Web Analytics Expert Interview with Bryan Eisenberg

He's the co-founder of Web Analytics firm FutureNow, the author of many books on Web Analytics, including "Always Be Testing" and pens the widely read blog GrokDotCom.

Below are a few of Bryan's insights on where this field is headed, and some tips on simple things you can do right now to inspire better conversion rates. -LC

Marketers Haven't Been Acting on Their Analytics

"The Web Analytics field has been around for over 10 years now, and we've learned some interesting, if not unpredictable, things. For example, we know that customers who are ready to shop online are visiting fewer sites now.

"They used to visit 11 sites on average. Now, it's about 7 sites. While the number of competing sites is fewer, the conversion rates haven't been going up as you would expect. They've gone from maybe 1.8% to 3.1%, barely a standard deviation.

"Think how much money has been spent in terms of conversion, redesign and usability. People are not necessarily making decisions with the data they have. They just know they want to change. However, they aren't continually optimizing to get results."

Surviving Tough Times Means Testing

Data-driven companies will be the ones to survive the economic and technological changes coming in the marketplace, and thoughtful use of Web Analytics forms the core of that data, Eisenberg says.

People have to start testing somewhere, even if it's just little things on their Web sites.

"Companies that are driven by brand and by brand marketing are the most vulnerable," he says. "It gets very fuzzy in terms of metrics and accountability. However, you can measure the (customer's) experience with the brand.

"You can see what [users] did, where they went in the site, and how long they engaged with your site. You can tell if they had a positive or negative experience. If 60% of your traffic bounces off in the first click, then your goals for that visit have not been accomplished, and you know it wasn't a positive visit."

Web Analytics software can reveal activity on your Web site that other tracking programs can miss, he said.

"I had a client for whom we did a promotion. He was concerned about its performance. I showed him that Google Analytics counted 70% more sales from the code in that offer than his email list-tracking software did.

"It was a phenomenal offer. It got a lot of word of mouth, got passed around a lot in email, but the email tracking software didn't tie in all the uniques, the external factors that influence who's acting, what they're acting on and where they're acting from."

3 Common Mistakes Made When Measuring Marketing

1. People stop optimizing their Web sites.

"Site optimization is not a finite thing. You can always find ways to tweak your sites if you listen to what the data are telling you."

2. People measure too much data.

Many marketers or analysts collect and report reams of data sets because the software programs they use have those capabilities. However, the numbers they collect and report to clients or superiors don't offer any valuable insights, such as showing where to improve or highlighting overlooked opportunities. The key is knowing what to pay attention to, Eisenberg says.

3. People have low expectations.

"First, they think they can track their data accurately, but they don't understand how things are measured," Eisenberg says. "Second, they are complacent with lower numbers."

This happens when site owners don't use the data they collect to personalize their visitors' Web experiences. "Do you give each person who comes to your store the exact same pitch? No, because it wouldn't be relevant to everyone. Many Web sites don't (personalize), so they underperform."

Using site-visitor data to create several variations of landing pages takes time, but it pays off in more relevant experiences for visitors, he says.

Mobile Promises Precision

Eisenberg expects to see more precise data collection and analysis when mobile marketing spreads beyond early adopters to the mass audience.

"Mobile is much easier to track because the marketer typically has your cell number," he says.

The current method of tracking customers by computer origin is less precise.

"Computers are notoriously inaccurate. They have multiple users, and there's all kinds of issues related to tracking by campaign and browser. Not many people share a cell phone, and there's only one browser to deal with."

His prediction for the not-too-distant future?

"Based on where things are going, everybody is going to have a computer-enabled cell phone."

The Rise of Local Search

Eisenberg says local search is becoming a greater force as more Web applications pinpoint customer locations through geotargeting and other sources.

He predicts Google's Android phone platform and Google Maps application will combine with other Google apps to allow mobile users to search for local sources on their phones instead of on computers.

"Not all of the pieces are there yet, but they have people working on it, for sure. There are too many pieces visible for them not to have somebody responsible for seeing how they all connect up."

However, Eisenberg cautions marketers to recognize that mobile uses bandwidth, a regulated commodity, and not to make the same mistakes that they did with email or telemarketing.

"You can't send messages out randomly with mobile. You have to exercise more control, so it doesn't get so spammy. You also don't want to create a revolt with privacy issues."