Aussie Web Analyst

I have just had the pleasure of attending the first day of the IWMW ‘08. It was actually the first conference that I have been to and after some initial nerves, I really enjoyed the day. Unfortunately, due to work commitments, I had to return back to the office this morning meaning I am missing the last two days but I did at least get one night socialising with people working for universities from all over the UK.

While most of what I heard discussed was not that relevant to my own interests, I did at least get some satisfaction from knowing that web analytics is vital to most other areas. Everything that happens on the net can be measured (ok we are still trying to figure out exactly how in some cases) and this means that people can understand what works and what needs to be worked on.

This industry appears to be facing similar challenges to everyone else. There is a lot of new technology out there and it is difficult trying to understand what is useful and what is merely fun. There are internal battles, trying to get colleagues to appreciate that websites can make their life easier and are not just additional work. Privacy is a big issue, particularly given that this industry has access to a lot of personal details about students and staff. And of course, there is the eternal battle for sufficient resources.

In terms of web analytics, again like everywhere else, there appears to be varied usage. There is an initial time investment needed to set up web analytics and associated reports and it can be difficult can this to receive a high enough priority. Promisingly, people do appear to see the value of web analytics and want to be able to use the data to improve their websites, the content and experience they are providing. The question they are facing is how to use the data, how to transform it into actionable insights.

I managed to avoid getting dragged into the Scottish dancing (the conference is at the University of Aberdeen) and avoiding drinking any of the fine whiskey (it was an early flight this morning back to London). But I think i made some decent contacts, hopefully provided a couple of useful hints and I very much hope to be able to give more advice to some of the people I met via this blog in the near future.

Tags: IWMW 2008, Web Analytics