How to get it right the first time
around
Implementing a web analytics solution
is a mission-critical activity for any
business serious about succeeding
online. Without a comprehensive ability
to analyze your site’s traffic, you’ll
be unable to determine the effectiveness
of your website, online marketing
campaigns, and overall online business
objectives.
If your site
has a search engine, it is important
to be able to report on user search
queries and the number of results
for each search. When configuring
your search application, make sure
the search query and number of
results is a visible parameter in
the results string.
Many companies don’t think about
measurement when building a site, and
they get stuck trying to retrofit it
later. This can be a tough task. There
are numerous technological decisions
that will have an impact on your
measurement strategy, your report
accuracy, and your ability to analyze
the data. Let’s look at a few key points
that will help you to ensure accurate
and effective analytics.
It all starts with strategic
planning
Web analytics experts—and common
sense—will tell you that upfront
planning is the key to a successful
measurement program. In short, without
deciding in advance what you
want to measure, you’ll have an
exceedingly difficult time constructing
a solution that gives you the
information you need. You simply can’t
improve the results of your analysis
without first defining the key metrics
that have an impact on your business.
Measurement plans come in all shapes
and sizes. Each business has different
goals, specific ways to segment
visitors, and different priorities
placed on key performance indicators.
For an e-commerce site, it’s essential
to look closely at conversion rates and
shopping-cart abandonment, while a
content-driven site might be more
concerned about the time spent on the
site, advertising impressions, and
subscription conversion rates.
While planning is critical, the next
step is to make sure that your
measurement and technology teams are
working in tandem. It’s time to knock
down those cubicle walls, crack open a
Red Bull or two, and start working
together. There are technical challenges
that need to be addressed in order to
ensure that your analytics solution
provides information you need.
You can’t report on data you don’t
collect
Almost all leading web analytics
solutions use client-side tagging to
collect data, which generally involves
placing a small snippet of JavaScript
code on every page of your site. A good
example is..........Get
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