Analytics Advice

This is right out of the “why didn’t they think about this earlier” file, but makes perfect sense on the heels of Google integrating Google Analytics goals into the Google AdWords interface.  Google did right by me this time, recognizing another customer pain point: marketers and agencies not having the full suite of data available in Google Analytics reporting that is readily available in the Google AdWords interface. [Read the rest of this entry...]

This year should mark the beginning of a remarkable recovery in the world economy, and I find myself extremely fortunate to be counted amongst the hundreds of attendees at eMetrics Toronto 2010.  Having attended the show in 2008 but not last year, I witnessed a significant evolution and have to admit the folks at Rising Media have done a fantastic job of transforming what was once a much smaller, admittedly lack-luster conference into a major, must-see event.  Perhaps this is due to a natural maturation process, but I’d like to attribute this success to the increasing awareness and respect the online business community has amassed for web analysis.  The resounding theme of the show has evolved as well.  What once was “how do we do X” has quickly become “define goals, provide actionable insight, measure results”.  Whether through quantitative or qualitative means, the focus has become listening to the voice of the consumer. [Read the rest of this entry...]

I figured that since today is April Fool’s Day and it’s also technically the last day of the work week, that I’d forgo the typical #ff (follow friday retweeting) and conduct a non-scientific survey on web analytics users on Twitter.  The question?  Not what their favorite tool of choice is, or how they measure social media — oh no — something much harder to describe.

“When you’re at a party, how do you describe what you do?”

The responses came in at a furious pace… [Read the rest of this entry...]

Ongoing debates surrounding the topic of “free news versus digital media pay walls” present an interesting opportunity for web analytics professionals.  If there’s one thing I learned during my stint in new media, it’s that news organizations have historically had a poor grasp on establishing sustainable revenue models to support substantial distribution costs and sizable staff counts.  I say “historically” because savvy media companies are becoming increasingly capable of correlating content consumption to revenue streams and optimizing their advertising models for greater ROI.  The latter have been forced to cut back on content acquisition or workforce, and even now consider the use of pay walls.  But that’s not necessarily a bad thing! For analysts, pay walls introduce a great opportunity to test the efficacy of both models. [Read the rest of this entry...]

I’m a big fan of Search Engine Strategies because it’s one of those shows that really draws the best and brightest in online marketing and web analytics.  My special guest today is Dennis Mortensen, former COO of IndexTools, currently the Director of Data Insights at Yahoo! and member of the Board of Directors at the Web Analytics Association.  Dennis is a frequent speaker at SES events, and will be co-hosting a panel entitled “Meaningful SEO Metrics: Going Beyond the Numbers” at SES New York. [Read the rest of this entry...]

An unfortunate recent statistic unearthed from the Factual Blog has shown that less than 30% of businesses worldwide are using Google Analytics on their websites out of a 4 million site sample set (via Manoj Jasra at Web Analytics World Blog).  Unfortunate only because there seems to be a booming interest in search engine marketing, namely search engine optimization.  By no means does one need Google Analytics to measure indicators of success in SEO, but it sure helps.  Any web analytics tool should top your list of priorities when embarking in online marketing, but there are lots of other resources freely available to webmasters. [Read the rest of this entry...]

There is a lot to be said about implementing web analytics on a site, and using that data to improve customer experience and a company’s bottom line.  Guys like Avinash Kaushik, Eric Peterson and Jim Sterne all advocate that baseline implementations provide a boat-load of traffic data that will never be looked at in a million years, with segments out the ying-yang.  However, I’m going to argue that although free tools do offer a whack of great reports out of the box, the real power of web analytics solutions comes from custom variables.  Your web analytics tags are the cake, and custom variables are the oh-so-delicious frosting on top.  Regardless of your tool of choice, here are some of the best custom variables to implement on your site for segmentation bliss. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Divorcing yourself from opinion, or qualitative analysis, or wishy-washy suggestions can be a tough task.  Some stakeholders are statistically savvy and can look at numbers objectively, opting to do their own analysis – perhaps by using separate business intelligence. However, most people want to read interesting insights, even if it’s just to look smart at the water cooler.  For everyone to get on board, the trick is to stop saying, “I think” and start saying “the data shows.” [Read the rest of this entry...]

Return on investment is a sexy KPI right now; everything and everyone claims to provide easy calculations of ROI, value added services that show ROI, and other far-fetched promises.  Probably one of the hardest things a web analyst can do is measure ROI — true ROI.  We’ve become accustomed to using the term “return on investment” to include subjective value propositions; soft and cuddly marketing statements.  True ROI is just not available through analytics tools and web analysts do not have the luxury of full financial disclosure. [Read the rest of this entry...]

Based on just the title of this post alone, can you guess what the #1 sticking point is between web analysts and the I.T. department?  You got it, tagging up pages across your organization’s website usually falls to the coders, webmasters, outside consultants, or I.T. folk within your company, and not the research, marketing, or business development department.  Although many software solutions are turning to single smart tags that can be defined later from within the tool, lots of enterprise class vendors still require on-page variable calls or customized javascript functions to assist in segmenting visitors.  So is perfect tagging mission impossible or the holy grail?  A rare discussion plus a Dwight Schrute bobble-head after the break. [Read the rest of this entry...]