Customer Reviews

Yahoo! Web Analytics: Tracking, Reporting, and Analyzing for Data-Driven Insights

5 star:		(3)
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3 star:		(1)
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I purchased this book and have been reading it. It is well-written and very detailed. If that was all that I was reviewing it on, I would give it five stars.

The problem is that unless you are already an IndexTools customer or one of the few Yahoo Web Analytics chosen customers, it is of no use at all.

I tried to get a Yahoo Web Analytics account as soon as I purchased the book. I have been using Google Analytics for the last couple of years, but felt like Yahoo Web Analytics offers some features that GA doesn't.

Imagine my surprise when Yahoo informed me that Yahoo Web Analytics is not available to the public yet and isn't giving any information about when it will be made publicly available.

I feel like Yahoo took my money on this one. They authorized this book to be published, but now won't release the software that is required to get anything out of it.

Jeff Cate
President
SharePoint Solutions

I have worked in the analytics industry for nearly 6 years and anyone who tells you analytics is easy is talking out of their hat! However, as any experienced analyst will tell you there are certain guidelines you can follow that will ease your use of a web analytics product.

Having read Dennis' book and personally worked in Yahoo Web Analytics for over 5 years, there are two things that struck me.

1) Dennis has cleverly turned what can be an incredibly dry subject, into an exciting one; the reader simply has to try putting chapters to the test. The order of the book is logical and, with little jumping around, keeps the reader focused on the job in-hand. As the title denotes: "Tracking, Reporting, and Analyzing for Data-Driven Insights"

2) Equally as important, he has also written the book in such a way that both the 'newbie' and experienced web analyst feels engaged and can leave with takeaways at their respective levels.

I would highly recommend Dennis' book to anyone currently using/starting to use Yahoo! Web Analytics or to complement an experienced users analytics library!

The book is en excellent resource for the beginner as well as the more advanced user. It takes you form the beginning, all the necessary steps to get you started with tracking, to the end result, even letting you in on insights of advanced reporting. Once you pick up the book you will be so drawn in that reading it will be a breeze. Before you know it you have this powerful knowledge and the necessary tools to tackle your analytical numbers to make your business an instant success!

The idea is the most important ingredient in starting a small business on the internet. After the idea is initialized we have to materialize the idea into a tangible online vehicle that can drive conversions, generate leads or simply supply information.

Now comes measuring the idea -

I have read "Web Analytics an Hour a Day, Google Analytics" and other books that tell me how I can optimize my website, but I do not receive any direct guidance on what are the important measuring points on a site. Half the times I do not even know what to measure.

Yahoo Web Analytics, authored by Mr. Dennis Mortensen, gives me the insight that I need to track the performance of my online marketing campaigns, effectiveness of all my keywords that drive traffic, I even track the amount of visitors that come to my site daily, monthly or yearly. I can track where they are coming from so I can optimize on my marketing on a given demographic or time zone.

Dennis has created a turn key masterpiece that composites traditional online marketing with business intelligence and he does a fantastic job explaining it in his book.

When I first saw a friend of mine running Yahoo Web Analytics on there website, I had no idea how powerful knowing your numbers can be. Now I am a Yahoo Web Analytics customer and I am able to experiment with different display ads and content along with tracking how the visitor came to my site , what is the visitor looking for , when did the visitor initiate a visit and what page turned the visitor into existing.

Yahoo Web Analytics also allows me to track other variables and action points within my website that are not standard, I can even create a custom report, if you read the book you will know what I mean. I take pride in knowing my numbers and this is business intelligence! No more speculation on how well my website is doing, I am in control with Yahoo Web Analytics. In my view any self respectful website owner, online marketer or other will buy this book.

Kudos to Dennis and I hope that there are subsequent books to follow that provides further insight into the usability of advanced measurements and conversion points.