Use Context and Comparison to Help Readers Understand Data
Goal – create a benchmark that gives perspective.
Here, Rupert would tell you that Vincent is six feet tall and leave it at that. Anna-Lisa would tell you that Vincent is six feet tall, but she’d also show you that average height in Vincent’s country of the Netherlands is 6’1”.
Context helps you avoid wrong conclusions, such as that Vincent must have been on his high school’s volleyball team.
In a similar fashion, some questions, like those about budget allocation, require comparison and can only be answered after considering the context of all channels.
For example, Anna-Lisa might compare site-wide performance over time, or juxtapose a channel’s trend to a site-wide trend. Moz has published an elaborate illustration in this SEO channel context analysis.


If you have your own favorite ways to illustrate comparisons or add context, let us know what they are in the comments below.