There’s a lot of buzz around blog advertising. Heck, there’s a lot of buzz around online adveritising in general. Multiplied billions of dollars are pouring into the channel. Unfortunately, not all of it is reaping a just reward. That’s where web analytics comes into play. It helps you measure what’s working and what’s not so you can put your resources in the best possible places.
To that end, BL Ochman made some good points in her recent posting on the five myths and six facts about blog advertising. She busted the myth that says “there’s no way you can measure blog advertising” by pointing people to blogads.com, one of several big blog ad networks that offer real-time traffic and click thru rates. Niche Web analytics products can tell you a lot about your blog. It’s up to you to pay attention.
Click here to read BL’s post.
I came across this Forrester Research report that was quite refreshing. In summary,
“To date, many companies have approached Web measurement from the data up — implementing Web analytics, online surveys, and other data collection mechanisms in hopes of finding that million-dollar insight. But clients tell us this approach isn’t working — and they’re ready to try something new. Speakers at this fall’s eMetrics Summit highlighted what today’s most sophisticated Web analytics firms do differently — rather than focus on technology, data collection, and reporting, they take the time to devise a measurement strategy; treat data as a tool for driving action, not as an end unto itself; and integrate data from across the company into a multichannel view of customer behavior.”
I agree with the analyst here. The technology is merely a tool. You still need a measurement strategy to get the most out of this mountain of data. The data is just the baseline on which to build action steps.
Thought processes like this are what will help take web analytics from the “wow, these numbers are interesting” level to the “wow, I see new revenue generating opportunities” level. Sure, the best and brightest already understand this, but there are millions of others who dont’. When they catch on, the industry will see a new birth.
Click here to learn more about the Forrester study.
Sales of business software products and services will grow about 7% in the U.S. alone in 2007 vs. 7.4% in ‘06 and 6.8% in ‘05, says a new report from Forrester Research.
“That 7% growth is a little higher than we expected,” the report said. “We expected to see a technology slowdown in 2007 with a 2% growth. That was based on a significant decline in the U.S. economy and it doesn’t look like that is going to happen.”
Curious to learn how some of the largest Web analytics vendors fared? Click here to found out. The good news is the Internet software segment is growing steadily.