Comments on: Analytics 1.0 – A Case of Velleity

By: Analytics as a subversive activity - SiteLogic - Marketing Logic

Analytics as a subversive activity - SiteLogic - Marketing Logic — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:11:08 +0000

[...] Articles: Analytics 1.0 – A Case of Velleity Marketing Without Metrics? Analytics is Not a Passive Activity Share and Enjoy: These icons link [...]

By: A dust collecting fool

A dust collecting fool — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 20:20:34 +0000

Wow, this is the first time I have ever heard of this word before. I see these folks on forums all the time. All they seem capable of doing is wanting.

By: Matt Bailey

Matt Bailey — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:10:34 +0000

Thanks, Dave! Great to hear from you – back from your travels?

Andrea, good question – high bounce rates aren’t necessarily bad, as long as the goal is accomplished. Your next step is associating goal completion with bounce rate. Ultimately, it is all about context.

Numbers by themselves are just information, they need context in order to create understanding. Even then, making the leap towards “what to do” requires questions to create even more context for knowledge.

I feel another article coming on . . . the information hierarchy!

By: David Temple

David Temple — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 07:06:23 +0000

Great post as usual Matt. You’ve hit the nail on the proverbial head.Asking questions is indeed the quickest way to moving away from velleity. The trick is in asking the right questions. Analytics should be based on ultimate business goals. Why would anyone’s business goal be more hits, more traffic or even shudder higher rankings?

By: Andrea Hill

Andrea Hill — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:15:30 +0000

I’ve been bugging the analytics guy at work with all sorts of questions about the relevance of the various reports and numbers (is a high bounce rate on a contact us page really a bad thing, as you can assume the visitor achieved their desired task?) and thinking that I really needed to dive into it more. Seeing it mentioned here on your blog has just driven that fact home again.

Data is just data unless we know what to do with it. Then it’s information…