How This Book Is Organized


You can read this book from cover to cover if you like, but each hack stands on its own, so feel free to browse and jump to the different sections that interest you most. If there's a prerequisite you need to know about, a crossreference will guide you to the right hack.

As you can imagine, there is more involved in web measurement and analysis than we could possibly cover in 100 hacks. Each of the four dominant business models (retail, advertising, support, and lead generation) has enough subtly and complexity in how it should be measured to merit a book of its own. Still, the goal in Web Site Measurement Hacks is to get your gears turning and mind humming thinking about the most common problems companies encounter, regardless of business model. To this end, the book is broken into seven chapters:


Chapter 1, Web Measurement Basics

In Chapter 1, we'll tackle the most important aspects of web measurement, especially if you're new to the subject, including the languages used and technologies deployed, then take a look at the vendor selection process.


Chapter 2, Implementation and Setup

This chapter is a walk through the litany of things you need to be thinking about when you're implementing a measurement application for your site. We cover the differences between common data sources, integration of commerce and custom data, privacy policies, and the impact that robots and spiders can have on your analysis.


Chapter 3, Online Marketing Measurement

The number one thing that companies do with web measurement applications is collect data that will help them justify their marketing investment. Whether you buy banner ads, send email, bid on search keywords or advertising for your site in the offline world, this collection of hacks will get you focused like a laser beam.


Chapter 4, Measuring Web Site Usability

More than anything, site owners want to believe their creations are easy to use and easy to understand. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. Fortunately, web measurement tools provide a plethora of data about usability, allowing site owners to iteratively improve the overall visitor experience (hopefully for the better).


Chapter 5, Technographics and "Demographics"

It wouldn't be an O'Reilly book without some geeky stuff about the ugly underbelly of the Internet, would it? Chapter 5 explores how web measurement applications can be leveraged to improve your site's design and your internal testing and refinement strategies.


Chapter 6, Web Measurement and the Online Retail Model

Given the fact that there are four equally valuable business models online, how do we justify devoting an entire chapter to online retail? Simple, online retailers spend a great deal of money on web measurement, more than the other three business models combined by some estimates. This chapter deals with a dozen or so of the most common measurement needs for online retailers, including shopping carts, checkout processes, and the lifetime value of a customer.


Chapter 7, Reporting Strategies and Key Performance Indicators

Many vendors would have you believe that the interface they provide into the data is the only thing you'll need to be successful. They're wrong. Extensive interviews and experience tell us that most companies are successful with web measurement data when it's presented in a format they're comfortable with. In this chapter, we present key performance indicators and discuss how they can be used to improve the likelihood of adoption and action for web data.



    Web Site Measurement Hacks
    Web Site Measurement Hacks: Tips & Tools to Help Optimize Your Online Business
    ISBN: 0596009887
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2005
    Pages: 157

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