Most of us live in a world where we’re focused on the Web, and we really want to optimize the investment being made – whether it be for our blog, our company, or our client. But are we too focused, and not seeing the bigger picture? Are we a slave to our tools, and not the business needs?
Read the CEO’s letter to Web Analytics, where Ron Shevlin (who’s not a CEO, but no matter) asks for a few concrete things out of his Web Analytics group. Note, he’s saying you are the experts, please enlighten us. Make sure you read the comments.
He recently followed it up with a response to a memo that “Web Analytics” (in the form of Eric T. Peterson) sent to the CEO.
Great exchange. Required reading.
Actually, I do think web analytics is missing the bigger picture. Don’t get me wrong–I think it performs a valuable service and will continue to get better and more business-focused over time.
However, it worries about the content consumption side of the equation. Leading enterprises are now starting to also worry about the content creation side (cost, time to create content). By combining the two sides, they start to understand how to create more compelling content at a lower price. I call this “content analytics,” and the goal is to manage the content chain in the same way that manufacturers have managed the supply chain for years.