'Net Features : analysis

Do Away with 3rd-Party Analytics APIs for Good

Michael Garrity — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:40:00 GMT

Everyone is always telling you to “track, track, track” your Web application’s users. They’ll tell you how important it is to know where they came from, what they’re doing and all sorts of other data that can, admittedly, help you improve the app’s user experience and improve your chances of success. What they don’t tell you is how much of a hassle it can be to integrate those analytics!

Enter Analytics.js, a new open source GitHub project from Segment.io that allows users to add a single set of provider-agnostic hooks to their Web applications that can route to any analytics service they choose, completely doing away with the need for third-party analytics APIs.

The Analytics.js API paves “over the small difference in all your analytics services to give you a single call.”

Users simply need to add the latest version of Analytics.js to their projects and initialize it with the analytics service(s) of their choosing. Then, they just need to add an analytics.identify() call with a userId (and an optional trait) into the footer of every application page, which is how they tie a user to their actions. Finally, the can also insert a couple of analytics.track() calls with specific events to record the actions that users perform; they can also include optional properties for the selected events.

Also, there is no need to worry if an analytics provider can’t handle a certain method (e.g. Google Analytics doesn’t have traits); Analytics.js was built so you can still call them and everything will be just fine.

The types of traits and events that you can track are pretty varied, although Analytics.js does say that “the single most important trait to record is something like memershipLevel or subscriptionType or however you break your users into different tiers.” In terms of events, you should consider what you want your users to do more or less of on your app, and then track those. For example, you can track each time a user completes a purchase, upgrades their plan, invites a friend, cancels an account or unsubscribes from a list, just to name a few possibilities.

On the Analytics.js’s GitHub page are also a reference sections that lists some special user traits and service-specific settings, which includes Google Analytics, KISSmetrics, Intercom and more.

Segment Visitors to Gain Actionable Insights

Michael Garrity — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 22:30:00 GMT

The ability to incorporate ForeSee surveys into SiteCatalyst isn’t exactly a new feature, but Adobe Genesis just announced an upgrade that expands upon the integration, improving segmentation capabilities and adding some automatic daily data transfers.

These changes will make it easier for users to navigate through their survey data and turn it into more actionable information that can be used to make their websites and marketing campaigns more productive.

Arguably the biggest improvement is the inclusion of automatic daily transfers of (up to 15) ForeSee survey dimensions into SiteCatalyst, which can include latent scores, such as Satisfaction, Navigation or Look and Feel, in addition to custom questions. With these items, users can create new analytics segments in SiteCatalyst.

Below is an example of how users can utilize these segmenting capabilities. It looks at the segment of respondents with “Very Unsatisfied Visits.” As ForeSee’s Satisfaction measures from 0 to 100, this group only represents visits that scored below 50.

This data narrows down those visitors that SiteCatalyst users are most interested in studying, so that they can attempt to find out what may be the cause of the visitors’ dissatisfaction. By studying things like the most common paths taken by these users, which site sections they tended to visit, where they’re giving up and what the effect low satisfaction has on conversion rates, site owners can use this information to optimize their sites (and increase conversions).

Version 2.0 will also include automatic daily transfers to ForeSee of SiteCatalyst behavioral data for survey responders, allowing users to select from over 40 metrics and breakdowns. This can also include custom props and eVars. This will allow for new, more targeted filtering options for ForeSee measurements.

Take Social Media Analysis a Step Further

Michael Garrity — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 18:00:00 GMT

Internet marketers are constantly trying to find the best ways to leverage social media platforms to get the most out of their time spent on these sites. And with all of the social networks out there, they can spend a lot of time on these sites.

One powerful weapon in their arsenal has been social media analytics platforms, which help make sense of the copious amount of data (both statistical and anecdotal) that marketers collect from social networks.

In order to expand upon the insights gleaned from social networks, particularly Facebook, social media analytics tool Sotrender recently enhanced its platform with new features for the advanced management of international fan pages, integration with Facebook Insights, more account administration options and the ability to process online payments.

Now, Sotrender users can more precisely analyze activities and engagement taking place on their international Facebook Pages using content targeted for different, specific countries. Thanks to a unique algorithm, Sotrender is able to provide its customers with data on the most engaged users and most attractive content for each selected country, allowing brands to post the most relevant content for their various international audiences.

And, because of direct integration with Facebook Insights, the social network’s in-house analytics program, users won’t have to leave the Sotrender platform to see Facebook statistics along with Sotrender’s data.

The enhancements also include administration upgrades that let users track the history of modifications to their accounts. In addition, they can add new Facebook pages to monitor, add users to the panel and grand defined permissions to users. This is ideal for larger companies or marketing agencies that may have separate teams following multiple campaigns.

Finally, through a partnership with online payment provider PayLane, Sotrender is now able to offer a convenient payment option with Visa, MasterCard and Maestro credit and debit cards. Of course, this comes with various security features that come standard with PayLane’s antifraud tools, such as identity verification mechanisms like an Address Verification System, GeoIP, Card Verification Value and Card Verification Code. Both verification and payment handling are part of a single service, so there is no redirection to third-party providers. This means that the entire payment process takes place on Sotrender’s website.

Monitor Your Websites 24 x 7 with New Mobile App

Michael Garrity — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:00:00 GMT

Website and Web application-monitoring service provider Site24x7 is releasing a new app for Android devices that will allow users to connect with its services at any time from any where.

Whenever a user has a need to check critical website metrics on the go, including availability status, outage reports, service-level agreements (SLAs) and more, they are just a click away. Site24x7 is also offering Root Cause Analysis reports, which are gathered using a tool that combines traceroutes, ping, DNS analysis and screenshots of a Web page at the time of an error or outage.

Site owners can even opt-in to instant alerts via push notification that will let administrators and developers know immediately any time a website or server goes down. The app also features manage-configured monitors that let users easily track availability and the current status of their configured monitors.

The application is available for users with a Site24x7 account with devices running Android 2.2 or higher, and a mobile Web client is offered for non-Android users.

Maximize Ad Revenue with GeoEdge Analytics

Michael Garrity — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:00:00 GMT

The latest version of GeoEdge Analytics is aimed at global publishers and advertisers looking to improve their visibility, compliance performance and revenue.

The solution works by leveraging the reach of GeoEdge’s global proxy network and combining it with a business intelligence engine to allow publishers, advertising networks and media buyers to capture and analyze any ad on any website anywhere in the world.

GeoEdge will constantly monitor sites from all over, regularly capturing and analyzing banner ads to make sure they’re not breaching any compliance rules. GeoEdge Analytics will also analyze a single Web page from various locations to track any changes in how the page and the ads displayed on it are rendered for different users.

All banners are automatically categorized for quality assurance, and if any malicious ads are discovered, GeoEdge will immediately alert users with screenshots and data about the advertisement. By identifying delivery inefficiencies, GeoEdge is able to help maximize publisher revenue, particularly by helping advertisers and media buyers discover the best performing and most appropriate media for their ad inventory.

Google Analytics Visualizes Visitor Flow

Michael Garrity — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:00:00 GMT

Google has announced a new feature for its Google Analytics product called Flow Visualization, which, not suprisingly, is a tool for visualizing visitor flow.

On its blog, the company says that many users have expressed interest in a product that will provide "better ways to visualize and quickly find those insights about how visitors flow through your sites." The Google Analytics design team opted not to build individual path analysis, but rather came up with Flow Visualization to make it easier for marketers and analysts to better optimize their visitor experience "by presenting the ways that visitors flow through their sites in an intuitive and useful way."

The tool works by showing users site insights in a graphic, which allows them to instantly understand how visitors are "flowing" across pages on the site.

Flow Visualization is split up into two different services. The first is Visitors Flow, in which the graphics in question can be viewed by traffic source, or any other dimensions, and allow site owners to track a visitor's journey, including where they drop off. The graphics will provide instant insights into how many visitors are on and interacting with the page.

Google Analytics provides high levels of interaction with these visualizations, allowing users to do things like highlight different pathways or see information about specific nodes and connections. This helps owners to address crucial, specific questions, "such as 'How successful is my new promo page?'"

The feature even allows users to focus more precisely on one node by "exploring the traffic." Owners will be provided data on all of the visits that lead to that node, as opposed to just those that come from "top sources in the Visitors Flow." Paths can also be traversed forwards or backwards.

Goal Flow is the other part of Flow Visualization, and it provides users with graphical representation of the ways in which visitors flow through specific "goal steps" (and where they dropped off). Goal steps are defined by site owners to represent important pages and page groups that are of highest interest to the site. This allows users to see exactly how visitors arrive at pages of interest by selecting that page and visualizing backwards; these "reverse paths" should help owners find the best choices for suboptimal placement of content.

Forward paths can be visualized as well, which helps users see which pages are most visited from goal steps or "to see visitor flow leakage that a site owner might be unaware of."

"These two views are our first step in tackling flow visualization for visitors through a site," says the Google Analytics team on their blog.

Flow Visualization was announced yesterday at the Web 2.0 Summit. Google Analytics hopes to release other types of visualizers in the coming months.

Searchmetrics Essentials Introduces Social Visibility

Michael Garrity — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 17:00:00 GMT

It's no surprise to anyone that social media is growing rapidly, and with that, it becomes increasingly intertwined with search.

Meanwhile, online marketing has been continually evolving to keep up with these trends, and today Searchmetrics, one of the world's leaders in search analytics software, is launching its new Searchmetrics Essentials data modules, which give global marketers across 15 countries instant access to competitive information in not just organic, paid and universal search, but also Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Delicious and StumbleUpon.

Searchmetrics has long been revered for it's search visibility standard, which shows the performance of a website on leading search engines, and now the Essentials data modules will expand upon that reputation with the introduction of their social visibility component, with powered by one of the fastest, largest databases available for both search and social media.

The new Searchmetrics Suite, which features Essentials, will allow companies the opportunity to instantly research the visibility of their website(s), market verticals and social media presence in the same place that they take care of all of their search activities, from domains and keyword analysis to link building and reporting. In the end, this means that they will have to spend less time switching between various tools and manually producing reports and can now shift their focus to activities that will help drive revenue.

According to the company, Searchmetrics Essentials has been designed with a wide-range of online marketers in mind, such as advertisers, marketers, public relations and agencies, as well as everyone from large business enterprises to small businesses.

Some of the key elements of Searchmetrics Essentials are:

- The ability to analyze domains and keywords by organic, paid and universal search results

- Users can now determine the most popular content on social networks and compare them amongst each other

- They can also identify opportunities to increase their marketing advantages online from competitive and industry analysis

- Essentials will also help predict return on investment by understanding the monetary value of organic, paid and universal traffic from search engines

- Finally, you can also quickly adjust to algorithm changes and competitor campaigns

Searchmetrics Essentials comes with two modules - SEO+SEM and Social - which can be purchased separately or are also offered as integrated aspects of the entire Searchmetrics Suite package.

WordPress Wednesday: Top 3 Analytics Plugins

Michael Garrity — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Behind every good business website is an even better analytics program. For WordPress users, however, that means going out and finding a plugin that will match their analytic needs.

WordPress offers very little in the way of site analytics from the core for a site's administrators, and so trying to figure out exactly how well your site is doing, the kind of measurements that are crucial to conducting a business online, can be really rough and incomplete using WordPress' built-in analytics. The need for such a tool has inspired the existence of a number of different plugins specifically designed to study the efficiency of your WordPress site.

Below are three of the most popular WordPress analytics plugins:

Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a classic, time-tested plugin that is both manageable for beginners and useful for experienced users. It is critical in affiliate marketing to have analytics on your website, as there is so much invaluable information to be gained to help you study and understand the effectivness of your campaigns. What is great about this plugin is that it adds Google Analytics JavaScript to every page for you automatically, meaning you won't have to worry about editing your theme. It's easy to set up, updates automatically and lets site owners track outgoing, mailto and download links, which makes it great for tracking clickthrough rates. Its simple configuration screen is enough for most users, but there is a ton of customizing and tweaking that can be done in the advanced settings, as well.

All in One Webmaster
This great plugin is helpful because it can integrate Google Webmaster Tool, Yahoo Site Explorer and Bing Webmaster Central into your website or blog. This gives you really great access to information from the revered GYB Triumverite. You can also include a single-click sitemap to Google, Bing, Ask and Yahoo, add tracking codes from Google, Clicky and 103Bees analytics and add Meta Tags for Google, Yahoo, Bing, Alexa and BlogCatalog. In short, it's a fabulous tool for integrating all three major search engines, and quite a few of the "lesser" engines, and get a really comprehensive look at your sites stats.

WordPress Stats
Super simple plugin here that collects information about page views, popular articles and/or pages and traffic flow. All of the real necessities of site analysis. It will also give you a link to a dashboard so that you can see all of the stats on a single page. This is a very barebones, to-the-point analytics tool, but isn't that really all that most website owners need? If you're not looking for a tool with a ton of features that you can easily install and use to get the most essential of information, WordPress Stats is highly recommended.

For more information about WordPress plugins, check out WordPress Plugins from A to Z.

Analysis, Insights and Scale at BuzzLogic

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:00:00 GMT

Media analytics and analytics platform BuzzLogic announced a noteworthy upgrade to its “conversational” media planner and buying component of its online ad platform.

BuzzPlanner now includes the ability to input specific brand goals which generate hundreds of URLs that can be targeted with ads, optimize the placements according to conversation change metrics, and scale the media plan to maximize return.

After inputting a query based around specific audience and campaign objectives, the planning module ranks and outputs hundreds of URLs for targeted ad placement, which the company then places on behalf of the brand. BuzzPlanner also allows the company’s media team to optimize during the campaign as it uncovers more dense, relevant and higher reach conversations to greatly improve ROI.

“We did business with more than 70 of the Fortune 1000 companies last year providing them the ability to improve ROI through our integrated solution using conversational metrics as our levers of optimization,” said Dave Hills, BuzzLogic’s CEO. “In a world where all content is social and conversations take place throughout the visible Web, the improvements to BuzzPlanner help scale and optimize media plans and buys for the highest return.”