Jacques Warren has recently provided this post which covers the delights of upgrading a self-hosted Webtrends installation. Self-hosted Webtrends is now called ‘Webtrends OnPremises’. This information is very welcome, because upgrades always made me nervous – so much is usually at stake.
Blog
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Comparing web analytics tools
This post will grow and eventually turn into a more complete resource, but for now here is a start. This comparison page places three web analytics tools side-by-side, and as a little bonus lists CMS integration info (at the bottom of the table). The three tools examined at the link above are Piwik, Google Analytics, and Open Web Analytics (OWA).
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Conversion Rate Bonanza: 544 (and more) tips to improve your site’s conversion
Don’t let the fact that this link will take you to a page written in Brazilian Portuguese (my second language) hold you back: all the links are to content written in English. The IdealMind blog contains many valuable tips and discussions about web development, web analytics and more. But this list of conversion rate tips all in one place is a great find. What’s more, there’s a link to the post which originally inspired IdealMind’s author: a link to more than 600 (at the present time) links to help you improve your site’s conversion rate. Enjoy!
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Breaking it down: FTC online privacy (“do not track”) proposals
Most likely the recently proposed “do not track” opt out changes won’t affect web site owners marketing their own sites. However the changes could present challenges for other so-called third party marketers such as those gathering data for targeted remarketing campaigns, etc. Phil Kemelor offers a detailed breakdown at his blog site. It seems this issue of first-party vs. third party tracking boils up to the top every couple years. This is all the more reason for making the extra effort to ensure your own tracking efforts are built upon an infrastructure of first-party data collection whenever possible.
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More web analytics tools
Over the past couple days I found a site called Web Analytics Book. The author spent a lot of time a couple years back compiling a comprehensive list of hosted (SaaS) and logfile-based web analytics tools. The interface is rather clunky, but besides the best of breed vendors such as Webtrends, Omniture, Coremetrics, and Google Analytics, there are a ton of other tools such as heat-map and SEO products listed. Wikipedia also offers a fine list of web analytics software.
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Which web analytics tool?
When analyzing a new website, it is useful to know what information is already being gathered (if any). For a quick read on which analytics package is in use on any particular site, try the Vendor Discovery and Profiling Tool at Eric Peterson’s web site Web Analytics Demystified. Visit the link, then enter the URL for the website you want to check out. This tool does a pretty good job of detecting when multiple tracking ‘bugs’ are on a site.
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Thalhimers Found
I am a Thalhimers alumni. I got my start in the computer industry at the regional retail giant back in 1988 when Mr. Lee Roberts, VP-IT (CTO) asked me to work as a computer operator with no prior training (previously I had been a stock boy and ‘relay’ assistant manager since joining in 1986). What a lucky break for me! From the computer operations department I got a rare look across so many of the company’s internal functions and I met so many people who would teach me so much about business, computing, and professional networking. At the time I had no idea that my recently discovered affinity for computers would lead to a long-term career.Finding Thalhimers is a new book written by a modern descendant of the Thalhimer family. Thalhimers was a regional chain of 26 large scale department stores located throughout four Southern states, and headquartered in Richmond, Va. The store was founded in 1842 and and grew steadily until about 1990 but ultimately lost its identity when management and operations were dissolved while several locations were folded into another department store chain by a new owner in 1992. As a result, Downtown Richmond, Va., location of the original flagship store which endured until 1992, has never been the same without the large scale retail that had existed at Thalhimers and its long-time rival Miller & Rhoads, which went bankrupt in 1990. Many folks in the region still fondly remember the legendary customer service, enjoyable shopping experiences, and sweets from the bakery, all found at Thalhimers.
The Finding Thalhimers book describes the family behind the store from an insider’s point of view. It is a compelling read for anyone who remembers the magic the stores offered year ’round, particularly during the holidays. I enjoyed reading the book which provide many previously little-known family stories and abundant background information about the store’s development since 1842 and incredible growth during the first 90 or so years of the 20th century.
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The Kno: Is it a tablet, an eReader, or an electronic notebook?
I love new technology, and I’m especially excited about tablet PCs, eReaders, slates, PDAs, etc. The Kno is being promoted as an electronic textbook and offers the possibility of classrooms without printed textbooks and the notion of saving millions of trees annually. What do you think about such a device and the implications it presents for learning, the textbook industry, and tablet computing? I’m interested in knowing how it will identify itself as a user-agent in web server access logs!
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Search Insight
Google Insights for Search is quite an interesting tool. Even though its been around since 2008, it is still in beta as is most of Google. There is a lot of intelligence that can be gathered by using this tool along your web analytics package of choice. The only drawback to me is that the search data doesn’t go back farther than 2004. With this tool you can gauge interest and demand for the search terms you specify and you can compare multiple search terms in the same ‘report’. There is even a bit of forecasting so can test out Google’s trending and forecasting prowess over time. Try it out and compare the data you see with that from your web analytics package and other tools such as Quantcast. Enjoy! -
Validation, validation, validation
…. sounds like something you’ve heard when searching for a new home, doesn’t it? I’m borrowing from the real estate buzz phrase ‘location, location, location’ which helps explain real estate demand and property values.
Getting to the point related to web analytics, it is so important to validate reports, when possible, against another data source. This topic is addressed from an Omniture SiteCatalyst perspective in this excellent blog post at The Omni Man blog. Enjoy the read; let me know your reaction, or if I can help you better understand your web analytics results.
