A website helps to facilitate an on-going dialogue between a customer and a company. In the ever-changing landscape of the semantic web, brands should now more than ever look for ways to quantify their web presence.
Peter Drucker, the father of business management believed, “What gets measured, gets managed.” (Dykes, 2012) By making the financial investment in leveraging web analytics tools, a brand’s website would then be something worth managing. Having a website for the sake of having a website provides no return on investment if a customer is not able to successfully navigate the site.
Instead, by establishing sound business objectives and key performance indicators, companies would be able to holistically examine both successful and failing web practices against web analytics data. Every decision regarding the state of a brand’s website should, in the age of the semantic web, come down to what the metrics reveal about a customers journey. The days of guessing and flying blind no longer exist and brand needs to leverage all the tools and resources available in the world of 2.0 analytics.
According to Avinash Kaushik, author of Web Analytics 2.0, “Metrics are the reason we call the web the most accountable channel on the planet.” (Kaushik, 2007) Metrics come in many forms, and Kaushik defines the building block terms as: page, page views, visits, unique visitors, new visitor, repeat visitor, and returning visitor (Kaushik, 2007).
The four attributes of great metrics, according to Kaushik should be uncomplex, relevant, timely, and instantly useful (Kaushik, 2010). Any metric revealed during a web analysis becomes part of a cyclical process where the analyst does the following: reports, analyzes, decides, acts, and reacts (Universem, 2013).
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A poor website experience would leave a bad taste in a customer’s mouth. By examining the bounce rate metric an analyst would be able to teach the brand valuable missed opportunities. Correcting page flaws is all part of the acting and reacting stage in the web analysis process. By partnering with a web analytics subject matter expert a brand would be able to move the needle further. Instead, of focusing on vanity metrics such as likes, or followers a brand should instead focus on outcomes.
According to Kaushik, in this digital age, outcomes are the future of web analytics reporting (Kaushik, 2010). As new development technologies like responsive design continue to change the landscape of the semantic web, a website needs to be able to deliver engaging content across multiple devices. A website is still a catalyst for engagement but with the integration of social media a brand is constantly trying to predict the needs of their customers on an 24/7 basis. Web analytics helps to provide a road map that quantifies what needs to be managed and prioritized by an E-Commerce team.
Resources
Dykes, Brian. (2012). 31 essential quotes on analytics and data.
Retrieved January 27, 2013 from
http://www.analyticshero.com/2012/10/25/31-essential-quotes-on-analytics-and-data/
Kaushik, Avinash. (2007). Web analytics standards: 26 new metrics definitions.
Retrieved January 27, 2013 from
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/web-analytics-standards-26-new-metrics-definitions/
Kaushik, A. (2010). Web analytics 2.0: The art of online accountability & science of customer centricity. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing.
Retrieved January 27, 2013 from http://www.universem.be/en/our-solutions/web-analytics/
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