..Continuing down the rabbit hole, trying to figure out how Data and Analytics can help publisher increase their current performance. Standardization might not look like much of a performance or optimization technique, but not knowing clearly what your are optimizing against, makes the task not only difficult, but also dangerous to the point where you can make more harm than good on certain initiatives. So the laissez-faire metric attitude, should be exchanged for well defined and understood online publisher metrics.

I honestly believe that a tablet of some sorts will provide the opportunity for a prospering digital magazine industry, I in particular see the need for a curated editorial product that can be consumed, completed and finally commented on as a whole. Everything that seems like a task – MUST create a structure to finish, which is my biggest issue with today’s endless information stream. However, I believe the digital magazine is up for a transformation which is more radical than the print replica I just read.

I should ask (and probably answer) that question more often, if not for the readers of this blog, then at least just to make sure my Mom is up to speed. So come and find me in this December version of “Where’s Waldo?” – I would love to meet up for a nerdy chat about Analytics or Media.

I have been very focused on the nirvana of e-commerce actions, the sale, but I am sure you agree with me that there are many steps and many actions before getting to this point. You can track any number of steps and any number of activities with Yahoo! Web Analytics. The tool has a few hard-coded events, however, that come right out of the box—one of them is the unique action value called PRODUCT_VIEW. The Product View variable provides you with the opportunity to expand your merchandising knowledge to activities, very close to the top of the sales funnel. In this way, you can see how often potential customers view your products, which products are the most popular, and whether a positive connection exists between product campaigns and product views.

Measuring and reporting on the impact of a Microsite without taking into consideration how it uniquely differs from the expected and somewhat associated parent website is an error! This white paper points to a number of analysis items which will facilitate the right mindset for Microsite analysis and reporting – if this type of thinking is not applied, you will at best provide flawed reporting to your customers and at worst suggest actions that will negatively impact the Microsite.

I am adding the finishing touch to my Microsite Analytics White Paper and I would love any feedback I can get.

Should you have the time to flip through a twenty something pages draft (let’s call it v0.95), let me know, and I’ll send you a draft-copy to look at – especially if you are at an agency and report on the effectiveness of client Microsites.