Web Analytics 101

The first concept I would like to discuss from this week are key performance indicators or KPI for short. Key performance indicators are what organizations use to develop goals and track their success at obtaining these goals. An example of key performance indicators would be an increase of people viewing your website or blog. If you are attempting to attract a new audience and after monitoring those who view your webpage you notice you have this is a great indication that your key performance indicators are on the right track. This concept is very important to success as you need to be able to evaluate your progress towards your goals. After all how can you tell you are heading in the right direction without key performance indicators? This concept is very important to digital marketing in the global marketing place because of the way global marketing is continually changing and therefore needs to be continually monitored. I believe this concept has strong validity within global marketing and should be well concentrated on no matter the type of marketing you are looking to complete.

The next concept I would mention is the collecting of web analytics data. Collecting this data is an important aspect of evaluating your key performance indicators. There are two main types of collecting web data: log-file analysis and page tagging. The main difference between these two types is that log-file will collect clicks or data directly from the site while page tagging sends JavaScript code to a third party website where the data is gathered and collected which will then create page tags. Why this concept is so important is because it provides companies with the ability to monitor more efficiently. Using key performance indicators is pointless if you are unable to collect valid data, which is why web analytics is so important in the collection. When looking at the differences between these two collection models I would caution the reader to understand they both serve their purposes. Log-file analysis seems to be the more accurate efficient system of the two, which provides it the ability to collect data accurately and quick. Page tagging as noted in our book makes it easier to capture lots of information especially for those companies that are not running their own web server. There are some differences between the two types that readers should be aware of and understand before using depending on an organization’s needs.

The most important skill I have learned from this week is the introduction to how you develop adgroup and adwords that go along with our GOMC  project. Adgroups are essentially a collection of adwords or keywords that are grouped together based on certain topics and search criteria. I found this skill to be most important from this week because it was something completely new to me and was a challenge for both me and my group to develop. When going into your Google account to set up your keywords you quickly run into a maze of terms both positive and negative. Understanding the difference in negative and positive keywords when setting up your ads is crucial in determining the success of your ads and the amount of money spent on them. I thought this skill was most important to me this week because of its crucial nature. It can literally make or break your Google ads that your develop. No matter how good your ad is if you are not bidding correctly and efficiently on proper keywords your success and money will disappear quickly. Did anyone else find the keywords and adgroups challenging to develop this week?

This week was a challenge for me in many different aspects. I ran into terms that I have never heard of along with online processes that I had never seen before. Taking the material provided in both our reading and videos this week and using it to understand the importance of web content was a major factor in the choosing of our adgroups and adwords. Before starting this class I did not understand how the ads presented on Google were developed, let alone that people were getting charged each time someone clicked on them. Reflecting on the course so far I have to say it’s, to this point, still challenging me more than I anticipated. I believe so far both the skills and concepts we have discussed in this course will be able to provide me and my classmates with a much better understanding of global marketing and how it can influence each of our organizations.