Comments on: Find You Web Analytics Soul Mate (How To Run An Effective Tool Pilot)

By: Leticia

Leticia — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:09:04 +0000

Hi Avinash

You were GREAT at the summit today!

This information on this site makes a newcomer in the web analytics scene not feel intimidated.

Thanks!

By: Seer Interactive SEO blog

Seer Interactive SEO blog — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 13:27:22 +0000

[...] At the end of the day web analytics is a TOOL. While I am NOT one of those people who looks at a car as just a way to get from point A to point B, I know a lot of folks who do. And to those folks the bells and whistles of the New BMW 335 just don’t resonate when they are trying to get from point A to Point B. I challenge more of you to stop thinking that the company that posts the most whitepapers and has the most user conferences is the BEST SOLUTION for your web analytics needs. Start your web analytics search by getting a better grasp on what you need to know about your site to make good decisions then start seeking out the right match based on your needs. Google Analytics is not for everyone, but shouldn’t you make that judgment based on what your needs are and not on some marketing brochure or whitepaper? [...]

By: WebMarshall

WebMarshall — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 20:51:15 +0000

Avanish - Great post on breaking down the considerations that go into researching a web analytics system. During my current research I found your blog (as well as other blogs linked from yours) to be an invaluable resource. Your information, coupled with a 2007 comparative test found here (http://www.stonetemple.com/articles/analytics-report-may-2007.shtml), led me to a confident decision for an analytics system that will meet our needs.

Thanks!

By: Smallish Heap O’ Sundry Links

Smallish Heap O’ Sundry Links — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 00:27:40 +0000

[...] From Avinash Kaushik, How to pick your perfect web analytics vendor [...]

By: Internet Strategy Blog

Internet Strategy Blog — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:21:26 +0000

Book Review: Web Analytics An Hour A Day…

We here at the ISG media & analytics team have been anxiously awaiting the publication of Avinash Kaushik’s book, Web Analytics: An Hour A Day, since we first “met” Avinash at a webinar back in February. Avinash’s passion fo…

By: Dennis R. Mortensen

Dennis R. Mortensen — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:13:22 +0000

First of all and as always - great post! I will most certainly try to get any leads (on the Tool Pilot stage) to read this. I have seen multiple versions of this and most leads/clients have a list prepared to some extent, not at this level though. :-)

I would like to add a comment (putting on my Vendor cap) – that my experience over the last couple of years, is that a pilot period of 6 weeks is very difficult to realize nowadays – simply because deploying the features of the tools that need the most “testing” takes time and resources from other groups than e.g. marketing and at the same time rolling out changes to the web properties are on somewhat fixed schedules.

I (we) typically recommend a TOOL Pilot phase on 90 days – And that would be 90 days of data collection. We also recommend that clients/leads spend more time on this that on the RFP selection process. As in, if in doubt, include another tool into the pilot.

N.B.
… And I am writing this on Sentosa Beach in Singapore. :-)

Dennis

Dennis R. Mortensen, COO at IndexTools
My Web Analytics Blog

By: Mario Ruiz

Mario Ruiz — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 19:53:46 +0000

I got tired of being around of different tools and different sites looking for consolidated information about what the status of my site. So I decided to make a report that looks like this.

This is a basic report not an automatic generated work. This is done manually with specialized tools.

Mario Ruiz
http://www.oursheet.com

By: Craig Danuloff

Craig Danuloff — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 15:43:13 +0000

Avinash - Sorry to post this here, but your eMailbox is full! I’ll consider that a victory for you vacation…

By: shor

shor — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 03:58:15 +0000

Whenever someone asks me how they can decide upon an analytics vendor, I’ll point them here and save myself a few hours!

Avinash Kaushik, increasing productivity one blog entry at a time. :)

By: Beth Kanter

Beth Kanter — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 03:07:52 +0000

Excellent advice and I love the visuals! Makes me look forward to a summer vacation!

By: Alex Gofman

Alex Gofman — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 00:13:25 +0000

Clear and concise points as well as great pictures (I’d trade my 12 MBit cable for a place on the ship even with the exuberant Internet access prices).
Enjoy the vacations - you deserved it after publishing your excellent book.
Alex

By: Anil V Umachigi

Anil V Umachigi — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:48:32 +0000

precise and Priceless!, that’s your post to us readers :-) Amazing post with insights..

Have a great vacation!
Anil

By: Bryan Cristina

Bryan Cristina — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 14:41:34 +0000

It’s great to know that in this industry of not knowing too many people personally who do it, that I can get some validation for what I do and see I’m right on with some of your points. And then the ones I’m not that are unfamiliar to me, like data sampling, are definitely great to be made aware of.

By: Rahul Deshmukh

Rahul Deshmukh — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 12:12:01 +0000

Avinash,
Great post and thanks for sharing your thoughts. Couple of items I would like to add:
1) Define success criteria from the get go. This is important for everyone involved in the process including the vendors.
2) A number of pilots focus on current functionality/reporting/capabilities, which is great - but you are truly investing for the future needs. Have some test cases for future needs and test out.
3) Develop a checklist of items and share it with all users. Let me fill out how the tool worked and ask for comments.
4) If possible, pressure test by sending more traffic volume based on extrapolated future traffic growth.
5) Check regular usage reports to ensure the tool is being tested and used. If possible get a weekly usage report. This can make you change mind to kill the Pilot if there is no usage :–(
6) Last but not the least, Clickstream data is huge (definitely an understatement for sites with high volume)- make sure you understand and work through the entire data flow process. This is huge for multi channel integration.

Sorry for the long post….

Enjoy your vacation!

By: Daniel Waisberg

Daniel Waisberg — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 11:55:48 +0000

Hi Avinash,

I can imagine how much this post costs for you. But for us, readers, there is no way to imagine, it is priceless ;-)

Have a great trip and congratulations for the wonderful pictures.