How to Choose the Right Web Analytics for Governments and the Public Sector

No matter if you are a hi-tech company or a government, your organization is shaped and powered by technology. The choice of it may be, however, difficult for governmental organizations, which on the one hand breathe rigid procedures and, on the other hand, face cost limitations. Both factors can prove to be effective deterrents from changing the technology solutions or investing in new ones. Paradoxically, the same two factors should motivate governments to lean in and do thorough research into the right web analytics solution that would cater for their institutional needs.

In this article, we’ll help guide those working in governments through the process of choosing the right web analytics solution that meets their needs.

But first, let’s recap the main benefits of having a web analytics solution.

Why web analytics?

On a practical note, the right web analytics solution helps governments optimize the websites and hence make a better use of the resources they’ve already invested in. It helps detect and eliminate possible bottlenecks on the paths to conversion, learn what browsers and device types the visitors use to access the services. Such information is a prerequisite for any marketing and communication planning – it helps structure the communication strategy and prioritize when working on a budget.

Last, but not least, it helps governments improve the citizen service experience and build an image of trusted organizations.

So now that we’ve covered why data analytics for government is important, let’s take a look at some key areas that you should look for in an analytics solution and why these areas are important in the public sector.

Hosting and data residency

Governmental organizations by nature often access and process highly sensitive, personal data the collection of which is governed by rigid policies and procedures. What matters most is that your data stays secure, stays in a location you approve, and stays under your control.

The main factor determining your organization’s cloud web analytics should be security and compliance with the data privacy legislation applicable to you.

Choosing the right web analytics for governments, go for one hosted on secure servers in locations governed by strict privacy regulations. Piwik PRO gives you two cloud hosting options.

• Public cloud is hosted in Netherlands, Germany, Hong Kong, US (Virginia), Sweden (Elastx), or UAE North (Dubai).

• Private cloud runs on dedicated infrastructure in a wide range of locations worldwide.

Both let you store data under strict EU and US privacy laws, in a location that fits your requirements. This way, you’re able to store data under rigid EU and US privacy laws. The right deployment method comes down to your security and data residency needs.

For more information about the pros and cons of each hosting method, check our article: How to host your analytics: public cloud vs private cloud vs self-hosted.

Absolute control of data

Having an analytics solution that provides full data ownership is important for governments, if they want to mitigate the risks stemming from liabilities. Only when being in control of your user data, you can be assured no third party will use your user data in a way that breaks your visitor’s trust.

On top of complete data ownership, governments could look for tools with enhanced security functionalities. These could be functionalities empowering the tool’s administrator to assign selectively the access to particular pages, or those that allow integrations with SSO (Single Sign-On) mechanisms, giving the administrators tightened control of the access to the tool itself.

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) takes a strict stance on transparency. Article 12 requires you to explain, in clear and plain language, what data you process and why.

Only by not sharing the data with third parties, or by making sure no data leaks have taken place, you will be able to communicate such information to your users in a responsible and truthful way. Mind you, even though the GDPR is an EU legislation, it’s applicable to all organizations, regardless of their location, that handle data of EU citizens.

Transparency you can verify

Governments need to collect data in a way citizens can trust. Transparency isn’t only about open-source code. What matters is being able to see what you collect, control where it’s stored, and prove no one else can use it.

Piwik PRO gives you full ownership of your data. You decide what’s collected, where it’s hosted, and who has access. Nothing is shared with third parties or used for advertising. That means you can tell citizens, and auditors, exactly what happens to their data.

Ways to collect data

Some institutions have internal rules that don’t allow JavaScript on their websites. If that’s you, look for a vendor that offers log-based data collection. It reads server logs instead of adding code to your pages, so it works where JavaScript can’t. The trade-off is less detail about your visitors.

Other organizations run JavaScript but would rather not use cookies. A privacy-first platform lets you collect data without them. Piwik PRO does this with a session hash instead of device fingerprinting, which is a more privacy-friendly way to recognize a visitor’s session. You still get useful data like events and traffic sources, while staying on the right side of strict cookie laws.

Handling large volumes of data

Governments often process the data coming from a complex web ecosystem. They need a sound, high availability solution which would cope not only with the anticipated load of visits, but also would endure sudden spikes of traffic. Any system failures as a result of data overload would normally lead to skewed, incomplete data which is, it’s fair to say, useless.

If your organization possesses a complex website, with multiple pages, you need a solution that scales with your traffic. Cloud hosting handles steady load and sudden spikes without losing data.

Support and maintenance

Speaking of high availability and the importance of processing complete data, we need to mention SLA and the support you should be given by your web analytics solution vendor. Go for a vendor who, on top of offering satisfactory SLA terms, offers you round the clock maintenance and support.

Piwik PRO goes as far as to assign you an expert who is dedicated to your project and so familiar with your needs. He or she will not only be in charge of reacting to potential problems, but will stay in touch with you and make sure you make the most of the tool.

Integration with third-party solutions

Reducing red tape may sound like a joke when it comes to institutions full of procedures.
Having said that, there are solutions designed to make your life a little easier by streamlining reporting activities. Look for a web analytics tool which can be seamlessly integrated with the third party solutions you use and facilitate the data flow, which lets you import the data from your other tools and include them in the web analytics reports you may schedule to send at a chosen email address in selected time intervals.

Let’s recap

Summing up, as a governmental organization you need a secure, privacy-friendly web analytics tool that would help you not only streamline the processes for your stakeholders, but also will support you in establishing reputation of a trustworthy organization. When choosing the right solution, pay attention to hosting method, security of your data – you want to have a complete control of your user data and exclusive rights to it.

Transparency helps you build trust, so choose a solution that lets you show exactly what you collect and keep full control of it. If you can’t use cookies, look for privacy-friendly cookieless data collection instead.

When making the decisions, have also in mind the volume of traffic your web analytics solution will need to handle, and consider a vendor that will support you in installing the platform and will take care of its maintenance.

If you feel inclined to know more about how Piwik PRO Web Analytics can aid governments fulfill their mission, do not hesitate to contact us. Stay also tuned for more insight into web analytics’ world.