Web Analytics

You've probably heard the saying, "in real estate it's location, location, location".

Well, in the world of direct marketing, especially on-line direct marketing it's "test, test, test". Knowing what to test, why you are testing it and how to make changes based on the data, is somewhat of an "art", but mostly "science". The science part means having the proper tools to know:
  • Where your visitor came from? Was it from Google, Yahoo, MSN, another web site, an email campaign, an organic search or a PPC campaign. The list goes on.
  • Exactly what did the visitor type in the search box that cause them to see your ad? Are they using words like "free" or "red" when all you sell are "blue"?
  • What pages did they visit on your web site and how long did they stay on each page? Did they read your customer testimonials because they wanted to see what your customers were saying about you?
  • Did they take a specific action, like download a document, sign up for your newsletter or buy something?

Knowing the answers to these and many other important questions is all possible by implementing web analytics. I like to refer to it as "peeking behind the curtain". Web analytics are a very powerful tool, but it does require an additional investment. It's not a requirement unless you are really serious about making the most of your internet marketing campaigns.

And one more thing, here is another ism I like which is very appropriate. "You can't improve what you can't measure". Web analytics is the tool that allows us to measure.

I don't require installing web analytics on your website, but if it is installed it will allow me to do a better job of optimizing your campaigns.

OK, so how do I get web analytics?

It involves using your webmaster to put a few lines of Java code on each web page of your site. This code sends data on visitor behavior to a data base which can be queried to provide valuable information about how well your campaign is performing.

What are my options?

Option 1 (no charge) I will work with your webmaster to install the code on your site and I will create a sub-account in my personal web analytics account. It will give me everything I need to manage your campaign and I can relay other important information to you, but you will not have direct access to the information.

Option 2 ($20/month) I will work with your webmaster to install the code on your site and you will have access to the data. Any assistance I provide will be at my normal consulting rate.

Google Analytics - The web analytics application I use is not Google Analytics because Google Analytics doesn't provide the information I use in the format I need. Google Analytics provides interesting information, but not what I consider actionable information. However, if you like, I will work wit your webmaster to install the Google Analytics code at the same time we install the application I use. The two applications work the same way and there is very little incremental effort to implement both. The advantage being that you will have free access to your own Google Analytics account.

 

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