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Xchange Web Analytics Conference 2009

Anil — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 05:50:19 +0000

In the past five years there has been enourmous growth in web analytics related events, starting with web anlaytics wednesdays, Vendor events like Omniture summit, WebTrends Engage, Emetrics and few more.

I have been fortunate enough to attend few of these event travlleing all the way from India, However here’s a conference which is dedicated to Web Anlaytics Industry, and if you are a part of web analytics industry and want to a peak on what’s coming next, this event is certainly a must attend!

Here’s the icing on the cake, for all our readers here’s a discount coupon “XCTATVIC” which gives you 20% off on your registration, Get Started here

The X Change conference is the web analytics industry’s premier gathering, specifically targeting experts and those practitioners who are serious about digital measurement. Past participants include Best Buy, Schwab, AOL, PayPal, Turner, Intuit, Yahoo!, Avaya, The Gap, and many more.

It was initiated in year 2008 with joint effort of Semphonic and Web Analytics Demystified with the aim of bringing together a selective group of the best minds in web measurement for in-depth conversation in a unique peer to peer format.

Three Reason to attend the Xchange Conference 2009

Founding Father’s Keynote Speech

This time X Change Conference Announces its first ever gathering of the Web Analytics’s industry trailblazers Brett Crosby (Google), Matt Cutler (Visible Measures), Bob Page (Yahoo!), and John Pestana (ObservePoint) also known as “Founding Fathers of digital measurement” at X Change 2009.

Collectively, these four have had a hand in the vast majority of web and video measurement on the Internet. These “Founding Fathers Keynote Panel” members would talk about what they hoped to accomplish years ago, how they see the industry today, and where they think the digital measurement industry is heading.

Discussions in Huddles

X CHANGE is made up of small group conversations or “huddles” where participants join 12 to 15 fellow professionals and a facilitator who is considered as an expert in his/her field. Together they explore common problems and possible solutions. Choosing Huddle you want to be in is absolutely flexible.

It’s a fantastic opportunity to TALK and WORK in-depth with the best practitioners in areas they are most expert. Panel includes some of the renowned web analytics professionals from AOL, Barclays, Best Buy, Charles Schwab, Discovery, Forrester, HP, Intuit, Kohler, Nokia, Turner Broadcasting and The New York Times.

Think Tank Training

It is a unique opportunity to leapfrog countless hours of training with our 1 day Advance web analytics training and definitely an unmatched opportunity unavailable anywhere else.
The aim of this conference is to provide a unique experience tailored to web analytics Professionals and it would create unusual, personal, more reflective session for X Change’s deep, conversation-based explorations of the key issues in web analytics says “Eric Peterson co-sponsor of X Change Conference and CEO of “Web Analytics Demystified”

More information including registration and session details can be found online at xchangeconference or by calling SEMphonic at 800 763-2821

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Tatvic now Google Analytics Authorized Consultants

Anil — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 15:01:01 +0000

It’s been a while i have been working with Tatvic, a Web Analytics and Optimization consulting company. Leading the web analytics out there, the biggest achievement apart from all the customer reviews and satisfaction is when we recently became Google Analytics Authorized Consultants, The third in India and very first in South India.

Not all this in a small time frame of just a year after starting up, it’s a great achievement to the team at Tatvic.

You can now reach Tatvic directly for all your Google Analytics queries be it

Google Analytics Features
Google Anlaytics Implementation Audit
Google Analytics Advanced Implementation (Basic and Rich Media Implementation)
Google Analytics Tweaks and Support ( Custom Reporting, Advanced Segment, Profiles and Filters)
Google Analytics Integrations ( AdWords, Website Optimizer, AdSense & Youtube)

Or any other questions/doubts you have in general, and we’ll be glad to answer them for you.

We are also working on some pretty neat tools for auditing your GA data, and some sleek API tools, watch out for it. Meanwhile we are also trying to set up Google Analytics training, look out for information on this blog or follow Tatvic’s blog or follow tatvic on twitter @tatvic

You Can know more about Google Analytics services offered by Tatvic here

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Web Analytics Posts Round up May 30

Anil — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:32:12 +0000

Ok here’s more reading for all you web analyst out there. Some great articles worth spending some time on.

Web Analytics Industry:

Omniture

Tracking Organic keyword by ranking
Engineering Services Omniture: An article which’ll help you understand when you need to reach out for custom tracking or tweaks
Video Reporting in Omniture
Event Pathing – Omniture SiteCatalyst

Google Analytics

Landing Page Optimization

Optimizing Website and Landing Page Copy

Adwords:

Usability

Top 6 User testing mistakes and how to avoid them

Other Prominent Blog posts/Article

Here’s some video worth watching!

Useful Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Small Businesses – Avinash Kaushik

Google Analytics Strategy:

Google Analytics features: Pivoting & Secondary Dimensions

Happy Reading!

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Web Analytics Weekend reads may23

Anil — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:59:23 +0000

It’s been really sometime you saw some posts, i was away on a long vacation and had lot of catching up to do. Here’s some posts worth reading in the weekend. Some great posts and updates.

1.) Stephane Hamel Immeria.net: Stephane covers his Web Analytics Maturity model in this presentation. A great way to measure where your firm stands in terms of Web Analytics Maturity.

Web Analytics Maturity Model

2.) ROI Revolution Blog: A must read article to understand the optimal usage of Google Analytics advanced segmentation for ecommerce sites
5 Advanced Segments for Ecommerce Analysis

Tracking Transactions back to initial referrer with Google Anlaytics

3.) Enhanced Search Query Reports: Adwords reporting update

The Search Query Performance report will show all queries that resulted in a click, where the user has not specifically blocked their referrer URL. In other words, this includes all queries that you would see in your server logs or if you use a tool like Google Analytics. So you can now actually see the search term (clicked) report in your adwords.

4.) Dennis Mortensen’s Visual Revenue Blog: One Blog i dont miss reading, check out the latest presentation worth every minute.

Tomorrows Web Analytics Technology and Usage

5.) Measuring Social Media Ads: Wondered where to start and what to measure for all your social media campaigns, here’s a great set of best practices and guide released by IAB.

Econsultancy:

IAB Article
Found any intresting read/article or blog post? let us know via comments.

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Google Analytics Launches API

Anil — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 07:08:13 +0000

Probably the most awaited feature was the API for google analytics. This has been long overdue and here it is now. Analytics Data API’s are seen as the next step in web analytics, which gives you the flexibility to take ur data and use the way you want it. Here’s some quick uses of data API’s

Develop a Standalone Application: Ok now this is very useful if you know analytics needs of your organization and would like to build a “custom” application which shows the data and metrics specific to organization/Departments!, or even better you could build 3 different apps say one for the “marketing team” and one for the “Products team” and one for the “management team”. Of course all this can be done if you have the time and resource.

Data Sources Mashup: The whole point of API’s is Data Mashup!, assuming you have different Data sources (who does’nt now?) you can now say pull ur lead generation data and mashup with Google Aanlytics data giving you a holistic view of your web performance. That’s just one example, you can do more mashups if you have API available from your email marketing service provider, or your ad partner and many more!

Analytics everywhere!: for all the data lovers, you really dont have to login to google analytics anymore, with API’s you can create iphone/andriod apps (there are few already) and access your data on the go!.

Right so if you want to get started! Here’s where you go

Google Analytics API Code Base

Google Analytics Tracking Overview

Google Analytics GAjs reference

What more! Google Analytics team has provided client libraries to abstract and simply the process for JavaScript and Java Programming Languages:

Keep yourself Updated Join these groups/forum

Google Analytics API Notify: for the latest news/updates on API

Google Analytics API Group: Checkout the latest products/apps being created by various folks here

Checkout Examples here

All the Examples can be found HERE

Few Examples which stands apart are

1.) Polaris Desktop Widget: An Adobe Air application, free to use (one Account/one profile only) and they also have a paid version:

2.) Concentrate by Juice Analytics: Concentrate is an innovative long-tail search analytics tool designed for SEO and paid search professionals who want to make sense of search keyword data and make the most of search investments.

3.) Axiom CMS: A great example of how GA is integrated with CMS

Have more informaiton/examples on the API, share it via comments. So what’s your API plan how do you plan to use it ?

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Notes Searchmasters09 Google India Event – Bangalore

Anil — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:10:36 +0000

Late to write this, but here it goes

The Searchmasters09 was indeed a great event to attend, one of the first event hosted by Google in India. This event had great sessions to keep one occupied for the entire day. Here’s a brief overview of what’ll happened in the event.

The event started with a talk from Vivaik Bharadwaaj (Manager of the Search Quality Evaluation team) who spoke about why this conference was held, and also an introduction to the “Indian webmaster community” . He also gave a overview of Google’s initiatives in India and future plans.

He then shared some findings by Google about “India’s internet” status. Here are few important things i could make a note of

Internet users – 81 million
Internet subscribers 11.7 million (BB)
Mobile users – 287 million
Mobile internet capable 75.6 million
Mobile is the next big thing!

What works in Internet market in India, or rather what’s popular right now?

Entertainment
Education/job
Banking/finance
News/
Travel
Directory
Others

On the terms of how sites in India are doing, here’s what Google Observed

Most site does not have robot.tx
No xml sitemaps ( majority of site dint have it )
Half of the sites analyzed dint have html sitemaps
Most of the site missing metatags.

India specific initiatives by Google

Orkut communities, India corporate blog, mobile search, transliteration tool, webmaster help forum, Google bus (a bus which is internet enabled, spreading knowledge of internet – started of in Chennai)

Webmaster Central and Beyond – Adam Lasnik – Mountain View

A sampling of best practices

Discovery (getting great pages discovered)
Accessibility (for googlebot and users)
Promotion (having your pages stand out)

What you can do with webmaster tools?

Diagnose issues: crawl errors, robot.txt concerns
Change settings: canonical domain, crawl speed
Get insights: Back links, referring keywords
Make improvements: enhanced 404 pages, sitemaps

Webmaster Best practices details

Discovery: Helping Google find our page

Sitemaps: A must have preferably in two formats

HTML: have this in your site
XML: this is great to have!

How do these help?

It tell the search engine, these are the pages I want you to look, these are the priority of the pages

Links: A bit more about links

Properties of good links

Just like good friends – attracted naturally
From trustworthy, relevant, choosy sources
Similar to votes: they’re given consciously

How can you get good links?

Create a notable site with original and compelling content
Participate thoughtfully in communities
Make pages easy to share and link to

Remember! Links that aren’t worth it

Those you beg, trade, bargain or pay for
Links from sources that aren’t respectable or selective

** don’t focus on beauty focus on function!

Content is really the foundation

Great Content is

Original: your own information or commentary
Compelling: People are likely to note and share it
Accessible: Users and Google bot can find and understand it

2.) Accessibility: Make your site accessible:

You site is accessible when users and googlebot can

load all the pages
Navigate successfully from page to page
See what’s on each page
Understand the content

Other points to ponder

And when users can bookmark their favorite pages, Homepage or even just “[company name]” is useless when reviewing history/bookmarks! Make sure page title is included as a best practices
Share pages with others Via social networks like orkut & facebook) business networks, email,im
Transact appropriately on your site ( submit forms, order materials, etc)
** javascript are missing on many users, Ensure you have your site enabled for them
The most important word to remember is*****TEXT******, Even if it’s video, talk about it in text. Your core content and navigation should be in plain text

Testing Accessibility

Access your site with different browsers
This includes mobile browsers and screen readers
Also a text only browser, such as lynx
Or at minimum, a regular browser with JavaScript turned off
Make sure you not only browse but transact
Try submitting a form conducting a search etc
Have colleagues test it out

From accessibility to understanding

Ensure people and search engine understand what your pages are about
Create title tags, that are brief, descriptive, and compelling
Annotate photos with alt tags and user descriptive filenames
Add thoughtful text to give context
Effective use of Page titles

Good titles are

Specific to the page
Mention the company or organization
Are phrase based not a sentence
Making most of your images
Use alt text
Good Example: src=googlebot.jpg” alt =” googlebot with flowers”
Bad Example: googlebot photos with flowrers
Use descriptive filenames
Describe appropriately in plain text
Be Kind: Optimize your images for users.

Suggestions for Images, videos and more non text!

Use Points to check for / questions asked
*video xml
*transcript of the videos will help!
Keyword density does not have huge importance
Business name:city:what the page is about ( do not repeat it many times)

Google Custom Search! Rajat Mukherjee (Product Manager – Google Custom Search platform)

One of the most widely used internal search tools, It helps customize the Index, Ranking and Presentation

Why CSE

Users today use search to navigate sites and find information
Search integrated in minutes using look and feel of your own site
Better user retention via target search instant high relevance
Better clickthru rates and conversion on your site
Enhanced indexing via cse index and on demand index
1. On demand indexing: give a portion of your site all content will be indexed within 24 hours
Features such as labels, synonyms, date biasing, promotions
1. Synonyms/acronyms – you can now promote certain things for select queries (can be urls or information)
Monetize with relevant ads via custom search keywords
1. Features like, add keywords for relevant ads
Advanced api’s customization, branding and support options
1. Branding options available
Integrated with Google platform, webmasters tools, sitemaps

Google Analytics and Google Web Optimizer:

This session was an Introduction to Google anlaytics and Google Web Optimizer tool. The following was covered in this session.

Introduction and capabilites of Google Anlaytics
Implementation and new features
Google Analytics Custom Segmentation
Tracking Campaigns and rich media
Google Analytics reports explanation
Google weboptimizer introduction
Using A/B Test and Multivariate tests
Advantages of Testing
Resources and Help

Next Steps by Google as some suggested is

Hold more events in India
Dedicated events to other Google products used by web masters

P.S: these were the random notes i took. There are few more folks who wrote about the event, find the links below.

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Google Analytics Variable List

Anil — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 06:21:48 +0000

Google Analytics is indeed one of the best web analytics tool around, and what more can you ask when it’s free. While i was doing a training for our new interns one of the task suggested was to understand all available variables in Google analytics.

Ok so here’s the list of Variables (credit goes to Anuj) in google analytics, it’s function, when it’s used and some examples for each. This list can be quite handy when your doing a QA of your Google Analytics Implementation.

utmac
Function:Account String. Appears on all requests.
Example:utmac=UA-2202604-2

utmcc
Function:Cookie values. This request parameter sends all the cookies requested from the page.
Example:utmcc=__utma%3D117243.1695285.22%3B%2B __utmz%3D117945243.1202416366.21.10. utmcsr%3Db%7C utmccn%3D(referral)%7C utmcmd%3Dreferral%7C utmcct%3D%252Fissue%3B%2B

utmcn
Function:Starts a new campaign session. Either utmcn or utmcr is present on any given request. Changes the campaign tracking data; but does not start a new session
Example:utmcn=1

utmcr
Function:Indicates a repeat campaign visit. This is set when any subsequent clicks occur on the same link. Either utmcn or utmcr is present on any given request.
Example:utmcr=1

utmcs
Function:Language encoding for the browser. Some browsers don’t set this, in which case it is set to “-”
Example:utmcs=ISO-8859-1

utmdt
Function:Page title, which is a URL-encoded string.
Example:utmdt=analytics%20page%20test

utme
Function:X10 Data Parameter
Example:Value is encoded.

utmfl
Function:Flash Version
Example:utmfl=9.0%20r48&

utmhn
Function:Host Name, which is a URL-encoded string.
Example:utmhn=x343.gmodules.com

utmipc
Function:Product Code. This is the sku code for a given product.
Example:utmipc=989898ajssi

utmipn
Function:Product Name, which is a URL-encoded string.
Example:utmipn=tee%20shirt

utmipr
Function:Unit Price. Set at the item level. Value is set to numbers only in U.S. currency format.
Example:utmipr=17100.32

utmiqt
Function:Quantity.
Example:utmiqt=4

utmiva
Function:Variations on an item. For example: large, medium, small, pink, white, black, green. String is URL-encoded.
Example:utmiva=red;

utmje
Function:Indicates if browser is Java-enabled. 1 is true.
Example:utmje=1

utmn
Function:Unique ID generated for each GIF request to prevent caching of the GIF image.
Example:utmn=1142651215

utmp
Function:Page request of the current page.
Example:utmp=/testDirectory/myPage.html

utmr
Function:Referral, complete URL.
Example:utmr=http://www.example.com/aboutUs/index.php?var=selected

utmsc
Function:Screen color depth
Example:utmsc=24-bit

utmsr
Function:Screen resolution
Example:utmsr=2400×1920&

utmt
Function:A special type variable applied to events, transactions, items and user-defined variables.
Example:utmt=Dog%20Owner

utmtci
Function:Billing City
Example:utmtci=San%20Diego

utmtco
Function:Billing Country
Example:utmtco=United%20Kingdom

utmtid
Function:Order ID, URL-encoded string.
Example:utmtid=a2343898

utmtrg
Function:Billing region, URL-encoded string.
Example:utmtrg=New%20Brunswick

utmtsp
Function:Shipping cost. Values as for unit and price
Example:utmtsp=23.95

utmtst
Function:Affiliation. Typically used for brick and mortar applications in ecommerce.
Example:utmtst=google%20mtv%20store

utmtto
Function:Total. Values as for unit and price.
Example:utmtto=334.56

utmttx
Function:Tax. Values as for unit and price.
Example:utmttx=29.16

utmul
Function:Browser language.
Example:utmul=pt-br

utmwv
Function:Tracking code version
Example:utmwv=1

P.S: Related Posts

7 Habits of effective Google Analytics User

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Searchmasters Google India Event – Bangalore

Anil — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:22:06 +0000

I stumbled upon this great event which is a must attend if your part of the internet industry. Now everybody knows how google dominates the search market and also it’s extensive tool list to enhance your website from setting it up to reaching millions of people online.

This event is one of it’s kind with some valuable sessions, The event named as “Searchmasters 09” is a must attend. Here’s what it’s all about.The session 3 (Google Custom Search Engine) and (Google Analytics and Website Optimizer) are of great importance if your a web analyst.

1.) Webmasters Central and Best Practices

Understand why accessibility is important, how it improves the presence of your site in Google.
Discover the webmaster resources that Google offers and how it can help you.
Learn about webmaster guidelines and best practices to build websites.

2.) Webmaster Help forum

Learn about the thriving webmaster community and how it will help you find answers to search related questions.
Get to know more about the new platform we’ve recently launched for the help forum and its new features.
Get introduced to our community builders or ‘Bionic Posters’ as we call them.

3.) Google Custom Search Engine

Provide a better user retention via targeted search.
Achieve better click-through rates and conversions on your site
Monetize with relevant ads via Custom Search keywords.
Use Advanced APIs, customization, branding and support options.

4.) Building Mobile Friendly Websites

Find out why there is a need for mobile friendly websites.
What to consider while designing mobile websites.
Tools that will help in designing such websites.
Learn a few design tips and tricks.

5.) Google Analytics and Website Optimizer

Google Analytics is the next generation Web Analytics tool from Google that shows you how people find your site and how they navigate through it. It brings new accessibility to enterprise class web analytics, making it possible for all advertisers, publishers and web site owners to improve their online results. Learn the best way to make use of the product.

The Google Website Optimizer helps in improving the effectiveness of your website in getting a return on your investment. Determine how you can best attract users and lead them to your site.

Registration: It’s by invite only and limited seats, so hurry up to ensure you get in touch with someone who can get you invite to this great event.

Look out for the coverage of the event and if you are attending the event, reach out to me or leave a comment below so we can catch up .

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7 Habits of highly effective Google Analytics User

Anil — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:42:15 +0000

It was a while ago i wrote a post about 7 habits of effective omniture user, so here goes the 7 series again and this time for Google Analytics. These indeed are the best features of google analytics and probably must use in case you deal with google analytics day in and day out.

1.) Do Not Use Google Analytics Alone!

2.) Use Filters and Profiles Extensively

3.) Track Marketing Campaigns by GA

4.) Regular Expressions

5.) Custom Segmentation

6.) Track Outbound Link and Downloads

7.) Create Analytics Plan and Change Log Documents

1.) Do Not Use Google Analytics Alone!

Ok that certainly does not mean you dont use it , But use it with other amazing google tools like Google Adwords and Google Web Optimizer.

2.) Use Filters and Profiles

Profiles and Filters are the most robust features in Google analytics and a must use, here’s few tips to get started with filters and profiles.

Google Analytics Profiles:

Create a Master
Test
Campaign/Source/Medium

Content Profiles

Buyers
Browsers
Shoppers

Google Analytics Filters

Acquisition Filters
Internal traffic vs. External traffic

3.) Track Marketing Campaigns by GA

Use manual tagging for query parameters and not use “auto tagging”. (or use both)
Use Google URL tool builder to create URLs.

4.) Trouble Shoot your data

Check your reports for a line item named “(other).“
Check goal no. vs. No. of pv for goal page.
Use Charles to debug
Ecommerce : Orders in GA Vs. Accounts dept.

5.) Custom Segmentation

Use of _utmv via _utmSetVar
Only One custom segment can be build.
Use Concatenation strategy.
Tracking of Repeat Buyers.

6.) Link Tracking and Downloads

Use Onclick functions : urchinTracker() – (pageTracker for ga.js)
- PDF
Caution : These are Pageviews use filter to exclude the traffic.

7.) Analytics Plan

Analyze the website.– Check for diff Domains,subdomains,dynamic content
Create and Configure profiles.
Create filters.
Create goals and funnels.
Create recommended profiles.
Edit the tracking code.
Modify the web site (if necessary; determined in step 2).
Add the tracking code to web site pages.
Tag marketing campaigns.
Enable e-commerce transaction tracking (optional).
Implement custom segmentation (optional).
Configure other administrative features.
User accounts and report access &Automated email delivery

References

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7 must use firefox addons for web analyst

Anil — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:22:19 +0000

It’s been a while since last post, but back with some useful tips

Ok alright not “must use” but definitely the best of firefox addons if your a web analyst and using Firefox. Now indeed Firefox is one most user friendly browser because of all the customization it allows.

As a web analyst one has to juggle from one screen to other, pre implementation testing, QA, reporting, competitive analysis and endless combination ain’t it ?

Ok here’s a list of 7 firefox addons

1.) WASP

WASP needs no special mention, iam sure it’s used by most of web analyst. It’s a great QA tool mind you not just for single analytical tool but most of them. If your not using you should, read more about it at Stéphane Hamel, site HERE and download the latest version right away.

2.) Grease monkey

Grease monkey allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript. Here’s a list of scripts which’ll help web analysts, before that make sure u have latest version of grease monkey addons.

Get greasemonkey addon here

Useful scripts:

MVT Vendor Detector:
Statistics Detector:
Custom Scripts for GA
- Show 100 profiles – Lunametrics

3.) Search Status

Search is a very effective tool bar for Quick SEO Analysis, A robust tool and must have for web analyst.Find more information here

4.) Web Developer Toolbar

One of the most used firefox addons, web developer toolbar is a one stop toolbar for all your semi or complete technical needs. Read more and get hold of it here.

Web Developer Toolbar addon

5.) JS View:

This is a great plugin if you want to have a quick look to view source, or view those web analytics tool JS. You Can get it HERE

6.) Search All: SearchAll is a handy side-by-side search engine comparison tool which allows you to search at most 3 different search engines simultaneously and benchmark their performance in the status bar. This is a great plugin for your Natural Search Engine and Paid Search Analysis and research. Get it HERE

7.) FireShot: FireShot is a Firefox extension that creates screenshots of web pages. Unlike other extensions, this plugin provides a set of editing and annotation tools, which let users quickly modify web captures and insert text annotations and graphical annotations. This plugin is great when your analyzing sites, helps a web analyst take quick screenshot add notes then and there. Get it HERE

What’s your favourite plugin/addon ?, Add in via comments

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