Welcome, I'm Mystified, no it's my state of mind, not my name.
So who am I and why am I typing away like this? I'm a web analytics expert and I'm typing like this because I feel that I need to impart some knowledge to those of you who are cowering in these uncertain economic times and wondering 'how can we improve the bottom line of our company?'
I guess you are going to want me to justify the statement that I'm a web analytics expert?
No problem, I'm an end user, much like many of you but that's only so that I can experience what you experience.
I've spent the last 12 years working directly in Web Analytics. not enough justification?
Well during those 12 years I've been working with many companies developing Analytics Solutions, all of which incorporated some kind of Web element to them.
1) I've developed bespoke analytics solutions for small, medium and large companies.
2) I've developed ready to roll, online, service, solutions for SMEs.
3) I've conceptualised, invented, and headed the development team for several well know analytics companies and even had my own.
4) For all these years I've worked with clients and headed development teams to help businesses improve there online offering.
Our solutions are never restricted to mere web stats, that's the stuff of log crunching when web trends was a company of 2 people and the Internet was in black and white! ;-)
I'm well qualified in business (I've run several of my own and still do) and I frequently witness that business management is often too fragmented and the monitoring, controls and change mechanisms by which these same companies operate are like wise. What they really need, what they've always needed, what they need right now are holistic solutions. Analytics systems must take in to account the many facets of a business not just a web front end, and most importantly they should do this in a single interface. Without a single interface (at least to the most important indicators) how can you address the 'whole ' of a companies performance?
So I'm sorry, if you invest in Google Analytics as part of your development strategy? I can tell you, and this is purely from experience, you are naive. Don't go, I'm not here to insult you, I'm here to help you. I'm not a Google hater either, I don't even hate Google Analytics, but if your have a company that depends on ebusiness then depending on GA is naive, naive, naive. It's fine for me to monitor my personal home page, or even a start up in it's conceptual stage, but beyond that it just shows that you (i'm sorry to say) know very little about ebusiness. OK, that's the negativity done for now... stick around and I hope you'll be less naive in a few weeks time. :-)
If you are reading this from the comfort of your E-commerce directors leather swivel chair and you use Google Analytics, be afraid, be very afraid. As far as competitiveness in the online market place is concerned Google Analytics is a very bad decision.
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To use Google Analytics is like buying a car to commute from Oxford to London (try maps.google.com if your not in the UK, lol )... except your car only has 3 wheels and it should have 4, it runs on coal and the coal man hasn't delivered round your way for 20 years because you live in a smokeless zone, BUT it's a gift, it's free and so you thought what could possibly go wrong with this free car?
Well what can go wrong is it never gets you to where you want to go and you get the sack that's what.
Unfortunately that last line isn't a metaphor!
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To use Google Analytics is like buying a car to commute from Oxford to London (try maps.google.com if your not in the UK, lol )... except your car only has 3 wheels and it should have 4, it runs on coal and the coal man hasn't delivered round your way for 20 years because you live in a smokeless zone, BUT it's a gift, it's free and so you thought what could possibly go wrong with this free car?
Well what can go wrong is it never gets you to where you want to go and you get the sack that's what.
Unfortunately that last line isn't a metaphor!
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I'll expand later, there's a lot of justification to come.... that justification will just roll in, it will pile up like.... well like stuff you really don't want to pile up! If you have already switched to Google Analytics then you may well start to sweat.
Don't worry though, it's not too late, I'm not on my soap box to punish or to preach (although I do sound like a preacher don't I?). I'm here to show you the light ( oh darn there I go again, next I'll be illuminating the night sky with burning bushes!).
OK, I'm here to impart some knowledge I have osmotically saturated my brain with over the last 12 years. If you knew what I knew, you'd choose another method of improving the bottom line of your company.
Until next time.... I'm Mystified!
[spelling is not a sign of intelligence... it used to be... now it's merely a sign of how good your spell checker is and how fast your brain educes in relation to your typing fingers]
