WhipperSnaPR

I’ve been mulling over the topic of website traffic measurement in my head for the past month or so, brainstorming ideas on how to more formalize and standardize my “seeding” at work. Basically, I want to add quantifiable accountability  to what I do.  So, today, I came across some interesting articles/blogs on the subject and thought maybe it was a sight to put my own brainstorming on “paper”. I hope this will be the first of many posts, but for now…

I found this new list put together by Compete. It is a list of the top 200 sites ranked by the amount of time people spend on each.

I was also interested to read Seth Godin’s opinion on the list and I remembered an article I read a few weeks ago from the Center for Media Research about this report from Alterian, a marketing analytics company. The report focuses mainly on email direct marketing, but one statistic caught my eye: 70% of respondents said they apply basic or no analysis to any of their email campaigns. I can’t help but suspect that number transcends direct marketing and would reflect the bahavior of most marketers.

I think it is very interesting how some companies don’t even think to ask for metrics or statistics about their online presence and other’s can’t stop thinking about it. This is easier said than done, but, for me, measuring the success of each piece of online material is a very specialized endeavor. It cannot be boiled down into one statistic. As a proud graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication and a student of James McQuivey’s communication research class, I have a deep appreciation for reliable and useful numbers. Really, any marketing campaign should have a research and evaluation mechanism built in. Obviously, in the real world, this isn’t always easy to do.

And, even when it is integrated, you might not even be getting the right information. For example, does FedEx really care how long someone is on their sight? Sure, exposure to the brand is important, but this might also say something about the sites usability. And this would be especially important to note if, as Allurenet reports,  41% of consumers avoid shopping at a brick and mortar location if they’ve previously had a bad experience with the company online.

There has been some great debates surrounding online traffic measurement and I don’t think we’re anywhere near finding the best solution. Still, these are some creative, interesting and useful approaches. Not all of it pertains to what I’m exploring for Pod Design, but it is all worth keeping in mind.