Yo! Analyze This!

Story Tools

• Print
• Email

Related Reads

1. Could the New Google Spider be causing issues with websites?
2. Strategy and Consultation
3. Where Are Small And Medium-Sized E-businesses Going With CRM
4. Technology
5. Say it with Mouse Pads
6. More Articles

Further Reading

1. SEO Tips in a Sea of Change - Advanced SEO 2006
2. Videos to Enhance your Search Engine Listings
3. Globat.com's Marketing Buzz
4. Opportunities in Online International Marketing
5. Expert SEO: Is Ongoing Management Needed?

Inquiring minds need to know. How successfully is my Website attracting visitors? Once onsite, what do they do? Where do they go? How long do they stay? Do they have an easy time getting information and doing what we want them to?

Companies expend countless hours optimizing their sites to attract traffic but still need to understand and measure if the time and effort is worth it – literally. Online stores need to establish if the right customer is coming to the site and what goes into the shopping cart. Information sites must understand if the resource material is being read. And any service provider has to have sound knowledge about their customer support initiatives.

So what’s a marketer to do? Take a stroll to your local IT department and maybe they can whip up a web log report: it contains stats about click throughs, page views, unique sessions and so forth. But if you need to drill down further, say into tracking a customer’s deep path into the site or obtain conversion rates to determine if campaigns are on the mark, you may have to call in a Web analytics team. Maybe not the whole team but definitely get your hands on some software.

If you think you are alone in this venture think again. The Aberdeen Group says this area is growing by leaps and bounds—200 percent annually. In 2004, the research group says the market will exceed $4 billion.

Now not all web analytic packages are created equally, as any astute shopper will find out. The lower end versions may cost in the $50/month range whereas the more sophisticated programs can run well into several thousand. It all comes down to needs, namely, what information and what answers are required. Other factors to chew on:

· Will the tool be easy to set up and run?
· Who will have access to the data?
· How accurate is the information provided and can it be verified?
· Are upgrades available to adjust to your changing business needs?
· Is the information provided compatible with other sources of data your company uses?

Let’s take a quick look at four vendors who we met at the SES expo in New York City.

ClickTracks
www.clicktracks.com

For “a powerful tool that offers drill down, on-the-fly analysis,” ClickTracks merits review. ClickTracks, describes itself as a visitor behavior analysis tool designed for marketers and online advertising professionals. While ClickTracks does read web server log files and presents statistical data, it omits a lot of the technical information provided by standard web stats software making it simple to use and easy to understand. Also, you don’t need a second mortgage to buy in. Get more info by taking a tour. Click here… http://www.clicktracks.com/learn/seminars.php

IndexTools
www.indextools.com

Is this what you’re looking for in a web analytics package: Something that monitors the traffic of your Website, tracks online behavior, analyzes marketing campaigns and profiles your visitors? Meet IndexTools. The company focuses on providing comprehensive yet easily adaptable solutions. With no software, hardware or staffing required, IndexTools Live Statistics can be implemented in a matter of hours. Find out how it works now at … http://www.indextools.com/s/

Omniture
www.omniture.com

How valuable is the following type of information about your customers? If you could find out what store they came from, who they were referred by, if they have been to the store previously and what advertisement they were responding to – would you be amazed? Omniture’s SiteCatalyst provides for this type of information instantaneously and in real-time. Need further info? Request a live demo right here… http://www.omniture.com/demo.html

WebSideStory
www.websidestory.com

Track. Analyze. Optimize. What else is left to say? Well, by using WebSideStory’s flagship HBX service, enterprise organizations can easily measure and improve their online marketing ROI, increase conversion rates, optimize site content and increase online advertising revenue. That’s impressive stuff by one of the industry leaders since 1996. If you have more questions just ask at…http://www.hbxondemand.com/roi.html