Many find web analytics difficult, finds survey

Well-defined processes are needed for those businesses undertaking web analytics projects.

by Helen Leggatt

In a survey of over 1,000 web analytics professionals, consultants and end-users, over half, 56 percent, found web analytics difficult. This despite the majority of respondents having at least two years of experience with the relevant technologies and just under a quarter having more than five years experience.

Jim Sterne, co-founder and chairman of the Web Analytics Association, said, ‘While the available technology is quite mature at this point, the data highlights the nascence of our industry as a whole.”

Eighty-two percent of respondents claimed web analytics was largely misunderstood within their organisations, and that many of those interacting with web data did not fully understand what it meant.

Web measurement guru Eric T. Peterson, who co-authored the report entitled "Web Analytics Demystified", said it highlighted a need for well-defined processes behind measurement projects.

"Only 8 percent of companies worldwide are taking a process-oriented approach towards web analytics, but, in my experience, process is the key to both success and achieving positive and recurring return on investment from web analytics technology and staff," he said.