of that traffic, and the more regular patterns of top sites are reasserting themselves. We’re talking about YOU, NASA astronomy picture of the day and that wonderful

Social Sharing Buttons: Location, Location, Location

Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:00:19 -0400

DigitalGov has seen posts from members of the community who land on opposite sides regarding social sharing buttons. There are those who find social sharing buttons useful (When Sharing Buttons

Multiple Languages, Single Platforms: the World Digital Library

Thu, 09 Apr 2015 02:29:14 -0400

Multilingual does not always mean multiple accounts or websites. Increasingly, multilingual content is delivered in an integrated way, with two (or more!) languages delivered on the same website, app, or social media platform. The World Digital Library (WDL) is one example of how multiple languages can be incorporated on single platforms. The WDL is a

Why Your Social Traffic Looks Low in Analytics Tools

Tue, 07 Apr 2015 13:00:23 -0400

Part of my job as an analyst on the Digital Analytics Program (DAP) team is to help agency users try to make sense of digital analytics data by using web analytics tools. I

Using Personas to Better Understand Customers: USA.gov Case Study

Mon, 06 Apr 2015 11:49:07 -0400

Personas are fictional characters that describe an organization’s customer behaviors, emotions, attributes, motivations, and goals. They are an important tool to share customer insights and understanding across an organization. Personas also serve as a check to make sure your organization’s actions meet the needs of the majority of customers, including visitors to your website, contact

Trends on Tuesday: Smartphone Market Growth Makes Mobile-Friendly a Must

Tue, 31 Mar 2015 13:00:43 -0400

ComScore reported last week that smartphones now make up a whopping 75% of the mobile market. That’s up from 65% just one year ago. This means three-quarters of Americans over the age of 13 now have smartphones, and they are accessing government services with them more and more. This is an undeniable fact because earlier this

On the Spot: Must-Have IFTTT Recipes for Government

Mon, 30 Mar 2015 03:48:29 -0400

Ever since we announced IFTTT was available for federal use, dozens of ideas have been shared for how program managers can use the tool to increase their productivity. I asked some API enthusiasts in the SocialGov community which of their

HTTP vs HTTPS: Is it Time For a Change?

Wed, 25 Mar 2015 10:00:43 -0400

Data. Security. Privacy. These are the cornerstones of many discussions concerning technology. The security of citizen information when interacting with the federal government will be increasingly important as we progress into the future. A few agencies have begun to use Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) in lieu of the standard HTTP. For these agencies,

Trends on Tuesday: Big Data Equals Big Challenges

Tue, 24 Mar 2015 13:59:04 -0400

According to an article from Readwrite, the amount of money going to big data projects is steadily increasing despite widespread failure to achieve many results. For big data-related projects in global organizations, a total of $31 billion was spent in 2013 and that amount is expected to top $114 billion by 2018. The recognition that

Turning Government Data into Better Public Service

Thu, 19 Mar 2015 10:32:42 -0400

Every day, millions of people use their laptops, phones, and tablets to check the status of their tax refund, get the latest forecast from the National Weather Service, book a campsite at one of our national parks, and much more. There were more than 1.3 billion visits to websites across the federal government in just

Trends on Tuesday: More Time-Consuming, Complex Tasks on Mobile Platforms

Tue, 10 Mar 2015 10:00:56 -0400

One of the leading mobile app analytics companies, Flurry, released their annual mobile app growth report with some interesting data showing how audiences are changing the way they engage with mobile applications. Overall, mobile app usage grew 76% in 2014, and the top app categories included: “Lifestyle & Shopping,” growing 174%; “Utilities & Productivity,” growing

The Content Corner: Performing a Content Audit

Mon, 09 Mar 2015 10:00:21 -0400

Audit. It’s a word that generally has no positive connotations whatsoever. We hear the word audit and we think of tax audits or timesheet audits, etc. The word normally strikes fear or dread in the hearts of most mortals. But it is also a task that all websites will need to perform from time to

Avoid Weak ‘Links’ in Your Digital Chain

Wed, 25 Feb 2015 11:10:25 -0400

Users don’t like surprises. Unexpected or unwanted content undermines the credibility of your agency and frustrates users who come to your website looking for specific information. Using links appropriately in your website content is one way to build trust with users, according to an article by Kara Pernice of the Nielsen Norman Group. Here’s a

Top 10 Things (We Think) You Don’t Know about DigitalGov

Thu, 19 Feb 2015 01:17:13 -0400

Things you don’t know about this website, DigitalGov.gov, that is. It’s our first birthday, and we’re celebrating by sharing some fun facts with you. A more sober look at our strategy can be read on our 6-month post, but this is a party post! w00t! 10. We’ve published an impressive 480 articles and counting (this

Don't Forget the Long Tail: It Can Deliver Value

Fri, 13 Feb 2015 11:10:37 -0400

Top tasks matter. Visitors come to your website with specific goals in mind. Using a top-task methodology can be particularly useful when redesigning your homepage.

Institutionalizing User Experience: Building Usability into Your Organization

Fri, 13 Feb 2015 10:00:30 -0400

So, you have some systems or tools your customers or employees access. Maybe you want to put together a robust capability to conduct usability testing. How do you start formalizing user experience (UX) into your organization? Brad Ludlow at GSA tossed this topic out on the User Experience community listserv, and I’ve encapsulated the superb discussion that

U.S. Public Participation Playbook Open for Coders and Designers on GitHub

Thu, 05 Feb 2015 11:47:52 -0400

We released the United States Public Participation Playbook this week, a new open resource agencies can use to evaluate and build better programs that give a voice to the people they serve—and the response was fantastic. Public servants and citizens around the world have shared it, and already are contributing new ideas that build from

New Ed.gov Homepage and More

Fri, 23 Jan 2015 11:10:51 -0400

You may have noticed we launched our new Ed.gov homepage today. This completes the third and final phase of our visual refresh for our main website. We released the second phase of the refresh back in June. So, what’s new? Streamlined Homepage The new homepage takes our efforts to streamline navigation on the website one

Trends: Big Data and Gov in 2015

Tue, 20 Jan 2015 11:00:41 -0400

As we move into 2015, the amount of data available in the digital ecosystem will increase very rapidly because of the Internet of Things (IoT), social media and wearable tech. In the future, the problem lies not only with data collection, but with what one does with the data. Big

15 Government Customer Service Trends for 2015

Mon, 12 Jan 2015 10:00:52 -0400

With public expectations at an all-time high, and trust in government nearing all-time lows, agencies need to step up their game. Veterans, seniors, students, taxpayers—all Americans—deserve the best service from their government. Here are our predictions for how the federal government will improve customer service in the coming year: 1. Many agencies will create a

Trend Watch 2015: What’s in the Forecast for Digital Government?

Fri, 09 Jan 2015 12:44:18 -0400

In January on DigitalGov, we’ll highlight pieces looking at trends we see coming in the digital government space in 2015 and beyond. We have lined up articles around: Customer Service Data 3D Printing at NIH and NASA Accessibility Mobile, and Training. Check back Monday, when we kick-off the month with 15 Government Customer Service Trends.

Countdown to 2015 with Our Most Popular Articles This Year

Wed, 31 Dec 2014 14:45:22 -0400

As we round out 2014, we’re reflecting on the exciting year we’ve had at DigitalGov since we launched in February. Our mission is to share information and resources from agencies across the federal government that are working in the digital space, and highlight the services and communities that can help you meet your digital government

3rd U.S. Public Participation Playbook Draft Released This Month

Wed, 17 Dec 2014 17:19:13 -0400

The new third draft of the U.S. Public Participation Playbook continues to incorporate changes proposed from more than 100 suggestions submitted via public comment aimed at measuring the performance and improving the development of government programs. It takes the 13 initial “plays” from rough brainstorming and collaborations to a more refined, action-focused presentation that will help contributors understand and identify opportunities

Crowdsourced Digital Citizen Services Summit

Mon, 15 Dec 2014 10:00:57 -0400

In May 2015, we are hosting the second DigitalGov Citizen Services Summit. This round we are looking to you—federal innovators across government—to help build the agenda.

Interior and USDA Talk Social Media Success

Tue, 02 Dec 2014 13:04:31 -0400

When it comes to implementing a social media strategy, determining how to measure success can be challenging. Yes, knowing how many followers and likes you have is beneficial. However, to really get valuable results from the trove of social

Follow the Clicks: A Look at Click-through Rates on Government Websites

Wed, 12 Nov 2014 10:00:51 -0400

How important is it to show the most relevant result at the top of your search results page? Very. Searchers expect to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily—and without scrolling—when they search on government websites. If a Web page isn’t “above the fold” as one of the first listings on the first results

Use Metrics to Drive Success

Fri, 24 Oct 2014 09:01:48 -0400

Would federal employees work on tasks outside their agency in order to support DigitalGov? That’s the question we wanted to answer as we created the Open Opportunities program. We had a built-in test case. When the Digital Government Strategy was released in May 2013, agencies were tasked with building APIs, launching mobile products, establishing digital

Web Design Changes? Let the Metrics be Your Guide

Thu, 23 Oct 2014 12:42:56 -0400

On September 6, 2013 at 11:27 p.m., EDT., viewers tuned in through the Internet to watch NASA launch its Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft. As viewers logged onto the website, something unusual happened. For the first time, metrics indicated that NASA.gov’s mobile users outpaced their desktop users. 93 percent of their viewers

Responsive Web Design Challenges Webinar Recap

Tue, 21 Oct 2014 10:00:18 -0400

A website redesign is never an easy task, but when responsiveness is one of your redesign’s key goals, special considerations come into play that can present unique challenges. In the September webinar on Responsive Web Design Challenges in Government, we heard from

Metrics Round Up

Mon, 20 Oct 2014 10:17:07 -0400

We are all collecting a lot of performance data across our digital properties and DigitalGov University has hosted many events on the collection, reporting and strategizing around metrics. DigitalGov has shared many posts on these topics as well. So we thought it would be great to curate these events and posts for easy reference and

Secrets to a Dynamite Public Sector Analytics Program

Fri, 17 Oct 2014 10:00:37 -0400

Uncovering meaningful analytics from months or years of Web metrics is daunting, at best. So how do you make great Web improvements using metrics? Whether you’re just getting started in Web analytics or you want to take your program to the next level, you should focus on

What Do Dear Abby and the Federal Government Have in Common?

Fri, 10 Oct 2014 10:00:48 -0400

Lots of people ask us questions. So it only makes sense for us to partner up to answer some of those questions. Since the 1970’s, USA.gov has partnered with Dear Abby to help get free printed government publications on a variety of topics (health, disaster preparedness, caring for aging loved ones,

Multimedia Storytelling in Government: Ghazni Towers Documentation Project

Fri, 03 Oct 2014 12:40:52 -0400

“Content is king” is a generally accepted truth for those of us who produce digital media. But once you have compelling content, how to best present it to your audience becomes the next challenge. In recent years, Web innovators started emphasizing the effectiveness of “digital storytelling,” or content focused on individual, human experiences using compelling

Member Spotlight – Hannah Rubin, Library of Congress

Fri, 26 Sep 2014 10:00:17 -0400

Meet Hannah Rubin, who works in the Congressional Research Service (CRS) at the Library of Congress. She’s the focus of this month’s Member Spotlight.

Strategy Pivot Yields Results: DigitalGov.Gov Six Months Later

Fri, 12 Sep 2014 12:00:02 -0400

Six months ago, we launched this DigitalGov.gov platform to support federal agencies in delivering 21st century digital services and information to the public. It seems a good time to share some of the thinking that went into the development of the platform, and what we’ve learned so far.

National Cancer Institute Launches New User Experience Lab

Thu, 04 Sep 2014 10:00:47 -0400

Why does a Cancer institute need a User Experience lab? Simply put: To learn about their customers—people living with cancer and those who care about them—and build the best possible products with them in mind. “Cancer has a journey and we wanted to create a

Actionable Web Analytics: A Three-Step Process

Fri, 22 Aug 2014 13:00:36 -0400

As Web analysts, your customers and their needs can vary greatly. One minute you are leading an analysis that will influence strategic decisions, the next you are distributing reports to folks who will never use them, but just have to have them. Sometimes, in the darkest hours, it can become more

How to Find Your Open Data Hotshots

Thu, 21 Aug 2014 11:00:30 -0400

How can you find the top 5 users of your open data? We were recently asked this question on the Open Data listserv, and while this information can be a good measure of success for open data programs, we also figured some of the answers shared would be of interest to the broader community. This blog

Heat Mapping Case Study: Epa.gov Homepage

Tue, 12 Aug 2014 11:00:17 -0400

Most people relate the term “heat map” with something they see during the weather forecast on the nightly news, those colorful maps that vividly illustrate how hot it’s going to be during an impending heat wave. The word “heat map” may not usually however, conjure up images of a widely used Web usability tool; but for those

The Power of Email Marketing

Mon, 11 Aug 2014 10:00:14 -0400

If you aren’t currently including email marketing in your digital outreach efforts, you’re missing out.

Improving Content, Increasing Participation: A NARA Usability Case Study

Fri, 18 Jul 2014 10:00:49 -0400

Over the years, the staff intranet at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) had become increasingly difficult to use. Old, irrelevant content routinely bubbled to the top of search results, and essential employee tools were hard to find. NARA staff agreed that the site was due for an upgrade: fixing NARA@work was voted a

Using Analytics to Create Change: USA.gov Usability Case Study

Tue, 01 Jul 2014 13:00:38 -0400

While many people tout the death of the home page, it’s still an important piece of the user experience on USA.gov. In 2013, 30 percent of all sessions on USA.gov included the home page—that’s 8.67 million sessions. The numbers for GobiernoUSA.gov are even higher—79 percent of all sessions included the home page. According to Jakob Nielsen, “A

Big Data, Open Data & the Federal Agencies

Tue, 01 Jul 2014 10:00:02 -0400

Open data and big data—and the responsible management and protection of that data—are key components of the President’s agenda to drive innovation and economic growth. On Thursday, June 19, leaders from civil society, industry, academia, and 40 federal departments and agencies met at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy’s Massive Data Institute to discuss

U.S. Gov Releases New Collaborative Social Media Services

Mon, 30 Jun 2014 05:30:47 -0400

The Federal #SocialGov Community, a collective of almost 700 digital engagement managers from more than 120 government agencies, marked the 2nd anniversary of our program by releasing a suite of new collaborative services to help us better work together and with partners in

You Have the Data, Make the Most of It

Fri, 27 Jun 2014 10:00:44 -0400

With Web analytics tools you have the data to see what citizens really want on your website and how well you are delivering. You have an opportunity to make informed decisions on improvements to your site to reflect the voice of the customer and get constituents what they need. Here are

The Golden Metric

Thu, 19 Jun 2014 12:15:33 -0400

Are you looking for the “golden metric” that is the best measure of your agency’s website performance and cross-comparable across .gov websites? If so, stop looking. The concept of the golden metric is a dangerous one because it oversimplifies performance analysis of your website and overlooks the truth

Government CX: Where Do You Find the Right Foundational Metrics?

Mon, 16 Jun 2014 10:00:33 -0400

Customer service. Customer satisfaction. Improving the customer experience. These buzzwords have become well-trodden territory among government strategists as a new wave of agencies attempt to ignite—or reignite—a focus on customers. Of course, putting customers first is a worthy goal. But what, exactly, do we mean when we use words like “service” and “satisfaction”? These terms

Search Engine Optimization for Government Websites

Fri, 13 Jun 2014 11:00:33 -0400

On June 10, 2014, the Metrics Community of Practice of the Federal Web Managers Council and DigitalGov University hosted an event to honor the memory of Joe Pagano, a former co-chair of the Web Metrics Sub-Council. This third lecture honoring Joe focused on search engine optimization (SEO). While commercial search engines do a remarkable job

Federal Agencies and the Opportunities and Challenges of Big Data

Mon, 09 Jun 2014 11:20:01 -0400

On June 19, the Obama Administration will continue the conversation on big data as we co-host our fourth big data conference, this time with the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy’s Massive Data Institute. The conference, “Improving Government Performance in the Era of Big Data; Opportunities and Challenges for Federal Agencies,” will build on

Overcoming Barriers—DigitalGov Summit Recap

Thu, 05 Jun 2014 14:09:15 -0400

As government innovators, we work to improve public services every day. In essence we are already in a public private partnership. But how can your agency capitalize on existing public private partnerships to engage citizens and enhance services? Four panelists from across government shared their public private partnerships success stories at the DigitalGov Citizen Services

The Importance of Cross-Channel Customer Service—DigitalGov Summit Recap

Thu, 05 Jun 2014 12:13:55 -0400

During the DigitalGov Citizen Services Summit last Friday, customer service experts from across government came together on a panel to share what customer service means to them and their organization and specific ways they leverage it. The other panels were on performance analysis, public private partnerships, and inter-agency work. The panelists spoke about the strategies

Evaluating Digital Communication: An International Incident

Wed, 04 Jun 2014 10:00:28 -0400

Are you measuring Twitter followers and press release downloads without any clue as to what people are doing with your agency’s products and information? Or do you not even know what to measure, never mind whether that measurement would be meaningful? Fear not, fair government communicator—there is hope! On May 15, top government communication measurement

Harnessing the Power of Many—DigitalGov Summit Recap

Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:14:11 -0400

At the DigitalGov Citizen Services Summit last Friday, Jacob Parcell, Manager, Mobile Programs at the General Services Administration led a panel on the challenges and benefits of Inter-Agency work. The other panels were on performance analysis, customer service across channels, and public private partnerships. “The challenges are real,” said Parcell, who quoted President Obama’s famous salmon

Turning Data Into Action—DigitalGov Summit Recap

Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:35:10 -0400

At the DigitalGov Citizen Services Summit last Friday, more than 200 innovators across government and industry came together to share how digital services can improve citizen services and reduce cost. Four panels convened to share information on performance analysis, customer service across channels, public private partnerships and inter-agency work. We have a recap of the

DigitalGov Citizen Services Summit a Success

Fri, 30 May 2014 04:36:49 -0400

We had a GREAT DigitalGov Citizen Services Summit today. There were more than 200 digital innovators from across government and industry working to build the 21st century government the public expects.

Ignite with Us

Wed, 21 May 2014 15:00:05 -0400

Have a DigitalGov success?—published an API? Got buy-in from leadership? Changed a part of your customer-service paradigm? Developed a cool dashboard? Got the app out the door? Heck! Have you prototyped a wearable, drivable or flyable? Have a DigitalGov opinion?—think we should be focusing more or less on something? Have an idea on how to

Sign up For DigitalGov Citizen Services Summit, Friday, May 30

Mon, 19 May 2014 03:03:16 -0400

We won’t build the government of the 21st century by drawing within the lines. We don’t have to tell you the hard work of building a digital government doesn’t exist in a vacuum or a bubble. Show us social media without mobile, Web without data and user experience without APIs. You can’t? That’s right—in reality,

New Google Analytics for Government Training Manual

Thu, 15 May 2014 10:00:48 -0400

Looking for a training manual on how to use Google Analytics for your agency? In 2014, I released a second edition of my Google Analytics for Government training manual.

Analyzing Search Data in Real-Time to Drive Decisions

Wed, 07 May 2014 13:00:27 -0400

DigitalGov Search recently rolled out a new open source technology stack, which gives the team access to real-time analytics and dashboards to monitor search trends.

When Sharing Buttons Work

Wed, 23 Apr 2014 10:00:41 -0400

At the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) we use sharing buttons on our website to help people share content from web pages with their colleagues and friends. With one click, a user can post a page’s link to popular social networking sites or send it via email. The article To Use

PolicyOps—A Better Way to Create and Implement Government Policies and Programs?

Thu, 10 Apr 2014 02:06:42 -0400

“PolicyOps” is a better way to create and implement government policies and programs through cutting-edge data analytics and new collaboration methods. PolicyOps (“Policy” plus “Operations”) is a new proposal for improving policy making and policy implementation. Based on a cutting-edge IT management method, DevOps (“Development” plus “Operations”), PolicyOps has two major concepts. First, closer collaboration

Digital Analytics Program (DAP): Oceans of Data

Tue, 01 Apr 2014 14:30:56 -0400

In the last 15 months, the federal Digital Analytics Program (DAP) monthly Web traffic has grown to more than 1.1 billion views gov-wide, providing Web analytics to 29 U.S. federal cabinet-level agencies and nearly 3,000 public-facing government Web properties.

Plain Language Page Titles: More Important than Ever

Fri, 28 Mar 2014 01:00:27 -0400

Government Web pages are found mainly through search engines. Google recently redesigned its search results page and there are quite a few small, but impactful, changes in this latest redesign. Specifically, it affects how page titles are displayed. Many experts now recommend even

What to Do with Big Data?

Thu, 27 Mar 2014 09:00:38 -0400

Shortly after taking office in 2009, President Obama launched the Open Government Initiative, an effort to increase transparency, participation, and collaboration in the federal government. The initiative introduced a number of websites and strategies to offer raw government data, including research grant information

Customize Your Own Amazing Social Media Report Infographic

Fri, 14 Mar 2014 12:00:32 -0400

Social Media Community of Practice developed a set of baseline social media metrics to help you assess whether your efforts are achieving the results you want. How do

Creating Awesome Web Analytics Reports and Presentations

Tue, 04 Mar 2014 11:33:08 -0400

Collecting visitor, engagement, and traffic data for your digital channels is nothing new. By this time, you have a lot of data about your website. How do you use and present that data to make meaningful recommendations?

Top 8 Best Practices for Federal Contact Centers

Thu, 09 Jan 2014 05:24:49 -0400

1. Meet all Laws, Requirements, Policies, and Directives for Federal Contact Centers Understand and follow all Privacy, Security, Disability, and Service Contract Act requirements. 2. Use Performance Metrics to Influence Business Rules and Drive Improvements Develop Key Performance Indicators/Metrics (see Performance Goals). CSLIC (Word document, 82 KB, 36 pages) could be used as a start. 3. Develop and Use a Comprehensive Quality Assurance Program Monitor quality. Use data to provide feedback to website/content team.

NPS.gov Use of Digital Analytics Program: Beyond the Numbers

Wed, 06 Nov 2013 13:04:29 -0400

The National Park Service website, NPS.gov, is home to sites for the parks, programs, and subject-related content about the places and ideas that we preserve and protect for the American people.

Creative Challenge Contests

Thu, 31 Oct 2013 14:21:03 -0400

Multimedia, Photo, Poster, Design Challenge and prize competitions are one path that federal agencies take to drive innovation and solve mission-centric problems—whether technical, scientific, or creative. Creative competitions include multimedia, photo, poster, and design competitions. Here you’ll find tips on running a creative challenge, resources, examples, and information about online platforms you can use to

Understanding Your Users’ Needs By Analyzing Search Terms

Thu, 24 Oct 2013 14:24:12 -0400

Analyzing your visitors’ search terms can help you better understand their needs. It can provide valuable data about the content and organization of the content on your site. Create a Semi-Automated Report of Terms Here’s how to create a semi-automated report for analyzing large amounts of search data on a regular basis. A human still

Hosting Successful Federal Twitter Chats

Thu, 17 Oct 2013 14:11:31 -0400

One way to leverage Twitter, beyond the basics of sending messages and engaging in dialogue, is to organize a Town Hall discussion, or Twitter chat. New guidance on preparing a live chat is now available, and we need your agencies to contribute your own policies

Communication is Key in Measuring Customer Experience

Fri, 20 Sep 2013 06:56:30 -0400

As mentioned in previous blog posts, great efforts have been made in creating a Customer Experience program and a Customer Experience (CX) index in our Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies (OCSIT) at GSA.

Digital Analytics Program Goes To The Moon!

Tue, 17 Sep 2013 12:39:20 -0400

On Feb. 15, 2013, a meteor weighing 10,000 metric tons exploded 14 miles above Chelyabinsk, Russia. Users flocked to NASA.gov for info, and we spiked to nearly 12 million page views that day, ~16 times the daily average. Our real-time analytics showed over 300,000 active visitors

Better Performance and Metric Downloads Now Available From Go.USA.gov

Wed, 04 Sep 2013 11:04:03 -0400

A few weeks ago, the Go.USA.gov URL shortener introduced several new features to improve the user experience. Go.USA.gov now offers users faster speeds and downloadable metric information about their links. The service, which launched in 2009, gives government agencies the ability to provide trustworthy shortened links to their audience. Just

Getting Started with the Digital Analytics Program

Tue, 03 Sep 2013 09:50:06 -0400

The Digital Analytics Program (DAP) is delighted to announce the launch of a DAP user group and new training program. These initiatives will support DAP users in getting the most from their implementation. The kick-off for this user group will be on Thursday, September 12, 2013, when we will

Digital Metrics for Federal Agencies

Mon, 15 Jul 2013 11:41:47 -0400

Digital metrics are critical for measuring, analyzing, and reporting on the effectiveness of your Web, mobile, social media, and other digital channels. Every agency should have a metrics strategy to measure performance, customer satisfaction, and engagement, and use the data to make continuous improvements to serve its customers. Part 1: Common Metrics: Guidance, Best Practices, and

Social Media Metrics for Federal Agencies

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 11:45:50 -0400

Social media is transforming how government engages with citizens and how it delivers service. Agencies are using social media to share information and deliver service more quickly and effectively than ever before. Increasingly, these tools are also being used for predictive and sentiment analysis—using the vast

API Analytics

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 13:11:57 -0400

Similar to website analytics, API analytics focus on reliably reporting the metrics which are most useful to its stakeholders. There are a many ways of collecting, reporting, and consuming API analytics but all revolve around the industry–accepted norm that some form of analytics are crucial to any API program. The most basic metrics will track

Analytics, APIs and Open Content Resources

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:34:25 -0400

Agencies have been working away at building better digital services and here, at the Digital Services Innovation Center, we’ve been building resources to help. We have been focusing on three areas, 1. The Digital Analytics Program. We announced this program in early October to help agencies better measure performance and customer satisfaction

comScore Report, October 2012

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:13:09 -0400

In October 2012, comScore, a Web analytics research company, released an independently produced report that analyzes 75 federal agency websites on a range of quantitative and qualitative factors.

Feds Shed Light on Dark Social

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 02:05:46 -0400

“Dark Social” media took the web by storm this week, unveiling to many the shadows in measuring your social media impact. This accounts for the majority of your traffic and yet lives untraced where standard metrics fear to tread (or simply cannot) — places like email and instant

Digital Government Strategy Milestones Report

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 10:00:19 -0400

Yesterday marked three months since the release of the Digital Government Strategy and agencies have been making great strides in meeting the milestones toward building a 21st Century Government.

MedlinePlus Mobile Evaluation

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 03:17:01 -0400

Mobile Gov Experiences are agency stories about creating anytime, anywhere, any device government services and info. This entry is a story shared by the National Library of Medicine. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) launched MedlinePlus Mobile (m.medlineplus.gov) in January 2010 to provide authoritative consumer-level health information to a

Tell Compelling Stories with Data Visualization

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 11:33:15 -0400

No information is more critical to your work than the numbers that reveal what’s happening, how you’re performing, and opportunities to do better. GovTech provides ten tips for getting the most from your data visualizations.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

IT Dashboard enables agencies, OMB, Congress, GAO, and the public to understand the value of their federal IT portfolios, manage the health of their IT investments, and make better IT planning decisions.