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So why is that?
The web analytics vendor will usually try to sell you his tool AND a couple of consulting hours on top of that. But do you really need them or should you rather seek help from an independent expert?
Something to think about:
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Do you want/need an individual solution?
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Do you want someone who takes care of you, takes his time and pays attention to your problems?
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Do you want someone who is capable of both talking to your technical department and to the marketing?
In reality (and I’ve seen it many times), here is what you will most likely get:
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Not enough ressources – they usually don’t have the ressources to help all their clients properly
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A standard solution for your business model (one size fits all, and they’ve done the same thing before for your competitor)
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A standard training – hopefully at least with your own data
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Expensive support (compare their prices to the price of an independent consultant!)
But is the independent implementation consultant so much better? Not necessarily so – here is some advise to get a good one:
Concerning his experience you should ask him the following questions:
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What kind of tools has he implemented already and how often?
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Does he know about the advantages and disadvantages of the differnt tools (don’t heasitate to question him on that!)?
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Does he know the difference between Google Analytics and the chosen web analytics tool (he should be able to answer this question)
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Has he done a project for one of your competitors before? (that is a difficult one)
To offer you an insight into the quality of his work he should disclose his project plan and his working methods. In general, he should start with an analysis of your website, your business model and also with a workshop to define your goals and requirements. You should take a close look at what kind of documents he provides and see what he says when you want him to coach one or more of your employees during the conception and inplementation phase.
Because they are independent they know the tools (usually more than one), they know the advantages and disadvantages, and they are not bound in their praise by any loyalty to the company that has designed the tool and pays their wages.
There are a lot of real experts out there. Get one of them to save you some time and money (and it will, even if you think the daily rate is high, take less time.)
Matthias Postel is an expert for web analytics and conversion optimization. He looks back on more than 15 years of experience in the online business. Matthias Postel is also founder and managing director of the iCompetence GmbH in Hamburg, Germany.
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