Loading ...3 Quick Questions: Web Analytics
We have a lot of smart, talented people working at Critical Mass and part of the Experience Matters mandate is to encourage them to talk about their work. In a series called “3 Quick Questions”, we’ll ask members of our brain trust to answer three “top of mind” questions of interest to our readers. If there’s a particular topic you’d like us to tackle, leave us a comment or drop us an email.
This week, I’ve asked two of our senior analysts, Patrick Glinski and Shaina Boone to talk about what key performance indicators (KPI’s) really are, and how Google Analytics is changing the web analytics game. Shaina also talks a little about her next big challenge.
EM: KPI’s for the layperson. What are they and why are they important?
Patrick: Key performance indicators are metrics used to clearly and simply represent an organization’s performance against their business strategy.
Their importance comes from simplicity,. Today, companies collect so much data they can’t see the forest for the trees. KPIs focus organizations on what’s really important – business results.
Shaina: Strong KPI’s are concrete goals expressed through ratios of numbers that can be pulled from any data collection system, not just web analytics software. They help report the success of business initiatives (both online/offline) against defined project or business goals. Think of it this way:
- High-level Abstract Goal: Increase Engagement
- Mid-level Relative Goal: Drive email registration through innovative content
- KPI/Concrete Goal: Increase email registration rate on site (by origination of banners, paid search or organic traffic)).
EM: I know we try to be “tool-agnostic” at CM, but what’s all the buzz about Google Analytics?
Shaina: Implementing Google Analytics is faster and easier than other enterprise packages and is ideal for clients just entering the Web Analytics space or those looking to compare data against an existing package.
Budget that would be normally used on configuring an analytics package can be spent on measurement strategy initiatives like goal definition and socialization of measurement.
EM: And is that a better use of money?
Patrick: Organizations early in their analytics adoption cycle use only a small percentage of the features available from their analytics tools. Enterprise analytics packages all have similar baseline reporting and analysis capabilities – you pay for extras (don’t get me wrong, those extras can be amazing).
It makes more sense to work through the organizational issues associated with developing an analytics practice (defining goals, socializing data, developing action plans) using a free tool than to pay for features that won’t be used.
Google Analytics is the best free tool available right now, although we should watch for Microsoft Gatineau in the coming months.
EM: So what’s the next big, hairy audacious problem you want to solve in your work?
Shaina: When clients have both brick-and-mortar and online sales, web analytics is only one part of an effective “measurement umbrella”. In a complete measurement strategy, real insights come from a mix of quantitative and qualitative research, database marketing, social media monitoring and more. The result is a much more complete picture of how successful your online initiative is. The challenge is always finding the budget and resources to execute.
Patrick: I couldn’t possibly be as articulate as Shaina was!
EM: Thanks for this!
I haven’t looked at GA for sometime now, but my last experience with GA left me thinking that it’s still full of chaff that’s hard for clients to sift through.
Would you say GA is an appropriate tool for clients or the companies supporting them?
And what other web analytics tools might you suggest for log file analysis?
“I haven’t looked at GA for sometime now, but my last experience with GA left me thinking that it’s still full of chaff that’s hard for clients to sift through.”
To speak specifically to the tool itself, the interface changed significantly in June 2007. It is streamlined and easier to interpret. At the eMetrics summit in Washington DC several other new features were released. Check out Occam’s Razor Oct 16 entry for the details http://experiencematters.criticalmass.com/2007/10/19/3-quick-questions-web-analytics/#commentinput
However, more important than the tool itself, is defining the goals for the online initiatives, and from that the metrics to which they align. Doing so makes it easy for you or your client to only pull what you need from the software, and to then present it via another communication tool along with actionable recommendations for site optimization.
“Would you say GA is an appropriate tool for clients or the companies supporting them?”
Again, clearly defined goals and requirements can help define which tool is appropriate. It is a great free tool, which many large fortune 50 clients use. The upgrades to the tool put it’s core functionality in line with many of the enterprise-class web analytics packages. But like all of those other packages, it has strengths and weaknesses that should be weighed against a formal requirements set.
“And what other web analytics tools might you suggest for log file analysis?”
Preferring to be tool agnostic, it is much easier to select a tool after business requirements and goals are defined. You might consider searching the Yahoo Forum for differing opinions: http://www.webanalyticsdemystified.com/discussion_list.asp