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There's an old accounting and management quote that gets trotted out from time to time that goes a little something like this - "You can't manage what you can't measure."
While it is a little naive to expect that everything of importance to a business is measurable, the quote does hold particular relevance in the world of online business. The primary reason for this is that one of the biggest benefits of the online space is exactly how much information can be directly measured by appropriate systems. This represents an enormous opportunity for website owners, web developers and web marketers alike. Unfortunately it is an opportunity often overlooked by many businesses and misunderstood by even more.
Why do we need web analytics?
There is a mystique that is often associated with 'the new'. This is even more the case when what is new is also technology driven. We tend to view new technologies, such as the Internet, with a quasi mysticism and treat them as though they exist outside the normal boundaries of business mentality. They don't. If it operates as a functioning arm of your business then it must be held accountable like everything else.
If you are serious about your online presence you need to be serious about knowing how it works, even if that is simply understanding what return you are making on your website investment.
What can be measured?
If you are a website owner or manager than chances are that your web host is already providing you with some very basic web analytics already. Visits, page views and other data relating to how much traffic your site is getting. You may also be getting some basic information on the types of browsers your visitors use and what screen resolutions your site is being seen in.
This is web analytics at its most basic. The data here is useful, certainly, but it only tells part of the story. It is all very well and good for a bricks and mortar shop owner to say that one hundred people came through their door in a day but until we know how many actually bought something it is difficult to ascertain if it was a good day of business.
The above situation is analogous to the kind of data most people focus on when looking at their website.
The goal of web analytics is to deliver a more complete picture. Not just the beginning of the story but the middle and the end as well. With an appropriate solution you can not only tell how many people came to your site, but what they actually did on the website. Did they explore the site thoroughly and then make a purchase or did they jump in and out, barely paying attention to what was there? What paths did they take through the site? Where did they come from and where did they go?
The internet is a unique marketing platform because we can find out all of these things, and more, without having to interfere with the user's browsing experience. In the physical space you would need to follow someone around or ask them questions as they leave your store to get this kind of information. On the net the whole process is invisible and does not disrupt the user.
Why bother?
It is important to realise that analytics do not make your website better nor does it make your business more profitable just by being there. Analytics are fundamentally a tool of empowerment; they help you make business decisions. You have to make the decision; the data simply helps you make the right one.
Some of the key decisions you can make from web analytics are as follows:
Judge Popularity
While it is one of the most basic statistics how many page views and visits you get is still one of the best ways to tell how large an audience your website is attracting.
Understand the Effectiveness of Marketing
By using campaign tracking (offered in many middle to top tier tracking solutions) you can very quickly see which online (and, with a spot of ingenuity, offline) campaigns are driving the most traffic to your site. You can even track campaign responses right through to conversion and see how much money each campaign is generating.
Increase Site Conversion
By seeing how people move through your site you can identify problem areas. People may be leaving at a certain point in your checkout procedure, or they may be getting lost and never finding the page you want them to see. With appropriate tracking you can identify where these issues are occurring, work on the problem and easily track your success.
Geographic Positioning
Higher end tracking solutions can even tell you which locality your visitors are coming from. If you are operating bricks and mortar retail outlets you can easily see where demand for your product exists and plan for future growth. Perhaps you are running a billboard campaign; the changes experienced in traffic from that particular local give a good indication of the billboard's success.
Understand your Customer's Needs
By watching how people use your site's internal search engine you can see what products in your range are the most popular or what types of information people really want. You can improve the visitor experience by pandering to these desires and making those products or content more visible on the site.
Improve Usability
Are there certain pages everyone wants to see? Do most of your users use an 800 x 600 resolution? What browsers are the most popular amongst your visitor set? Appropriate tracking allows you to answer these questions and tailor your website to meet the technical and interface needs of your site users.
The above are just examples of what can be achieved and the list is by no means exhaustive. During our time as marketers in the online space Alkemi is continuously impressed by some of the purposes to which various organisations put their tracking and how they use the collected data to better manage their website and related activities.
Final Word…
Website analytics is becoming an increasingly essential tool for any business that operates in the online space. You can't manage what you can't measure after all.
The key thing to remember is that data is an inert property. It doesn't do anything by itself. Data only has value if you use it to achieve something of worth.
By tracking the way your website operates and actively using the data your analytics solution generates, you are well on your way to having the best website you could hope for and ensuring that all your marketing efforts result in positive returns on you investment.
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Practical Strategies, Tips and Industry Secrets Newsletter. |
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 Alkemi's New York based business partners, Future Now, have just released their latest book on the subject of conversion. Find out more about this wonderful insight into personas and how they help conversion.
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Our Search Marketing Staff are all Google Qualified Individuals.
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