Get smart with web analytics

getsmart.jpgGoogle Analytics can a wonderful tool for evaluating web traffic, but as Linda Bustos of Get Elastic notes in a recent post on Marketing Pilgrim, it’s a tool that can be misused, or under-utilized.

In her article, Bustos points out 8 stupid things webmasters do to mess up their analytics, and offers remedies.

Topping her list is a cardinal sin of web analytics: tracking your own IPs. Including your own IP address in your stats will lead to some bad assumptions about traffic, referrals, time on page and other valuable metrics. Google makes it easy to filter out your own IPs or any others you wish to exclude.

Take a look at this article for tips on how to fine-tune your analytics. “This is WAO: Web Analytics Optimization — and there’s a huge need for it that many don’t realize,” Bustos writes. “Why not become a WAO ninja and offer it alongside your SEO, SEM and SMO services?”

P.S. – Kyle James also picked up on the trail and included this in his latest links of the week post.

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Friday Five: start pages

Today is the lazy man’s Friday Five, totally hijacked from Lifehacker:

Five best start pages, as determined by Lifehacker readers.

sp-head.png

No surprise to see that iGoogle (my start page of choice) is in the mix. It’s an easy-to-customize dashboard that shows me Gmail, RSS feeds, news and other personalized features. I get a lot of mileage out of it.

But iGoogle isn’t for everyone. My wife still swears by her My Yahoo! as her start page. Apparently, some folks like an anti-start page, as About:blank is one of Lifehacker’s top five.

Check to see if your favorite made Lifehacker’s list. You can also vote for your favorite.

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Now playing: My Morning Jacket – Wordless Chorus
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