'Net Features : web analytics association

Analyze This: Starting Salaries for Web Analysts top $60K

Linc Wonham — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:00:00 GMT

The Digital Analytics Association (DAA) has released a breakdown of Web analytics professionals’ salaries across the U.S., and the bottom line is that the industry is a good one to be in right now.

In the midst of a recession, the starting salary for a digital analyst across key geographic locations is $60,800. The data was drawn from actual job placements provided by IQWorkforce and was analyzed by the DAA’s research committee, led by Brian Thopsey.

“I found this research to be incredibly valuable to my personal career and I hope other analysts will find the same success with this revealing report,” says Thopsey. “The project, through the DAA, yielded great insights into the career tracks of digital analysts around the country and it will allow all analysts to determine if they’re in the right place.”

According to the research, Atlanta is the best city for digital analysts to live and work in when comparing both salary and the cost of living. San Francisco has the highest salaries on average, but the cost of living knocks it out of the top five best cities for digital analysts.

The lowest salary area is Salt Lake City, and the high cost of living puts New York City in last place for digital analysts to call home.

“We found this research to be quite revealing,” says Peter Sanborn, president of the DAA. “Since New York and San Francisco are large hubs for digital analysts, we expected those cities to be the best places for them in terms of take-home earnings. However, we were surprised to find that Atlanta grabbed the number one spot. It will be interesting to see how this data changes in the years to come and see if there is a migration of analysts to the south.”

Visit the DAA for more insights on the newly released research.

Interactive Map From Compete Charts Web Acquisitions

Linc Wonham — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 03:00:00 GMT

Compete.com, the Web analytics firm with the largest online behavior database in the industry, has just announced the reconfiguring of its Referral Analytics tool for Web professionals. Included as part of the Compete Pro digital intelligence package, the enhanced Referral Analytics solution includes a comprehensive new Traffic Dashboard that enables Internet marketers, advertisers and publishers to explore the traffic metrics of competitors, clients and prospects through a unified, at-a-glance portal.

The new dashboard features an interactive Channel Map that delineates each referring channel as a separate box, and the data can be drilled down further into corresponding sub-domains and specific channel metrics. Marketers can now uncover how a competitor or partner website is acquiring users, monitor changes in that site's strategy, and adjust their own marketing budget accordingly to obtain maximum returns.

To learn more about Compete’s new solution for advertisers, agencies and publishers, go to compete.com/referral-analytics.

Mastering Web Analytics - WAA Certification

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:00:00 GMT

As the conversation continues to shift from how we acquire traffic to what we do with it once it arrives on site, a firm grasp of analytics (perhaps even an expertise it) would server your Web business well.

For this reason I want to call your attention to a recent announcement from the Web Analytics Assocation. The WAA is now accepting applications for its certification program for Web analysts. The examination rounds for WAA certification will be offered in San Jose, CA, and London in May 2010, and in New York in June 2010.

From the announcement: The WAA certification program is open to all Web analytics professionals, including both the IT professionals who use Web analytics tools and the marketing professionals who apply Web analytics data to business operations. Because the focus of the examination is not on the implementation or usage of tools but on the ability to generate business value, both IT and marketing professionals will be able to showcase their knowledge of the space as well as their business value through WAA certification.

"We are really excited to finally bring certification to the marketplace," said Alex Langshur, president of the WAA. "Our goal is to create a standardized test that represents a comprehensive body of knowledge, one that employers will recognize as a high-caliber differentiator when making hiring decisions, and that Web analysts will see as generating value to their credentials when it comes to compensation. We believe this certification achieves that and more."