I think I’m reading what you are asking correctly, so while I am going to go off at a tangent a bit, I think it may be relevant, apologies if it isn’t. Basically we’ve been working with what is the natural extension to SEO for some time now; which covers what users are doing on the site in aggregate and in real-time once they are on the site; along with where they are coming from.
Essentially allowing you to analyze and track various things such as trends (and how they relate to sources), how users engage and interact, visitor flow, hot spots, cold spots (heat mapping) and loads of other things. Stuff that addresses problems akin to what retail marketers have been doing for years.
Basically, while SEO, link building etc. is really important and gets people onto the site; whats equally important from a marketing perspective and is of particular interest to brands right now (and will become more so as time goes on) is how people use and experience the site once there.
Methods to get people onto your site are well documented, whats harder is knowing exactly what happens when they are on the site which has always been a bit of black box where websites are concerned.
Like when you go into a real shop, the shops have methods to get you in when you are outside; then once inside they have methods to control the flow of customers and influence them, they can see how customers flow, what grabs them and what doesn’t.
They can refine and calibrate these methods as they can see whats happening and analyze it. However on a website; traditionally you can’t see that (or the visibility is limited), which has always posed a problem.
We are now using various emerging platforms that answer this problem and I would advise you to look into such solutions. There are various platforms out there that do a number of things that basically act as an extension to solutions like Google Analytics; which show you where users are focusing on your pages, where they are clicking, where they scroll, how they flow through, where they come from, where they leave; in a visual format.
Some also show you how they are interacting and what messages they are posting in real-time and in aggregate; which is useful for social sites or sites that are socially integrated.
Have a look at stuff like seeVolution. You’ll need to understand it, know what it’s output means and how to correctly interpret it (which is a skill in its own right). Like I said at the start its the natural extension to SEO, so I thought I would highlight it.