As a huge fan, and active practitioner of, testing (A/B and multivariate), I decided it was time to record another podcast about the subject. I invited some of the people who I think have done a lot in this area and are working with continuous improvements online.

Some of the topics discussed in this podcast:

• Where should someone new to testing begin?
• Does method matter?
• Is suboptimization a risk?
• Can we trust the statistics behind tools?
• What test result has been the most surprising?

 

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Or search for WebAnalystsInfo in iTunes on your device.
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The panel in this podcast about testing:

Bryan Eisenberg is the co-author of several best-selling books: Call to Action, Waiting For Your Cat to Bark?, and Always Be Testing. He is also the co-founder and chairman emeritus of the Web Analytics Association. Bryan serves as an advisory board member of several venture capital backed startup companies (such as Bazaarvoice, iPerceptions, UserTesting.com, and ClickEquations) and is on the board of trustees of the Direct Marketing Education Foundation.

Lance Loveday is the founder and CEO of Closed Loop Marketing. His company has become highly sought after, serving a wide array of clients—from startups to big brands such as Hewlett-Packard, Brocade, and Lockheed Martin. Lance is co-author of the book Web Design for ROI.

Anne Holland is the publisher of WhichTestWon? and president of Anne Holland Ventures Inc, an online business media company. She is the founder and former president of MarketingSherpa, and has for more than 20 years been conducting tests and research into what works best in marketing.

Chris Goward is the CEO of WiderFunnel Marketing Optimization and an expert in website conversion rate optimization. Chris has been optimizing online and offline marketing for companies such as eBay, Epson, SAP, Getty Images, BabyAge.com, Rudder.com, Outrigger Hotels, and Google.

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Listen to some of the previous podcasts

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The 10 most read blog posts posted in 2009

1. Free Google Analytics Plug-In for Microsoft Excel (GA Client/Add-On for Spreadsheets)
2. How to View Event-Tracking Reports in All Google Analytics Accounts
3. A Fun Game: Guess the Outcome of 15 Tests
4. Interview With Alex Yoder, CEO of WebTrend
5. 15 Google Analytics Resources (Plug-Ins, Tools, Blogs, and Hacks)
6. Study of the Web Analytics Market in Sweden
7. Interview With Joe Davis, CEO of Coremetrics
8. Google Analytics App for iPhone (Analyze This!)
9. Quick Response Codes Help Cross-Channel Measurement
10. Webtrends, Widemile, Web Analytics, and Website Optimization — Interview with Alex Yoder, CEO, Webtrends

The 3 most read old posts in 2009

1. Measuring a Niche Website
2. Data Visualization (Resources in the Form of Blogs, Posts, Books, Presentations, Examples, Services and a Test)
3. A Review of Tapefailure, RobotReplay and ClickTale

My 2009 favorites

1. Prioritize Pages to Optimize Based on Monetary Contribution
2. A Fun Game: Guess the Outcome of 15 Tests
3. Free Google Analytics Plug-In for Microsoft Excel (GA Client/Add-On for Spreadsheets)
4. Infidelity Rate and Google Infidelity Share for Web Analytics Vendors
5. Google Analytics Opt Out (Block Tracking)

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I have interviewed Avinash Kaushik, Analytics Evangelist for Google. The reason for the interview is his upcoming presentation at IMC Vancouver 2009.

Avinash, have you noticed any effects on the web analytics industry due to the financial difficulties on markets?

Of course. It’s a mixed bag. Some of my dear friends have been laid off, breaks my heart (both for my friends as well as for companies that are being shortsighted).

Decisions around investing in tools are getting pushed off, or in a number of cases people have called their paid analytics vendor to see how they can reduce the code on pages or sample in order to reduce the “pay per page views” cost. As you can imagine, this is not a great strategy.

Yet companies are investing more marketing and sales dollars online (or decreasing it at a much less accelerated rate compared to offline) because of the sheer accountability the channel brings with it.

I think of the current challenging environment as an opportunity for analytics (tools, vendors, professionals) to step in and earn their wings. Let’s stop producing reports; let’s become analysis ninjas and add value to the business today. Not next month. Today. We have data; we are smart; we are supremely placed to ride this wave on top.

If you were to give some advice to companies facing a downturn, what would that be?

For individuals, see the last sentiment above. For companies, now’s the time to move away from “faith based initiatives” and exploit the sweetness of data-driven decision making. Save money (reduce cost). Improve revenue (profitability).

What do you think it will take for all organizations to adopt an analytics-driven business culture?

A crisis (like this one). Embarrassment (seeing their competitors shame them).

What insight gleaned from data has surprised you the most?

One of my greatest was how astonishingly monetizable the Long Tail of Search was. It was this magnificent intersection of marketing strategy and a surprisingly hidden data manifestation. So sweet. If I might add another, Voice of Customer (VOC). I have yet to read a hundred open text survey responses on any site and not find something actionable.

What’s the biggest mistake made by web analysts, or analysts in general?

Focusing too much on giving decision makers what they want, rather than giving them what they need. Sure it is hard. But at the end of the day, the analyst is smartest about the data and the hidden insights. So start with adding 10% Need to the Want. Over time add more (remember you are in the right; it will get easier over time).

Being a Google Analytics Evangelist, you are a big fan of giving people equal opportunity to act on data. If you could democratize data one step further than today, what would you do?

There is a subtle difference in my role at Google. It is not Google Analytics Evangelist. It is Analytics Evangelist, Google. The reason I mention that is my focus internally at Google is to help us create better customer facing data products, be they web analytics (Google Analytics), web optimization (Google Website Optimizer), or competitive intelligence (Insights for Search, AdPlanner, Software Based Keyword Tool, etc). My focus externally is to help the grander ecosystem be a lot more data driven by using tools in those three areas, to recognize value, and to execute.

That context will help me answer your question better. What I would do is to integrate more/faster. There are great opportunities to integrate to give marketers and analysts a more holistic view of their data, and provide much better insights faster. There are a couple of areas I am very passionate about, very tough problems we are working to solve, but if I tell you what they are, I might have to send an NDA to your entire audience and that would just be too hard.

Bonus questions for this blog:

You’re a busy guy. You run ZQ Insights, help Google, write long and insightful blog posts, act as Chief Education Officer for Market Motive, speak at events around the world, and sit on several boards of advisors. What’s your secret to being so efficient and productive?

1) Sleep is optional.

2) Love what you do. And I do.

3) Have an incredibly supportive wife (I have one and she is the wind beneath my wings).

What are your ambitions with Market Motive?

John, Michael and I are quite blessed that Market Motive is doing well and delivering value to its customers. Our suite of products at the moment includes self-driven marketing education, certification courses, and topical actionable workshops. That is a result of listening to our customers and identifying market niches where Market Motive can deliver unique value.

Our near term goal is to keep on that path.

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Avinash Kaushik is speaking at IMC (Internet Marketing Conference) Vancouver 2009 in September. He is the author of the best-selling book Web Analytics: An Hour a Day. He is also the Analytics Evangelist for Google and the cofounder of Market Motive Inc.

 

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