Tue 24 Apr 2007
Differences between Wanna-be’s and Web Analysts
Posted by admin under Uncategorized, Analytics, Blog
Wanna-be's obsess about best practices and theories with little attention to facts. Web Analysts obsess about the big picture: facts, theories and best practices.
Wanna-be's think the key is more web traffic. Web Analysts focus on conversion, ROI and the kind of traffic that puts money in the bank.
Wanna-be's cross their fingers and hope for the best. Web Analysts plan and measure multiple contingencies.
Wanna-be's seek the perfect plan or silver bullet. Web Analysts execute, measure and adjust plans later. Waves of perfection come over time.
Wanna-be's look for a lucky break. Web Analysts dig into four, five, six campaigns in tandem, exposing the campaign that measures the best traction.
Wanna-be's fear looking stupid in front of their peers. Web Analysts willingly risk making fools of themselves, knowing that long-term success is a good trade for short-term loss of dignity.
Wanna-be's shield their ideas from harsh reality, postponing the verdict of success or failure until 'someday.' Web Analysts expose their ideas to cold reality as soon as reasonably possible.
Wanna-be's put off crunching numbers until they've got the best tools. A Web Analyst would hand out pedometers if it offered the hope of gaining actionable web data.
Wanna-be's believe what they're told, believe their own assumptions. Web Analysts do the research and let the facts tell the story.
Wanna-be's believe they can measure and report on anything. Web Analysts measure what's important and then illustrate how it happened.
April 24th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
without best practices and theories, facts are just useless numbers.
If you dont increase levels of traffic to your site then how are you going to increase your market share? You can only shine sh*t so far.
If wanna-be’s seek the perfect plan then surely this contradicts them crossing their fingers and hoping for the best?
There are a number of ways of “doing” web analytics, investigating out-of-pattern data is as equal as using a scientific method of testing campaigns. Being a “one trick pony” won’t get you far.
Any web analyst that can effectivly communicate will never make a fool of themselves by analsing data and putting their findings forward, especially not with their peers. A lack of confidence in your abilities is the only reason for thinking that you are taking a risk.
Your other points are perfectly valid.
All in all, an interesting read. Thanks
April 24th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
My response is a big ‘Amen’! It gets old seeing people ‘talk’ about their website, yet never taking the time to realize no one actually visits their website. I like to be able to quantify things. The beauty of the web is that you can shift gears and work on other planned approaches.
It isn’t a game of throwing mud on the wall and seeing what sticks, it is about understanding your users, your traffic, and their habits.
True analysts will admit when they were wrong, but still work on another plan - after studying why the first one failed. They understand the medium and know how to set proper objectives and goals.
And - the other aspect of a web analyst is understanding the trends, as well as understanding what makes a website have a strong presence: content. Content is still king, and it is about improving that content and watching the other pieces fall into place. This means understanding your markup, semantics, and the long tail of keywords people use to find your content.