Web site performance measurement: Promise and reality

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to examine the web site performance-measurement activities of a range of businesses and to determine whether there are common measures that can be successfully applied to rate the performance of corporate web sites. Design/methodology/approach - Qualitative interviews are conducted with web site managers of 25 businesses, exploring web site activities and performance measures used. Findings - The study demonstrates that web site performance measurement is largely idiosyncratic and/or completely ignored. Retailing and business-to-business companies are more likely to use performance measures (including sales revenue and web-analytics programs) to determine the value of a web site to the business. Research limitations/implications - The study covers a broad spectrum of company types and sizes, mainly based in Australia, but did not focus on the use of the internet by specific industries - such as retailing or financial services. Practical implications - The study should encouragemanagers to measure the financial and non-financial contributions made by corporate web sites to the overall performance of a business. Originality/value - Thepaper provides insight into the current lack of standards in web site performance measurement and the need for the development of standards in this area.