Transcript Slide 1
Presented by Chris Avery What If you launch an ad campaign and you can't tell whether it drove anyone to your site? That was the question facing Jerry Jacobsen of J&N Computer Services in Fairport, New York. Until two years ago, the Web-based computer equipment reseller didn't know how people found their way to the site or what they did once they were there. He had no way to know whether the customers had clicked on the URL in an e-mail ad blast, surfed in through a link, or found the site via a search engine. WebSideStory's Web analysis tool HitBox Professional Looking for a way to analyze site data, Jacobsen implemented WebSideStory's Web analysis tool HitBox Professional, and within hours he knew exactly where customers were coming from, how they moved through the site, and when they left. Web analytics This year alone—even in the midst of an economic downturn—more than 87 percent of surveyed companies say they expect to increase spending for services that help sustain or create sales growth, including log file crunchers and full-scale Web analytic tools. Meta Group, another research firm, says the clickstream analysis market will grow 40 percent this year, even if we are in a widespread recession. Web analytics Web analytics was born out of hit counters and Web server logs. Whenever a browser or application makes a page request from a Web server, the instance is recorded or logged with every other request that comes in. Cryptic Web Logs A log file is just cryptic lines of text. It's tedious if not impossible to slog through hundreds or thousands of page requests line by line, and manual analysis gathers very little usable information. That's where analytic tools come in. Two Analytic Tools Solutions Analytic software installed on a Web server, separate server, or desktop PC Analysis services that use application service providers Analytic Software The most common solution is analytic software installed on a Web server, separate server, or desktop PC. All of the analysis is done locally, using a database and algorithms optimized to handle the number crunching. Analysis services Analysis services that use application service providers are also gaining traction. With this type of services, such as Hitbox Professional, a web designer places several lines of JavaScript code on each page he wants to track. Every time a hit is logged, the code sends the information back to a WebSideStory server. Benefits Usually apparent within days or even hours of implementation, depending on the size and scope of the site You can also use Web analysis tools to find broken links by looking for page requests that weren't fulfilled You can tell whether the site has enough bandwidth and can avoid bandwidth blackouts when demand outstrips capacity If customers are hitting a particular product page more than others but clicking three or four times to get there, you can move the product closer to the main page or even place it on the front page as a featured item. Some Current Web Site Analysis Tools VisiStat 2.0 Visitorville http://www.omniture.com/products/web_analyt ics/sitecatalyst WebTrends Analytics 8 http://www.visitorville.com/ SiteCatalyst 11 http://www.visistat.com/ http://www.webtrends.com/Products/WebTrend sAnalytics8.aspx WebSideStory's HBX Web Analytics http://www.websidestory.com/products/webanalytics/hbx-analytics/