Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Web Analytics..How Do We Use Them?

Web Analytics are a great resource for companies to collect and analyze Internet data. This can help companies further understand how to get the most out of their web sites. With the collection of this data, companies can even gather information on whether their newest advertising campaign is effective. For example, M & M's new advertising campaign encourages users to visit their website to "vote" on their favorite color of M&M. (http://www.mms.com/us/vote/). There are a few suggested steps that we could use to help is in using web analytics effectively.

The first one is to collect your data. Using a web analytics tool such as Google analytics is a great free resource to help you with collecting data.

The second step is to transform the data. Most of the information collected may be confusing. It is suggested to transform the data into something that is easier for you to review and understand.

Third, you should begin to analyze the data. The most important part of this step is to have a set of questions in mind that you are looking to be answered with this newly collected data. For example, what is the average time each reader stays on a page? Do most people visit at specific times? or Which pages are most popular? Do most people exit your site at the home page?

After this step it is key to now translate those insights. This means developing a plan to improve everything found through your research. For example, you can revamp your homepage if you realize that most people exit your website after just a few seconds.

You should then try to inspire your readers, giving them a reason to visit your page frequently looking for fun, new updates.

Lastly, you need to collect your data again. This process is ongoing, you will always need to find ways to stay above your competition. It is also key to constantly monitor your customers and find out how they are changing so you may change with them as well!

Source: http://webdesign.about.com/od/loganalysis/a/web_analytics.htm

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

How Much Is Your Information Worth?

Privacy on the Internet has become a huge issue between consumers and companies these days. From social networking sites to your personal e-mail accounts, companies now have access to every bit of information you put out there. But the most important question is how much is your information worth?

According to www.newsweek.com "privacy has it's price." Younger people these days are putting more information out on the web than ever before. They just don't seem to care as much as the generation before about the privacy. With this new age of thinking, marketers can cash in on all the free consumer behavior information that is provided to them on the web. For example, just by adding your likes and dislikes on your social networking site, companies now have information to target you directly with a variety of e-marketing advertisements. They can even target your friends who most likely have the same interests as you.

According to www.newsweek.com "your privacy has become some kind of currency, it is what we use to pay for online services." For example, www.Google.com charges you no fees for their Gmail service, but uses the information you provide to send out advertisements based on your key words and phrases that you use in your private e-mail messages.

It will be interesting to see the future of the online community and if consumers will continue to give out free information in order to use these free services. Will we find a way to sell our information to companies? and How much would companies pay for this information, knowing so much of it can be found for free? Most importantly, will the younger generation continue in the fight to keep our personal information private?