Archive for the ‘ Analytics ’ Category

Creative Skill Vs. Technical Skill in Reporting

I get e-mails all the time from recruiters asking me become a Webtrends or Omniture specialist for the firms that they represent. But, rather than the technical skill of setting up the report suites, I have the interpretive and the creative skill of taking the findings from the reports and making them into strategic recommendations. A few examples:

  • Finding what legislation users click on to see what is driving demand so future direct mail campaigns can explore those legislations – getting more bang for the direct mail buck.
  • Seeing conversion by lead-source (eg. banner ads vs. direct mail) , facilitating future buying decisions. Cost-per-lead analysis can also be done – with the ability to compare against other sources (such as cold-calling).
  • Seeing which link on the page leads to the most conversions (people usually think it will be at the end, when people are convinced by the copy, but actually it is usually the link closest to the top.)

So – really, these are interpretive, integrative, and creative skills… not the technical skills people are seeking…

Unfortunately, since interpretive, integrative and creative skills are more difficult to measure, sometimes they get ignored in the hiring process… which is a shame. I would rather have the big ideas from the report, rather than a nice report that never gets understood.

And we are supposed to be living in a world where creativity is more important than ever! How does this affect where you work?

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2007
06/14
POSTED BY
Stefanie
CATEGORY
Analytics
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Homepage – Could Rank Lower on Your Priorities

On the site I manage right now, the home page ranks in 5th place. Is that a surprise? It shouldn’t be. Most site owners know that internally everyone wants a piece of the homepage but further analysis may determine that your home page is not as important as people think. I keep telling people that the home page is not that important but no one seems to believe me.

Going to the home page is reflecting the behaviour of the marketers or other people in your organization who may have it bookmarked it or type in the URL directly. To them, it is as if having a banner or promotion on the home page is the same as having a big sign at the front of the store, where all of the customers enter. However, on the web, users can enter from a wide variety of back and side doors – through Google or Live searches, campaign pages or RSS links from other sites for example. So, as you prioritize your development, you should consider how the users are flowing through the site.

How to Put your Homepage into Perspective

Look at your web analytics reports (Omniture, Webtrends, Google Analytics etc) and see where the homepage ranks. You can also check your entry pages. As I said before, right now on the content-site I work on, the homepage is in 5th place behind campaign pages and some articles that rank well on the search engines. This means that more emphasis will be placed on linking from those pages, without being a distraction. On the online job board where I used to work, the home page ranked far behind the search screen and the results screen, so the best cross-promotion opportunities were there.

That being said, if your top page is a campaign page, you may not want to link off of it since it will likely hurt conversions. One good way to cross-promote is to put a dramatic splash about another campaign on the thank-you page. Of course, after you are done with the analysis and the implementation, wash, rinse, repeat – it is time to analyse again! See what the referring pages are to your desired destination pages to see if your promotion was successful.

2006
12/20
POSTED BY
Stefanie
CATEGORY
Analytics
Tips & Hints
Web Marketing
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I’m On the Run from the Killer B’s

B for Belief. B for Belonging. The B's that lead to most of the killing in the world. If you don't Belong among us, then you're our inferior, our enemy, or both. And you can't Belong among us if you don't Believe what we Believe. Maybe not even then, but it certainly helps. Our religion, our party, our tribe, our town, our school, our race. Believe. Belong. Behave. Or Be Damned.

Tom Robbins

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