Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Apr 19, 2021
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 19, 2021 - Jun 14, 2021
Date Accepted: Sep 18, 2021
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Integration of Web Analytics into Graduate Medical Education: Usability Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of websites’ and web applications’ usage data. While common in the e-commerce arena, web analytics are underutilized in graduate medical education.
Objective:
The UAMS Department of Surgery website was revamped with input from in-house surgeons in August 2017. This study investigated the use of web analytics to gauge the impact of our department’s website redesign project.
Methods:
Google Analytics software was used to measure website performance before and after implementation of the new website. Eight-month matched periods were compared. Factors tracked included total users, new users, total sessions, sessions per user, pages per session, average session duration, total page views, and bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who visit a site then leave [i.e. bounce] without continuing to another page on the same site).
Results:
Analysis using a non-paired Student’s t-test demonstrated a statistically significant increase for total page views (33,065 vs 81,852; p<0.0001) and decrease for bounce rate (50.70% vs 0.23%; p<0.0001). Total users, new users, total sessions, sessions per user, and pages per sessions showed improvement; average session duration was unchanged. Sub-group analysis showed that after the main page, the next three most frequently visited pages relate to GME programs in our department.
Conclusions:
Web analytics are practical measures of a website’s efficacy. Our data suggest that a modern website significantly improves user engagement. An up-to-date website is essential for contemporary GME recruitment, will likely enhance engagement of residency applicants with our GME programs, and warrants further investigation.
Citation
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Copyright
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