Web Analytics India Blog

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

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

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 .

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)
  • <img src=”/image.jpg” onClick=”javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/image.jpg’);” />
  • <a href=”/schedule.pdf” onClick=”javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/files/pdf/schedule.pdf’);” />PDF</a>
• 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

• Google Analytics help section
• Justin Cutroni’s blog
• Robbin Steif’s blog

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