Web Analytics A Marketers Guide to Understanding How Your Web Site Affects Your Business is about the field of Web traffic data and how it can be leveraged to improve one's Web site. It is a book about making data actionable, about turning information into insight... Focusing on the data, the tools, and the metrics that are common to nearly every analytics package available today, regardless of price, performance or popularity, Web Analytics Demystified will help you understand which reports you need to be looking at to run your online business successfully. With a focus on key performance indicators (KPIs), broken down by those best suited for each major business model, this book is truly about making your analytics program work for you! Written by someone who has worked in the field for years, Web Analytics Demystified is as complete a guide to the field of Web Analytics (traffic analysis, log file analysis) as exists today. The author stands on the shoulders of giants like Jim Sterne, Bryan Eisenberg, Jim Novo and Hurol Inan, expanding on each gentleman's ideas on the subject.
It is a perfect choice for those interested in web analytics. No prior knowledge is required. The book is written in a simple language and easy to understand.
Despite the nature of the book (dry and dull), I did learn a lot about analytics programs to help assess the successes, or lack thereof, of websites. Good to note that this is largely directed towards a retail audience though, meaning owners of sites who are directly involved in the sales of consumer goods or services. Since I work in the B2B field, much of the infomation on conversion of visitors to customers was not relevant.
More importantly for me though, there was a section on advertising online and metrics for evaluating the impact of online campaigns which I think will definitely help assess the right outlets for me to place my clients in.
Not bad. Could have been more succinct, less wordy. Author has annoying habit of referencing self in third person. Still, this is a decent book, even if dated by the absence of any mention of google analytics. I work in academia,nso the biz models do not overlay directly with my workplace. It is more a media site than anything else, so ecommerce and adverts do not apply.
Written ten years ago, I was surprised by how well much of the advice held-up. Sure there were some funny paragraphs about out-moded technology, but overall it was a solid introduction to web analytics. Worth reading if you are doing a super deep dive into analytics.