Web Analytics Myth Number 1: There aren't enough web analysts October 19, 2007

I just returned from eMetrics DC, where I talked about the five myths – we call them “myth-understandings” that are prevalent in the market today. This message resonated and, in fact, it was easy to see the light bulbs going on as we talked through what is myth and what is reality. It is fresh on my mind, already. Then this morning I received my email update from the web analytics forum, and one conversation thread was screaming “myth number 1 is alive and well and living in the forum!” Since I haven’t written in the blog before about the myths, I’ll list them out, then I want to talk specifically about number 1.

Here’s the countdown:

5. Accuracy doesn’t matter – random errors can and do occur, and as we saw in my previous post (Web Analytics Shootout), different vendors report different numbers even in a quality-controlled environment. That is not the same as the systemic errors that appear in data due to untagged pages, malfunctioning javascript, and site structural problems that in turn skew the data.

4. My checker checks out – Conventional scanners get 40-60 percent of site. They can only audit what they can access, which results in an inadequate and arbitrary subset.

3. One, done and run – Quality and compliance management is continuous process, not a one-time exercise. Because sites are becoming larger, more complex and more volatile, the need to continuously monitor quality and compliance is even more crucial.

2. Optimizing the suboptimal – significant time, effort and money being spent to optimize online performance. However, common approaches are violating a basic axiom of optimization theory: you cannot optimize in a suboptimal environment. Concurrent enhancement of the environment to improve data quality and correct site problems is essential to achieve positive and sustainable outcomes. To put it plainly, if the floor in my house is unlevel and the doors won’t close, the roof leaks and air blows in around the windows, it might not be the right time to fuss over just the right carpet.

And the number one myth…..there aren’t enough web analysts.

This is still an emerging market, and as with all emerging markets, it is suffering chronic labor shortages – this is nothing new or even unexpected. The real problem is not just a lack, but rather a WASTE of analysts. Too much of their time is spent manually checking, finding, and fixing problems that shouldn’t be there to begin with.

The conversation thread that got me going this morning started with a question about a Google Analytics implementation in a php environment, and why traffic is not being recorded – the code seems to be there, is there something special about php, well maybe you need to write some special script, etc., etc, – aaarrrgghhhhh! The time termites are eating away at this person’s precious limited resource, along with all the others who are trying to help him solve it. In so many organizations, site quality is an afterthought, and the web analysts are not equipped with the proper tools to do their job. They spend time on time-wasting exercises like this, when they could be focusing on how to drive value from their data.

Bottom Line:

There could be 10 times the number of analysts that we have today – wouldn’t matter. Without addressing this fundamental, foundational issue, there still won’t be enough. Fortunately, as we get out and debunk these myths, we are seeing the lights come on, the cobwebs disappearing, and people increasingly becoming clear-eyed about what they can do going forward to get control of their web environments.