A couple of months ago, Web Analytics Demystified published a report on the use of Web analytics in organizations and
attitudes toward the industry around the world. While l cathing up on my readings and looking at the report, I was struck by one of the results:
- Over 56 percent of respondents, who were Web analytics end users and consultants, found Web analytics to be “somewhat” or “extremely difficult.”
- Only 15 percent thought it was easy, with the rest in the middle.
After reading further, one of the most interesting statistics is that the use of Web analytics in an organization is primarily driven by people on the ground. Only a few organizations claim to have corporate processes in place to drive value from the Web analytics investment. This is why people find Web analytics difficult; it’s viewed as a tactical response to a problem, rather than as a strategic imperative. You should not see it in terms of technology but philosophy (compare it with CRM in the late 90’s, where companies decided to buy technology and waited on the result instead of changing the process of dealing/communicating with the customer)
In my job, I always start by asking for the “big plan”: strategy /objectives / setting key performance indicators (KPIs). In short:
- why does your web site exists
- who is your target audience
- what are you trying to do
- and how will you know you’ve done a good job
If the answers to these questions are clear, then Web analytics gets a lot easier. If you’re wondering if you can afford to put Web analytics at the core of your digital marketing processes, the question really is whether you can afford NOT to.
Source: Web Analytics Demystified
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