Thoughts from an analytical breakfast
Written by Benjamin Mangold
This morning I attended 'An Industry in Transition - Web Analytics to Marketing Optimization' in Vancouver, Canada which was the first breakfast series put on by the Web Analytics Association (WAA) and eMetrics.
John Hossack of VKI Studios, a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, who I previously met at Google's Headquarters in Mountain View, California presented a case study around the use of Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer. It was great to see John's presentation and how they are using Google's products within the Canadian market place.
Jim Sterne was the keynote speaker at the event, Jim is heavily involved within the analytics industry and is currently the Chairman of the WAA. I was surprised by his presentation's content due to the lack of insights and depth. The event was described as "sharing insight into the level of expertise among practitioners today; challenges faced; opportunities available; and the role we play as companies adopt the continuous improvement method of marketing optimization", so I am quite disappointed.
Jim's presentation did provide a engaging walk through of the historical development of web analytics, but it seemed to be aimed at organizations that are just beginning to realize the potential of analytics as a business and marketing tool. This got me thinking about the maturity of the analytics industry in Australia and how it is still very new to a lot of Australian companies.
I created the following graphic by overlaying two graphs from Google Trends. It presents the search volume for the phrase "Google Analytics" within Australia compared to the global search volume. I believe this is a fairly accurate reflection of how much Australian companies need to catch up, it is fair to say Australia is 18 months behind in the adoption of analytics.
Search volume for "Google Analytics"
(The spike on the left reflect the initial release of Google Analytics.)
Labels: Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, Google Website Optimizer, web analytics association
4 Comments:
I find this fascinating and have noticed it as well.
Even though Web Analytics is only a part of the overall service that I provide, I was ranking for it straightaway and quickly hit the number one spot for it (and variations), much to my amazement.
Not that I'm amazed at my own SEO talents... heh, its just that I got there so quickly and have stayed with not anywhere near as much effort as some of my other targeted phrases.
Hi Jex, thanks for the comment!
It's also interesting to compare google.com to google.com.au, even though a site might be listed further down on google.com we generally see a lot more traffic coming from google.com compared to google.com.au
As you know SEO is part skill and part art.
Although Australia may be 18 months behind places like the US and Europe in the take up of Google Analytics, this figure cannot be transferred to web analytics as a whole.
In the Australian Web Analytics Survey for 2007 that we (Bienalto Consulting) run annually, it shows that the majority of respondents have been using their primary web analytics tool for over 3 years. Over the same period SiteCensus, which originates from Australia, has enjoyed a strong presence in Asia Pacfic until the entrance of strong US vendors such as Omniture, WebTrends, Coremetrics, SAS and Unica entered into the Australian market.
We’ve also found that over the past 12 months the use of Google Analytics has risen dramatically; interestingly though only a quarter of respondents use Google Analytics exclusively.
For the full survey results visit www.bienalto.com
Hi Shaji, thank you for making some strong points and creating a dialogue about the analytics industry in Australia.
Firstly, as a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, I have a particular bias towards Google Analytics. My post is primary about my thoughts about the use of Google Analytics within the Australian market. But I think this applies more broadly to the general use of analytics too.
Consulting and training Australian companies has given me a particular insight into how Google Analytics is being used at a very intimate level. I am continually surprised by what companies are and are not doing with their data.
I think SMEs (Small to Medium Enterprises) are in desperate need of some analytic love in Australia. The easier analytics products are to use, or should I say understand, the more people will use them on a regular basis as a business tool.
At the time I wrote the post I was based in Vancouver, Canada and I felt like I was right on the pulse. Now I am located in Sydney, Australia and I feel like we need more support and recognition of what analytics can do for business.
Here are some numbers from the Web Analytics Association:
Australian members = 20
US Members = 568
Worldwide events in 2007 =130
Australian events in 2007 = 2
As web analytics professionals we know that it's not about the data, it's about the action and the more action we can get Australian's to do based on that data the better!
What I am trying to say is that Australia may or may not be behind in the take-up of analytics, but there is huge potential for growth, support and understanding.
Keep up the good work with the survey!
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