Three analytics you'll meet in 2.0 Oct 1, 2007 12:00 PM
, by Larry Becker
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To answer questions like these — and the ones that keep you awake at night — you need more than clickstream reports. Let's meet your go-to people for the answers.
Meet your customer. Listening to the voice of your customer is the secret to shaping a Web analytics program that tells you not just what people do (or don't do ) on your site, but also why. Without the why, it's easy to reach the wrong conclusions and make unproductive changes.
Avinash Kaushik is Google's official “Web Analytics Evangelist,” author of Web Analytics: One Hour a Day, and a true leader in the field. He advocates using simple online surveys to ask site visitors three critical, “primary purpose” questions.
What is the main task you're trying to complete on this Website today?
Were you able to complete it?
If no, why not?
With insight into what people are really trying to accomplish, and how the site helps or hinders, you can help your visitors meet their goals. You can look at customer's desired outcomes and understand how they align with the outcomes your business seeks.
When you hear your customer's voice, you may find opportunities to remove obstacles to purchase, but you'll also learn that not every customer shows up to buy. You gain a more realistic look at the true size of your conversion rate opportunity. And you get the chance to help more customers complete their current tasks and leave satisfied, increasing the likelihood that they'll come to you when they are ready to buy.
Qualitative, voice-of the-customer tools to include in your Web Analytics 2.0 arsenal are surveys, usability tests, follow-the-customer home studies, and heuristic site assessments. Each has strengths and limitations; evaluate and try more than one.
Enter the Web analyst — The third person we'll meet in Web Analytics 2.0 is your Web analyst. How will you recognize this person when you meet him? He'll be expert with your chosen Web analytics software, of course, and able to work with data from offline channels as well. Excellent quantitative analytic skills are mandatory, but they're also just a starting point.
Here are a few of the key questions to consider as you recruit or grow the right Web analyst for your team. (Depending on your organization, these questions can apply to a Web analytics manager, as well.)
Does he know the difference between reporting and analysis? A true analyst presents findings that spell out an actionable insight, and points to clear next steps that can be tested for impact on your business.
Does she embrace qualitative, voice-of-the-customer data as a vital and valid complement to quantitative/clickstream data?
Does he see the big picture? A great analyst pays attention to detail without getting lost in it. He never loses sight of that crucial handful of desired business outcomes. He doesn't start from reports; he starts by seeking answers to specific questions, with an eye that zooms in and out to the appropriate level of detail.
Can she tolerate ambiguity? Like people, data are often imperfect. A top analyst is not paralyzed by imperfect data. She knows when directional data is enough to warrant a decision, as well as when more data is needed.
Is he a great communicator? Can he tell a story with data and let it persuade stakeholders who disagree with him and may outrank him?
Does she partner with the internal customer? An effective Web analyst synchs up with all the teams that shape a company's Web business. She goes beyond traditional numbers departments like marketing and merchandising and helps IT, creative and customer service articulate their Web business questions.
She presents data in a way that makes sense to her audience and uses words and pictures to help numbers tell a story. She can also refocus her coworkers away from their pet analytics projects and back to the crucial business outcomes.
Does it sound like your searching for some kind of superhuman? Don't worry, they'll be partnering with you. Remember, to satisfy your customer and meet your business goals, your Web analytics program's primary investment is in people.
Larry Becker is vice president and principal, Website effectiveness at the Rimm-Kaufman Group, an online marketing agency offering Website consulting and paid search services.
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/ The blog of Avinash Kaushik, Google Web Analytics Evangelist and author of Web Analytics an Hour a Day.
Web Analytics Demystified
http://www.Webanalyticsdemystified.com/ The Website for the company led by Eric Peterson, author of Web Analytics Demystified. Look also for the related Yahoo! discussion group.
