Difference between Web Analytics and Digital Analytics

Web Analytics and Digital Analytics are quite often used interchangeably.  I have been asked, by my students and some clients, about the difference in these two, so I decided to write this short post to clarify the terms.

As you can see from the Google Trends graph, Google searches for “Digital Analytics” were nonexistent till Web Analytics Association changed its name to Digital Analytics Association. Since then the term "Digital Analytics" has started to pick up.

In early days of internet, companies started to analyze website data such as users, visitors, visits, page views etc. and the term used to describe this analysis was called “ Web Analytics”.

Then came other forms of online (digital channels) such as email, search, social, mobile etc. and increasingly Digital Analytics folks were including this data and analysis of all these channels to provide a complete view of the “Digital” channels, marketing and customers. To fully include the scope of work of “Web Analysts” a new term “Digital Analytics” was coined.

“Web Analytics” companies like WebTrends, Omniture (now Adobe), Google Analytics etc. also started including data from other online channels and transformed from Web Analytics tools to Digital Analytics tools.

When I was on the board of “Web Analytics Association” from 2009 – 2011, we had several discussions regarding the name of the association. The general consensus was that our members were doing much more than traditional “Web Analytics” and association needs to change the name and scope to include the changing role of "Web Analytics". Association finally changed the name to "Digital Analytics Association" on March 5th, 2012.

So back to the original question - What is the difference between Web Analytics and Digital Analytics?

Web Analytics is analysis of the website data.

Digital Analytics includes analysis of data from all digital channels that includes websites. Data from search, display advertising, social, email, mobile etc. is included to provide a complete view of the digital marketing and customers.

Though usage of Digital Analytics is picking up, “Web Analytics” is still searched more often than “Digital Analytics” as shown in the following Google Trends chart

Thoughts? Comments?

Interview with Manoj Jasra

Continuing my series of interviews with Web Analyst, here is an interview with Manoj Jasra.

What is your current position and the name of the company you work for?

Director of Technology, Enquiro Search Solutions

How long have you been working in web analytics field?

Since 2002

Tell me about your work and education prior to starting in Web Analytics?

I was actually a university student at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia – I joined Enquiro pretty much right out of school

How did you choose a career in Web Analytics?

Enquiro had a need for a person dedicated to analytics so that we could offer our clients more value in our service offerings. Personally I don’t think I ever permanently switched to analytics, rather expanded my search marketing skill set with that knowledge.

How did you find your job at Enquiro? How long did it take?

I think it was a little bit of luck, fate, skills/education and timing. A friend of mine was actually applying to work at Enquiro and I was just coming along for the ride, however I ended up submitting my resume and beat him out for the position. At that time it was a fairly quick interview process with only 1 interview.

What are you responsibilities? Describe your typical work day.

I wear a couple of hats at Enquiro. As the Director of Technology it’s my job to establish relationships with other vendors to help find the best of breed tools to integrate into our services. I also handle many strategic tasks related to Web Analytics ranging from analysis to implementation. Originally my background was in Software development therefore I am always providing consultation on technical SEO tasks as well.

What, if any, education or work experience helped you in making this role?

I think the best way to understand this role is to get your hands dirty with data analysis and implementation manuals. I started by testing on Enquiro’s own site using Omniture’s SiteCatalyst.

What education is lacking, education or experience that would have helped?

There are many good courses and seminars offered by the Vendors and the Web Analytics Association and I am sure if took more of those they would have helped me progress quicker.
What web analytics/online-marketing books have you read and/or own?
I have Eric Peterson’s Big Book of KPIs and Web Analytics Demystified, Actionable Web Analytics (Jason Burby/Shane Atchison) and would love to read Avinash’s Web Analytics: An Hour a Day. I am currently reading Chris Anderson’s, The Long Tail.

Which book(s) helped in you in starting in your job?

Web Analytics Demystified was a good place to start.

What were the major challenges you faced or are facing in this industry?

I think one of the biggest challenges is organizing and prioritizing all the new information that is thrown at you each day – it’s difficult to keep on top of it all

How do you make sure you are learning and growing in this field?

From an SEM and not just Web Analytics perspective, I try to take 45 min to an hour a day to read blogs and news portals. I also try to attend webinars whenever I can to help me leverage new technology/tactics/strategies

Tell me about your blog.

I write Web Analytics World, http://manojjasra.blogspot.com/. 50% is dedicated to Web Analytics and 50% is dedicated to SEM/Technology/SEO/SMO. I provide insight on the latest news in the industry; I conduct interviews/podcasts and provide strategic recommendations for online marketing.

What are the skills that you think are important for a web analyst?

I think 2 of the biggest skills required to be a web analyst is to be able combine technical skills along with business/marketing skills in order to understand your customer’s goals and provide value to them. Secondly you have to be passionate about what you do, if you don’t like what you’re doing you will not give 100% effort.

What is your advice to aspiring web analysts?

Theoretical skills are important but will only get you so far therefore it’s important to get “hands-on” experience right away.

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If you want to see what books other web analysts recommend, check out http://webanalysis.blogspot.com/2007/04/books-recommended-by-web-analysts.html

If you are in web analytics field and would like to interview for my blog please contact me at batraonline at gmail.com.

Web Analytics Education Opportunities

Web Analytics adoption is gaining momentum but there is a lack of skilled web analysts, according to a report by Aberdeen Group
“Web analytics usage has reached mainstream status with 82% adoption among companies surveyed recently by Aberdeen. However, a vast range of maturity exists regarding analytics process, data analysis and corporate understanding of web metrics. A fundamental impediment precluding many companies from building a successful analytics program is a lack of skilled employees required to manage, distribute and analyze web analytics.”

This is exactly what I predicted earlier this year in my “Predictions for 2007”, I wrote:
"There will be a lot more jobs in this [web analytics] field in 2007. A great year for those who are planning to enter this field or looking to move into better jobs in this field. Most marketing jobs will have web analytics as a requirement. Currently there are 1024 open job on Indeed.com but I expect this number to rise as there will lot more openings than qualified candidates."

Since then I have been covering about Web Analytics Job market and, as I predicted, the open web analytics positions are up from those listed on January 1st. On July 1st, “Web Analytics” jobs listed on indeed.com were up 54.79% from Jan 1st numbers (All the past articles on Web Analytics Job market are filed under Web Analytics Jobs on this blog). I expect to see even higher number of open positions in coming months.

So how do companies and aspiring web analysts educate themselves if they want to learn about Web Analytics? This question is answered by the two part reports titled “Web Analytics University” (Part 1 and Part II) by Aberdeen Group. In this report they have reviewed all the educational opportunities currently available.

According to these reports, there are four educational avenues currently available

• Vendor Sponsored Programs
• Analytics Consultants, Blogs and Guru Sessions
• Community Forums & Industry Associations
• Academic Programs

I was flattered to see my blog listed in “A sampling of prophetic blogs and bloggers”. The blogs listed in this list are

Lies, Damned Lies… (Ian Thomas)
Occam’s Razor (Avinash Kaushik)
WebAnalytics.be Blog (Aurelie Pols)
Web Analysis, Behavioral Targeting and Advertising (Anil Batra)
VisualRevenue - Web Analytics & Affiliate Marketing blog (Dennis R. Mortensen)
Web Analytics Demystified Weblogs (Eric T. Peterson & Judah Phillips)
Web Metrics Guru (Marshall Sponder).

Master of Science in Analytics

Now you can get a graduate Degree in Analytics, according to this report,
“A new program launching this month by North Carolina State University’s Institute for Advanced Analytics will offer a Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) degree. Program director Dr. Michael Rappa believes that the best education he can provide is a foundation of analytics that will span online and offline channels and enable graduates to contribute to building the business processes that make up a foundation for an analytics culture within
an organization.”
“Although the program prerequisites include general subjects such as calculus and statistics, Rappa found that nearly 60% of prospective students already had advanced degrees, including 1/3 that were already MBAs. Out of the hundred applicants that bid for the inaugural class, 25 were enrolled, which is astronomical for the first year of a new degree program according to Rappa. What’s even more astounding is that major corporations are already seeking to hire the entire graduating class, even before admitting the first student!”.

This is pretty cool, I was not even aware of this program.

Great reports!!! I highly recommend these reports to all those who want to learn about web analytics.

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