I can not stress how important these are. Following user trends not only keeps your interactive/mobile/etc. initiatives up to date it also keeps your users happy through ease of navigation! I love all the milestones we go through in the process of developing a project, especially analyzing the post data. Most of all I see users needing/wanting/demanding their information within 5 secs. Knowing the latest trends and stats can assist you in your online/mobile adventures.
Web Statistics and Trends
Statistics are important information. W3Schools.com is for people with an interest for web technologies. This fact indicates that the figures below might not be 100% true for the average internet users. The average internet-user might have a lower screen resolution.
Anyway, our data, collected from W3Schools’ log-files over ten years, clearly shows the long term trends.
Screen Resolution
Today, most visitors are using a screen resolution higher than 1024×768 pixels:
| Date |
Higher |
1024×768 |
800×600 |
640×480 |
Other |
| January 2011 |
85% |
14% |
0% |
0% |
1% |
| January 2010 |
76% |
20% |
1% |
0% |
3% |
| January 2009 |
57% |
36% |
4% |
0% |
3% |
| January 2008 |
38% |
48% |
8% |
0% |
6% |
| January 2007 |
26% |
54% |
14% |
0% |
6% |
| January 2006 |
17% |
57% |
20% |
0% |
6% |
| January 2005 |
12% |
53% |
30% |
0% |
5% |
| January 2004 |
10% |
47% |
37% |
1% |
5% |
| January 2003 |
6% |
40% |
47% |
2% |
5% |
| January 2002 |
6% |
34% |
52% |
3% |
5% |
| January 2001 |
5% |
29% |
55% |
6% |
5% |
| January 2000 |
4% |
25% |
56% |
11% |
4% |
From the statistics below, you can see that Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Chrome are the most popular browsers today.
Browser Statistics Month by Month
| 2011 |
Internet Explorer |
Firefox |
Chrome |
Safari |
Opera |
| November |
21.2 % |
38.1 % |
33.4 % |
4.2 % |
2.4 % |
| October |
21.7 % |
38.7 % |
32.3 % |
4.2 % |
2.4 % |
| September |
22.9 % |
39.7 % |
30.5 % |
4.0 % |
2.2 % |
| August |
22.4 % |
40.6 % |
30.3 % |
3.8 % |
2.3 % |
| July |
22.0 % |
42.0 % |
29.4 % |
3.6 % |
2.4 % |
| June |
23.2 % |
42.2 % |
27.9 % |
3.7 % |
2.4 % |
| May |
24.9 % |
42.4 % |
25.9 % |
4.0 % |
2.4 % |
| April |
24.3 % |
42.9 % |
25.6 % |
4.1 % |
2.6 % |
| March |
25.8 % |
42.2 % |
25.0 % |
4.0 % |
2.5 % |
| February |
26.5 % |
42.4 % |
24.1 % |
4.1 % |
2.5 % |
| January |
26.6 % |
42.8 % |
23.8 % |
4.0 % |
2.5 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2010 |
Internet Explorer |
Firefox |
Chrome |
Safari |
Opera |
| December |
27.5 % |
43.5 % |
22.4 % |
3.8 % |
2.2 % |
| November |
28.6 % |
44.0 % |
20.5 % |
4.0 % |
2.3 % |
| October |
29.7 % |
44.1 % |
19.2 % |
3.9 % |
2.2 % |
| September |
31.1 % |
45.1 % |
17.3 % |
3.7 % |
2.2 % |
| August |
30.7 % |
45.8 % |
17.0 % |
3.5 % |
2.3 % |
| July |
30.4 % |
46.4 % |
16.7 % |
3.4 % |
2.3 % |
| June |
31.0 % |
46.6 % |
15.9 % |
3.6 % |
2.1 % |
| May |
32.2 % |
46.9 % |
14.5 % |
3.5 % |
2.2 % |
| April |
33.4 % |
46.4 % |
13.6 % |
3.7 % |
2.2 % |
| March |
34.9 % |
46.2 % |
12.3 % |
3.7 % |
2.2 % |
| February |
35.3 % |
46.5 % |
11.6 % |
3.8 % |
2.1 % |
| January |
36.2 % |
46.3 % |
10.8 % |
3.7 % |
2.2 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2009 |
Internet Explorer |
Firefox |
Chrome |
Safari |
Opera |
| December |
37.2 % |
46.4 % |
9.8 % |
3.6 % |
2.3 % |
| November |
37.7 % |
47.0 % |
8.5 % |
3.8 % |
2.3 % |
| October |
37.5 % |
47.5 % |
8.0 % |
3.8 % |
2.3 % |
| September |
39.6 % |
46.6 % |
7.1 % |
3.6 % |
2.2 % |
| August |
39.3 % |
47.4 % |
7.0 % |
3.3 % |
2.1 % |
| July |
39.4 % |
47.9 % |
6.5 % |
3.3 % |
2.1 % |
| June |
40.7 % |
47.3 % |
6.0 % |
3.1 % |
2.1 % |
| May |
41.0 % |
47.7 % |
5.5 % |
3.0 % |
2.2 % |
| April |
42.1 % |
47.1 % |
4.9 % |
3.0 % |
2.2 % |
| March |
43.3 % |
46.5 % |
4.2 % |
3.1 % |
2.3 % |
| February |
43.6 % |
46.4 % |
4.0 % |
3.0 % |
2.2 % |
| January |
44.8 % |
45.5 % |
3.9 % |
3.0 % |
2.3 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2008 |
Internet Explorer |
Firefox |
Chrome |
Safari |
Opera |
| December |
46.0 % |
44.4 % |
3.6 % |
2.7 % |
2.4 % |
| November |
47.0 % |
44.2 % |
3.1 % |
2.7 % |
2.3 % |
| October |
47.4 % |
44.0 % |
3.0 % |
2.8 % |
2.2 % |
| September |
49.0 % |
42.6 % |
3.1 % |
2.7 % |
2.0 % |
| August |
51.0 % |
43.7 % |
|
2.6 % |
2.1 % |
| July |
52.4 % |
42.6 % |
|
2.5 % |
1.9 % |
| June |
54.2 % |
41.0 % |
|
2.6 % |
1.7 % |
| May |
54.4 % |
39.8 % |
|
2.4 % |
1.5 % |
| April |
54.8 % |
39.1 % |
|
2.2 % |
1.4 % |
| March |
53.9 % |
37.0 % |
|
2.1 % |
1.4 % |
| February |
54.7 % |
36.5 % |
|
2.0 % |
1.4 % |
| January |
54.7 % |
36.4 % |
|
1.9 % |
1.4 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2007 |
Internet Explorer |
Firefox |
Mozilla |
Safari |
Opera |
| November |
56.0 % |
36.3 % |
1.2 % |
1.8 % |
1.6 % |
| September |
57.2 % |
35.4 % |
1.2 % |
1.6 % |
1.5 % |
| July |
58.5 % |
34.5 % |
1.4 % |
1.5 % |
1.9 % |
| May |
58.9 % |
33.7 % |
1.3 % |
1.5 % |
1.7 % |
| March |
58.7 % |
31.8 % |
1.3 % |
1.6 % |
1.6 % |
| January |
58.6 % |
31.0 % |
1.5 % |
1.7 % |
1.5 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2006 |
Internet Explorer |
Firefox |
Mozilla |
Netscape |
Opera |
| November |
60.6 % |
29.9 % |
2.5 % |
0.2 % |
1.5 % |
| September |
62.1 % |
27.3 % |
2.3 % |
0.4 % |
1.6 % |
| July |
62.4 % |
25.5 % |
2.3 % |
0.4 % |
1.4 % |
| May |
63.0 % |
25.7 % |
2.3 % |
0.3 % |
1.5 % |
| March |
64.7 % |
24.5 % |
2.4 % |
0.5 % |
1.5 % |
| January |
66.0 % |
25.0 % |
3.1 % |
0.5 % |
1.6 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2005 |
Internet Explorer |
Firefox |
Mozilla |
Netscape |
Opera |
| November |
68.9 % |
23.6 % |
2.8 % |
0.4 % |
1.5 % |
| September |
75.5 % |
18.0 % |
2.5 % |
0.4 % |
1.2 % |
| July |
73.8 % |
19.8 % |
2.6 % |
0.5 % |
1.2 % |
| May |
71.6 % |
21.0 % |
3.1 % |
0.7 % |
1.3 % |
| March |
72.5 % |
18.9 % |
3.3 % |
1.0 % |
1.9 % |
| January |
74.5 % |
16.6 % |
3.4 % |
1.1 % |
1.9 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2004 |
Internet Explorer |
|
Mozilla |
Netscape |
Opera |
| November |
76.2 % |
|
16.5 % |
1.7 % |
1.6 % |
| September |
79.0 % |
|
13.7 % |
2.0 % |
1.7 % |
| July |
80.4 % |
|
12.6 % |
2.2 % |
1.6 % |
| May |
81.9 % |
|
9.5 % |
2.4 % |
1.6 % |
| March |
82.8 % |
|
7.9 % |
2.8 % |
1.4 % |
| January |
84.7 % |
|
5.5 % |
2.4 % |
1.5 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2003 |
Internet Explorer |
|
Mozilla |
Netscape |
Opera |
| November |
84.9 % |
|
7.2 % |
2.6 % |
1.9 % |
| September |
86.6 % |
|
6.2 % |
2.7 % |
1.8 % |
| July |
87.2 % |
|
5.7 % |
2.7 % |
1.7 % |
| May |
87.7 % |
|
4.6 % |
3.3 % |
1.4 % |
| March |
88.0 % |
|
4.2 % |
3.4 % |
1.2 % |
| January |
84.6 % |
|
4.0 % |
4.0 % |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2002 |
Internet Explorer |
AOL |
|
Netscape |
|
| November |
83.4 % |
5.2 % |
|
8.0 % |
|
| September |
83.5 % |
4.5 % |
|
8.0 % |
|
| July |
84.5 % |
3.5 % |
|
7.3 % |
|
| May |
86.7 % |
2.8 % |
|
7.3 % |
|
| March |
86.1 % |
3.0 % |
|
7.7 % |
|
| January |
85.8 % |
2.8 % |
|
7.9 % |
|
| Internet Explorer |
Microsoft Internet Explorer |
| Firefox |
Mozilla Firefox (identified as Mozilla before 2005) |
| Chrome |
Google Chrome |
| Mozilla |
The Mozilla Suite (Gecko, Netscape) |
| Safari |
Safari (and Konqueror. Both identified as Mozilla before 2007) |
| Opera |
Opera (as of 2011, Opera Mini is included here) |
| Netscape |
Netscape Navigator (identified as Mozilla after 2006) |
| AOL |
America Online (based on both Internet Explorer and Mozilla) |
Browsers that count for less than 0.5% are not listed.
W3Schools is a website for people with an interest for web technologies. These people are more interested in using alternative browsers than the average user. The average user tends to the browser that comes preinstalled with their computer, and do not seek out other browser alternatives.
These facts indicate that the browser figures above are not 100% realistic. Other web sites have statistics showing that Internet Explorer is a more popular browser.
Anyway, our data, collected from W3Schools’ log-files, over many years, clearly shows the long and medium-term trends.
Mobile Devices
A mobile device is a pocket-sized computing device.
After the release of the Apple iPhone the mobile device usage has been growing steadily.
Smartphones today have large color touch screens, nice user interfaces and are highly optimized for browsing the web.
From the statistics below, collected from W3Schools’ log-files, you can see the trends of mobile device usage.
Mobile Devices Statistics
The following table is a breakdown of the Mobile numbers from our OS Platform Statistics:
| 2011 |
Total |
iPhone |
iPad |
iPod |
Android |
Others |
| November |
1.02 % |
0.19 % |
0.36 % |
0.04 % |
0.30 % |
0.13 % |
| October |
0.96 % |
0.19 % |
0.33 % |
0.04 % |
0.28 % |
0.12 % |
| September |
0.89 % |
0.17 % |
0.30 % |
0.04 % |
0.25 % |
0.13 % |
| August |
0.91 % |
0.19 % |
0.30 % |
0.05 % |
0.24 % |
0.13 % |
| July |
0.95 % |
0.20 % |
0.31 % |
0.06 % |
0.24 % |
0.14 % |
| June |
0.87 % |
0.19 % |
0.30 % |
0.05 % |
0.21 % |
0.12 % |
| May |
0.80 % |
0.20 % |
0.25 % |
0.05 % |
0.19 % |
0.11 % |
| April |
0.78 % |
0.20 % |
0.25 % |
0.05 % |
0.18 % |
0.10 % |
| March |
0.70 % |
0.18 % |
0.21 % |
0.06 % |
0.16 % |
0.09 % |
| February |
0.66 % |
0.18 % |
0.19 % |
0.06 % |
0.14 % |
0.09 % |
| January |
0.65 % |
0.18 % |
0.20 % |
0.06 % |
0.13 % |
0.08 % |
For all the latest statistics please visit http://www.w3schools.com
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“Today’s global consumers have many channel alternatives: stores, eCommerce, mobile commerce, social networks, interactive television, kiosks, vending machines, pop-up stores, contact centers, and catalogs. Non-store channels are growing roughly ten points faster than the store channel. Shopping is no longer a question of WHERE the consumer is shopping (which channel) but a question of HOW the consumer is shopping, as consumers are utilizing multiple channels to fulfill their shopping needs. Retailers now have to master Merchandising, Supply Chain, and Channel Operations across the enterprise to meet the needs of their customers. This requires enterprise-wide organization, process and systems transformation.”
Things that make you go “Hmmm?”
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In the least you should have more than one analytics application that you are integrating. The numbers are really VOODOO science if anything and it really helps for you to have more than one to come to a greater conclusion for your clients. I believe and absolutely love analytics, its like opening presents at Christmas time, or in some cases a hangover but integrate and used correctly and have your overall campaign ( Web, Mobile, Social, Email and Traditional) well thought out and you can’t lose.
Over the past eight months, Google has steadily released one revolutionary new feature after another. On March 17, the company announced a new version of Google Analytics. Up until this point, users could decide whether they preferred to stick with the old interface or switch to the new one. However, Google recently announced that the old version of GA will be turned off in January 2012.
If you’re not already familiar with the new version, take the next few weeks to get comfortable with it. To help you get started, let’s review the top 10 features of the new Google Analytics.
1. Dashboards
Dashboards got a much needed overhaul in the new GA. Users can now create up to 20 personalized dashboards, developing widgets and formats that make the most sense for them or their company. For instance, each company department could develop its own distinct dashboard to quickly access site performance statistics that relate to department goals. Keep in mind: Dashboards can only be shared by users on the same login.
At a minimum, these four widgets would benefit the average user.
- Visits – Timeline (can also include Metric)
- Goal Completions and/or Transactions – Timeline
- Source/Medium – Table
- Bounce Rate – Timeline
2. Keyword Clouds
Rather than viewing a long list of keywords to spot trends, users can now evaluate a keyword cloud. This cloud makes it easy to visualize top keywords based on different user-selected criteria, including visits, bounce rates and pages per visit.
3. Real-Time Data
In the past, Google Analytics data was typically delayed up to 24 hours after the visit. For the first time, GA offers a real-time data solution. With its real-time reports, users can view the activity on the site as it happens, drilling into the top active pages, top referrals, keywords and geographic locations driving the traffic. In addition to monitoring current activity on the site, these reports can also be used to test campaign tracking prior to launching campaigns.
4. Site Speed
When Google released this report several months ago, it required additional code to be added to sites. Now speed reporting is standard on GA, and doesn’t need extra code. Use the site speed reports to get information about average page load time.
Why is this important? A slow site can have a negative effect on quality score for paid search, so visits can cost more to a slower site. Google has also indicated that site speed may be an important factor in organic search rankings. Additionally, a one-second delay can result in a 7% reduction in conversions. Use this report to monitor site speed and avoid these issues.
5. Search Simplifies Navigation
GA has activated menu search, a phenomenal usability update. The tool makes it easier for users to quickly navigate to the proper report. Google also created an account search that lets users directly access the correct profile, rather than scrolling through hundreds to locate the right one.
GA also introduced the ability to switch between multiple profiles while staying with and maintaining the settings of the same report. Previously this could only be done using a Firefox plugin.
6. Webmaster Tools
The new integration incorporates Google Webmaster Tools data into Google Analytics. Using this tool, users can get a better sense of which Google property (web, image, local) drove site traffic. Similar to statistics provided to paid search advertisers, Webmaster Tools provides impressions, average position and CTR data for GA.
Although the numbers are not 100% accurate, they can be used to evaluate relative trends and to provide insight into data lost due to Google’s search update. Although the Webmaster Tools report is in Google Analytics, it’s limited to a single part of GA.
7. Social Engagement
Use Google Analytics to track how visitors interact socially with your site. A 2010 study showed 54% of small and medium-sized businesses said they already use or plan to use social media, and 17% planned to increase their social budget again from 2010 to 2011. With more companies making a push for social, it makes sense to analyze social site interactions.
GA’s new social reports break down how many of a site’s visitors are socially engaged with the site, itemizing which social source and action occurred. That way you can determine how many of your visitors +1′d site content vs. how many Liked it, as well as the pages that prompted this social action. Social plugins ShareThis and AddThis easily integrate with Google Analytics, passing information on social interactions back to GA with minimal changes.
8. Visitor Flow & Goal Flow Visualization
Flow Visualization was announced in October, but only recently started rolling out to most users. Flow Visualization consists of two reports: Visitors Flow and Goal Flow. The Visitors Flow report can be used to visualize the “flow” of visitors through the site, while the Goal Flow is an improvement on the original Funnel Visualization reports.
The Goal Flow report is especially valuable, as it simplifies evaluating a conversion funnel. Have a checkout process six pages long? Now you can determine at which page people are abandoning their carts. Then improve the process and save the sales.
9. Event Tracking
Prior to this new feature, any goal interaction with a site that didn’t result in a new URL needed to be tracked using special code to create a virtual pageview, which resulted in inflated numbers in GA. For the first time, Events can be used as goals. Want to find out how many people downloaded a PDF? Interested in knowing how many visitors viewed more than 30 seconds of a video on your site? Now users can easily track these events without affecting other metrics.
10. Multi-Channel Funnels
The Multi-Channel Funnels are a series of reports intended to help provide attribution information. For example, a person visits your site first from a paid search ad, then from an organic search listing, then from a link in Twitter, and finally from an email link. Therefore, which channel should get credit for the conversion? With many analytics platforms, the credit goes to the final funnel, thus, the email marketing campaign.
Multiple reports in the new Multi-Channel Funnels allow users to view further back than the final channel. Now GA shows every interaction a user had with the site in the 30 days prior to conversion. Using these reports, departments can take credit for their assists to conversions, and companies can make more informed decisions about which marketing activities have the highest ROI.
These are just a few of the many great advancements made to Google Analytics with the new rollout. While there are still several features missing (such as the PDF and email export functionalities, percent comparisons, missing graph by week option, etc.), Google is constantly striving to correct these with future iterations of the platform.
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Those quick-response (QR) codes you see spreading far and wide give smartphone users a painless way to go to a company’s website, get discounts or gather contact information. But some QR codes are scanned more than others. Why? Is it because those winning QR codes are so creatively designed?
Researchers at Lab42 wanted to know “what makes certain codes so scanworthy,” so they conducted an online survey via social networks of 500 Americans over 18, and found out that many people don’t even know what a QR code is.
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Those who use social location-based apps such as Foursquare or Facebook Places represent just 17% of the mobile population, according to a study commissioned by digital agency Beyond.
Of those opting out of participating in the checkin craze, or any other social location behavior for that matter, 48% cited privacy concerns as their primary reason for not doing so. And 50% were merely unable to do so because they did not have a smartphone.
The study uncovered some positive findings for the top brand names in social networking (Facebook) and group buying (Groupon). Ninety percent of respondents actively using checkin applications indicated they use Facebook Places; 40% of those who have never checked in would consider sharing their location with Groupon.
More than half of mobile users who do use checkin apps (54%) said they are motivated to share their location when discounts are involved. Just 21%, however, said badges and status rewards motivated them to check in.
As for consumers not using checkin apps, 99% said they do not consider badges or status an incentive for sharing their location.
The message, at least in the digital agency’s not-so-objective opinion, is that brands do have an opportunity to develop geosocial strategies that reach consumers through Facebook and Groupon.
Here are a few more stats pulled from the study:
* Nineteen percent of mass consumers are motivated to check in to learn about the location.
* Early adopters are more likely to check in at locations that sell food or drinks. The top places are restaurants (53%), coffee shops (40%), hotels (38%) and bars (36%).
* Mass consumers check in most frequently at the homes of friends and family (35%) and restaurants (33%).
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If you recognized the FBML then you are reading this and Ill cut to the chase. As a Sr Producer or team lead or Digital Director or what ever you want to call the roles Ive played over the years, to be an interactive professional I find it wise to gather and to share great information on the industry.
The chase: Vitrue. www.vitrue.com. These guys have come up with a integrated software solution that you can easily plugin to your Manageable Social Media Campaigns and not have to worry about all that FBML+ headaches.
I truly wished I had met them 6 years ago. They have Facebook down to a “T”, Twitter, Mobile etc. Custom fit for your needs. Im just going to let the website speak for itself. Its very well put together and in less than 45 mins you will be fully up to speed on their perspective and services and sold.
Last words…
A Good Sr. Producer, Delivery Manager, Implementation Director, Baggage Handler for that matter….knows when to go to the experts to handle the angle they do best. In the end it pays off, and you have a happy client, and sleep so much better at night. LOL
Update… Don’t you just love Iframes : )
Just My two Cents…
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Let me start by saying we live in the wonderful world of the Digital Age (plug) and all of this information is available online if you seek it… Just take the “Red Pill”. Also please don’t get me wrong just because I’m speaking towards mobile does even mean at all I do not love all of the wonderful things that are happening in the remainder of the digital worlds. Mobile is just hot currently and possibly will take us to a whole new place with our digital past accomplishments. I do not think they will go way but we WILL see a merge of technology and I think the the hand held device will be used to tap into to this.
Warning: and the reason I write this. There are many options to get into what is now opening up in the technology angle of the mobile world simply due to the devices that are being put on the market. Technology is advancing rapidly. But… with that you also have every Tom, Dick and Harry trying to climb on the mobile train. This is a niche market, train your self if you can or my advice is to hire true professionals. Especially in App development. You can get in over your head very quickly, especially an agency that has not dealt with this technology before. The normal processes apply to a degree but there are more dark alleys to light up to be sure the project is successful. Let me Plug a couple of great small service Mobile Web and App developers out there currently… Bemoko and Electric Pocket in the UK. These are a great bunch of guys and they are are not strangers to the platforms. This is a good way to get off to a good start if you do not have an internal team to develop your mobile angle of your campaign… have someone on your team that is half way knowledgeable, use who you know, avoid the smooth talkers, bring in outside firms you trust, collaborate as a team and the project will be successful.
Just my two Cents?
Information to help you grow in the Mobile arena… its the best Ive read so far.
www.utest.com (small area to fill out to gain a 49 page pdf on complete mobile from A to Croudsourcing)
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Analyzing Analytics? No… I’m not going to get that deep, this is just an overview of what is important for the Interactive Producer to be familiar with, besides, quite a bit of writing would be involved to Analyze Analytics… Let’s begin with a simple definition:
Web analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage.
This can mean so so many things but we are going to stick to the basics and some of the tools/tactics one can use to get very interesting results from such usage. There are two forms: on-site and off-site analyzation these are defined pretty much as they sound, today we will lean more to on-site analytics. But to quickly define off- site: In a nutshell its the measurement of the websites visibility away from the site out on the internet i.e. blogs, possible traffic that “may” come etc. On-site? Once the user hits your website even in the situation as a referral from another website every move they make can be tracked and thus analyzed against every other “unique” user to get some great quantifiable data that can optimize your site to be the best it can be for your target audience or evolve along with your audience.
Although it is very important to track your goals and keep an eye on analytics as a whole, goals previously planned I might add, I normally like to look at 30 day intervals unless I have a marketing campaign I’m tracking or another reason that may involve an outside push of traffic to the site over a period of time. I think the important thing to express here is you are not just going to log in run some reports and hand them in to someone especially the client. This process can go smoothly, or it can be a 5 day long journey down some rabbit holes you will have to ponder deep into the night in continuing to analyze in your own psyche to even make sense as to why something is happening.
Marketing Campaigns are certainly a necessity in our world today, and they need to be tracked to be able to calculate ROI, or simply to see if they were worth a damn. Ad Units (IAB, check it out… learn about online advertising and GET IAB CERTIFIED) are a different story and can have a whole separate platform to track the individual ad unit itself from the publisher but one can still see referrals from the site to which the ad was placed etc… Some key indicators to keep a look out for when analyzing the campaign is what is working and what is not. Example: are you users visiting a photo montage below the fold much more than they are the information that is above the fold? Is it UGC?, hmmm wonder why THIS is happening…LOL, well, one may want to consider moving this option above the fold so users can get to what they are interested in users absolutely love “real” user generated content. You will find users love to make their own choices on the internet. I always try to keep this in mind…” A User is a “lone” individual in front of a single computer, its very easy to get caught up in the masses of users and think that way, don’t do it… think about that “lone user” and what you are doing for them, your overall analytics will show you and you’ll be surprised that folks are just about like cattle. In IA, having the foreknowledge to try to predict a users movement to keep them “funneled” towards a “goal” on your site is the key. Analytics help you to see if this is working, see what the users are “trending” to, and allow you to make small changes to appease the audience or to get them to go back to the “funnel” to ROI you were planing on. Kinda like herding cattle. I don’t know what I’m talking about its just a stupid analogy?
Goal Funnelization? The process of forecasting a trend to lead a user to a goal i.e. a sale, or to sign up for a sweepstakes, gathering data etc. Along this user interaction path there will be key milestones, as each one is reached via the hopefully thousands of visitors more data can be derived especially if they are “bouncing” i.e. exiting… at a certain milestone not completing to the goal. This is great example of why to do analytics, this can be analyzed and corrected quite quickly as to not lose precious time and money.
I wont lean on anyone tool to use (Google) but the smart person always, or at least the sites I’ve worked on has two methods of tracking. Seeing as Google Analytics is free??? I like to use the two methods, “log files” and “page code insertion”, whatever you do, it will be rare to have two sources of analytics software usage and get the same results. So, in having two sources you get a comparison of the data and there are advantages from the different methods. Google has a plethora of other webtools that integrate all into a nice little package and it’s too simple and useful not to integrate into your site, besides… its FREE. A couple of others are Urchin (Google owned), Webtrends and Omniture as well as others, but they all work along the same principles and can be quite scalable, I like em all! But with Google at 85% of the search market? Hmmm they are doing something right, we better make sure we in the least, seeing as its FREE, utilize some of their FREE tools.
In closing lets talk quickly about some external sources of data gathering that has become quite important… pay close attention especially if you are a publisher or even trying to get your brand on a substantial site. It is so very important to follow IAB standards, it is also very important to get “Quantified”! Quantcast… in today’s market it is very cut throat to put it lightly, a potential advertiser looking to buy ad space on the HP above the fold of your website needs data aside from what you provide to make a business decision on his investment. If you’re “Quantified” via Quantcast the advertiser can check your numbers without even speaking with you, and if your proposal numbers are correct it would seem you are off to a good start into a negotiation. Get Quatified. You can also get this same service via Alexa. These services basically offer valid data from your site via a piece of code you inserted and can grab analytics on uniques, geographical and demo graphical data… very important as a publisher to provide to a prospective advertiser.
Well… I could go on for pages on this topic, but it is well-defined in other areas quite well here. Please, as an Interactive Producer Analytics are an important piece of knowledge in your arsenal and don’t be surprised if this entire process of proving the numbers does not land on your shoulders to analyze and then even present to the client. Don’t worry its fun, build the site right, and the numbers will be like opening presents at Christmas time! ( ;
Just my two cents…
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As usual let us define as “you” the people of the internet would define ” Social Media” by visiting Wiki…
“Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.”
For any brand or even for myself, its imperative today and even more in the future to completely engage you or your brand into the social media networking angle to get in the loop of what is “fresh” and to draw especially a younger audience. Folks lets face it, what used to sell does not work as well as it used to, the numbers are proving it and some don’t even have any numbers… they guess???. But… Neilson has integrated itself in our world with research to prove that users (unique) are spending on the internet one angle is an immense ( 7 hours a month! click here) amount of time on simple networking sites like Facebook. Not simple in the degree of structure and code, but in idea of how to converse and stay engaged with people thus with your brand.
Now that we live in a world that a user can reach a plethora of information within a few seconds, it is worth the time to set up as many social media sites as possible, set blogs, tweet, get your information/Brand out there! As I’ve said before social media is a HUGE add-on to the future of SEO tactics and can easily overwhelm the standardized dinosaur tactics of the past, but please still do them.
Want to learn more to benefit your knowledge in your workplace and how you approach projects, get caught up on the research. The Neilson links above will blow your mind on research, they have an interactive/digital angle called @plan, you can learn allot from the research they provide that is free. Another great resource is comScore, you can gain great research on the internet from multiple angles here as well. Research is a good start at a social media strategy, remember, there are dangers, you must be careful and do things such as moderate etc… some blogs and forums scenarios, NOT CENSOR… moderate. There are many social platforms that I suggest you check out, add your content/brand, skin it and add your content, daily… even hourly if you can, connect with the users as much as possible:
Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, WordPress, MySpace, Linkdin, Migente, BlackPlanet … just to name a few or you can go here and look till your heart is content and see the site user base = Social Sites
Engage your brand in front of all these social networking eyeballs, utilize the social platforms to your advantage to advertise and to converse with like-minded and interesting people of the “world” for a just a little time a day, no print cost, no network fee’s, hmmm sounds like we are on to something, actually we have been for a while. ( ;
Just my two cents…
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Facebook Users Average 7 hrs a Month in January as Digital Universe Expands
February 16, 2010
In a monthly view of U.S. Internet activity for top parent companies and web brands, The Nielsen Company found that the average time users spend using Facebook per month grew nearly 10%, topping seven hours. Additionally, the number of those actively using the web grew 3.8%, to slightly more than 203 million users.
| Top 10 Parent Companies/Divisions for January 2010 (U.S., Home and Work) |
| Rank |
Parent |
Unique Audience (000) |
Time Per Person (hh:mm:ss) |
MOM UA % Change |
MOM Time % Change |
| 1 |
Google |
162,536 |
2:05:19 |
4.4% |
-11.7% |
| 2 |
Microsoft |
143,893 |
1:57:58 |
5.9% |
-4.1% |
| 3 |
Yahoo! |
138,850 |
2:28:33 |
6.6% |
-15.8% |
| 4 |
Facebook |
116,329 |
7:01:41 |
5.8% |
9.7% |
| 5 |
AOL LLC |
87,629 |
2:14:12 |
-0.8% |
-7.5% |
| 6 |
News Corp. Online |
83,540 |
1:10:56 |
4.2% |
-9.4% |
| 7 |
InterActiveCorp |
75,433 |
0:14:16 |
5.4% |
-9.3% |
| 8 |
Amazon |
70,942 |
0:25:23 |
-4.7% |
-28.4% |
| 9 |
eBay |
68,909 |
1:18:41 |
1.4% |
-5.8% |
| 10 |
Apple Computer |
68,877 |
1:18:58 |
7.9% |
-10.0% |
| Source: The Nielsen Company |
Example: The data indicates that 64.6 million home and work Internet users visited at least one of the eBay-owned sites or launched an eBay-owned application during the month, and each person spent, on average, a total of 1 hour, 9 minutes and 32 seconds at one or more of their sites or applications.
The parent level is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs owned by a single company or division. The brand level is defined as a consolidation of multiple domains and URLs that has a consistent collection of branded content.
| Top 10 Web Brands for January 2010 (U.S., Home and Work) |
| Rank |
Brand |
Unique Audience (000) |
Time Per Person (hh:mm:ss) |
MOM UA % Change |
MOM Time % Change |
| 1 |
Google |
153,056 |
1:26:22 |
4.3% |
-14.4% |
| 2 |
Yahoo! |
137,459 |
2:29:04 |
6.5% |
-15.6% |
| 3 |
MSN/WindowsLive/Bing |
116,804 |
1:50:14 |
8.0% |
-5.6% |
| 4 |
Facebook |
116,329 |
7:01:41 |
5.8% |
9.7% |
| 5 |
YouTube |
99,525 |
1:02:27 |
7.6% |
-10.3% |
| 6 |
Microsoft |
98,180 |
0:41:36 |
7.5% |
-6.8% |
| 7 |
AOL Media Network |
87,629 |
2:14:12 |
-0.8% |
-7.5% |
| 8 |
Apple |
68,877 |
1:18:58 |
7.9% |
-10.0% |
| 9 |
Wikipedia |
64,917 |
0:15:59 |
10.7% |
-2.7% |
| 10 |
Fox Interactive Media |
63,925 |
1:23:09 |
3.9% |
-9.5% |
| Source: The Nielsen Company |
| Average U.S. Internet Usage, Combined Home & Work, Month of January 2010 |
| Metrics |
Current Month |
Previous Month |
% Change |
| Sessions/Visits per Person |
55 |
51 |
7.80% |
| Domains Visited per Person |
90 |
83 |
8.40% |
| Web Pages per Person |
2,621 |
2,614 |
0.30% |
| PC Time per Person |
58:52:05 |
64:09:12 |
-8.20% |
| Duration of a Web Page Viewed |
0:00:56 |
0:00:56 |
-0.20% |
| Active Digital Media Universe |
203,094,213 |
195,738,178 |
3.80% |
| Current Digital Media Universe Estimate |
234,264,633 |
234,802,000 |
-0.20% |
| Source: The Nielsen Company |
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