immeria

#measure flash mob!

2010-09-01T18:04:00.007-04:00

I just conducted a pretty cool experiment I think nobody ever did before.

A #measure flash mob!

What is a #measure flash mob?

In the spirit of real life flash mobs, a #measure flash mob is

“a group of Twitter #measure people who assemble suddenly in a virtual place, crowd source their knowledge for a brief time to tackle a problem, then disperse.”

A simple problem statement or question
A rallying call on the #measure Twitter channel
One hour to tackle the question, after the delay the editing access are removed (but the raw document remains available for viewing)
@immeria will review & format the results which will be freely available as a blog post

What are the rules?

Every change is tracked with your Google id... so people won’t mess around deleting stuff and changes are monitored live.
Content should never be deleted, it is highlighted and the Insert/Comment feature is used
We don't worry about formatting...
Participants add their twitter name to the participants list

What were the results?

The first question was "Custom built or vendor? Is it better to use a vendor solution (either tags or logs) or develop your own custom-built solution?"
It was really cool to see the document coming alive as other people simultaneously edited
We used the chat sidebar to discuss at the same time
We could see people coming and going but sadly, we see them as "Anonymous #", although every change is tracked with the actual Google username
34 #measure tweeps came to see the document
8 actively edited something

Can we see the result?

For sure! The raw document is available in Google Docs and an edited version will be available shortly. Also, a #measure flash mob folder has been created to hold all project files.

I like the idea, when is the next one?

That's the trick! It's a surprise! I'll try to come with interesting topics and do it again. Why not send in your question and vote on submitted ones!

A big thank you to @gprzyklenk @aaronfossum @samuelhalle @keithmacd @vabeachkevin @rmanzanet @judah for their active participation in this first experiment!

How do you debug your Google Analytics tags?

2010-08-27T08:00:00.001-04:00

In the wake of the Google tool to debug your tracking code announcement I thought it would be worth sharing some of the experience I gained trough years of implementations of various web analytics solutions, developing the Web Analytics Solution Profiler and conducting web site quality control.

The new Google tool is interesting and useful, but it might be a bit overtly simplistic and still requires a lot of manual intervention. Obviously, this topic is close to my field of expertise and I though I could share some tips.

Quality assurance of tags: an old issue

For the little story, I made the first version of WASP available in October of 2006 and before that I had spent a lot of time doing implementations and was faced with the quality assurance process issue. I guess I have spent a significant amount of time on this! For those who might have missed it, here are some of my previous posts on the topic of tags quality assurance:

Web Analytics implementation Quality Assurance, a post dating back August 2007 where I referenced several blog articles discussing about common pitfalls of tagging
Quality assurance using WASP: tag all pages, February 2008, where I was highlighting the benefits of "in context" QA - running within the browser with all the idiosyncrasies it involves rather than crawling from an external context that can't perfectly reproduce the browser
Quality assurance of web analytics tags implementation, from January 2009, where I described various methodologies/tools for conducting quality assurance of tags.
Testing web analytics implementation with WASP, from February 2010, where I reacted to a the statement "There is no better test than randomly clicking your site to verify page names." to which I replied "When has quality assurance become a random act of faith?" and proposed the list of "things" that needs to be checked.

How much can you test manually?

Testing content areas driven off templates is fairly easy: identify a couple of pages using each of your templates and test only those, not the whole site. In WASP, you can start a crawl by specifying a local text file where you simply put the list of specific links you want to test.

Testing "processes" (checkout, registration, etc.) is particularly difficult but if I may preach for WASP again, one of the huge benefit is being "in context" - it can record the data as you go. You can use a session recorder and playback solution (I used DejaClick from AlertSite) but there are whole suites specifically built to facilitate the QA process in web development. Basically, you can record this part of the session and simply play it back whenever you need to test... and WASP will happily record the data so you can export it to Excel and check it out afterward.

A simple approach

Simply put, make tags QA an integral part of the overall web development QA process - whenever a template is modified or a process is touched it should be QA'ed again. There are usually "repro scripts" that are used to make sure the latest bug fix (related to tagging or not) doesn't break anything. Use those exact same scripts for tagging QA. It certainly requires IT & marketing collaboration, but I guess there is no easier alternative. Anyone who's been involved in web development knows no automation tool will magically pinpoint errors on your site... Make "quality" an integral part of your job!

How do you debug Adobe/Omniture SiteCatalyst implementations?

2010-08-26T17:19:00.000-04:00

There is a fascinating discussion on "How do you debug Omniture SiteCatalyst implementations?" on the LinkedIn Omniture Enthusiasts group.

People proposed various tools and the conversation is evolving into the tagging QA process. Obviously a topic close to the work I have done on the Web Analytics Solution Profiler.

Quality assurance of tags: an old issue

For the little story, I made the first version of WASP available in October of 2006 and before that I had spent a lot of time doing implementations and was faced with the quality assurance process. I guess I have spent a significant amount of time on this issue! For those who might have missed it, here are some of my previous posts on the topic of tags quality assurance:

Web Analytics implementation Quality Assurance, a post dating back August 2007 where I referenced several blog articles discussing about common pitfalls of tagging
Quality assurance using WASP: tag all pages, February 2008, where I was highlighting the benefits of "in context" QA - running within the browser with all the idiosyncrasies it involves rather than crawling from an external context that can't perfectly reproduce the browser
Quality assurance of web analytics tags implementation, from January 2009, where I described various methodologies/tools for conducting quality assurance of tags.
Testing web analytics implementation with WASP, from February 2010, where I reacted to a the statement "There is no better test than randomly clicking your site to verify page names." to which I replied "When has quality assurance become a random act of faith?" and proposed the list of "things" that needs to be checked.

How much can you test manually?

There are huge challenges in the QA process cycle. Manual testing is long and error prone (either with Firebug, HTTPWatch, Fiddler, IEWatch, Charles) and external scans (like Observepoint or SiteScanGA) are not always the best solutions for sites under development/behind firewall/secured.

Testing content areas driven off templates is fairly easy: identify a couple of pages using each of your templates and test only those, not the whole site. In WASP, you can start a crawl by specifying a local text file where you simply put the list of specific links you want to test.

Testing "processes" (checkout, registration, etc.) is particularly difficult but if I may preach for WASP again, one of the huge benefit is being "in context" - it can record the data as you go. You can use a session recorder and playback solution (I used DejaClick from AlertSite) but there are whole suites specifically built to facilitate the QA process in web development. Basically, you can record this part of the session and simply play it back whenever you need to test... and WASP will happily record the data so you can export it to Excel and check it out afterward.

A simple approach

Napkyn - how web analytics should be

2010-08-12T16:11:00.000-04:00

Would be analysts, consultants, practitioners and vendors alike often reach out and ask for career advice, coaching, tips & tricks or my opinion of the market. I was lucky to get help, support and advices from Avinash, Bryan Eisenberg, Jim Sterne, Brian Clifton, Joseph Carrabis and John Hossack from VKI Studios early on when I started WASP so I'm happy to "pay it forward". I'm inclined to give a hand as long as it is reasonable - beyond that I'm happy to propose my consulting services, play an advisory role or even defer to other agencies and consultants.

Sometimes I receive job offers, partnership opportunities or very interesting propositions. The answer is usually "thank you - but it took me over 20 years to get my freedom and I really enjoy it!". Plus, my position in the market is due in large part to this philosophy and independence - allowing me to work with many agencies and vendors.

Napkyn: outsourced professional digital analysis services

When Jim Cain, founder, and Nish Patel, first investor in Napkyn, approached me about their new venture, they basically described what could very well be the best approach to web analytics for most organizations: outsourced professional digital analysis services.

There are many ways to get started in web analytics but demand for skilled resources is far greater than availability. Napkyn brings the best aspects of both the consultant and employee approaches.

In short, the benefits of Napkyn are:

Answer the need for experienced, skilled resources
Reduce the time to recommendations & improve recommendations frequency
You take care of your core business while Napkyn's take care of it's own: analytics
The approach is cost effective - top skilled team at a very affordable price

You can review Napkyn's Web Analysts program advantages. There are other huge advantages I see in their approach: a) practitioners/employees are often pulled in all directions and stuck in internal politics and b) agencies developing your websites can't be judge and jury by also doing your analytics - by outsourcing to Napkyn you get a rigorous, independent and unbiased alternative.

My - independent - role with Napkyn

I found the approach so compelling that I accepted to be on Napkyn's Advisory Board. I'm happy to share my experience and work closely with the team to enhance their offering. In some cases, I had to pass on interesting consulting opportunities - I can now stay involved at a more strategic and supervisory role while Napkyn handles the bulk of the job. I have to say this is a non-exclusive agreement - I made sure to keep my independence and freedom - guaranteeing the best approach for each unique situation. Basically, Napkyn is another agency I'm happy to help out, work with and foster the continued improvement of the Online Analytics Maturity Model.

WAA member? Win a pass to The Art Of Marketing! Montreal, Sept 30th

2010-08-06T22:35:00.002-04:00

I have a pass to giveaway for the greatest Montreal marketing event ever: The Art of Marketing, September 30th. There are only two conditions:

You can make it to Montreal on September 30th - it would be a shame to waste this opportunity!
You must be a Web Analytics Association member.

Contact me on Twitter or email me to enter the draw (I will randomly make the draw on September 1st).

Read more about this great event in my previous blog post.

Web Analytics Association Montreal (WAAM) meetup

You can also register for our next get together at Boris Bistro, September 29th, from 5:30pm until 8:30pm.

Don't miss this event: The Art of Marketing - Montreal, Sept. 30th

2010-08-03T14:37:00.004-04:00

In web analytics and online marketing optimization, Avinash Kaushik, Mitch Joel and Seth Godin don't even need introduction. I'm trilled to see The Art of Marketing coming up to Montreal, September 30th: six authors sharing their cutting edge thinking and experience in a jam packed event!

Six speakers - an amazing day!

First, the speakers I've seen and authors I read:

Seth Godin: ever heard of Tribes, Lynchpin or Purple Cow? Three marketing best sellers!
Avinash Kaushik: web analytics anyone? His books, "Web analytics an hour a day" and "Web analytics 2.0" are on every web analyst bookshelf.
Mitch Joel: Six Pixels of Separation - leading authority in social media

and the authors I need to discover:

Jeffrey Gitomer: The Little Red Book Of Selling is all about selling, loyalty, customer service and more
Max Lenderman: Brand New World, honestly havent read his book yet, but "dive into the multi-billion-dollar racket of brand fakery" is sure to be interesting!
Andy Nulman: author of POW! Right Between the Eyes!

Win a free pass!

Email info@theartofproductions.com with your top five list of marketing books and be entered to win two tickets to The Art of Marketing!

I submitted mine. I’m focused on web analytics and business optimization so my pick list reflects those preferences and how they affected my view of marketing.

Web Metrics, by Jim Sterne – considered to be the Godfather of web analytics, Jim was talking about online marketing and optimization way back then. A classic still worth the read!
Web Analytics an Hour a day, by Avinash Kaushik – by democratizing access to web analytics, the coming of Google Analytics was a major shift for online marketing measurement. Through his unique communication style, Avinash basically made it even more accessible!
Competing on analytics, by Tom Davenport – for demonstrating how data-driven management can lead to a competitive advantage.
Marketing Management, by Philip Kotler – the classic intro to marketing and one I really enjoyed during my eBusiness MBA.
The Attention Economy, by Tom Davenport – understanding the new currency of business – attention – was an eye opener for me and influenced my marketing strategy recommendations and even the way I conduct business.

Register early!

I will be there and the event is sure to sell out so you should register early! And for you, my esteemed readers, I have a 50$ promo code! When registering, enter SK23 to get the discount.

And there's more!

On September 29th I'll be speaking at InfoPresse day about social media metrics and during the evening we'll certainly do another Web Analytics Association Montreal (WAAM) meetup (stay tuned for details).

It's not me, it's him! Reaction to WSJ "The Web's New Gold Mine: Your Secrets"

2010-08-03T12:08:00.004-04:00

The Wall Street Journal - according to their own detailed stats, is read by 3.5M people - "the number speaks for themselves" as they say... I wonder how they gathered all this great knowledge about their readers - but I digress... One would expect such a "leading business publication" to be rigorous, unbiased and seek to get the stories and point of views from all angles.

This is certainly not the case in a recent article by Julia Angwin entitled "The Web's New Gold Mine: Your Secrets". The article is getting a lot of attention on social media, generating tons of comments and being perceived as a good educational piece and eye opener... But it is raising strong critics from the web analytics industry thought leaders including John Lovett, Anil Batra, as well as Omar Tawakol on Adage, the CEO of BlueKai cited in the WSJ article. Jim Sterne, the "godfather of web analytics", incidentally wrote on this very topic in You Say, "Creepy." I Say, "That's What I Want", just a few days before the WSJ article was published.

Update 2010-08-05: other blog reactions from Andy Beal and Alex Yoder, CEO of WebTrends

Confusion and sensationalism

Should I say there is a lot of confusion? Do you hear me shouting "THIS IS A MESS!"

Ad networks, behavioral targeting, business analytics, web analytics are all mixed up into one big melting pot of "spying and bad boy". Yes, the DNA of business is data - be it your local grocery store owner welcoming a "20-something female" or Expedia "looking at visitors coming from New York seeking for a trip to Los Angeles" or using cameras to optimize the flow of highway traffic during rush hour, it's all about marketing & optimization: understanding the client and making the right offer. There is nothing bad or evil about the desire to understand people, their behavior, and please them ethically, honestly and with respect.
Yes, there are spoiled apples in the lot, but serious organizations take great care about the way they collect, manage and use data - one of their most, if not THE most valuable asset. The WSJ article is a sensational piece playing on strongly biased common cultural fear, uncertainty and doubt about "evil spying"...
Some reactions have been "look at the WSJ, they use ad networks, web analytics, behavioral targeting and know a hell of a lot about me!" or "others are doing it". However, this is not the right reaction - imagine the thief telling the judge "yeah, but they stole much more than I did!"...

What to do?

As web analytics professionals, as a young and mostly unregulated and disorganized industry, I believe we need to do three things I would call the SIT approach (yes, I love acronyms!):

Self-regulate ourselves before legislation does: several countries are in the process or have already defined laws setting the boundaries of privacy and data disclosure. Whenever regulation looks into something like this, the remedy is often worse than the illness, so we would be much better taking matter in our hands and set very strict guidelines and best practices.
Identify spoiled apples among us: an independent auditing process and frequently reviewed stamp of approval should be apposed to sites and solution vendors abiding by the above mentioned rules. Just like their are "certified organic" food or "secure seal" on ecommerce sites, there should be a "privacy conscious" stamp of approval for those who merit it.
offer full Transparency: sites generally have privacy policies but they are often out of data or incomplete. Furthermore, the common use of 3rd party scripts to enrich and augment the user experience often leads to additional data being collected without even the site manager being aware of it. When I created WASP it quickly gained popularity among non-technical/non-analytics people because it conveniently showed exactly which data was being collected - and if any of it was considered to be harmful by the user. During the development process, I asked several vendors for detailed descriptions of their analytics tags - most of them didn't have the info readily available or plainly refused to disclose what each value-pair of data means and is being used for. We should be able to go on any site privacy page and get a detailed view of all the data being collected, their purpose, time of retention and how to clear them.

In the past we've said we need to "educate" and do "marketing" - we are beyond the obvious. We need to act.

Who can do it?

There is only one organization positioned to offer the independence, leadership and global recognition to address those three points: the Web Analytics Association. Yes, I am biased: I'm closely involved with the WAA and I'm on the Board of Directors, but my wish is there will be more vendors coordination and openness, more vendors, agencies and large organizations alike becoming corporate members, unite and speak our voice. We need to counterbalance the fear and misinformation being spread by articles such as the WSJ or privacy lobbying groups mixing up everything into a big poisonous soup.

How to do it?

The WAA is a volunteer based organization - both a blessing and a curse. On one hand it gives lots of opportunities for those who want to get involved, on the other it makes it difficult to invest in long-term initiatives. SIT can only work if a) there is fund, b) there are dedicated people, c) vendors and large sites enters the program... so a) create a special fund, b) contract/hire the right people, c) start with WAA corporate members.

When do we start?

gaAddons v2.0 - now with async!

2010-07-16T10:29:00.003-04:00

I'm currently alpha testing gaAddons v2.0 on my blog and my site - and you can help me simply by visiting any of my sites and click on outbound links, downloads and email links! Or go straight to the gaAddons v2 test cases.

*** be forewarned if you use the actual code it's at your own risk ***

What is gaAddons?

It's a collection of useful enhancements to extend and improve upon the default Google Analytics implementation. It actually leverage the popular jQuery light-weight and powerful JavaScript library.

I had created a first version a while ago - still available here - but you are really better off waiting for v2!

What's in v2?

Use the new async calls
Track outbound, downloads and email links using events ("fake" pageview mode also supported)
Track real bounce rate by triggering an event after 30 seconds on a page (default)
Avoid affecting bounce rate when events are on 1st page view of a visit (default)
Easily customize the default options
Use a tagging syntax identical to Google Analytics style

There are a number of ideas and features upcoming - use Support to share feedback & ideas!

Example

You will notice the code bellow is a slightly modified version of the default GA tags:

<script type="text/javascript">
   var _gaq = _gaq || [];
   _gaq.push(
      ['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXX-X'],
      ['_trackPageview']
      );

   var gaAddons = gaAddons || [];
   gaAddons.push(
      ['_trackOutbound'],
      ['_trackDownloads'],
      ['_trackMailto'],
      ['_trackRealBounce']
      );

   (function() {
      var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
      ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
      var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
  
      var gaAddons = document.createElement('script'); gaAddons.type = 'text/javascript'; gaAddons.async = true;
      gaAddons.src = 'gaAddons-2.0.min.js';
      s.parentNode.insertBefore(gaAddons, s);
   })();
</script>

That's all you'll have to do to start getting additional metrics under Content/Event Tracking.

Warning!

Wait for my signal before using this code on your own site - I'm currently alpha-testing and there are chances you might screw up your Google Analytics data - and I will not support you!

There will be a beta-test phase where you will be invited to test it on your own site.

Alpha-testing:

Head to the gaAddons v2.0 page and look for the Test Cases at the bottom of the page
Click on a couple of outbound links, downloads and mailto
That's all I need from you to help me out!

This will a) allow me to quickly get sample data and b) test several conditions using different browsers c) test the unknown!

Please use Support to send in any feedback, ideas, thoughts or just share a comment on the blog.

Google Blogger with real-time stats: why?

2010-07-02T10:34:00.005-04:00

This morning I stumbled (literally - as well as mashable) on a post mentioning the availability of real-time analytics in Google Blogger, the platform I've been using since October 2002 to host my blog.

The good

Availability: Stats are showing up in Google Blogger in Draft under the Stats item and data is available since July 1st. Blog owners do not have to do implement any tags or change their configuration.

Metrics: Near real-time stats are available for a number of metrics: post pageviews, referring URLs, Referring Sites, Search Keywords, Countries, Browser and OS.

Dashboard: There is a single dashboard under Overview which uses the same UI as Google Analytics.

The bad

This is a very light weight and toned down reporting tool - I wouldn't even call it "analytics" as their is virtually no actionable data. Notice the absence of several simple metrics such as: Visits, Time on Site, New vs Repeat visitors, any of the Loyalty metrics.

More importantly, there are no campaigns or AdWords integration (or AdSense), no content categorization (the reason why we use tags on blogs!) and of course, no Goals.

There is a single dashboard without any customization, no filtering, no custom report...

The ugly

In this day and age of social media, how could they miss integrating Feedburner stats? Google acquired Feedburner ages ago and it's pretty much still in the same state it was then. How could they miss integrating any type of engagement information such as number of comments per post or number of mentions on social media? What about creating a special traffic source category for social media: Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, YouTube, etc.???

My take: why?

My first impression is... well... how can I say: what the heck?! Don't even bother with this. If you are using Blogger out of the box without any customization, maybe I can understand. But seriously, integrating Google Analytics to Blogger can be done in a snap.

In doing so, maybe Google is setting the stage for other stuff, here's two ideas:

Real-time data in Google Analytics? I doubt it because the collection method are really different and the sub-set of metrics offered are much easier to offer in real time
Pay for Google Analytics: Based on market data collected with the Web Analytics Solution Profiler (WASP), Google Analytics enjoys a huge market penetration. Although there are large sites using GA, the number of smaller blogs using it is astronomic. The owner of all those small blogs are probably not very important for AdWords revenues and must drag significant resources... Google could also come up with a paid version of GA but this is a stretch...

My recommendation: GA + PostRank

If you are serious about analytics on your blog, install Google Analytics and use PostRank Analytics. See my review of PostRank from September of last year - still using it, still loving it!

Their infographics are very useful and tailored for blog owners, they integrate useful data from multiple social media sources and provide useful "engagement" data. The per-post Conversion Feed provides details about every social media mention and the new Activity Stream offers a real-time view of our social presence.

Excuse the dust...

2010-07-01T10:03:00.000-04:00

July 1st: a strange tradition in Québec, and it's not Canada day (similar to 4th of July in the US) - our "distinct" culture isn't too keen on celebrating it. No, I'm talking about the big moving day!

Fulfilling a dream

I'm not moving yet... but getting closer to a lifelong dream. Sitting on the St-Lawrence river, 15 minutes away from Québec-city, Île d'Orléans is described as a "microcosm of traditional Quebec and the birthplace of francophones in North America".

Explorer Jacques Cartier called the verdant spot the Island of Bacchus when he sighted it in 1535. The Indians had long referred to it as the Enchanted Place. Both names do justice to Ile d'Orleans, which Cartier later renamed in honor of the Duke of Orleans, the son of the King of France.

I'm in the process of purchasing a house in Ste-Pétronille, located at the tip of the island. Built around 1815, the charming spot sits on a 20,000 square foot lot surrounded by forest, gardens and other historical houses. The very well preserved house isn't big and was built in the pure traditional style: 35x24 two story timber frame with an annex. The surrounding is just amazing!

Perspective

Some people find it awkward I can be so involved in the modern, online world and be interested in history and countryside at the same time.

Maybe it's something that can't be explained!

The only perspective I can offer is that of balance between work and life, between light-speed of the net and growth of a hundred years old tree, taking care of a house dating back before my grand-grand-parents while improving a website which lifespan is counted in months.

Web analytics industry transformation (con't)

2010-06-30T15:03:00.001-04:00

Not to beat a dead horse - but after sharing my views on Adobe-Omniture, IBM-Coremetrics and speculation about Microsoft-Webtrends some people inquired about my views on the fate of other vendors.

Let's recap:

Adobe "branding & rich media marketing focus" will bring Omniture in this direction – shying away from anything that is beyond online marketing (from ads to presentation layer).
IBM history of "middleware integration" is in the opposite direction - probably bringing Coremetrics as an integral part of WebSphere (closer to the logic layer).
WebTrends, who's been trough rough times over the past 10 years still puts off a good fight as one of the major player. The single guy in the room will definitely be looking for a new mate - and I speculate Microsoft could be such a fit.
Google is Google, right? The mission remains so simplistic and so powerful "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". They are on the right path but being at the top of the hill also makes you an easier target - including claims that Google Analytics is being subsidized trough Google AdWords... a practice that could be considered to be "unfair competition".

What else?

The “extremes” probably won’t remain between Google on the "low-end", and Omniture on the "high-end". I'm quoting those terms because they are mostly irrelevant by now. As Avinash put in his keynote at the last eMetrics Toronto "it's easy to do better than your competitors when you don't have to repeat their mistakes". Google Analytics will keep improving and in some respects it already offers more than some paid vendors. Furthermore, not everyone will want to venture in IBM long, expansive approach… and not everyone is a friend of Adobe either (not mentioning the dim future of Flash, one of the flagship product of the company).

As the market consolidates, new players can emerge and the online analytics ecosystem is still far from maturity. There are plenty of opportunities for innovative startups to fill specific needs.

Who else?

While thinking about other players I tried to extract the "unique selling point" - what makes this player different from others. Of course, this is my own appreciation and I would love to hear your feedback and own perspective.

Unica: Although I haven't had a chance to use Unica extensively, the feedback I hear about their data model and flexible interface is always positive. They are particularly well suited to integrate any data source and grow as more complex requirements emerge.
Webtrekk: The EU web analytics market is quite fragmented, but some players, like Berlin-headquartered Webtrekk, have developed the business within the unique requirements of this market. They are particularly sensible about privacy and legal considerations. As such, Webtrekk might be particularly good for some types of environment such as banking and other financial services.
AT Internet: The privately held, French company is not a new comer and boast an impressive client list in France. Their unique value proposition includes personalized consulting services, effectively avoiding the risk of "judge & jury" often found when the web agency developing the site is also the same reporting on site performance. I had also posted a review of AT Internet latest NX product.
KISSmetrics: the startup, which product is now available, is already sending very good vibes in the market. Crafted by experienced entrepreneurs and benefiting from strong financial backing, the fresh approach to web analytics promises to bring a powerful yet very intuitive interface specifically focused on people and conversion.

My take

Those are just a few players in the online analytics ecosystem - I didn't mention voice of customer players such as Kampyle or iPerceptions, or even very specialized tools such as Tynt or PostRank. As the market mature, larger players will continue to expend horizontally, aiming at acquisitions of complementary tools.

At the same time, nth generation vendors will come up with fresh alternatives that will bring a different perspective to such things as the tagging nightmare, real-time slicing & dicing capabilities, data integration and above all, a stronger business focus (as opposed to marketing-centricity).

Sherlock Holmes and monkey mimicking

2010-06-24T14:41:00.002-04:00

Most so called "web analysts" are monkeys mimicking others without understanding what they do!

In my experience teaching at UBC and ULaval, the first message a student post in a forum; the first assignment delivered, tells me if this student has the potential to become a good analyst or not. Does he or she show a structured approach to problem solving? Does he/she go beyond the obvious?

This is referred as what Jim Novo brilliantly exposed as "the Sherlock Holmes problem" - and incidentally what is being tested by the WAA Certification: go for the facts and come up with the most optimal and realistic conclusion/recommendation under the current business conditions.

"A client is to me a mere unit - a factor in a problem."
Sherlock Holmes

Evidence I: broad and useless

At the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit in France, one of the presentations felt for this common error: reporting page views and visits rather than bringing insight on business outcomes based on each of the customer lifecycle stages. Without being too harsh, I would say it's a start... but it is far preferable to have more depth than breath. Focus on a narrower area you can control and make a difference rather than report widely on metrics that you don't control and won't result in any business change.

Evidence II: pulling the wrong lever

The web analytics course I created for ULaval stems from my work on the Online Analytics Maturity Model and some of it is covered in my workshop. The twelve weeks master-level course includes a short assignment every week. At the earliest stage, when asked to do an analysis of the visits metric most will go in the tool, copy the graph and textually write "the number of visits was X and the average was Y"... Later, when faced with the challenge of recommendations, they will seek to improve the visits metric... fine, but how does this contribute to actual business objectives and outcomes?

Case study: Students were asked to do an analysis of the Visits to SaveTheChildren.org in January 2010, just when the Haiti earthquake stroke. Most students did not mention the traffic was 14 to 15 times higher than usual. Some did not realize the statistical shock was a direct result of increased awareness of Save The Children resulting from the disaster.

Evidence III: chasing the monkey

Most analysts are feeding from "Top 10 tricks to improve SEO", "Top 5 social media tactics", "Top 3 wonders of the online world"... Good for the "now" part of learning, and maybe a necessary step, but in the long run it's not how you will transform the business. This is what I covered in a previous post entitled "Undermining our future as web analysts".

Elementary my dear Watson

I think the starting clue is knowing one's analytics maturity. In the latest Sherlock Holmes movie incarnation, the hero thinks about his moves before going into a fight. He analyzes the weak spots and the actions that will result in the desired outcome. It doesn't only make up for a great movie and special effects, it also highlights the strong analytical capabilities and result driven approach of Holmes!

The knowledge worker in 3 acts: Microsoft.nl

2010-06-22T16:20:00.002-04:00

I spent a day with the team at Microsoft Netherlands - thanks to These Days. In this post, my thoughts are not about web analytics or the future of the industry - visiting Microsoft got me thinking about how we are working today and how we will in the near future.

Act I: the office desk

Every Microsoft employee is empowered with a fully loaded and powerful laptop running the latest Windows 7, Office 2010 and a slew of other Microsoft (and non-MS) tools. If Microsoft aims to "make it great" it needs to understand the behavior and expectations of its users. Back in my days as a sysadmin and webmaster at Softimage (then a subsidiary of Microsoft), the "eat your own dog food" mentra wasn't an obligation, it was a pleasure! 93,000 employees in 100 countries (Wikipedia) makes for a pretty good test bed.

I used to work on three, sometimes four computers. Now I only use my laptop which I will sometimes hook up to a bigger screen, keyboard and mouse. At any given time only a third of Microsoft.nl employees are in the office - the others are working from home or wherever else.

There is no office desk anymore - it's your laptop, your iPhone, your iPad...

Act II: the office space

What is striking about Microsoft.nl office is... the space! It doesn't even look like an office, it looks like a cozy modern hotel lobby. There are areas for meetings, for inspiration, for open conversations or if you need to be calm and focused you can go into sound proof cubicles. Of course, there are also the relaxing areas, gaming and a Microsoft Surface table. Food is great and drinks are plenty - just like home.

The office is just like home, home is your office, your office is anywhere.

Act III: the social space

A huge part of our work is filled with social interactions that are beyond mere job-related conversations. Being freelance and working from home (most of the time) is great. The negative side is socializing at work is pretty much non-existent. Facebook or Twitter are not alternatives...

The Microsoft.nl office is clearly set up to facilitate formal and informal social connections. For that matter, my little experience confirmed two stereotypes of the Dutch: 1) bicycles are everywhere and 2) there is a vibrant at-work and after-work lifestyle.

The only real conversion of any social media is getting to meet someone in real life.

The finally

People come to Microsoft.nl offices from all around the world - sometimes just to see and understand the evolving workplace dynamics. Over the weekend I spoke to someone who's employer thought "it would be cool to have iPads for everyone" but still requires them to show up at the office from 9 to 5... they don't get it! We, web analysts and online aficionados, are living in a microcosm ahead of the mass - we are lucky but it's a curse - lets not forget it.

For more info about what's so special about Microsoft.nl office, check out "New World Of Work Microsoft Netherlands Case Study" on Slideshare.

IBM-Coremetrics: why it matters & my take

2010-06-16T05:39:00.003-04:00

Disclaimer: I do not have any insider info and those comments are my personal opinion and point of view. In legal terms... those are not forward looking statements.

Another shockwave in the small web analytics world: IBM Advances Analytics with Acquisition of Coremetrics.

The history

This shouldn't come as a huge surprise. When Adobe announced the acquisition of Omniture few people understood the strategy and complementarity between the two players. In "Adobe + Omniture + WPP = game changer" I commented that "There seems to be some concensus this acquisition is awkward. However, it is in the same vein as IBM's Websphere partnership to integrate Coremetrics within the development platform and production cycle."

In some ways, IBM fix a mistake: according to some people, they should not have sold Surf'Aid in 2006. Remember this was at a time when Google had a much smaller market penetration and Micrsoft purchased a small web analytics player named DeepMetrix, based in Gatineau, Canada... the rest is history. But the re-purchase has not much to do with Surfaid.

Today's picture

According to a study of the top 500 US retail sites study, Google Analytics enjoys a market share of 62% (up 19% from a year ago). Compare that to Omniture 40% (up 8%) and Coremetrics mere 18% (up 2% from last year). Google 60% figure is consistent with other confidential studies I conducted for the European market.

"Double dipping" (using more than one tag), is up to 33% and significantly in favor of Google.

Coremetrics offering was traditionally considered to be very strong for retail sites - a position that is obviously eroding when looking at the market share results.

What's the deal?

Google dominates the market
It is not even a matter of price, it's a matter of features. The usual claim that Google Analytics was used on small insignificant sites and amateur blogs doesn't hold anymore. Google Analytics has reached the "enterprise-class" level, and businesses are massively adopting Google.

There are a couple of perverse effects however (more on that bellow)

Adobe + Omniture
The goal is to integrate analytics into the development life cycle. There were also some speculations on some type of ad network enhancements trough Flash and better measurement but I don't believe it... Flash long term survival is seriously threatened by HTML5.

Adobe culture and historical offering is focused on marketing and rich media.

IBM + Coremetrics
The existing relationship between IBM WebSphere and Coremetrics is already in place. I recently mentioned IBM is pushing for analytics front and center in a massive, worldwide, multi-channel marketing campaign (I really like it and went back to it several times!).

IBM isn't about ad placement, marketing or rich media, IBM is about running core business processes. It's about business analysis and business intelligence contributing to bottom line core business optimization. We are in a whole different ballgame.

My take

IBM move is wise and certainly an influx of fresh air for Coremetrics. IBM's culture and experience with acquisitions leads us to think Coremetrics might become closely embedded with WebSphere and maybe marginalized as a standalone product.

In my Roadmap to Online Analytics Workshop I conclude with the slide bellow:

What it means:

IT & Logs: Early websites started in IT, and like any system, websites had logs (circa 1993). IT admins were looking at those logs for traffic source, usage and errors.
Marketing: Eventually, marketing found out IT people were talking to customers - bad idea! So Marketing took over the web (circa 1998)
Tags: Marketing still had to ask IT for logs - complex, slow, not sexy (think old WebTrends) - tags solved the issue! Google democratized this approach (circa 2005)
Business: Modern websites are not only about marketing - they transcend all business functions.
Online: Measuring the web isn't enough - think about the growing complexity of the online ecosystem, including social media & mobile.
BI: As we evolve our web analytics practice, we seek to integrate external data sources: call center, voice of customer, core systems data... we're going toward business intelligence (not the technology, the concepts)
Business: Marketing optimization isn't enough. You can do a great job at marketing, but if you bring all those visitors to a broken process you are wasting your money. Eventually, to optimize the online channel you have to look at the internals - you need to become business analysts.

In the IBM-Coremetrics context, the path toward business analyst and business intelligence is pretty clear.

What's next?

Microsoft-Webtrends?
There have been speculations for some time about WebTrends. The company bumpy road in the past several years is now more stable and the product was improved (although it's a strange coincidence to see the VP of Marketing leaving WebTrends the same day IBM-Coremetrics is announced). Microsoft-WebTrends would certainly be a good fit. Microsoft is already a heavy user of WebTrends and since the debacle of Gatineau, Microsoft is left with no web analytics offering. Culturally, WebTrends remains one of the few solution that can be hosted internally. WebTrends would be a natural fit with other server-based offering from Microsoft, be it SQL Server, Sharepoint, IIS and other MS Office "enablers". Some people think Oracle-WebTrends is a possibility but I don't see a good fit.

Firing at Google
Anyone in the online world saying Google isn't a threat is either stupid or lying (and for that matter, even in the offline world!). Since a little controversy is always interesting, and will all due respect for the benefits and strengths of Google Analytics, I think there is some unfair market competition and clear subsidizing of GA from AdWords.

There is clear market dominance of Google, and it's grown from about 40% to 60%. At this rate, Google Analytics will own over 80% of the market within a couple of years - often the threshold beyond which "monopoly" becomes a risk.
Even for organizations standardizing on a competing product, Google Analytics sneaks in trough the "path of least resistance": agencies are largely using it and the fact there is no cost allows it to go under the radar. When time will come to renew paid contracts, and when companies will look at their analytics maturity, the choice will often go toward GA.
There is a legitimate concern the entity providing marketing effectiveness metrics is also the same who handles the marketing campaigns. It's a clear judge and jury risk. (In the same way I see it as a business risk when the web agency creating the site is also the one doing the web analytics analysis - not illegal, not really unethical, but certainly a risk for abuse).
But more importantly, most people now make the connection that "if I do AdWords, therefore I need to use Google Analytics". And who doesn't do AdWords as part of their marketing strategy?

The market dominance of Goole makes it very risky for anyone to sue them for anticompetitive practices. Most of the time, smaller web analytics players would much rather be purchased by Google than risk alienating them by venturing into a long and expensive legal process. But... Microsoft or IBM would probably not be as afraid to do so...

So, what's your take? Any radically different point of view? Am I off track or do you agree?

Undermining our future as web analysts

2010-06-15T10:40:00.008-04:00

My spring tour gives me the opportunity to engage and talk to consultants, practitioners and vendors from all horizons. And I love it!

One thing I'm witnessing: we are undermining our own role as web analysts!

I read "The Web Shatters Focus, Rewires Brains" where Nicholas Carr argues the way we surf & search actually re-wire our brain and develops the prefrontal cortex associated with problem-solving and decisionmaking. "Good!" you might think, "as a web analyst, I'm constantly on the web, searching and solving challenges. My prefontal cortex is bigger than yours!"

But all this brain juice isn't good for your health... and your future...

Easy answer now!

Scientific studies have proven the hypertext world hinges on our ability to focus and develop our deep understanding of a topic. Actually, as analysts we are experts at context switching - or what is known as switching cost. We skim through documents, spot the piece of info we want and up we go! We switch between web, emails, RSS feeds, Facebook and Twitter - and that old thing called "phone".

The Internet is an interruption system. It seizes our attention only to scramble it.

I'm saddened to say we do the same with our analysis. Most analysts I've met struggle to go from tactics to strategy. Most of them also face a brick-wall if the answer to their immediate issue isn't found on the net, or if the conference or workshop they go to doesn't provide some kind of magic recipe or to do list.

...heavy multitaskers were much more easily distracted, had significantly less control over their working memory, and were generally much less able to concentrate on a task.

Our strength might very well be our greatest weakness. In our search for immediate gratification we are quickly going into the tactical and forgoing the strategic aspect of analytics and longer term business optimization.

Intro to the Online Analytics Maturity Model [video]

2010-06-03T18:57:00.002-04:00

After my keynote at the Web Analytics Congress 2010 (Amsterdam, Netherlands, June 2nd 2010), Matthew Niederberger, Web Analyst at TUI Netherlands, kindly asked me to do a video interview. I'm grateful to Matthew, the Web Analytics Congress team and Adversitement, who sponsored my keynote, for this great opportunity!

In the video, I discuss the Online Analytics Maturity Model (OAMM) and my motivation to develop the concept. I also share tips on performing a more valid self assessment and what the effect is of managerial support on progression within the model.

Interview recorded at the Web Analytics Congress, Amsterdam, June 2nd, 2010 by Matthew Niederberger, available on Vimeo.

Music: "Interlude #2" by Flatlink (licensed under creative commons)

Book review: ReWork, by the folks at 37signals

2010-05-30T07:42:00.003-04:00

After presenting my Roadmap to online analytics success workshop in Amsterdam in April (thanks to Siegert Dierickx at TheseDays!), Taco Potze, from GoalGorilla, came to me and kindly offered ReWork, from Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson - the 37signals folks.

For startups and open minds

The book is an easy read - short chapters covering everything from entrepreneurship to project management, productivity, competition, evolution, marketing, staffing, crisis management, and corporate culture. Overall, it's an inspiring book. Anyone familiar with the startups culture will easily relate.

More traditional organizations might find it a stretch... but still thought provoking and inspiring.

My take

Taco said some of the things I was talking about in my workshop were similar to what was presented in the book. In fact, there are some striking resemblance! This isn't only reassuring, it's also a reinforcement of the Online Analytics Maturity privileged approach to web analytics and online business in general.

For example, the guys are not fans of long term planning - "plans let the past drive the future". I also have to agree with "what you do is what matters, not what you think or say or plan".

They also touch on the topic of creativity - something often debated in the analytics community - "constraints are advantages in disguise" and they "forces you to be creative". Right on! Some of the thoughts readily applies to the field of analytics: "don't make things worse by overanalyzing and delaying before you even get going" and without stating it, they borrow from the "lean" philosophy of "constantly look for things to remove, simplify and streamline". As one of my former boss used to say "make it easy to do business with"!

The book is full of useful tips and nuggets of wisdom. I'll leave you with two I particularly like:

A lot of companies post help-wanted ads seeking rock stars or ninjas. Lame. Unless your workspace is filled with groupies and throwing stars, these words have nothing to do with your business.

Although "ninja" might be trendy, it is certainly not the best job title if you want to reach out to c-level. This was my #1 advice from a recent post.

We all have ideas. Ideas are immortal. They last forever. What doesn't last forever is inspiration. Inspiration is like fresh fruit or milk: it has an expiration date.

As an analyst, you have to make the complex easier, and if you want to get somewhere, "decide what you're going to do this week, not this year".

I have a hint for you: this week, read ReWork!

Quick tips for better business analysis (from the IIBA)

2010-05-28T09:53:00.006-04:00

I couldn't resist but repost the great tidbits of wisdom included in the latest International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) newsletter.

Quick Tips for Better Business Analysis™ are licensed by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Quick Tip 17: Improve Your Written Communication

These rules can improve your business writing. Like all rules, think before you break them.

Simple over Impressive

Use short words if you can. Long words may seem impressive—but are you trying to impress, or to help stakeholders understand? Examples:

"If you can" (3 words, 3 syllables) vs. "Whenever possible" (2 words, 6 syllables)
"Given the indeterminate nature of the participant's internal motivations, as well as the way he managed to not understand the conundrum, no decisions were undertaken." (25 words) vs. "He didn't understand the problem. We didn't know what he wanted. We did nothing." (14 words)

Active over Passive

Use the active voice by default and the passive voice when necessary. Active phrases make better requirements. Passive phrases may be useful for touchy topics. To use the active voice, put the subject first, verb second and object third. "Someone does something" and "actor—action—acted-upon" are other ways to describe this. Passive phrases are longer, may hide the actor, and are often unclear. For example, "the event was triggered" should not be in a requirement, but may be part of an email about a mistake someone made.

Necessary and Sufficient

Cut meaningless phrases like "managed to" and "in fact". Some phrases, like "as well as" can be replaced with single words, like "and". For example, "In fact, Alex managed to write a response as well as phone Bess," vs. "Alex wrote and phoned Bess."

Color vs. Monochrome

Adjectives change the meaning of a phrase. In most business writing—and in all requirements—adjectives can make text ambiguous, and should be removed. Carefully consider the rest.

The Mom Rule

To test how well your text flows, read it out loud. To test how easy it is to understand, read it out loud starting with, "Mom, ..."

My take

Those tips also applies to any types of communication: speaking at conference, writing blog posts, or presenting web analytics insight! The traditional "essay" format is pretty much dead - do we really have time for fancy writing in this day and age of 140 characters Tweets? On the other end, excellent writing skills seems to be something we are collectively loosing (and I feel I'm contributing to this decline since my mother tong isn't English).

I have tutored to hundreds of students, spoken two dozens times at conferences in America and Europe, seen hundreds of PowerPoint presentations, written hundreds of blog posts, read thousands others... When teaching, listening, watching I'm often very impressed by the communication efficiency. Other times... well... I have to wonder how this person can even claim to be an analyst if he/she can't articulate a clear thought, demonstrate and analytical mindset, problem solving and synthesis skills of what is essential and worth to communicate. How many times have we seen boring PowerPoint presentations with long phrases of small text? I spare you the times I have received long and lethargic litany of text without any type of headlines or even simple paragraphs breaks!

As a member of the jury to the WAA Championship we came up with the six fatal flaws of analysis. The tidbits above should be considered the five golden rules of efficient insight communication.

Random thoughts from eMetrics

2010-05-19T19:22:00.002-04:00

eMetrics London is over, Paris is next! It was my 11th time speaking for eMetrics since 2007. Over time, some thoughts have emerged... make your pick and please, jump in and lets have a healthy conversation!

Forget about web analytics and marketing - welcome analytics and business optimization
Forget about multivariate testing, behavioral targeting, multiple data source integration - you are not a Fortune 1000
We will revolutionize business optimization trough analytics - what makes you think so?
Social media is not about marketing - it's about people

Forget about web analytics and marketing

Welcome analytics and business optimization.

I've never been a fan of the term "web analytics", nor am I of "marketing optimization". As if the only thing we had to measure and optimize was a web site and online marketing campaigns. The reality is much broader and complex than that: we need to look at the online ecosystem and beyond, we need to dive into business processes - we need to evolve toward business intelligence (the expertise, not the technology) and business analysis. The limits of marketing lies in its ability to dump a truckload of visitors into a broken business process. Marketing ends where you can't figure out how to deal with IT - those who have the expertise and the knowledge of business processes automations that are far less trendy than measuring sentiment on Twitter but immensely more important to the business bottom line!

Forget about multivariate testing, behavioral targeting, multiple data source integration

You are not a Fortune 100 (...if you are, I'm glad you are reading my humble blog!)

At conferences we are inundated with showcase from the best of the best - those who are fully and thoroughly leveraging online analytics, we are speechless witnesses of double-digit improvements anecdotes, carefully rehearsed messages of wisdom carefully crafted to fit in 140 characters. We drool at multivariate testing and behavioral targeting, happily slicing and dicing data from a ton of different sources, amazing visualizations created off dynamic segments... Those "maturity model atheists", as someone once put it at eMetrics San Jose, simply do not need an Online Analytics Maturity Model for the simple reason they are beyond that - they are competing on analytics and have achieved online analytics nirvana (well... kind of). For the rest of us, we have to get down to earth and learn about the most optimal and realistic path to online optimization through analytics. Be it Europe, Canada or most organizations in the US, there is an immense need for guidance and best practices.

On the bright side: tip of the hat to Michael Gulmann from Expedia for revealing how analysts became the decision makers of anything related to site and process improvements - and how they made mistakes and learned from them.

We will revolutionize business optimization trough analytics

What makes you think so?

At the end of eMetrics Toronto I was moderating a panel on the future of web analytics. Although it was a very interesting panel and the crowd participated very well, it left me with a bitter taste. Ask a bunch of hockey fans in Montreal who will win the Stanley cup and you are bound to hear it's the Canadians, no doubt. Ask a bunch of marketers doing web analytics about the future of the industry and you are bound to hear them claim they will do better than the "white coats in the basement" (aka business intelligence people)...

Our industry suffers from its small scale and navel gazing - happily nodding at unison when someone says web analytics is hard. At eMetrics we see more vendors and consultants than practitioners - let alone managers and true decision makers. Everyone is very polite, doesn't want to make any waves - so there is no real debate, not even an "agreement to disagree" - and as a consequence, our industry remains marginalized and evolves too slowly. This is not a critic of eMetrics, this conference plays an important role in the market, but if we are to redefine the future of analytics and business optimization, it would be about time to invite the rest of the team to the lobby bar!

Social media is not about marketing

...it's about people.

A shorter rant to finish off. I'm a bit frustrated with all the craze about Facebook and Twitter. As if businesses couldn't exist without them, as if the soul of any customer was hidden somewhere in social networks and would be revealed by some clever marketing tricks or astroturfing tactics - the picture of worms coming out after rain comes to mind!

Ok, now we've got a couple of topics to think about and get the conversation going!

And if you don't, you are forewarned, I'll post other random thoughts! :)

eMetrics Paris, 14-16 juin et gagnez un entrée

2010-05-12T15:41:00.004-04:00

I usually write all my blog posts in english - this one is an exception to promote my workshop and keynote at eMetrics Paris! Please bear with me or head to eMetrics London or the Web Analytics Congress (Amsterdam)!

Rabais 15%: IMMERIA010

eMetrics Paris approche à grands pas et il est temps de faire un peu de bruit dans le marché!

Lundi 14 juin: atelier "Roadmap pour un web analytics gagnant"

Après le succès de cet atelier au Canada, aux États-Unis, aux Pays-Bas, en Belgique et présenté pour la première fois en français à Lille en mars dernier, je réitère l'expérience sur Paris!

Cette formation propose une approche méthodologique efficace pour réussir la mise en place stratégique et opérationnelle du web analytics. Vous apprendrez notamment comment:

faire une évaluation stratégique de votre situation,
identifier les six dimensions de succès d’une entreprise orientée analytique,
définir des objectifs réalistes en lien avec vos impératifs d’affaires, et comment en mesurer le succès,
identifier les ressources et les investissements en analytique,
communiquer efficacement, être un agent de changement et naviguer à travers les pièges politiques,
éviter les difficultés auxquelles font faces de nombreuses entreprises.

La journée sera agrémentée d'une multitude de retours d’expérience basés sur plus de 20 ans de métier en analyse, dont les 15 dernières en stratégie ebusiness et web analytics.

Cette formation s’adresse à tous ceux qui touchent, de près ou de loin, au web analytics: responsables marketing, communication, e-commerce, e-marketing et responsables des systèmes d’information et bien sûr, professionnels du web analytics. Aucune connaissance technique d’utilisation d’un outil de Web Analytics n’est requise.

>>> Information et inscription à l'atelier

Mardi 15 juin: keynote "Vers une culture des données en France"

J'aurai le plaisir de partager la vedette avec Julien Coquet, de Hub'Sales, afin de parler de la culture des données en France. Mais que vient faire un Québécois pour vous parler de ce sujet? Là réside l'intérêt! J'y partagerai une vision unique du marché grâce aux résultats cumulés de l'autoévaluation "Online Analytics Maturity" ainsi qu'un portrait du web analytics en France grâce aux données recueillies avec WASP.

>> Inscription au eMetrics Paris

Gagnez une entrée au eMetrics ou à mon workshop!

Deux options:

Julien propose le fameux concours de haïku, limite de participation le 20 mai.
Contribuez à mes travaux sur le Online Analytics Maturity Model:
- Jim Sterne a accepté d'offrir une entrée pour 2 jours au sommet eMetrics Paris, une valeur de 1990€.
- J'offre à une autre personne une entrée gratuite à mon atelier du 14 juin, une valeur de 495€.

Le tirage aura lieu au hasard, le 25 juin, parmi les participants résidents de la France qui auront répondu à l'autoévalution Online Analytics Maturity.

>>> Effectuez une auto-évaluation de votre maturité analytique

eMetrics London, May 17-19 and more!

2010-05-10T20:54:00.002-04:00

15% discount: SPEAKUK010

eMetrics San Jose is just behind us, so was Toronto a few weeks back as well as my initial little tour of Europe.

But wait! My spring tour is not over: eMetrics London is coming up May 17th and 18th, plus a workshop on the 19th.

Session: "Advanced tagging techniques, tips & traps"

Most people know me as the creator of the Web Analytics Solution Profiler (WASP). Over the years I plead Jim Sterne, the conference chairman, if I could do a session on tagging techniques and pitfalls. Probably perceived as "too technical" and not really catering to marketing folks, I never got to do it. However, insights are garnered from good analysis. Good analysis is predicated on good data. Good data can only be had through proper tagging.

So here you go! I will share years of implementation experience with leading tools, horror stories and anecdotes, and hopefully demystify web analytics tags! Don't miss my session, in the Advanced eMetrics track, Monday May 17th, at 5:20pm.

Workshop: Road Map to Online Analytics Success

This workshop stems from my work on the Online Analytics Maturity Model. I've done it several times already with an amazing satisfaction rate of 98%! The premise is simple: properly tagging and configuring the tool is a challenge in itself but even when done successfully, unexpected issues surface and the value of online analytics quickly fade. Once you've got your training or education, once you have gone trough the initial learning curve, you probably feel web analytics is pretty hard!

This workshop is about taking a step back, looking at the bigger picture of analytics and business analysis and optimization, and understanding the six critical process areas that will make your web analytics life significantly easier. It's still time to register for this unique workshop!

And more!

Please fill out the Online Analytics Maturity Assessment survey, see what is your online analytics footprint and help me in my ongoing research to make web analytics easier!

Coming up

keynoting at the Web Analytics Congress (Amsterdam, June 1-2) and another workshop!
speaking at eMetrics Paris, June 14-16 and workshop in French on the 14th

Tatvic enhances immeria's Excel web analytics dashboard

2010-05-05T10:31:00.002-04:00

Some time ago I released "Web Analytics Dashboard Fun in Excel 2007", a free Microsoft Excel 2007 dashboard example I created as a demo, sample and starter kit for web analytics students and professionals. Some of the features are:

Current vs. previous periods - month to month, year to year
% Change in form of Indicators via conditional formatting
Spark lines
Control limits and Significance
Different Sections like "General Statistics", "E-commerce" and "Conversions"
Automation & Customization
Data Analysis and recommendations.

I released this dashboard primarily as an example for students enrolled in the UBC Award of Achievement program I’m tutoring as well as the Laval University course I’m teaching. I also use it as a demo in the Roadmap to Online Analytics Success workshops. Based on the numerous feedbacks I got since its release, I realized lots of analysts and agencies are using it as a starting point. Some of them had asked for Google Analytics automation and I referred them to Tatvic GA Excel plug-in. With this enhanced version, Tatvic actually just made this job very easy!

Some of the important features are:

Trends and % change indicators: the up/down red/yellow indicators are based on 5% variations of month-to-month or year-to-year values. Those should be updated to your own threshold sensibility and set to their according positive/negative significance. For example, increase in visits is usually a positive thing (green/up) but increase in bounce rate is typically a negative thing (red/up).
Segmentation, Automation & Customization: once you understand how to add any metric to your dashbord it becomes very easy to tailor this sample dashboard to your own needs. Adding a new segment is more complex but can be done if you look how they are configured in the spreadhseet.
Control limits and Significance: Based on any given metric, the spreadsheet will automatically calculate upper/lower control limits and show them beside the sparkline. Furthermore, the sparkline itself use +/- 1.5 Standard Deviation – a statistically valid way to define the control limits range – and make it easier to spot outliers.

Whilst many used this template as a guide and customized it to incorporate clients’ data to present Monthly Dashboard, Tatvic realized that:

As an analyst the amount of time it takes to get large volumes of data counts for a lot and
Extracting the data from Google Analytics interface and putting in the back end of template was a tedious and time consuming process. Also copying and pasting data in exact cells was prone to human errors.

Tatvic enhancements to the Excel web analytics sample dashboard

With Google’s release of its API and thanks to the Tatvic Google Analytics Excel Plug-in tool which seamlessly integrates in Excel, the sample spreadsheet was enhanced for:

Predefined Date range features
Segmentation Availability via Advance Segments
Time period Granularity
Edit Functionality
Filter and Sorting Functionality
Higher Data Import Capacity (approximately 10k) in one Query

But one of the most important features which need a special mention is the "Refresh" functionality. With a single click all your dashboard data gets updated much quickly and without much hassle!

Here is the step by step process that you can follow to refresh your dashboard periodically with just a single click:

Download the enhanced version of the dashboard (for Excel 2007 only)
Download and install the Tatvic GA API Excel Plugin
Open the dashboard and login with your Google Analytics credentials into Tatvic GA API Plug-in
Go to "Background sheet" and replace the profile name from Tatvic.com to desired one. Follow the same method for start and/or End date and/or advance segment.
Click Refresh and see your dashboard getting update within few seconds!

Your dashboard is ready, you can update it on monthly basis or any intervals required. All you have to do is follow the method described above and the data gets updated quickly. Moreover you can customize it with your own KPIs.

Please share comments / feedback / critique / about it.

Do you have any dashboard tricks to share? How do you think this sample dashboard could be improved?

GA + 4Q: Free clickstream and voice of customer integration from iPerceptions

2010-05-04T13:36:00.004-04:00

At last, I can reveal what iPerceptions has been working on recently (note: since I sold WASP to iPerceptions, I'm on their product advisory council). Today at eMetrics, CEO Claude Guay announced enhanced features for the popular free 4Q Survey Voice of Customer.

What is 4Q you might ask? When it came out two years ago Avinash qualified it as the "greatest survey in the world".

With this integration, you will be able to combine web analytics clickstream data with 4Q voice of customer data points including:

Purpose of Visit: why visitors came to a site,
Task Completion: whether they were able to complete their tasks and
Overall Satisfaction.

Once data integration is activated, you can go straight into your Google Analytics profile and easily slice and dice the data, create custom filters and reports to measure the site’s performance against online business objectives:

Track satisfaction rates for specific segments
Measure conversion rates against task completion rates to gain a better view of the conversion cycle.
Compare satisfaction rates by time on site, pages visited, sections visited and geographic region.
Examine time on site by task completion to distinguish between visitors struggling to find information and those positively engaged on the site.

iPerceptions is also enabling greater flexibility in 4Q by introducing full customization of purpose of visit choices. Users can now choose from existing choices or immediately add their own selections and translations.

My take

Of course I'm a bit biased, but I think this is amazingly good for our industry. At last, we can very easily merge voice of customer and web analytics data. We can see the What and the Why. In my Roadmap to online analytics workshop I always stress there are three fundamental things you need to check:

clickstream
voice of customer
performance monitoring

And it seems Google is pretty much in agreement on this since Brett Error just mentioned the benefits of iPerceptions data integration into Google Analytics as well as the focus on aync tags and the role of performance in Google Search results ranking.

Additional info: Google Analytics users get a new way to analyze voice of customer data by Internet Retailer.

WAA Certification - three advices and why I'm doin it

2010-04-18T21:14:00.003-04:00

If you are in the web analytics industry, you certainly heard of the Web Analytics Association Certified Web Analyst Exam launched a few days ago. Applications are now being accepted and I'm enrolled to take the test at the upcoming eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit in San Jose.

I did "test the test" in San Jose last year and again in Toronto this month. I registered as soon as the application process became available. The confirmation email I received stated: Congratulations, you were the first individual to submit an application so you have an opportunity to receive the first certification that is awarded!

Here's why I'm doin it!

Advice #1: don't put fancy suffixes to your job title

You can't pretend to be an expert, you can only be recognized as such. And to be recognized as an expert, Malcolm Gladwell states in his best seller Outliers, you need at least 10,000 of real experience - over 5 years full time! Guru is so... v1.0, while "ninja" is v2.0 but so over rated...

The only title that should accompany your role is "WAA Certified Web Analyst" - the only professional certification specifically addressing our field.

Advice #2: develop critical thinking

Let's take an example: I have utmost respect for Avinash. In his unique, exuberant and bold theatrical style, Avinash is amazing and probably the only one who can get away with “puke”, “sucks” and God in the same speech. However, being on such a pedestal is also dangerous - some "newbies" will simply “drink the words of wisdom” and run away saying “bounce rate - I came, I puked, I left”... “It depends” isn’t such a bad thing after all!

Regardless of the tool, regardless of the "web analytics is hard" or "web analytics is easy" approaches, regardless of your background and years of experience, there is one universal truth to analytics: how an entity (i.e., business) arrives at an optimal or realistic decision based on existing data. This requires "critical thinking" - determining the meaning and significance of what is observed or expressed ... whether there is adequate justification to accept the conclusion as valid.

The WAA Certification is exactly that: critical thinking in the field of online analytics. Take a look at the sample questions - they are not about the tools and they are not easy - they basically reflect a real business environment. It is your job, if you claim to be a real analyst, to understand complex issues, understand them and make sound recommendations.

Advice #3: mix training, education and experience

Jim Novo was the lead behind the Certification project and explains the numerous considerations that went into developing the WAA Certification: tools, the "book smart" phenomenon, the role of vendor-specific certification and who should apply for it.

The Certified Web Analyst designation is open to any qualified practitioner with at least four years of online business experience, with three of those specifically in the web analytics field. Check out the knowledge required for Certification for further details and "Where did the Requirements to take the Test Come From?" in Jim's post.

My take

The biggest benefits of the Web Analytics Association come when you get involved with a committee or a project that contributes shaping industry standards, education and best practices. That's why I volunteered to the Board, why I got actively involved in Web Analytics Without Borders, served as a jury for the Championship, tutor UBC Award of Achievement in Web Analytics courses and serve on the Certification Board.

In "should you change job?" I stated one of the three important questions you should ask yourself is "Am I increasing my value in the market?". One of the best way to actually prove your value is through Certification.

Are you up for the challenge?

Web Analytics, IT and Business Intelligence: friend or foe?

2010-04-12T16:35:00.004-04:00

This article was published in the IT World Canada magazine, Volume 3, Issue 3, March 2010.
I'm speaking about web analytics and business intelligence at the Salon Business Intelligence of Montréal, April 14th.

As more organizations are using web analytics to measure online marketing performance and optimize their websites, those experienced in business intelligence are increasingly looking at web analytics with a mix of awe and suspicion. The Web Analytics Association official definition of web analytics is "the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage" while Wikipedia defines business intelligence as "the skills, processes, technologies, applications and practices used to support decision making". Two definitions that can be competing, interchangeable or complementary - the confusion and misunderstandings are easy.

What's the role of IT in web analytics?

IT responsibilities traditionally include listening to business requirements and objectives and coming up with sound recommendations and solutions to optimize business processes. IT is often the guardian of data integrity and security. Single handedly giving the reign of web analytics to marketing is uncomfortable, especially when data is freely flowing out of the business walls and safeguard to be stored and accessed using SAS (Software As a Service) solutions. Fears of abuse and misuse of corporate data, confidentiality and lack of integration with other corporate data sources are often cited by IT as reasons to hold back and look carefully at web analytics projects. This often leads organizations to address web analytics as a business intelligence project. On the marketing side, we hear over and over about IT's lack of understanding, entrenched mentality and strict rules which impair their ability to act.

What should IT do?

Even if marketing campaigns could be optimized to the extreme, eventually, prospects and customers will have to go through business processes for registration, purchase or support requests. Coincidentally, while marketing can optimize the brand, bring people to the site and improve the customer relationship, those processes necessarily rely on back end systems which reinforce data quality, integrity and security. As with other processes, IT's role in this context shouldn't be different: support the business by providing the most appropriate solutions - including support for web analytics and business intelligence.

The goals of web analytics are slightly different from traditional business intelligence objectives: web analytics aims to measure user interactions from online marketing awareness, social media, mobile, video interactions, and of course, the web itself. Those are non-personally identifiable activities, largely non-transactional (in classic IT terminology), they have a relatively short lifespan and are much closer to the realm of statistics - with implications of sampling and margin of error. On the other end, business intelligence relies heavily on historical transactional data where integrity is reinforced, customers are identified and the timespan require longer, more thorough analysis which will lead to improved business process and better strategies.

Who should be the champion of web analytics?

In "Analytics at work", author Tom Davenport, a leading authority in analytics, suggests IT is better skilled at building data infrastructures and installing and maintaining application that generate transaction data, and less oriented to help the organization use data in reporting and analytical processes. However, no one would think of challenging IT's crucial role in a Business Intelligence Competency Center. The Online Analytics Maturity Model, which address the six critical process areas to succeed in online analytics, also recommends empowering a multi-disciplinary team where IT, business/marketing and analysts work hand in hand to grow the online analytics skills and maturity. As it stands today, and because of its focus on the overall user experience, marketing is usually the best home for online analytics - but IT should definitely have a seat at the table.

What's easy, what should be done now?

One of the most common issues in web analytics is the distinction between the "informational" part of the site and the "transactional" side. The necessary instrumentation, called "tagging", is often more easily done and more flexible in the former, while the later suffers from long delays and stricter IT rules. In a multi-tier approach, the presentation layer is de-coupled from the logic and data layers. A simple mindset change is required: web analytics should be considered a presentation-layer responsibility. Front-end web developers are usually much better equipped to deal with it, with the agility to make changes and increase velocity. Techniques exists to ensure the "tags" will not interfere or break the user experience, the logic or business data. Given that agility and velocity are essential ingredients to become truly analytical competitors in the online world, IT should empower marketing and support their desire to use web analytics - for the benefit of the whole organization.

What's the future of web analytics?

The history of web analytics tracks that of the web itself. We went from logs to tags, from IT-centricity to marketing-centricity. Organizations with a competitive edge today succeeded in naturally blending the online channel in all functions of the business. Online analytics isn't a matter of IT versus marketing, nor a matter of web analytics versuss business intelligence. It's a matter of cultural changes leading to the use of the most appropriate data, at the most appropriate time, that will lead to the most optimal and realistic decision in a given context.

Eventually, as web analytics grows and integrates with business data, and as marketing eventually wants to optimize the online representation of business processes, we will necessarily enter the world of business analysis and business intelligence. Today’s web analytics should be viewed as a smaller, narrower and more agile little brother of business intelligence - and as a little brother, web analytics might need some guidance and a reality check from time to time.

Additional info:

SalonBI.com, Montréal, April 14th
IT World Canada
The DataWarehouse Institute
International Institute of Business Analysis
Web Analytics Association