TY  - JOUR
AU  - Massanelli, Jackson
AU  - Sexton, Kevin W
AU  - Lesher, Chris T
AU  - Jensen, Hanna K
AU  - Kimbrough, Mary K
AU  - Privratsky, Anna
AU  - Taylor, John R
AU  - Bhavaraju, Avi
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/12/13
TI  - Integration of Web Analytics Into Graduate Medical Education: Usability Study
JO  - JMIR Form Res
SP  - e29748
VL  - 5
IS  - 12
KW  - graduate medical education
KW  - website analysis
KW  - residency recruitment
KW  - medical education
KW  - website
KW  - analytics
KW  - usage
KW  - usability
KW  - user engagement
KW  - user-centered design
KW  - website design
AB  - Background: Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of website and web application usage data. While common in the e-commerce arena, web analytics is underutilized in graduate medical education (GME). Objective: The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences 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 and then leave [ie, bounce] without continuing to another page on the same site). Results: Analysis using a nonpaired Student t test demonstrated a statistically significant increase for total page views (before vs after: 33,065 vs 81,852; P<.001) and decrease for bounce rate (before vs after: 50.70% vs 0.23%; P<.001). Total users, new users, total sessions, sessions per user, and pages per session showed improvement. The average session duration was unchanged. Subgroup analysis showed that after the main page, the next 3 most frequently visited pages were related to GME programs in our department. Conclusions: Web analytics is a practical measure 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 GME programs, and warrants further investigation. 
SN  - 2561-326X
UR  - https://formative.jmir.org/2021/12/e29748
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/29748
UR  - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34898459
DO  - 10.2196/29748
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/29748
ER  -