What is web analytics?
Web analytics provides real insight on how good a website is at achieving its objectives. For most business websites this should be how well it delivers business. It is natural for companies to want to get more sales and reduce their marketing costs, especially when times are tough. Is it possible to achieve both objectives? From my experience, it is. But, just doing ‘advertising’ & ‘marketing’ activities is no guarantee of success. Some companies waste thousands (and even millions) of pounds being busy fools. Others get great results for relatively low spends. Marketing ROI (Return On Investment) is all about getting more for less. Web analytics can help answer questions such as:
- which web marketing activities are best at attracting target prospects?
- how well does the website convert web visitors to genuine leads / valuable customers?
- which parts of the website perform best for specific segments?
- how ‘sticky’ is the website?
- are the website objectives being achieved?
- what could be improved?
How can web metrics analysis cost effectively deliver more sales?
Web metrics analysis enables companies to measure their performance against key objectives and to get valuable insight into what’s working and what isn’t.
It’s possible to get marketing ROI (Return on Investment) data and to make comparisons over time or across product categories, or across websites or alternative web marketing strategies. e.g. If you knew that for every £1 you spent on marketing activity x, your results were 25% better than marketing activity y, where would you invest your marketing budget?
Does it work?
Yes, yes, yes! I have been analysing marketing performance for nearly 20 years to identify what’s working and what isn’t. Without it, you are ‘flying blind’. Although a newer discipline, web metrics analysis can quickly provide fantastic data and real insight.
It is a crucial tool if you want to achieve a great web marketing ROI.
How do you develop successful web analytics?
You need to commit time and some budget (but not a lot compared to the value delivered). For most smaller companies, time is a key issue. Although a novice can gain useful data from a system like Google Analytics there are thousands of potential data views. It is hard for the novice to see the wood from the trees and I find that many give up after a short time.
Many companies (big and small) find they don’t have the time or expertise to do this themselves to a high enough standard and use a web metrics specialist
Web metrics analysis is a crucial tool if you want to convert prospects to valuable customers, grow customer lifetime value and significantly improve your marketing ROI.
