If you missed Marshall Sponder and Gary Angel yesterday, please read their posts here. Last but not least we have Eric Peterson wrapping up this week.

Eric T. Peterson is the Vice President of Strategic Services at Visual Sciences, the author of Web Analytics Demystified, and the founder of the Web Analytics Forum at Yahoo! Groups.

Here are Eric's thoughts ...

In my experience, the vast majority of problems and pains are associated with unclear or ill-defined processes for the actual "doing" of web analytics. Companies that are really invested in driving success through web data analysis quickly discover that even the most carefully considered investment in technology and people can go to waste if the organization does not have a clear plan to take advantage of the investment.

The snake-oil salesmen in our community selfishly continue to advance the "all companies need is one big win" message, one designed to support the short-term goals of their sales people, not the long-term needs of their customers. Yes, companies need to demonstrate that web analytics technology can make them more successful, but they need to generate those successes in a systematic and repeatable way.

The best way to solve this problem? Invest in understanding your companies Web Analytics Business Process! Don't just assume that web analytics will get done! Take the time to discuss, diagram and document the process of "doing" web analytics in your company. Some wise man once said that "Knowing is half the battle" and it couldn't be more true in web analytics --- too often people don't know what can be measured, what can be known, or what can be done!

As more and more companies examine their Web Analytics Business Process, often they express shock at how poorly-considered and under-utilized their investment in web analytics has been. And as these failings are documented and corrected, these same companies widely report greater usage, greater understanding, and greater overall value being derived from the investment they've already made.

But don't take my word for it ... go buy Megan Burns latest Forrester report Leaders Take A Strategic Approach to Web Analytics (November 29, 2006). From her report summary: "To date, many companies have approached Web measurement from the data up ... But [Forrester] clients tell us this approach isn't working -- and they're ready to try something new." Fortunately, the "something new" that companies need to try is actually something old -- process. Good old fashioned attention to business process, as opposed to waiting for some kind of magic or miracle to occur, does wonders.


Look for Akin Arikan from Unica Corporation on Monday.