Re: Web site tracking tools

From: Jim Novo <jimnovo_at_sprintmail.com>
Date: Wed 27 Mar 2002 07:44:34 -0600

Mark J. Welch typed:

> Just last week, I used WebTrends to analyze an obscure
> question: "who reads privacy policies?" I ran a very
> narrow WebTrends report on a short slice of MovieGoods.com
> traffic logs, looking only at requests for two files: the
> privacy/security page, and the "order confirmed" page.
> The overlap was minimal: of the 359 customers who placed
> orders during the short (multiple-day) interval I checked,
> only 10 had reviewed the privacy/security policy during
> the same visit.

Great use of log analysis, and I think brings up a larger
point - many marketing people simply don't know what kinds
of critical info they can get out of a WebTrends report if
the operator knows what they are doing. It takes both
sides of the brain - an understanding of marketing concepts
like customer behavior, and a (basic) understanding of how
web servers physically work.

IT usually runs the reports - at least in big companies.
Marketing can't explain what they want from the reports to
IT, because they don't know the right words to use and what
the options are. So IT runs the standard set of reports,
and delivers a stack of data - 100 WebTrends reports -
with no actionable marketing information. So the marketing
people say "these reports are useless" and toss them in a
corner, and so think log analysis is a waste of time.

Any nodding heads out there?

I've heard about this "standoff" on log analysis between
IT and marketing dozens of times, and at some very large
companies, not just start-ups. Neither IT nor marketing
knows enough about the other side of the fence to hammer
out what is important to get from log analysis, so no
progress is made - and it really isn't either side's fault.
Log analysis is just one of those weird junctures of
technology and marketing most have not figured out yet.

Solutions? Whether you are a marketing or IT person, take
a look at this article, send a link to the "other side",
and download the free Content /
Commerce Metrics Calculator for WebTrends:

http://www.jimnovo.com/WebTrends-Tracking.htm

This should be enough to get you talking the same language.
The calculator takes data from the standard WebTrends
Reports and turns it into action-oriented marketing
information on visitor behavior you can track over time.
Web Designers / Agencies - you can use this info to settle
discussions about design changes - the changes either
improved visitor conversion or did not - period.

Once you get a feel for the metrics, you may want to get
The Guide to Web Analytics, which goes into these metrics
in much more depth and provides detailed examples.

Jim

Jim Novo | Co-Author: The Guide to Web Analytics
http://www.hiqhq.com/webtrends.asp





Received on Wed Mar 27 2002 - 07:44:34 CST