Statistics Knowledge Portal (SKP) performance update

JohnMosier

Since we first started publishing pages in the summer of 2019, the Statistics Knowledge Portal (SKP) has played a central role in our strategy to increase the visibility of JMP in organic search. Below are some 2023 performance highlights for SKP pages around the world.

But first, some SKP basics for newer folks who may not be familiar with it:

What is SKP?

SKP is a section of jmp.com containing pages that explain statistical and data analysis concepts, typically through definitions and in-depth examples. These pages are structured, designed, and optimized specifically to rank well in search engines. Topics are selected based on search volume (how frequently the topic is searched) and their relevance to JMP. Pages are translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

What is the purpose of SKP?

SKP was created to help us achieve a variety of objectives, including:

• Connecting with audiences searching for information on statistical topics.
• Exposing the JMP brand to statistically minded people who may have never heard of JMP.
• Establishing JMP as a helpful, trusted source of information on topics related to data analysis.
• Providing paths for visitors to explore JMP further.

2023 performance highlights

With that background out of the way, let’s look at some 2023 web analytics data related to SKP.

Branded vs. non-branded traffic

A bit of context: before SKP, jmp.com had very few pages that weren’t about JMP. As a result, in terms of attracting visitors to our website via search engines, our web pages appeared in search results almost exclusively for queries pertaining specifically to JMP.  

In fact, in early 2020, when SKP was still just getting started, visits to jmp.com originating from queries containing the string “jmp” (i.e., branded queries) were roughly three times the number of visits from queries that did not contain “jmp” (i.e., non-branded queries).

By contrast, for 2023, visits to jmp.com from non-branded queries were more than four times the number of visits from branded queries – and about 93% of those non-branded visits were due to SKP.

2023 visits and page views

Total organic search visits (defined as visits from clicks on organic search results in search engines) to SKP pages in 2023 totaled 2.7 million, which averages out to more than 7,000 visitors each day. This represented about 71% of all organic search visits (branded plus non-branded) to jmp.com.

In terms of page views, SKP pages were some of the most viewed pages on jmp.com, regardless of traffic source, for most of the countries in which they were published, including:

• Three out of the top 10 pages in Japan.
• Five out of the top 10 pages in the U.S.
• Seven out of the top 10 pages in the UK.
• Seven out of the top 10 pages in South Korea.
• Eight out of the top 10 pages in Taiwan.
• Nine out of the top 10 pages in France.
• Nine out of the top 10 pages in Germany (and 15 out of the top 20).
• 10 out of the top 10 pages in Italy (and 18 out of the top 20).

Search engine ranking

As you might imagine, this kind of traffic is a function of ranking well on Google (which is the source of over 90% of search traffic to jmp.com globally) for terms with a lot of search volume. Here is a sampling of some of the queries for which SKP pages rank in the top three in the U.S.:

correlation	multiple regression residual analysis
correlation coefficient	t test
design of experiments	one sample t test
types of design of experiments	two sample t test
one-way ANOVA	paired t test
mosaic plot	chi square test
how to interpret regression results	chi square goodness of fit test
assumptions of linear regression	chi square test of independence

SKP visitor behavior

Although nearly 98% of SKP visitors in 2023 were first-time visitors to jmp.com and likely weren’t aiming to find a statistical software vendor when conducting their search, we did see engagement with links to other parts of our site (STIPS and the trial are the main calls to action):

• 5,300 views of the STIPS home page.
• 645 trial form completions.
• 6,200 views of the JMP home page.

Stay tuned!

In my next SKP update, I will share information about recent additions and enhancements to SKP this year, as well as plans for future pages.  

Jason_Wiggins

SKP offers amazingly digestible explanations of statistical concepts. It is a linkable/sharable textbook that non-statisticians can use to back up their analyses with better understanding of the methods they are using. I refer customers to SKP and provide links in leave behind journals. Just yesterday, I walked through the page on t-tests with a customer at Panasonic. He explained that his typical approach to understanding a concept like a t-test was to find several articles through google searches then do his best to extract the useful information. He was excited that SKP can save he and his colleagues a lot of time by offering up a single digestible source of information. Another layer to the motivation is that engineers at Panasonic are challenged to understand what they are doing in JMP by leadership. The vision behind the challenge is to grow analytics excellence in the organization. They believe that in order to get there, Panasonic engineers need to understand the basics. One of our champions in leadership is aware that JMP offers this resource and we hope to add more to the list. I believe SKP has the potential to help with renewals and upgrades for existing customers like Panasonic by helping users understand basic concepts. It is a great companion to STIPS and other resources we offer! Looking forward to the next update!!