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Do your web analytics matter?



In a word-Yes! Web analytics used correctly have the potential to significantly improve a business’s top and bottom lines. Good web analytics are a mixture of art (the ability to instinctively ask the right business questions) and science (having the skills to properly analyze and use the data being presented to you). It's your ability to master the science as well as the art of analytics solutions that will make the difference between success and failure.



To be successful at continuous marketing optimization, you must constantly follow your customers over time, online and offline to anticipate future buying decisions. Buying and behavioral history are the key to being able to predict future behaviors. You must tap the rich historical data of web analytic programs in order to formulate and deliver the right message to your customer every time they visit your site or click on one of your ads.



What are some of the ways you need to look at your web analytics data? To make the most of your analytics program(s) you should be targeting the following views of your data:



· Marketing optimization: Take a look at your marketing programs’ effectiveness across mutiple channels and over time. Pay attention to which programs are attracting new visitors, what and where on your site action is triggered and from the data determine what other actions you can take on your site to influence visitor behavior (ie click paths)



· Merchandising: Examine key activities (shopping carts, bookings, applications, registration, etc.). Use your analytic data to help you define new or better ways to increases initiation activities and clicks as well as ways to decrease abandonment. Perhaps different or more fine tuned content, change in click path, different approach to your product merchandising etc.





· Site Content analysis: You need to thoroughly understand the value of each page in your site. Which pages receive the greatest number of visitors? Which pages seem to produce the greatest interest? Which pages are resulting in link clicks? Are there pages that have low visit rates? If so, why? Once you understand how your site and click paths are working then you can improve your site navigation, clarify or better align your content. You can examine your existing tools and eliminate those that are not providing any promotional value and add or upgrade tools that are showing promotional results.









Now we come to the real meat of the issue around analytics. We have already discussed that analytics are important tools in your ability to remain competitive and build your business but analytics programs deliver data. The real question one should be asking is this? Am I an expert in knowing which questions to ask and how to obtain the answers from the analytical data my program presents to me? If you can answer yes then you are one of a small minority. Most business owners are not experts in web design or understanding how “machines” or crawlers look at data. So, how do you really get the answers you need?



Certainly there are robust programs available out there that can help you ask the right questions and get solid answers to help you make smart business decisions like Coremetrics. This program is packed full of features and also has significant numbers of educational articles. In the end however, the usefulness of any program depends heavily on the users ability to understand all of the data being presented as well as their ability to translate that data into useful information. Can that individual provide answers to the questions the company is asking in order to make solid business decisions? If your company doesn’t have that expert on board you have two choices-hire a specialist or outsource your online marketing program to a skilled marketing professional who can properly evaulate, analyze and interpret your web analytics to provide you with the answers your company demands.



The ultimate human capability is the ability to question. It is only when we ask questions that one can uncover the data that is actually occurring in website statistics. It is the ability to drill down and segment information that is so valuable. That drilling down process relies on the ability to ask questions-well thought out, focused questions. Simply browsing machine-generated reports will not provide insight, but asking questions of the data to find the mind of your users will uncover a gold mine of information.



So, do your web analytics matter? – You bet they do! Yet they do not matter as much as having access to an expert in online marketing who can ask the right questions of the data to learn and understand the minds of your consumers. When you have that individual on your team then you will be able to present incredible data in the board room. Analytics that directly speak to your KPI’s and company goals along with a plan to for how to keep optimizing your online brand and campaigns to provide the ROI your company is looking to achieve while increasing company growth and your bottom line profit.


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