Sure, you can buy the data... But can you analyze it?

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I really have learned so much since I started working at Fuel Interactive. Sure, I had quite a bit of technical, internet and math knowledge. But since I have been here I have learned so much more about websites, how you track them, and just how much you can learn about the visits to them. All of my co-workers have been extremely nice and helpful. Everyone is always willing to help, and go the extra mile to help in any way. I feel extremely comfortable like I have found a home here at Fuel. So comfortable, next week I might even put up my “chalkboard” next to the picture of my husband and Cooper at my desk. What chalk board you might be thinking? Well, like I said before… I am extremely into sports. And if you have ever seen the show “Around the Horn” on ESPN, then you would know what I am talking about when I say “Woody’s chalkboard”. You see, one of the sports writers on the show has a different comment or something to ponder written on this chalk board sitting behind him every time they come back from a commercial break. And I will usually take my favorite ones and put a different one on the chalkboard at my desk each day. It turns out I am not the only one that gets a kick out of this chalkboard. I will usually have several co-workers that will come say hello to me throughout the day just to see what I have written on my chalk board… I guess I kind of show my personality for that day through the chalkboard. 

With all of the new information that is being introduced to me, I feel as though I am stuck right in the middle of “not knowing anything about what a web analyst does” and “everything I will need to know in order to be a successful web analyst”. So I figured… what a better time to write a blog??? I will keep you informed as I am going through my training process so that we may learn together at the same speed; this way I will not be talking in a language that neither of us understand. 

By now, everyone knows how important it is to have a website up. And being a consumer on the other end, I am sure that you know there are some sites that you exit the second you land on it! Why? Was it the look of the website? Was the website not giving you the information that you were looking for? Or maybe this website is completely not at all what you were looking for!

My goal is to educate the individuals that are not certain what exactly a Web Analytics Specialist does and why they might need one. Lets first start with what I said before, “Sure, you can buy the data… But can you analyze it?” What does this mean exactly? Well there are plenty of ways for you to purchase the data regarding your website - with tools like with Google Analytics, Urchin or Omniture. But once you get all of this data, what will you do with it? Will you be able to tell by all of these numbers and strange terms what you should do to improve traffic to your website or increase revenue? This is where your web analyst jumps in; because these tools can only provide the data… not answers.

Here is a list of just some of the things that your web analyst will be able to do for you:

·         Test different items and pages on your website to see what is working the best

·         Let you know which of your marketing techniques and campaigns are working

·         Where your visitors are located geographically

·         Understand what pages the users are visiting, how many pages they view, and how long they are on each page

·         How many new visitors compared to returning visitors

·         Advise you on improvements you should make to your website – what and where fixes are needed

·         How and where you should be marketing

·         Page layout, placement & design changes that need to be made

·         Work with SEO to allow clients to find you easily or be noticed

·         Understand your sites actual performance

·         Emails, banners, direct mail, sales & leads response rates

·         Traffic issues – make sure that your site is well targeted and that you are not getting unwanted traffic due to poor SEO

·         Identify patterns and strategies made by each visitor

·         Keep your bounce rate to a minimal – and find out where and why visitors are leaving the site

·         Which pages are the most popular and why

·         Determine how visitors are getting to your site – Was it through a search? What did they search for? Or do they have your site bookmarked?

·         Amplify Newsletter and Email Sign-ups

·         Meet your business goals

·         INCREASE REVENUE

 

There is a lot that a Web Analyst can do for you and your company. I think the most important would be to meet your business goals. What exactly are you expecting from your website? Are you wanting the most visitors you can have or to redirect them somewhere else? Would you like it to bring in more newsletter signups and increase your database? Or maybe you just want to increase your revenue! What exactly are your business goals???