All You Need is Web Analytics!

December 30, 2007

As this year comes to an end and I’ll be out celebrating like pretty much everyone else I wanted to leave one more post for the end of 2007. Web Analytics and Intelligence is still in its humble beginnings and while some major developments in the next year are bound to happen, the field itself is sure to develop standards, further enhances to how people view web analytics as a key component to web development as a whole and how to further understand customer behavior.

If you are new to web analytics then I’d suggest you check out Google Analytics, install it and learn how to integrate it into your site. Even if you run a fairly small site you can still benefit from understanding your traffic and the heights to which you’d like to one day take your website.

I’ve been reading Avinish’s book lately entitled “Web Analytics: An Hour A Day” which is just a fascinating read. If you are a marketer, web designer, CEO or anyone simply interested in the internet and websites then this is a great book to read and I would highly suggest it. I’ve even been able to add Avinash Kaushik to my facebook account. You have to love where technology is taking us when I can talk to an author about his book online and he actually responds! I’d also suggest checking out his blog as well.

In structuring the content for my site over the past couple of months I realize that I’ve switched gears by offering a base foundation of information about Web Analytics using Google Analytics as a teaching tool and I only hope that you’ve found it helpful so far. I am looking forward to producing more content specific to the areas of Web Analytics, Website Optimization, Web Intelligence and a few other key areas in the New Year. See you in the New Year!

Luc

Posted by Lucas | Filed Under General, Google Analytics, PureWebAnalytics News, Web Analytics | Leave a Comment

Updated Google Analytics Tracking Code for ASP sites

December 20, 2007

I was reading on Justin Cutroni’s blog, Analytics Talk, about an update to the Google Analytics tracking code he had posted recently. It’s worth the read and basically Justin talks about how to use this Google Analytics tracking code on ASP based websites for tracking purposes. Here is a copy of the Google Analytics code posted on Justin’s blog

<script type=”text/javascript”>

var gaJsHost = ((”https:” == document.location.protocol) ?

“https://ssl .” : “http://www.”);

document.write(unescape(”%3Cscript src=’” + gaJsHost +

“google-analytics.com/ga.js’

type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”));

</script>

<script type=”text/javascript”>

var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(”UA-xxxxx-x”);

pageTracker._initData();

pageTracker._trackPageview();

</script>

Feel free to check on Justin’s site and read his brief article on this subject. Happy Googling!

Luc

Posted by Lucas | Filed Under General, Google Analytics, Tips, Tricks and Tools, Web Analytics | Leave a Comment

Using the UrchinTracker() function in Google Analytics

December 19, 2007

As you may or may not know, Google Analytics runs off of Urchin Software. Before there was Google Analytics there was Urchin. Google Analytics is partially built on Urchin which is why certain Urchin methods work well with Google Analytics.

The easiest way to explain how Google analytics uses Urchin is with the urchinTracker() function. The function is used to collect data about the visitors, saves the data in cookies and sends it to the Google Analytics servers for your viewing pleasure and is made reference to in the following piece of code you install on your website.

<script src=”http://www.google-analytics.com/urchin.js” type=”text/javascript”>

</script>

<script type=”text/javascript”>

_uacct = “UA-XXXXX-X”;

urchinTracker();

</script>

In order to enhance your Google Analytics performance you need to enable and use the functions that Urchin has to offer (which I’ll post more about in the coming weeks).

Luc

Posted by Lucas | Filed Under General, Google Analytics, Web Analytics | Leave a Comment

Christmas Came Early Got a New Web Analytics Book!

December 18, 2007

analytics book Well this time of year has a few things associated to it including eating lots of good food, seeing friends, travelling and spending money. It’s only natural that you find a few things for yourself when you are out shopping that you may end up buying and I made one such purchase recently. I bought “Web Analytics: An Hour A Day” from Amazon.ca and I just got it today.

The sections that the book covers includes

A History of Web Analytics
Data Collection
Qualitative Analysis
Search Analytics
Measuring Email and Multichannel Marketing
Website Experimentation and Testing
Three Secrets Behind Making Web Analytics Actionable
Competitive Intelligence and Web 2.0 Analytics
Shattering Myths of Web Analytics
Advanced Analytics Concepts
Creating a Data Driven Culture

Posted by Lucas | Filed Under General, Web Analytics, Web Design Resources | 1 Comment

Analytics KPI Plugin for iGoogle

December 13, 2007

If you have iGoogle running on a daily basis the folks over at Analytics Index developed a plugin that checks a list of pre-defined KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Naturally if you are looking for a custom KPI solution for your online business you should hire an expert but if you don’t mind using pre-defined processes then the Analytics KPI plugin from Analytics Index should help.

Some of the KPIs included are…