Analytics: How do I use the Organizations data?

You may have noticed the Organizations details under the Visitors section in Siteimprove Analytics. This report gives users a snapshot of what organizations are visiting your website. 

How is this information useful?

This data can be especially helpful for understanding what companies or organizations have interest in your services or products. It can give you a starting point for understanding your audience. It can be especially helpful for business to business companies to understand possible new sales leads. The Organizations Report is also very helpful in determining if there are any users from media outlets viewing your site. You can also create filters on certain organizations to better isolate just those users.

How is this information obtained?

The Organizations data is generated based on a user's IP (Internet Protocol) address. IP address data commonly includes the user's ISP (Internet Service Provider). At its simplest, the Organizations Report is a list of ISP/network names and how often users on those providers have visited your site.

Are there any limitations to this data?

The Organizations data comes with some limitations. First and foremost, most organizations use large Internet Service Providers like Comcast or At&T and won't provide any further information, so their traffic will end up grouped together with other organizations, home users, smartphones, etc. Also, some organizations use firewalls, proxies or other technologies that will cause the ISP to come back as "unknown". Lastly, users who work for an organization aren't tied to just devices on that organization's network and could visit from personal computers and phones, further complicating matters.

Summary

Data from the Organizations Report is best used to get a snapshot of what types of organizations are using your site and pages. If you cannot find a certain organization within the results, it does not mean that no one from that organization has visited your site. 

Additional resources

• Analytics: How to filter data by organizations