Discussion reply
STUDENT 1: Joseph
There are several data capture methodologies from which to choose from in order to obtain targeted metric data.With relation to web logs and JavaScript tags, it appears that; based on one of the articles in this week’s readings; that web logs were once the popular method, yet now seems to be somewhat antiquated when compared to JavaScript tags.“For better or for worse most vendors are moving away from supporting versions of their products that support web logs as a source of data.” (Kaushik, 2006)Web logs is both data serving and data capture in one, while with JavaScript, they are separate.JavaScript tags can also be customized to capture different data metrics.
As I mentioned in last week’s forum post, Piwik provides much of the key metric data; at no cost; necessary to effectively operate a web site, affording its users the ability to tailor their site to their visitors in order to provide additional value, potentially leading to increased sales and brand awareness.While this may be advantageous for a smaller business which may only need basic metric data in order to better tailor their site to its users, other; larger; firms may need an analytics tool more advanced, one which can assist in identifying key metrics for them, and affording the user the ability to manipulate the data in order to segment users.This web analytical tool provides the basics.
Yahoo Web Analytics (Pingdom) has a neat metric which tracks what about a web page is fast and what is slow.This is an important feature which can help ensure pages render in a timely manner in order to facilitate continued user engagement with the site.The tool also has Real User Monitoring. “Real User Monitoring service gives you insight into performance and helps you answer questions like, how does your website really perform from a specific country or web browser.” (Pingdom, 2018)This again leads back to the importance of proper site performance across multiple platforms and delivery methods in order to ensure continued user engagement.Unlike Piwik, this analytical tool is not free however.
Google Analytics is a more advanced web analytics tool.It has intelligence and machine learning integrated within the tool, allowing users to leverage this technology in order to hone in on the various actions and interests of a web site’s user base.“Google’s proprietary audience data…allows you to create audiences based on demographics and interests (e.g. which product categories a user is interested in).” (Google Analytics, 2018) This ability to segment the user data allows the company to devise targeted marketing campaigns based on particular product offerings, as opposed to creating a more general marketing campaign comprising several products, or perhaps even just the brand itself.This helps to ensure that a firm’s value proposition is being delivered and seen by those most receptive to it; thus making the most out of the capital allocated to marketing.
Reference:
Kaushik, Avinash.(2006). The Great Web Data Capture Debate: Web Logs or JavaScript Tags?
Pingdom.(2018). http://get.pingdom.com/website-performance-monitor…
Google Analytics.(2018). Analytics Capabilities.https://www.google.com/analytics/analytics/ capabilities/.
STUDENT 2: Victoria
Hello everyone,
For this week, I have decided to note the differences and similarities of two data collection methods: logfiling and page tagging.
Logfile analysis is the older of the two methods, and it shows, as its methodology is incredibly simple and not as detail oriented as page tagging. Logfile analysis method simply counts pagehits of a server and stores the data in a small and easily managable format (Aube, n.d.). As the internet grew and the technology behind logfile analysis continued to go out of style, a new concept was introduced, which we call ‘page tagging’.
Page tagging was introduced as a direct replacement for logfile analysis, as the technology was newer, and allowed for better and more accurate information than logfiling could give. As we have covered in this course, page tagging is what we now know today as script-based data collection via cookies, and it is extremely flexible and customizable to meet a certain website’s needs (Aube, n.d.).
While the two are incredibly different and, when stacked by side, it’s easy to tell why people prefer the page tagging method, it is worth noting that they have a similar concept and buildup as page tagging was created with methodologies and concepts of logfiling in mind.
For my two web analytics tools, I have decided to review Google Analytics and last week’s subject, Piwik. Both analytics tools are highly regarded open source products that have several options for data collection. From my interactions with both, they tend to show the same data in very different ways, and a lot of ‘which product should I choose?’ would simply come down to personal choice. However, I will say that I believe Google Analytics is better suited for smaller businesses, as the ease of setup is significantly easier than that of Piwik, and if your data manipulation will not be very intense, there isn’t much reason to invest a large amount of effort into Piwik for virtually the same tools presented in different ways.
Google Analytics is the most popular web analytics tool for a reason – they know their stuff (which is to be expected, as it is Google). The dashboard is user friendly and anyone from the most basic of web developers to highly trained web analysts can find use in this product. It also is generally regarded as the best tool from the transition to small to large site, as the product can grow alongside a developer’s site with ease.
Tori
Aube, J. (n.d.). Collecting Web Data: A Look at Web Analytics Methodology – ROI Revolution. [online] ROI Revolution. Available at: https://www.roirevolution.com/blog/2006/05/collect… [Accessed 28 Feb. 2018].
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