When we think of analytics, we typically think of the primary web analytics players (WebTrends, Omniture, Visual Sciences which is now Omniture, Google Analytics and Core Metrics). And while these tools are great as your baseline, there are a multitude of other tools that provide a unique perspective to traffic and user behavior on your website, and provide a vast array of data visualization options that are not inherent in mainstream analytics packages. What’s best is that these tools are either free or very inexpensive to use, so I thought I’d share them with you.

HitTail (www.hittail.com)
HitTail is a real-time keyword measurement tool that shows you what keywords are driving users to your website that very moment. What is nice about this is that you can see during what hours of the day certain keywords are driving the most traffic. The more powerful part of the tool though is a Keyword Suggestion tool, that gives recommendations on keywords for targeting purposes. The tool is intended for time-sensitive campaigns, but can be used for ongoing use on a regular site as well.

CrazyEgg (www.crazyegg.com)

CrazyEgg is a measurement tool that provides heatmap overlays on key pages of your website. If you’re unfamiliar with heatmaps with regards to web analytics, its a visual method for depicting popularity of clicks on a page. What’s more is that it can also provide an interesting overlay on a single page that visually ties referring sites, search terms, and other important metrics to specific clicks on that page. For instance, how many people came from a product review website, and what links did they click on?

Woopra (www.woopra.com)

This is the tool Stephen shared with me. Unlike most web analytics tools, this is a client-server application that provides real-time view into users and user behavior on your site. But Woopra takes it a few steps further, with the following:

• User tagging – identify particular users by name as they appear on your website (i.e. a logged in user, or perhaps logged in user commenting on your blog) and monitor them in real-time.
• Instant Messaging – Establish a chat or instant message conversation with a particular user, regardless of where they are on your site.
• Notifications – be notified as soon as a particular event happens on your site, such as a paritcular user logs in
• Open API – Does Woopra not do enough for you? Extend its capabilities with its powerful open API.

Now I’m sure some of you are thinking, “this is really big brother-like”. Well, its really in how you choose to implement it. I would use this tool as an opportunity to facilitate dialog with your audience…but let them know ahead of time that the chance to dialog is up to them, not you.

Best of all, Woopra is free (for now), and they are hoping to keep it that way.

Now, don’t go throwing your Omniture subscription out in favor of one of these tools. But look at how these tools in addition to your analytics package can help facilitate better information and education for you and your marketing team. And why not try one out? The only failure you face is not trying.

Thanks Stephen for the info on Woopra.

–Paul

Its very similar online. Users do not come to a site and immediately complete the intended transaction right away, nor in the same prescribed manner each time. No, upon coming to your site they will interact in the manner they choose, not you. This is engagement. And as trust is built between person and brand, the interest (and hopefully engagement) increases.

I’m working with one of my clients to make a significant shift in their view and measurement of their online audience. Rather than just tracking the progress of a user coming to the site and proceeding through the prescribed checkout process, we are looking at how users choose to engage with their brand. They may look at one or multiple products. They may read more about how its made. They may share that information with others. They might interact with multiple forms of media that further highlight that product and its background. We hope they read customer reviews or even sign up for our email list, but that is really their choice. But in the end, its the user who chooses the path, process and how they eventually get to a point of trust and interest to purchase.

When a digital brand understands how users engage with them, they can learn to better communicate with them. Marketing in the digital space is not about bludgeoning a user over the head to buy, buy buy! Its an opportunity to converse, to dialog, to share, and to engage. And when we learn how users respond to that better, we too can learn how to better converse and engage.