Auditing Government Websites
Measuring website usage FAQs
This is a compilation of frequently asked questions and answers to offer support to public bodies preparing to audit their websites.
Please send your questions to transformationalgovernment@coi.gsi.gov.uk
- Why is this audit mandatory for all central government websites?
- What is our deadline?
- How frequently am I expected to carry out an audit?
- What metrics will be audited?
- Can we do other metrics?
- What is the value of external audits to government websites?
- Why Use ABCe?
- Do we need to audit our website if we are using a 2-star accredited ABCe Associate subscriber product?
- We use Google Analytics. Is it an ABCe 2-star accredited analytics tool?
- Does COI recommend any specific web analytics vendors? If not, will they do so in future?
- Is the audit directly connected to the Departmental Website Reviews?
- What is the audit process?
- How long will an audit take?
- Will we receive any recommendations from ABCe following the audit?
- Do we get an ABCe logo/kitemark once we have 'passed' an audit?
- Will the figures be made public, either on the COI website or ABCe website?
- The costs
- Are there any additional costs over the audit fees quoted?
- Other useful documents
Why is this audit mandatory for all central government websites?
The Government agreed to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Sixteenth Report recommendation that a single set of reporting metrics for website usage is required.
Auditing website usage data is essential to ensure that the rules for measuring the number of Unique Browsers, Page Impressions, Visits and Visit Durations have been implemented correctly and consistently.
What is our deadline?
All central government departments websites must be audited by March 2010 and Executive Agencies and NDPBs must each be registered and be in the process of auditing by June 2010.
How frequently am I expected to carry out an audit?
Government requires that each website should be audited at least once per annum, with a recommendation of twice per annum for each supersite.
Why can't we just use our own figures?
Unfortunately, not everyone measures exactly the same thing in exactly the same way. Auditing each website's usage figures to a single standard means greater confidence in the figures reported and you know you are getting information to the same standard as everyone else.
This confidence enables you to define web-based key performance indicators (KPIs). This in turn enables you to set business goals and measure the progress of a website towards them, which is an essential part of strategic communications planning.
What metrics will be audited?
The following metrics, as defined by the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (JICWEBS), will be audited for each website:
- Unique Browsers
- Page Impressions
- Visits
- Visit Durations
Can we do other metrics?
Yes. You might be collecting and looking at many different metrics in order to manage your online communications effectively. Only the four metrics above are required to be audited and reported. If you would like other measures to be audited, please see www.abce.org.uk for more information and kindly note additional fees will apply.
What is the value of external audits to government websites?
Auditing website usage delivers key business intelligence that an online service requires to aid its senior management in making the right decisions for its future success:
- The resulting certified numbers can be compared with confidence.
- This data can be trusted as consistent and therefore reliable both over time and between websites.
- Being able to make such comparisons is critical to the benchmarking of individual websites.
- Audited data offers proof to management of usage trends, avoiding mis-statement.
- Trend analysis that is based on data certified to industry standards ensures better investment decision-making.
- Audited data gives internal management transparency in the information presented.
Why Use ABCe?
The best way to ensure these figures are accurate is to have them audited by an independent third party to a single agreed standard. ABCe is a division of the ABC (the non profit distributing, UK & Ireland media industry owned auditors – www.abc.org.uk)
All ABCe data is prepared to standards agreed by JICWEBS, the Joint Industry Committee for Web Standards (www.jicwebs.org), which is the body created by the UK and Ireland media industry to ensure independent development and ownership of standards for measuring digital media.
Do we need to audit our website if we are using a 2-star accredited ABCe Associate subscriber product?
Yes. An ABCe accredited product ensures that the data collected is auditable. However, it does not mean that the data collected and reported is done so correctly. Because every website is different, each implementation of an analytics product is also different. Thus the actual data that is collected needs to be independently checked by ABCe to ensure that it complies with industry-agreed standards.
We use Google Analytics. Is it an ABCe 2-star accredited analytics tool?
No. Google Analytics is not a 2-star accredited product, as Google does not release the supporting data. To be audited by ABCe, websites using Google Analytics can either supply the data for the audit month by implementing the "Mirror Method" [PDF 262KB] or by supplying correctly formatted unfiltered log file data from their own webservers.
Does COI recommend any specific web analytics vendors? If not, will they do so in future?
No. The COI does not recommend any specific web analytics vendor, but it does recommend the use of a 2-star ABCe Associate product to help minimise the costs of auditing.
Is the audit directly connected to the Departmental Website Reviews?
No. The only relation is that all sites approved to continue must partake in the audit.
What is the audit process?
The audit has three parts.
Part 1: The pre-audit period - you are required to complete the registration form [MS DOC 173KB], choose your audit month, and send through some sample data (snippets of data to check that the website is auditable – this latter step is not applicable if you choose to use an ABCe 2-star accredited product).
Part 2: The audit period (a calendar month) - you are required to ensure that all data is captured and archived for future supply to ABCe. During this time it is recommended that you minimise site development work.
Part 3: The Post audit period - this starts immediately after the audit month end. You will be required to send 3 things to ABCe; your claimed statistics (per metric), site filtering rules and the supporting logged data. The latter should be sent to ABCe either on DVD or via SFTP. To help you do this you will be required to complete some forms.
In future the months may be selected randomly.
How long will an audit take?
The Audit certificate will be provided within 3 calendar months from the end of the month of the audit period, subject to satisfactory receipt from the public body of their claim forms, filtering rules and supporting data and subsequent resolution of any audit issues arising.
Will we receive any recommendations from ABCe following the audit?
Yes. ABCe will provide a management letter which details any issues arising from the audit, the impact on the certificate and offer recommendations for future measurement.
Do we get an ABCe logo/kitemark once we have 'passed' an audit?
Yes. If the public body wishes it to be publicly known that they have successfully completed an audit, then this will be displayed on the ABCe website.
Will the figures be made public, either on the COI website or ABCe website?
ABCe will not publish the audit results on the ABCe website unless asked to do so by the website. The results are sent in confidence to the website and COI. The annual figures reported by Departments will be included in a Government website audit report, which will be published by June 2010.
The costs
The minimum cost per audit is £2,040 provided that:
- The web analytics provider is a 2-star accredited ABCe Associate product (see TG116a)
- Data is provided in the correct format
- Data is delivered on time
COI will work with each website manager to ensure that when the above conditions are not met, the cost per audit is as close to the minimum as possible.
COI has secured discounted fees from ABCe for all Government websites.
Full details of the requirements for website auditing, including technical specifications, are found in the accompanying Audit guidance (TG116a) [PDF 540KB]
There is an additional fee of £150 for audits where the analytics provider's product is not 2-star accredited by ABCe and a further fee of £380 is applicable if you require ABCe to count your traffic from unfiltered web server log files. The above figure is inclusive of a £200 discount for the first 100 registrations. Please contact COI as early as possible to qualify for the discounted rate.
Are there any additional costs over the audit fees quoted?
No, providing:
- the scope (metrics audited) is as per the four metrics agreed with COI;
- the scale (Page Impressions audited) is under 50 million;
- the fee quoted is appropriate for the web analytics product used;
- the data supplied is in the agreed format;
- all claims, filtering rules and data are delivered within the agreed timescales.
Please note, additional fees will apply (as agreed) for:
- Additional metrics, increased scale or counting tasks (where applicable).
In addition, fees may be levied by the web analytics provider for the support of ABCe auditing. These are wholly a matter between the website and the analytics provider and are not the responsibility of ABCe.