By Sunil Kumar
The writer has authored IEEE research papers. He is an inter-university national quiz champion and a Mastermind India finalist. As a manager, he has led huge corporate teams in Fortune 500 organizations. In his avatar as a technology journalist, Sunil has interviewed the stalwarts and thought leaders of India’s dynamic IT industry. His bylines were published in the industry’s leading media houses.)
There is an increasing need to drive company profitability with an effective online presence. Enterprise web analytics is a tricky domain. Attracting website visitors in a brutally competitive world depends on sustaining user interest and creation of focused content.
Web analytics framework
Marketers have traditionally used outbound techniques such as telemarketing, trade shows, direct mail, e-mail blasts, print and TV/Radio Ads. The Internet has radically altered the dynamics of user interaction.
Businesses now use more inbound techniques including Search Engine Optimization/Search Engine Marketing(SEO/SEM), blogging, social media, Really Simple Syndication (RSS), free tools and trials to convert more prospects into leads and customers.
Website design also follows the cardinal principles of simplicity, ease-of-navigation, and finding relevant information quickly. Attention spans are limited, and in an outsourced world, users gravitate towards instantly accessible and actionable knowledge.
Targeted Decisions
On-site web analytics optimization depends on clarity. The page title, headers and content and lucid descriptions can assist prospective users with insights needed for their business. Typically, enterprises look for behavioral trends from data and make targeted decisions.
Enterprise web analytics is gradually evolving. Usually, business domain experts define corporate strategies and realign goals. When requirements and objectives are clearly identified, they are conveyed to the technology experts. Identifying constraints and then customizing solutions that cater to the correct market, vertical, and maturity level remains a key business challenge.
Typically, analytics platforms create a huge amount of data cumbersome to analyze.Sales professionals are now increasingly looking at scalability in solutions, and the insight-to-effort ratio. Aligning organizations to technology is an important factor in making web analytics platforms succeed.
Inter-departmental communication is important in aligning organizations to technology. Translating objectives into sales strategies is tricky for business analysts, generally when there is a huge amount of data.
Marketing speak usually terms “qualified leads” as the one management has to look at carefully. Maintaining leadership depends on sending targeted and relevant messages to potential prospects.
The power of web analytics is to increasingly draw visitors into the Sales & Marketing Funnel. Demand generation activities, such as, events, PR, social media, advertising help create a database that can be nurtured, qualified and then used.
Choosing the right web analytics solution requires judicious appraisal of existing vendors. Secondly, customization depends on the support infrastructure within the organization. It should integrate with the existing CMS, CRMs, and APIs.
While mainstream suites, such as, Google Analytics, usually provide interesting data at an aggregate level, there is also a need for more individual, specific information. Some vendors, such as, Webtrends and Omniture potentially provide detailed inputs.
Increasing Conversion Rates
Demographic or psychographic reports generated can still leave decision-makers befuddled. Some websites tend to favor specific ads, and analyzing CTRs (Click-Through Ratios) can help organizations evaluate the effectiveness of their digital marketing strategy and campaigns.
Additional segmentation on the target population can ensure specific and targeted messages. Increasing conversion rates depends on tracking individual campaign effectiveness and consequently making web analytics actionable.
Understanding parameters, such as, browsers, geographical locations, and interest factors can help business development chart more competitive strategies. Rethinking existing ideas and innovation also becomes easier with precise web analytics.
Specific web marketing objectives serve as a process indicator and can assist business development in the long-run. Data tracking needs are similar for every organization, including libraries, NGOs, big corporations and small businesses.
Powerful web tracking tools, with new and specialized features, help you set up customized reports and segments to view relevant subsets of data.
