Companies that do not study Web site performance figures might be wasting valuable marketing dollars. Even if you have a Web analytics program, you might not be integrating online data effectively with other reporting data. Read our tips for a comprehensive online analytics practice. In Summary:| • | Focus on metrics that correspond closely to your company's strategic online objectives. | | • | For a complete view of Web strategy, combine Web metrics with information from your sales and accounting systems. | | • | Give business leaders clear insight by presenting analytics data in readable, graphics-rich formats. |
Most companies market on the Web these days, but few midsize businesses methodically study the results of their efforts. A Web analytics solution can save you from investing online marketing dollars blindly and can help you make intelligent decisions based on what is working or not. Deploying a Web analytics solution need not be a complex project, if you follow some basic rules. Focus on strategic metrics and consider outsourcingFirst, articulate your Web site's business goals, and identify ways to measure progress against those goals. Plan to collect two types of data: success metrics and diagnostic metrics. Success metrics, such as number of brochure downloads or leads, show you what results your site is producing. Diagnostic metrics, such as average session length and page views, help you determine why you achieved those results, so you can refine your Web site accordingly. The next step is to select an analytics solution. Most midsize businesses should use a hosted service, such as those available from DeepMetrix, an online analytics provider acquired by Microsoft in 2006. If you host it yourself, you'll need the infrastructure to manage significant volumes of data. Combine analytics data with other business dataWhen you combine online data with data from your sales and accounting systems, it can provide a complete view of how your customers do business with you. For example, you can see how effective online ad campaigns are at getting prospects to phone your call center. A solution provider can help you build an integrated business intelligence solution, but there are simpler alternatives. You could request that your call center ask customers where they learned about your product (online or elsewhere), for example. That alone can help you gauge a Web campaign's impact on sales. Additionally, provide an incentive for people to register at your site. This will allow you to associate site visitors with names in your sales records and create complete customer profiles. Strive for readabilityDon't forget the importance of a strategy for how best to display analytics data. Analysis and portal tools such as Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server can help you present Web analytics data in intuitive, graphics-rich formats that senior managers can easily understand. Whatever your choice about Web analytics, though, be sure to start slowly and build gradually, so your final solution employs proven techniques. Figuring out what works and what does not, after all, is the point of Web analytics. Rich Freeman is a Seattle-based freelance writer specializing in business and technology. He has more than 14 years of strategic marketing and communications experience in the IT industry.
| 
