The perception behind Web Analytics

A belief that I’m trying to erase when talking to clients or anybody in the web space industry is that there is more behind the practice of web analytics besides page views, visits and unique visitors.  Although the practice of monitoring visitor behavior, as well as the tools to track them has come a long way since the early days of Hitbox Pro, there is still a belief that web analytics tools are seen as “add-on” product.  I’m here to shed some light on what web analytics is and how the data that it collects from your visitors can help you better position your product/service in the web.

Web analytics is more than just knowing how to code a page and looking at how much traffic it attracts.  It forces you to not only stretch the limits of technology but allows you to use emotions and your own imagination to concoct a strategy that creates a following and ultimately fulfill your goals.  Web Analyst (or whatever they call us passionate about web analytics, I call myself a Web Analytics Geek) have to break the perennial box and look not only at what’s “hip,” but also at the technologies behind what’s cool.  It forces you not to look at the specific details, but at a greater picture, because in essence, we look at trends in data to create answers.  “And what do you do with this data?”  You may ask.  We look at past data to get a sense of how healthy a site is, and to see what people like/don’t like about the site.  This give us the necessary information to plan a campaign, focus on an SEO strategy or overhaul the site because it’s elements where not working properly to “hook” visitors to what you’re selling. 

The practice of web analysis is more of an “art” because it allows you to use different disciplines and strategies to come to the same result, as well as dissecting the data that is collected to create a dynamic picture of your site’s health and how it grows (or shrinks).  In order to keep up to create strategies, I learn the business of my client, as well as what’s happening in that specific industry.  This is done so you can create a solution from the perspective of the client and the visitor to the site.  By getting intimate with what your audience likes or dislike, will produce measurable traffic that can be used to fulfill the client’s KPIs.As you can see, web analytics can do wonders for your business and should be used as an intricate part of the creative process.  We are more than just number crunchers or dashboard monkeys; we look at the flow of a site and how it marries with the web.  So next time you’re planning on expanding your web presence, use web analytics in conjunction to your creative, media or SEO efforts.  Otherwise, you’ll be driving through the internet half-blind. 

So what do you think?  Do you think that you can run a business with or without an analytics tool?  Let’s get a discussion going.