Who, what, when, where and why

Yes, the old 5 “w”s apply to web analytics too!

Turns out that in web analytics, we need to know who will receive the reports, data and insights gained from our analytical efforts; we need to know what information we should share (dependent on ‘who’ and ‘when’); we need to know where, as in where do we make this data known to our ‘whos’ so that we can ensure it is used and valued; we need to know when to share our findings; and we need to know why we’re expending all the analytical effort (as in what do we hope to learn?) and why site visitors behave the way they do when on site.

As you can see, the web analyst’s assignments aren’t much different than a news reporter’s or a detective’s. Read well-known analytics expert Jason Burby’s complete blog post. Enjoy!