Biznology Blog: November 2005

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November 28, 2005

More on Google Analytics

It's been a rocky start for the newly-free Google Analytics. I guess there are worse things that can happen than to be overwhelmed with demand, but Google was forced to stop accepting new sign-ups and has apologized to customers whose stats have been delayed. Google will straighten it all out soon, they say, but what about the burning question of whether companies using fee-based Web Metrics solutions should switch? I spoke with John Payne, the Manager of IBM's SurfAid Analytics service, to answer that question.

Payne admitted that he was at first concerned when he learned that Google Analytics is now free, but he quickly realized that this would be great for the Web Metrics business. Some analysts are hailing Google as great for businesses that can't afford analytics today, but wonder about its features. Payne rattled off a series of features where SurfAid tops Google Analytics, including:

• Data updates. SurfAid updates its database within 30 minutes of collection but Google won't commit to less than six hours, and "early feedback over the past week indicates that it's taking upwards of 3-4 days to actually see updates," Payne asserted.
• Data retention. SurfAid retains data for 13 months and reports forever. "I've not been able to find anything on [Google's] site that speaks to how long they will retain reports," said Payne.
• Data analysis. SurfAid allows data to be categorized while it's "not clear that [Google has] a concept of content categorization," according to Payne. SurfAid offers the ability to perform ad hoc analysis with an unlimited number of goals while Google offers no ad hoc capabilities and four goals per account.
• Data integration. Payne believes that SurfAid "can integrate virtually any set of data that can be linked to a Web transaction" but that Google requires tagging to integrate anything.
• Data interpretation. Google offers no consulting or services to augment their basic offering, while SurfAid provides enhanced support and professional services.

Payne's analysis obviously focused on his own product, but other vendors could tick off a similar list. Payne's analysis seemingly puts Google at the low end of Web Metrics packages—a good choice for small businesses on a shoestring budget but not flexible enough for businesses serious about their Web metrics. Time will tell whether Google will try to move up-market and compete with fee-based vendors. In the meantime, SurfAid and other vendors will be explaining their value above what you get for free from Google, and will be hoping to up-sell Google Analytics customers that outgrow what they get for nothing.

Posted by mikemoran at 10:00 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 27, 2005

Can Google Fix Your Web Site's Search?

Do people ask you why your Web site's search doesn't use Google? That's frustration talking—they didn't find what they wanted and they think that Google will magically fix that. Are they right? Read November's Biznology newsletter—Can Google Fix Your Web Site's Search?—to find out.

Posted by mikemoran at 5:00 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 21, 2005

What Does Google Analytics Mean to the Metrics Business?

In case you missed it, the Web world has been abuzz this week over Google announcing a free Web Metrics service, called Google Analytics. Google Analytics has been carved out of the acquisition of Urchin, a Web Metrics service that sold for $199 a month. If you can get Web Metrics for free, where does that leave the rest of the offerings out there that compete with Google Analytics—and are not free?

If you are reading this blog, chances are that you already using a Web Metrics package. Perhaps you were already using Urchin and are now contemplating an extra $200 a month in your pocket. But it's more likely that you are using another package and are now wondering whether you should switch to the free Google Analytics.

Several factors might keep you with the package you have:

• Reliability. Many observers criticized Google for fumbling the launch, as existing paid customers and new ones signing up for the free service both complained that Google's system was down and reports delayed. Today, Google stopped taking new registrants. Chances are that Google will right the ship, but if you don't pay it is hard to get complaints taken seriously.
• Features. By most accounts, Google Analytics has a strong set of features, but your existing paid package may boast features unavailable from Google.
• Privacy. Google has pledged to avoid peeking at your site's stats when making decision about its search business or other businesses, but some marketers are more suspicious than others.
• Consulting. Perhaps the most important differentiator among metrics vendors will be consulting services that analyze your data. If your Web Metrics vendor is helping you analyze your data with real-live consultants that help you figure out what the numbers mean and what you should do about them, then "it is very likely that Google Analytics is not for you," says JupiterMedia's metrics expert Eric Peterson.

Despite the debates, your metrics system is probably worth a lot more than you are paying for it. If you decide that Google Analytics is better than your existing system, then by all means jump on it. But saving a little money is not a good reason to downgrade your analytics lifeblood if your current system is superior to Google's.

Posted by mikemoran at 10:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 15, 2005

Too Many Results Redux

A few weeks ago, we looked at why Web site searchers complain there are too many results when they search. After I posted that blog entry, I was pointed to a survey where consumers voiced that very complaint. In a 2003 Jupiter Research Consumer Survey, 54% of consumers stated that there are simply too many results returned for self-service search to be useful. As we discussed before, remember that just because searchers say it does not mean it is so—when searchers say their are too many results, they mean that the wrong results are on top.

Posted by mikemoran at 10:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 10, 2005

Interview on BtoB Magazine site

Following the BtoB Magazine NetMarketing Breakfast last week, I had the opportunity to speak with the editor of BtoB Magazine, Ellis Booker, who interviewed me for the BtoB Hands On Search Newsletter on the future of personalized search and other search marketing topics.

Posted by mikemoran at 10:19 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 9, 2005

AD:TECH Tip: Do It Wrong Quickly

At today's AD:TECH conference in New York, I have been asked to pass along one tip for smarter marketing, and I will. It is one that I have written about before because it is so central to the new way of measuring marketing and responding. So, instead of spending days, weeks, or months trying to do that new campaign or Web site change perfectly, my advice is "Do it wrong quickly."

Posted by mikemoran at 7:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 6, 2005

Is Google Missing Your Web Site?

With all the great advice you can get on succeeding at organic search marketing, it all begins with getting your pages in the index. Unless Google (and the other search engines) see your pages in their indexes, they won't be found by any searches. My co-author (of Search Engine Marketing, Inc.) Bill Hunt and I walk you through the basics of getting indexed in "Is Google Missing Your Web Site?"

Posted by mikemoran at 10:30 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 4, 2005

Are Marketing Metrics Becoming Trendy?

At BtoB Magazine's NetMarketing Breakfast, I was struck by how many of the questions were about Web metrics. Are marketing metrics becoming trendy?

These are not the good old days. Time was, you got a hundred marketers together and they talked about target segments, ad buys, demographics—the nuts and bolts of delivering your message. But times have changed. The biggest change ushered in by the Internet has not been banner ads, affiliate marketing, or even search marketing—it's metrics-based marketing.

Direct Marketing used to be an arcane specialty in marketing that few pursued and fewer mastered. Response rates, A/B split runs—Direct Marketers learned to experiment. Test and measure. Refine everything looking for every slight improvement.

But the Internet has made almost everyone a Direct Marketer, not in the sense that every Web site offers e-Commerce, but rather than all Web marketers take the Direct Marketing approach of test and measure. Click through rates, traffic, conversions. We are measuring everything, but are we really taking on the Direct Marketing mindset? Are you relentlessly tuning your content? Do you know whether your changes improve conversion rates?

Join the trendsetters and learn to think like a Direct Marketer. Marketing is becoming metrics-driven—not the flabby customer satisfaction or brand attribute metrics that we know, but a scientific way to maximize your return on investment.

Posted by mikemoran at 10:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 2, 2005

The Marketing Impact of Search from Today's NetMarketing Breakfast

Here's a preview of my pitch at the BtoB NetMarketing Breakfast today in New York City. So many people are interested in search marketing these days, but they don't always know where to start. In this presentation, I explain the two biggest ways that search marketing has an impact on your overall marketing program. I show how IBM did it and how you can too, once you understand the Marketing Impact of Search.

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