Setting up your Web Analytics Tool for content analysis

Posted on | August 25, 2010 | No Comments

Some Web Analytics tools have offers the possibility of tracking and manipulating information based on the query parameters of the query string.

One of the most used functionalities is Internal Search: This is a very useful and extraordinary feature that allows you to track and measure what people is searching at your website. However if your website has this functionality means that you will have from each particular page, as much pages as searches your users run.

I receive a lot of questions related this feature, saying “in which times you track the information from the query parameter and in which circumstances you strip the query parameter from the url“. In every case you must consider what is a unique url/webpage for you. Why? Because if you leave the query parameter in the url you will have listed as urls as values may the query parameter take. If every time the query parameter changes, we can say we have a completely different page then we should not strip the query parameter from the url. However if changing the value that the query parameter takes doesn’t result into a new page (the query parameter “userid“) then it is a must do to strip it out, because in that case you will have listed the same url as times as Users do login into your website. So if you want to have the total traffic of the same page, you should calculate it (something very uncomfortable).

Share it!

Hide Sites

Information is not an insight itself

Posted on | August 7, 2010 | No Comments

I know, you probably read the header and said, I know it is not, however sometimes the obvious it is not that obvious so let’s go for it.

Information is just set of data ordered and processed in an specific way that make it relevant for decision making. However the human brain is responsible for the magic of understanding a situation using this information. A tool will never be able to do this.

Humans performs very poorly with repetitive processes but are great creating things based on information understanding.

To break the wall and invade the “Insights” arena it is necessary to ask yourself what the information means in terms of the System you are analyzing. So, having a bounce rate of 80% means nothing, the fact that your conversion rate is x% doesn’t mean a thing by itself. The information must be placed in the correct part of the system to understands it meaning. This way an 80% of bounce rate in a landing page with a video that is not being measured is not a bad rate, actually you must expect something like that.

An Insight is not the information itself, is the magic produced when the Analyst place the information in the correct place of the system and the answer appear in front of his eyes. Did you ever feel that?

Share it!

Hide Sites

Will Using GA have a negative effect on your Ranking?

Posted on | July 17, 2010 | Comments Off

I heard hundred of times that Using Google Analytics may affect your raking, did you? I fount this very interesting video from Matt Cutts talking very clear about it.

Enjoy it!

Share it!

Hide Sites

Towards Qualified Analytics Professionals

Posted on | July 2, 2010 | Comments Off

I always enjoyed my analyst role. The idea of trying to find answers in a mess of data and information sounds incredible challenging to me, it is probably (I guess) like an adventure game or something like that (I’m not a expert gamer so I don’t really know the name of those games ).

I’ve been an Analyst for more than 14 years and I’ve never got bored, actually the thing is getting even better. However for some reason some people believe that if you want to growth as a professional you have to climb up into the organization, which means, changing your role, which is in my opinion absurd…let me give you my reasons.

Whether if you are an Analyst, a Coder, or any other profile, you require some particular skills, mental model, and even values that are probably completely different that the ones you need to perform another role. Which means that you can be an awesome Analyst that enjoy his job with passion and when you get the “so important” promotion as a manager becoming a weak (and sad) Manager.

So, in my opinion the normal way of climbing up as (for instance) an Analyst should be becoming everyday a more experienced and qualified professional (you can call it Jr, Semi Sr, Sr, Mega Super Sr. and so on). I have a lot of reasons why:
1- You MUST enjoy your job.
2- A brilliant analyst must be paid for his performance. So if the person generates value to the company, the company must pay for it, you don’t need to call the person “Manager” or “VP” for that.
3- A brilliant analyst is not necessarily a brilliant Manager and the brilliant Manager is as necessary as the analyst.
4- All the companies need brilliant and passionate people on each position.
5- Since the company is a system (a group of things interacting together with a common objective) every single person in the organization is responsible for accomplishing the objectives, ergo, every position is crucial.

Think about it…

Share it!

Hide Sites

Coremetrics acquired by IBM

Posted on | June 18, 2010 | Comments Off

Yesterday I was surprised with the news that IBM acquired Coremetrics. First, because IBM was not in my radar as one player interested in something like Web Analytics. Second because Coremetrics is a pretty solid platform with huge clients and they were working a lot during this last months in order to get some of the Web Analytics market that still pays for Web Analytics Solution. The Corporative market, mainly from publishers.

However, the deal is done, and this time I have no clue about what is gonna happen with this deal. The Financial aspects have not been announced but I assume it was a greaaaaaaaat deal. So congratulations to all the team for the deal, you  always worked to build a solid platform that help us (the analysts) to make our work even more interesting. Appreciate! I just hope IBM do it better than Microsoft with Gatineau…

Share it!

Hide Sites

Social Media Metrics Standards – Where is the link between Strategy and Operations?

Posted on | June 8, 2010 | Comments Off

Share it!

Hide Sites

Social Media Metrics with Jim Sterne

Posted on | May 30, 2010 | Comments Off

I’d like to share with you a very interesting video about an interview carried on by Byron Gordon to my friend Jim Sterne. Do you know that the price tag was just invented 150 years ago and was the milestone that revolution the marketing industry? (Come on, do you really thing that marketing is new stuff?). Take a look at it!

Share it!

Hide Sites

Google launches the Google Analytics APP store

Posted on | May 25, 2010 | Comments Off

Google has recently launched the Google Analytics Application Gallery allowing companies that are developing useful apps to offer their apps to Google Analytics users.

The idea is just amazing. As we were talking in this blog for several years, every person of every company of every industry has a very unique information need for making their decisions. Google could take two ways, the first is to develop all the required apps to satisfied the most users as possible, the second is to allow third party developers to do it by their self. The first possibility was very risky for Google since it is really difficult to them attend the unique needs of all their clients/users. So in my opinion they choose the very best decision, leave third party developers to do that by their self with the possibility of earning money…in a win-win situation.

Even when the app store has 53 Apps by now, since everyone could upload their app, the quantity will grow exponentially (as well as the unuseful apps will invade the store).

By know I’ll be testing Google Analytics for Ipad and let you know.

Share it!

Hide Sites

4Q and Google Analytics – Welcome Integration!

Posted on | May 20, 2010 | Comments Off

This is a very good news, 4Q Survey the free Online Survey solution that allows you to find out why visitors are at your website, and whether or not they are completing their tasks (and if they aren’t, what’s getting in the way?), has launched a new feature that allows you integrate your surveys into your Google Analytics Account! So now you will be able to understand WHAT are your users doing and WHY! they are behaving like that. This is an incredible improvement and the good news is that since it is free you can use it whether you are a Corporation, an small company or a Blogger. As a matter of facs I think it is great for startups, I mean a company with a lot of future expectation but with the empty pockets .

Here I leave you a video about how to integrate 4Q Survey into Google Analytics

and here I leave you an awesome video of my friend Avinash explaining how to launch a survey…

Share it!

Hide Sites

My presentation at Online Marketing Day

Posted on | May 20, 2010 | Comments Off

I was invited to speak about Web Analytics in the last Online Marketing Day in Buenos Aires. If you want to practices your spanish here I leave you the video

and this is the presentation

Share it!

Hide Sites

Suscribirse al Feed

ESPANOL

.