Web Analytics and SMEs

Running a web consultancy advising SMEs on developing their online business strategy I meet many small businesses that have are totally un prepared for the challenge of taking their business online. Many companies spend far too much on the initial web development without a clear online business strategy and most do not set aside enough resource to market themselves successfully online resulting in disappointment and disillusionment.

In their first year of operation we advise clients to split their web budget 50:50 between web development and online marketing. Effective search engine optimisation, pay per click advertising and building links with other quality websites does not come cheap. However, most small business and even many web development companies have not yet woken up to the central importance of a new technology that can help businesses become successful online.

Web analytics is a relatively new technology that allows the measurement of web site performance through the statistical analysis of visitor behaviour. Web analytics allows the measurement of the cost effectiveness of online marketing channels such as email marketing, pay per click advertising and search engine optimisation allowing the small business owner to maximise their advertising spend. It provides information on visitors arriving from search engines such as Google which is critical in developing profitable search engine marketing campaigns. While providing insights into patterns of visitor behaviour, web analytics can identify places where potential customers exit the site, help improve customer conversion rates, reduce lost sales and provide valuable customer intelligence.

Used correctly the small business owner can use web analytics as a dash board to drive their online strategy forwards, improve website performance and achieve their business objectives.

Jim Williams
Managing Director,
www.ju2.com

Measuring Key performance Indicators

Measuring Key performance Indicators: "This article is part 3 from a series of articles talking about Key Performance Indicators In the previous segment in this series of articles, we talked about identifying the most important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to track, based on the type of website you have. We also touched on the notion that different roles with an organization will only want to see the KPIs that are important to them. In this article I will illustrate how to accurately measure KPIs by using a fictional company called Jasra Corp., identifying the company's needs, and then accurately measuring specific KPIs to help to solve its needs. I'll start with a brief background of our fictional company. Jasra Corp. is an online publishing company in the health care industry. It has loads of content, written by hundreds of industry experts on topics such as medicine, patient care, pharmaceuticals, etc...Their website receives 120,000 page views a month and their revenue model is advertising based. Their monthly online revenue is approximately $50,000. Jasra Corp.'s stakeholders have little understanding of"

Microsoft Acquires DeepMetrix To Enhance adCenter Metrics

Good news for us conversion tracking junkies at www.ju2.com ThreadWatch points to a release that shows Microsoft has purchased DeepMetrix, a Web analytics company. The purchase is to enable Microsoft to 'deliver new Web analytics applications in future releases of Microsoft adCenter.' Last year Google acquired Urchin, and then renamed it to Google Analytics in November and began AdWords integration soon after. Microsoft will possibly do the same.

Posted by Barry Schwartz

AB Testing: Too Little, Too Early?

AB Testing: Too Little, Too Early?: "Lately, everywhere you go analytics industry folks are talking about AB Testing. That's a good sign, since it means the industry is focusing on an overlooked leverage point in their web analytics investment. But as so often happens, achieving full buzzword compliance has become the goal rather than the means; what lies behind the words is often lost. In this case, 'AB testing' – the buzzword – has become a euphemism for plain old 'testing', which, like ordering liver on a first date, may be good for you, but is certainly not sexy. But throw some 'AB' in front of 'testing' and your dour liver is magically transformed into paté de foie gras. This is a bit disturbing, especially when you hear people sprinkling the 'AB' condiment to add flavor to anything from a focus group ('Hey, did you AB Test the response to the new company logo?') to the mundane ('Suzie's lamp is out, can you AB Test the light bulb?') to the painfully comical ("Honey, let's AB test the Lord of the Rings Director's Cut with the Wide-Screen edition!").

Mixed in there, perhaps lost among the cacophony of buzzword hype, are the ingredients to some real AB testing and with it a future vision of how to achieve its true objective.

What is AB Testing?

AB Testing is based on a simple principle that we're all familiar with: compare and contrast alternatives; based upon measurement, act accordingly. Let's say we want to determine whether Nolan Ryan is a better baseball player than Homer Simpson? How should we proceed? First, we might set a metric for what we mean by a "better" baseball player. We can measure evidence in concrete ways, noting the two subjects' different batting averages or RBIs or the like. What we're searching for is the right metric—a formula that would lead us to a correct decision. Such a formula is more precisely termed a "fitness function."

We might decide that considering indirect evidence will lead us to a better decision than comparing pure statistics. In that case, our fitness function may involve such things as the difference in salary paid for services or a comparison of the prices paid for our subjects' autographs on eBay.

AB Testing: Too Little, Too Early?

In virtually all such measures Nolan is the better candidate. If you were choosing a player for your team you'd certainly pick Nolan; you can be confident you've made the correct decision.
But let's think on that a moment: the reason you feel confidence in signing Nolan stems from your familiarity with the metric and fitness function that are implicitly applied when we speak of baseball. Your decision might be quite different if we want to pick an effective donut quality assurance taster. Suddenly, Homer Simpson is back in the running.


Source: John Quarto-vonTivadar,
Chief Technology Officer,
Future Now, Inc.

http://www.futurenowinc.com


Want more info on AB Testing get in touch at www.ju2.com

Analytics: You can't afford NOT to track

Analytics: You can't afford NOT to track: "Budget, especially for smaller organizations, is often a major factor when researching which Analytics package to implement on a given website. There are business owners who continually push off the purchase of analytics until their company is financially ready to make the leap and online commitment; or until over inflated marketing projections prove to be just that, and mistakes need to be quantified. Something that the majority of business doesn’t seem to realize is the immense insight and knowledge they are missing out on by waiting. It’s the same old argument: spend a dollar today or two dollars tomorrow. Put... 24-Apr-06 1:00 PM"