Web Analytics: An Hour a Day (Paperback)

by Avinash Kaushik (Author), Jim Sterne (Foreword)
Key Phrases: top search keywords, site overlay report, web analytics application, Google Analytics, Six Sigma, New York Times (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Written by an in-the-trenches practitioner, this step-by-step guide shows you how to implement a successful Web analytics strategy. Web analytics expert Avinash Kaushik, in his thought-provoking style, debunks leading myths and leads you on a path to gaining actionable insights from your analytics efforts. Discover how to move beyond clickstream analysis, why qualitative data should be your focus, and more insights and techniques that will help you develop a customer-centric mindset without sacrificing your company’s bottom line.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

From the Back Cover

Develop a Successful Web Analytics Strategy

A Step-by-Step Guide

Learn web analytics the right way with this unique, thoroughly modern guide to today's web analytics challenges and opportunities. Written by an in-the-trenches practitioner, this book goes beyond concepts and definitions to challenge prevalent thinking about the field and provide a step-by-step guide to implementing a successful web analytics strategy.

Web analytics expert Avinash Kaushik, in his thought-provoking style, debunks leading myths and leads you on a path to gaining actionable insights from your analytics efforts. Discover how to move beyond clickstream analysis, why qualitative data should be your focus, and more insights and techniques that will help you develop a customer-centric mindset without sacrificing your company's bottom line.

• Learn the pros and cons of data collection methodologies

• Find out how you can stop counting page views and still get a rich understanding of your customers

• Discover how to identify valuable metrics with the "three layers of so what" test

• Optimize your organizational structure and choose the right analytics tool

• Understand and apply advanced analytics concepts, including SEM/PPC analysis, the power of segmentation, conversion-rate best practices, and others

• Leverage quick-start solutions for blogs and e-commerce, support, and small business websites

• Learn the key ingredients of a great experimentation and testing platform

• Use competitive-intelligence analysis to glean insights and drive actions

You'll also find:

• Ten steps to turbocharge your web analytics

• Seven steps for creating a data-driven culture in your organization

• Six ways to measure the success of a blog

• Three secrets behind making web analytics actionable

• Ten signs of a great web analyst

Valuable CD Included

The innovative CD includes more than three hours of insightful audio podcasts, a 45-minute video, PowerPoint presentations that mirror key topics in the book, and other useful analytics resources.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Sybex (June 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470130652
• ISBN-13: 978-0470130650
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,505 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Turning online data into wisdom , May 31, 2007

By	Daniel Waisberg (Israel) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

'Web Analytics: An Hour a Day' describes in an absorbing and insightful way the most important topics for a Web Analyst or any professional related to the management of a website. Topics covered include: basic terminology, tool selection/implementation, online segmentation, conversion rates improvement, competitive analysis, and many others.

The Business trinity, created by Avinash, is a very powerful business process that can radically improve the performance of online efforts. It is also the spirit of the book. Avinash describes the trinity as follows: "The goal of the Trinity mindset is to power the generation of actionable insights. Its goal is not to do reporting. Its goal is not to figure out how to spam decision makers with data. Actionable Insights & Metrics are the uber-goal simply because they drive strategic differentiation and a sustainable competitive advantage (...) The Trinity mindset empowers you to Understand the customer experience so explicitly that you can influence the right customer behavior which will lead to win-win outcomes for the company and its customers."

The book is indispensable to those who want to understand and practice the art and science of web analytics. It is organized in a very friendly way, turning the reading into a pleasant break amid the rush of day-to-day duties; like a challenging conversation. It is rich in examples, facilitating the understanding of the `what', `how', and `why' of online measurement strategies.

I have profited from Avinash's writings in various situations; the practical advices given in the book are clear and bring great results. I warmly recommend reading this book and following the author's blog.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not analytics ... more data collection, May 28, 2008

By	Tim Dire "Chelsea Shedboy" (Westminster, CO) - See all my reviews

If you buy 'Web Analytics ...' looking for some guidance, or even a few ideas, as to analysis of your internet marketing/sales endeavors, you will be disappointed. This book is about data collection ... nothing more.

To Avinash Kaushik's credit he appears thorough. I did appreciate his flagging the limitations of data collected by the various methods. On the downside the book is repetitive and could have been better ordered. The '... Hour a Day' is appropriate, as that is about all a reader can risk in one sitting. The text makes an arduous read. If better structured, this book could have been half its length.

If I learned one thing, it is this. I'll architect my approach to web analysis, define the data I need, and then recruit an IT type to build the process to collect the data. Having read the book, I now know what data there can be. For this I'm grateful to the author.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accessible and Marketing Driven, September 5, 2007

By	Bart E. Caylor (Indianapolis, IN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One of the first things that impressed me about this book was the fact that it went beyond what I was expecting to read: how to better read analytics dashboards. What I found was a sophisticated and marketing-oriented book that teaches how to use the available data to create a clear picture of return on investment in the online world. This is more than your typical programming book, this is a marketing book.

Kaushik does a great job with the format. As is the fact with any subject you are committed to knowing, reading the information and applying it in small pieces is the best way to learn. The bulk of the content is arranged by subject and segmented into daily readings allowing you to focus and build upon the knowledge one brick at a time.

The book is easy to read, full of practical application, and one that will be tattered, bookmarked, and referenced often.