Warning: This is my first blog post (on a topic I am very familiar with). Advance apologies for any ramblings or other efforts that may be construed as me trying to impress the audience. (-;
There is a buzz in the air. Everyone is talking about Website analytics. And so they should be! (Boring for some. But not for me!).
What's the buzz?
The business of collecting and analyzing data is as old as mankind.
Early Data Gathering
I say this tongue in cheek. Like anything, innovation has taken over and data collection and the subsequent analytics has come a (very) long way.
Website data collection and analysis is a big HUGE business these days.
Someone once said that “information is power”. Following on that premise, I would submit that a lack of information would leave one essentially “powerless”.
It is a relatively simple to obtain data (information) on the comings and goings to your website of web surfers, crawlers, and alike.
So you have the data. What do you do with it? This gets back to my previous comment about knowledge & power. The more data (information) you have the better position you put yourself in to have power (over your competition perhaps?).
However, having the information and knowing what to do with it are two very different things.
Unless your only purpose for having a website is to be just another pretty face on the Internet, you need to be in a position to capture, monitor and analyze what is happening on your website. If you are a businessperson, your website is becoming an increasingly important tool towards your success. Ignore this fact, and your business will fail (in all seriousness, it will)
Through this BLOG, I intend to highlight the various methods of collecting website data… And (the fun part) look at ways to analyze, massage, interpret, leverage, etc… that data.
I will also look at various tools and use real-life examples to help demonstrate best practices.
My hope is that my readers will ask questions & engage in a healthy discussion.
Let the games begin!
