If you’ve performed usability tests and tried to reconcile those results with your current site metrics, you’ve probably been left scratching your head. Usability respondents find something wrong on a particular page, yet the same “problem” isn’t evident in the site analytics.

This leaves you with a rather big question: How do you justify Web analytics and usability, and what role does each play in the conversion equation?

Measuring Oranges and Apples

Although both attempt to measure a site’s ability to convert, Web analytics and usability testing actually measure two entirely distinct aspects of a site.

Web analytics measure visitor intent and persuasive momentum, as well as the site’s ability to move visitors through a conversion scenario. Usability examines the site’s interface and process barriers that keep visitors from accomplishing a conversion task. Usability is:

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