With 17.08 million (64%) Australians shopping online monthly in 2024—a 45% uptick since 2020—segmenting digital consumer behaviour has become critical for business success. Marketers must utilise another dimension within the established geographic, demographic, psychographic, and behavioural (GDPB) segmentation: webographics.
Webographics encompass internet-specific variables including device usage, browsing frequency, connection speed, technical proficiency, and online engagement patterns. These metrics reveal how customers navigate digital spaces, providing actionable insights for marketing efforts.
Standalone Applications
Webographics can independently drive segmentation strategies that directly inform content timing, UX optimisation, and platform strategy. Consider an e-commerce brand identifying three distinct user groups:
- Mobile-First Browsers: Users shopping via Instagram during lunch breaks
- Evening Researchers: Desktop users browsing product reviews after hours
- Speed-Sensitive Shoppers: High-bandwidth users who abandon slow-loading pages
Integrated Applications
Webographics excel when layered with established segmentation bases:
- Geographic Refinement: Online tutors provide downloadable resources for bandwidth-limited rural users
- Demographic Enhancement: Banks target Gen Z mobile banking preferences with gamified features
- Psychographic Depth: Eco-conscious audiences engaging with long-form content receive storytelling-focused emails
- Behavioural Precision: Frequent desktop shoppers receive targeted "lunchtime deals"
The Web Motivation Framework
In an omnichannel environment where customer journeys span multiple touchpoints, understanding how people use the internet proves as crucial as knowing who they are. The Web Motivation Inventory (WMI) identifies four primary online motivations that complement webographic data:
- Research: Information-seeking behaviour requiring detailed comparison tools
- Communication: Social interaction driving community-platform engagement
- Surfing: Entertainment consumption favouring visual, engaging content
- Shopping: Transactional intent optimised through strategic offer timing
Advanced Digital Segmentation
Modern tools enable customer digital behaviour segmentation, analysing real-time interactions like scroll depth, device switching, and conversion paths, alongside customer intent frameworks used by Google and Meta to group audiences based on live behaviours and search signals. Digital empathy frameworks can detect motivation from actions. When emotional insight with behavioural data is combined, these models help businesses move from broad personas to data-driven precision targeting.
Webographics enable businesses to personalise content, optimise campaign timing, reduce bounce rates, and adapt messaging to real-time digital behaviours.
Actionable Tips:
- Begin with accessible analytics tools (e.g., GA4) to track device usage, bounce rates, and traffic patterns.
- Segment users by intent and tailor content and UX to browsing context: are they researching, browsing, or ready to buy?
- Layer this webographic data with existing demographic, psychographic or behavioural insights for smarter segmentation.
Webographics aren't just another data point—they're the bridge connecting traditional customer understanding with digital-first consumer reality.
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