Actionable Web Analytics: Using Data to Make Smart Business Decisions (Paperback)

by Jason Burby (Author), Shane Atchison (Author), Jim Sterne (Foreword)
Key Phrases: monetization models, web analyst, new conversion rate, Head of Web, Snappy Scissors, Case Study (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Relationship marketing continues to evolve in new and exciting ways, and Actionable Web Analytics provides a clear and concise guidebook for the marketing executive. Shane and Jason have captured the essence of creating relationships online, which lead to meaningful customer dialogues, and then measuring the success of those efforts."
—Lester Wunderman, Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Wunderman

"We have been fortunate enough during the past decade to see our business grow in parallel with and in partnership with the team at ZAAZ. As true thought leaders in the web analytics and marketing space, Jason and Shane have captured the important issues facing marketers and business people every day and explained them eloquently in Actionable Web Analytics."
—Josh James, CEO & Co-Founder, Omniture

"Some people build web analytics tools. Some work tirelessly, deep in the hearts of their organizations drawing the rich value out of those tools. And then, there are those like Shane and Jason who have spent close to a decade helping a wide variety of companies optimize their advertising spend, supersize their website value, and maximize their online marketing ROI. These guys are in an amazing position to help you figure out all of the above. But that’s just the half of it. While their position is nice, their scary IQ, their awesome curiosity, and their uncanny ability to drill down to bona fide business value make this book a must read."
—Jim Sterne, President, Web Analytics Association and Producer, Emetrics Summit

"The real money is made when the initial click leads to a customer journey filled with meaningful, relevant dialogues that motivate action. Actionable Web Analytics helps marketers take customers on that journey and generate a good ROI doing it."
—Daniel Morel, Chairman & CEO, Wunderman

"These guys have forgotten more about analytics than we mortals will likely ever understand. Most analytics folks revel in the complexity of their work. Jason and Shane know how to simplify and communicate how analytics can really change marketing, and it is incredibly effective."
—Matthew Roche, CEO, Offermatica

"If you’re one of the many people who view web analytics as a necessary evil, this book will spin your perception 180 degrees. That Jason and Shane know web analytics backward and forward (not to mention upside-down and inside-out) is a well-known fact. But these two possess another singular talent: the ability to make analytics palatable, understandable, even digestible for even the most data- and math-adverse right-brain thinker you know (perhaps you’re that person?). These two go way beyond the numbers. They can explain with crystal clarity how to use data to improve processes, businesses, and their bottom lines."
—Rebecca Lieb, Editor-in-Chief, The ClickZ Network

"Digital Marketing excellence is paramount for today’s marketers. In this book, Jason and Shane provide straightforward web analytics insight and instruction to help marketers achieve greater performance and profit from their communications activities."
—Scott Lennard, Advertising Director – Central Marketing Group, Microsoft Corporation

"Jason and Shane have been sharing their extensive experience and insight with clients and through conferences for a while, so it’s about time they committed it to print."
—Laurent Burman, VP Web, Helio

"Jason Burby and Shane Atchison are two guys in the web analytics world that truly understand what success looks like. They wisely took much of what I wrote about in The Big Book of Key Performance Indicators and attached a dollar-sign to it, dramatically improving their client's desire to understand and deploy KPIs. I have little doubt that Actionable Web Analytics: Using Data to Make Smart Business Decisions will long be considered a critical work in the web analytics body of knowledge."
—Eric T. Peterson, author, Web Analytics Demystified, Web Site Measurement Hacks and The Big Book of Key Performance Indicators.

"I have been waiting for a book like this. They’ve helped me understand some of the finer points in web analytics and taught me how I can put those concepts into action with my team. What I like best about working with them is that their knowledge goes beyond finding the data and pulling the numbers—they know how important it is to tell the story behind that data."
—Kristen Findley, Manager, Website Analytics Interactive Marketing, Ameriprise Financial

"Shane, Jason, and the rest of ZAAZ are the preeminent leaders in outsourced professional services and analysis in the web analytics space. They have helped propel the industry forward in both the high end and the mainstream through client engagements, thought-leading articles, and presentations for the past 10 years. Their presence is only growing, so watch closely as they impact the industry over the next 10-plus years."
—Brett Crosby, Senior Manager, Google Analytics

"Jason and Shane have been at the forefront of helping organizations drive actions based on data; it is indeed a privilege to have all their wisdom gelled into a book for the rest of us to benefit from!"
—Avinash Kaushik, Web Analytics Thought Leader/Blogger

"Burby and Atchison bring to web analytics the kind of practical expertise every online marketing manager should have access to. Finally, a book on web analytics that cuts through the clutter and delivers the kind of actionable insights online marketing managers need."
—Tom Taylor, Expedia

Product Description
Knowing everything you can about each click to your Web site can help you make strategic decisions regarding your business. This book is about the why, not just the how, of web analytics and the rules for developing a "culture of analysis" inside your organization. Why you should collect various types of data. Why you need a strategy. Why it must remain flexible. Why your data must generate meaningful action. The authors answer these critical questions—and many more—using their decade of experience in Web analytics.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Sybex (May 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470124741
• ISBN-13: 978-0470124741
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #212,890 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #9 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Web Development > Website Analytics
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for big business... but not for start-ups, September 8, 2007

By	Frank W. Meyrath Jr. (Atlanta) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Actionable Web Analytics is both well thought out and well written; but it's geared for big business (or medium size at least). If you're a general manager or executive type getting involved with web analytics this is a great book.

However, it's not geared toward the start-up entrepreneur. One of the sections talks about getting your "team" involved... your team being your: CMO (chief marketing officer), web team manager/leader, designer, information architect, usability expert, copywriter, developer, web analyst, strategist, channel manager, segmentation lead, etc. ,etc. For this I joked to my girlfriend that I guess i can have my meeting in front of the mirror! I'm all of these titles I guess. Another section talks about a company that incorrectly spent $150,000 per month on web analytics. While they did mention that this money was somewhat illspent, for entreprenurs this is totally irrelevant.

I gave it a good rating (4 stars) simply because I think the audience the authors intended (corporate types) will get a great benefit out of it. The book is particularly useful if a reader needs to put together a cohesive argument to someone else (e.g. upper management) that analytics (basically measurements) can help with making a company's website more profitable. To that end, the book does a great job!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Strong Addition to the World of Web Analytics and Web Marketing , May 31, 2007

By	Stephen Schramke (Bainbridge Island, WA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I pre-ordered this book after hearing Jason and Shane speak at the Omniture conference in March. It was finally delivered yesterday and I read it cover-to-cover last night. The book provides an easy to read and easy to understand overview of what web analytics is and why it is such an important part of web marketing. It also does an excellent job of identifying key web marketing best practices and the differences in skills that distinguish an analyst that is trolling away in a cube and an analyst that CEO invites to his country club for lunch. Read this book if you want to implement best of breed strategies and tactics that work in almost any organization. Digest each page of this book and you might be the person that replaces the CEO one day.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At least two of the chapters will change your carreer, June 6, 2007

By	Akin Arikan "Akin Arikan (Author and Segment ... (San Francisco) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you are a web analyst, definitely, definitely add this book to your web analytics collection and read the two chapters on Monetization and Prioritization. Even if you read nothing else in the book, I promise your carreer will change for the better. People will start listening to you. You will get a promotion and you will get a raise. And you will start achieving more results with web analytics. It may not even take you more than 30 minutes to grasp the essence of those chapters. Awesome. And if you are a manager of a web analytics program. Why reinvent the wheel, this book has best practices for managing.

Having been in the industry for seven years I read almost every book on web analytics. Was great to see that this book adds its own unique insights that must not be missing in ones collection.