Category: Communication

Google Analytics and the Township’s Website

At the April 26, 2021, Newtown Technology and Communications Committee (T&CC) Zoom meeting, several people complained that it was difficult to navigate the township website (www.newtownpa.gov) and find the information they were seeking (listen to the discussion).  

Considering that the website is the main way that the township communicates with residents, it is crucial that its usability be improved. As Peter Drucker, who was arguably the world's greatest management consultant, famously said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”

It just so happens that Google Analytics is one of the best tools available to “measure” the usability of websites – and it’s freely available. All that is required is a Google account and a special code to be inserted in every page, both of which are currently in use by the township.

Should the township periodically run Google Analytics on its website to determine how it is used and where improvements may need to be made? Below, I review the analytics for my website to get an idea of what data is most useful to look at.

Case Study: JohnMackNewtown Website Analytics

I run Google Analytics on my website (www.johnmacknewtown.info) every month. It’s actually done automatically by Google. To access the data, I merely login at which point I’m at the home page. The home page automatically includes charts and tables for different time periods – usually the last 7 or 30 days. To get more specific data, all I need to do is click on the various reports available and set the time period. Easy peasy!

Let’s look at some of these data to get an idea of whether or not they would be useful to have for the township’s website as well. [Spoiler alert! Yes, it would be useful to have at least some of this data for the township website.]

Audience Overview

The Audience Overview is probably the first thing you would look at when running analytics. The following chart shows the Audience View for my website for the month of April 2021.

There is much useful information here, including the number of users, sessions, pageviews, and average session duration. About 77% of those sessions resulted in the user navigating away from the site after viewing just one page. This is referred to as the “bounce rate.” I need to improve that number, but it’s nice to know that 14% of visitors were new.

I notice that there was an unusual spike in users on April 28. What was that due to? For the answer see the section “How Do I Acquire Visitors to My Website?” below.

How Many Pages Were Viewed in April?

Probably the most important parameter you want to keep track of is pageviews. A pageview is an instance of an Internet user visiting a particular page on a site. A pageview is recorded whenever a full page of the website is viewed or refreshed. In April 2021, my website recorded 2,092 pageviews.

Of these 1,721 (82%) were “unique” pageviews i.e., pageviews that combine the pageviews from the same person (a user in Google Analytics), on the same page, in the same session. So, if you reload a page or visit a page two or more times before leaving the site, it is counted as one unique pageview.

The average monthly number of pageviews this year (Jan through Apr) is 2,048 (1,334 in Jan, 2,140 in Feb, 2,626 in Mar). Thus, there was a total of 8,148 pageviews in that period compared to 5,174 for the same period in 2020 – a 57% increase! I must be doing something right!

What Were the TOP Pages Viewed?

Google Analytics can show you the Top 10, 25, 100, or whatever pages viewed. The following is a representative table of pageview data.

From this I see that 58% of visits to the homepage were “bounces,” which means the visitor had no interaction with the page; i.e., did not click on a link in the page to other pages on the site. For 2021 to date the bounce rate for the homepage was 52%. Obviously, I’d like to improve upon that.

How Do I Acquire Visitors to My Website?

One of the most important pieces of information to gauge a website’s usefulness is the origin of visitors; i.e., referrers such as websites, search engines, etc. The following chart shows the referrers to my website during the month of April, 2021.

You can see that on April 21, patch.com and scoop.it were the major referrers accounting for 88% of referrers, whereas on April 28, surveymonkey.com was a major referrer accounting for 75% of the known referral sites.

What was going on those days? What I know is that on April 21, I posted the article “The Newtown Planning Commission Versus Wawa” on Newtown Patch. That article includes multiple links to the website.

On April 28, my survey “What Should Newtown Spend Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds On?” had a spike in responses (123). That survey also has links to the website. Looking at the Surveymonkey analytics, I see a spike in responses via the Newtown Patch on April 28 (see chart below). These responses most likely came from my Patch article I posted on April 25. But why the spike on April 28? I’m not sure. Perhaps Patch promoted it that day. I bet that if I were more adept at using Google Analytics I could find the answer to that question. I’m just happy to know that Patch helps me get visitors to my website and surveys.

Channels

Google groups traffic sources to websites into 4 “channels”:

• Direct
• Referral (see above)
• Organic Search
• Social

Google Analytics defines direct traffic as website visits that arrived at a website either by typing the website URL into a browser or through browser bookmarks.

NOTE: Visitors also are directed to my website via links in my email newsletter, which is sent to 650 opt-in subscribers. In April, I sent 5,752 emails, which resulted in 360 clicks – mostly to my website. I’m not sure these are counted among the 663 sessions via the direct channel.

Devices

Another interesting piece of information refers to the devices used to access my website. In April, 2021, 55% of sessions were from desktop computers, 44% from mobile devices (i.e., phones) and 2% from tablets. Interestingly, of the 869 total users in April, a majority (58%) accessed my website via their mobile phones. That means I need to pay close attention to making sure pages are readable via small screens.

When Do Users Visit My Site?

One more piece of data is the number of users by time of day, shown in the chart below. Note that Wednesdays (including April 28) had the highest concentration of users, particularly in the hours between 12 pm and 3 pm. Consequently, I surmise that somehow the Patch article was highlighted at 12 pm that day.

How Does This Apply to Newtown’s Website?

Not all the types of data presented here may help improve the usability of the Newtown Township website. IMHO, the most important questions we need to ask include:

• how many users visit the site?
• what are the top 10 or 20 pages viewed?
• are important pages being viewed?
• what are the major referral sites?
• etc.

My hope is that the TC&C can make recommendations to the township regarding what analytics to collect and how often to collect the data. The data must also be analyzed and put into reports that will help the township improve the usability of the website.

Posted on 03 May 2021, 01:48 - Category: Communication

Some Ideas for Improving Township Communications with Residents

One positive outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic is the increased use of technology like Zoom to improve communications between Newtown Township and residents primarily because many more people are attending Zoom Board of Supervisors (BOS) meetings than in-person public meetings. In fact, 94 people attended one contentious BOS Zoom meeting! That's probably more than can fit into the public meeting room even if social distancing restrictions were lifted.

Despite the use of Zoom technology - which may not continue after COVID - there is a long-term need to improve communications between the township and residents. This is something that the Newtown Finance Committee (NTFC) asked for at the recent March 15, 2021, BOS Work Session. Shelly Howland, NTFC Chair, presented a plan for how the NTFC would like to work with BOS to improve the budgeting process. She mentioned the need for a public information/communication plan to support the NTFC as well as the Economic Development Committee (EDC) in reaching out to the public. Listen to her comments here (beginning at  the1 hour 13 minute timestamp).

Some Suggestions

I was asked by EDC member George Skladany to provide information about how the Newtown Twp website compares to other local municipality websites. See below for relevant links to that PLUS other communications ideas I have brought before the BOS and Township Manager in the past.

• "How Does Newtown Township's Website Stack Up?" - my analysis of a report/study done by the Bucks County Courier Times. NT's website is competitive with the sites of other municipalities. However, aside from the Police and Parks and Rec Departments, NT does not do so well in using social media technology to communicate with residents.

• "My BIG Idea: Openness, Transparency & Better Communications" - several ideas I have about improving communications with the public.

• Take a look at improvements that have already been accomplished.

Pull Versus Push

I mentioned to the EDC members the importance of "Push" technology versus the "Pull" technology of websites. Email is the major "push" technology but it is problematic in terms of open rates. My email newsletter service has nearly 600 subscribers, which is excellent. But (1) it takes a LONG time to get this many subscribers! See below for ideas how NT can get email subscribers; and (2) The average open rate is about 33% per email blast. To get a higher percentage (e.g., up to 75%) of subscribers to open email, it is necessary to send out the same email message 3 or 4 times - first to all subscribers then only to subscribers who did not open the previous email. That too is a lot of work!

Mobile is the Best Push Technology

The best push technology these days is mobile texting. Everyone carries their cell phone with them all day and they see all texts. That is why the former Technology Committee and I recommended a service like Savvy Citizen, which pushes out notifications to mobile phone users in any specified area.

• Read "Supervisor Mack Seeks Funding for Savvy Citizen"  for more information on that service, and
• “Savvy Citizen Notification Survey Summary”: Results: 87% of 143 survey respondents say they would opt-in to a mobile notification service such as Savvy Citizen. Only 7% said "No" and 6% were not sure.

The COVID/Zoom Opportunity

Not mentioned above is the fact that since Newtown has been requiring pre-registration for most official Zoom meetings, it has been collecting names and email addresses as part of the process. I've mentioned to township officials that this information should be saved because it can be used to send out email notices in the future. According to privacy laws, one unsolicited email can be sent out to people who may not have opted in to receive it. That email can request an opt-in to a notification service - either an email notification service or a mobile phone service such as Savvy Citizen.

Join the NEW Technology & Communications Committee!

I revised the mission statement of the Technology Committee to include “improve communications between the Township and its residents” (Resolution 2018-R-11, March 28, 2018). It is now the "Technology & Communications Committee."

Currently, 4 people have signed on - they need to be officially appointed by the BOS. Since the committee can have "up to" 7 members, 4 would be sufficient to carry on official business. Technology & Communications Committee can help other committees with implementing ideas for better communication with residents. The first order of business would be to interview NTC and EDC committee members on their communication needs.

If you know of anyone who would like to serve on the Technology & Communications Committee - they don't have to be techies! - please have them submit a letter of intent and/or resume/description to Olivia Kivenko, oliviak@newtownpa.gov

Posted on 19 Mar 2021, 01:03 - Category: Communication

Newtown Parking Sarcasm in Letter to the Editor of Bucks County Courier Times

In the January 28, 2020, edition of the Bucks County Courier Times (BCCT), a letter to the editor (LTE) titled "Newtown parking joke is on all of us" states that the "board of supervisors just announced a decision ... All of the new restaurants [in the Village at Newtown shopping center] would be opened as drive-through only" (see image).

Obviously, as you read on, this is an attempt at sarcasm. Matthew Allen, the author, suggests, for example, the Iron Hill Brewery would have overhead hoses that could pour you an IPA at a drive-through window, but ONLY if you were cool enough.

Ha, Ha! ROFLMAO!

Here's my problem with this. Some people might actually believe such a decision was made by the Board. After discussions with many residents I have learned that many people do not actually know who makes what decisions in Newtown. We have the Board of Supervisors (BOS), the Planning Commission, and the Zoning Hearing Board. Sometimes I am confused as well!

But worse than that is the lack of adequate communication with residents about actual decisions made by public officials. Sure, you are welcome to attend public meetings or watch the BOS meetings on TV (when the equipment is working) or via streaming video on the Township's website (yes, there is a website, but NO Facebook page or Twitter account). Other meetings like those of the all-important Zoning Hearing Board, however, are NOT televised!

In any case, poor communications should not be exasperated by "false communications." Therefore, I would suggest to the editors of the BCCT that they should tag sarcastic LTEs as such, especially when they could unintentionally spread false rumors about decisions made by the Board of Supervisors and other governing bodies. Our work is hard enough without having to defend ourselves against "fake news."

Also Read

Posted on 28 Jan 2020, 01:14 - Category: Communication

Savvy Citizen Presentation

About 87% of respondents to my online survey (N=151) said they would opt-in to a notification service such as Savvy Citizen as long as it was free to them (7% say “No,” 6% “Not sure”). The survey also collected 84 comments from respondents about the types of messages they would like to receive and if they preferred to receive notices via cell phone app, text message, or via email. 

The Newtown Township Board of Supervisors asked representatives of Savvy Citizen to make a presentation before the Board at the September 16, 2019, Work Session and answer questions. Unfortunately, videos of Work Sessions are not available. However, I made an audio recording of the presentation and present some highlights of the presentation - with audio - below. [Also see video at the end of this post.]

You can download the complete presentation PDF here.

Click for audio related to the above:

Click for audio related to the above:

Click for audio related to the above:

Click for audio related to the above:

Posted on 17 Sep 2019, 13:29 - Category: Communication

What is the Most Satisfying Part of My Job as Newtown Township Supervisor?

I'm often asked "How do you like being Supervisor?" I can't answer that without some kind of qualifier such as "...on a scale of 1 to 10." But even then, it depends.

A better question is "What’s the Most Satisfying Part of My Job as Newtown Township Supervisor?" That one is easy to answer...

In my opinion, personal interaction with residents regarding their concerns is an important part of my responsibilities as Supervisor. I want to be sure that I spend enough time reaching out to and responding to residents. On average, I spend about 8 hours per month interacting with residents. It's satisfying because it helps me fulfill my core values, which are best expressed as in the following word cloud.

Every one of those words is applicable to my job as Newtown Supervisor. Every one!

It's even more satisfying to know that my efforts are appreciated. Here are just a few comments I have received from residents recently:

“Outstanding documentation of accountability. This is a very rare to see. Thank you.” – A response to a post on Facebook documenting the time I spend per month on official Supervisor activities (see here).

“I looked at your website. Keep up the great efforts to make Newtown a better place for all.” and “Been living here since '96 and am so glad to see someone take leadership to connect our neck of the woods.” and “Thank you for doing a great job keeping the residents informed.” –  Personal messages from members of Nextdoor where I often post information.

“Great flow chart you created & posted to your blog! Thank goodness you did it since I got totally lost when the Town Solicitor tried to explain it!” – Comment about the process of amending an Township Ordinance to allow for a combined gas station/convenience store (read "What's Next for Ordinance Amendment to Allow Wawa on Newtown Bypass?... It's Complicated!").

“It is amazing, but could not have happened without you, John Mack, bringing this issue to the attention of concerned residents. This could become a model for other townships to follow. :-)” – Comment in response to resident turnout at a Board of Supervisors meeting and engagement in public comments regarding the Township’s Pollution Reduction Plan (read "Residents Comment on Roberts Ridge Park Meadow Plan").

It's really an honor to serve the community! I learn something new every day and have met many fine people and volunteers who also put in a lot of time without any compensation at all. Thanks to everyone who help keep Newtown in business and safe.

Posted on 07 Aug 2019, 01:24 - Category: Communication