Clint pointed this out before I even saw it but the Dashboard Spy cites my work in Web Site Measurement Hacks in a post today. It’s nice to know that the Spy sees the value in great KPIs like “Percent of Visits Under 90 Seconds”

Thanks Dashboard Spy and thanks again to Clint!

This job posting crossed my RSS feed a few days ago and caught my eye, advertising for a “Chief Analytics Officer”. I’m not sure but I think this is the first time I’ve seen a C-level position tied directly to web analytics. Great news! The position will purportedly be responsible for:

• Drive marketing and revenue optimization through analytic models and strategic thinking. Provide integrated marketing analytical solutions to maximize revenue and customer retention.
• Develop and disseminate internally intellectual capital with respect to world-class analytics. Recommend, design, and deploy improvements to current measurement systems.
• Develop behavior insights and recommend changes to the Web site and customer programs.
• Collaborate to develop clear business and measurement objectives with all functional departments within the Real Age team including marketing, IT, content, sales and operations.
• Responsible for ensuring that quality and timeliness of measurement deliverables to meet management expectations by identifying measurement opportunities.
• Build and manage a business intelligence team
• Possess functional expertise in one or more of the following
  disciplines; database marketing, integrated channel marketing (including web), analytical tools, techniques, and other infrastructure requirements.

What a great read, huh?

While I lived in San Diego for three years I have never heard of RealAge. And while a closer examination of the position makes it look like this isn’t a true “C-level” position (reports to the EVP Marketing, only pays $125K to $150K which is good but not great in San Diego IMHO) it’s a great recognition that web analytics is critical to how the online business is actually run.

Ironically, according to my simple vendor discovery tool, RealAge is using Google Analytics. Perhaps they’re wisely using Google to collect baseline data and planning to allow the new hire to select the analytics platform of their choice.

If you’re applying for this position and you read my weblog, let me know how it goes and good luck! Oh, unless you’re one of my co-workers in San Diego, in which case, stop reading job postings and get back to work ;-)

I just posted this to the Yahoo! group I founded a few years back. If you’re reading this weblog but have given up on the Yahoo! group (some people complain it’s too much about Google Analytics lately …) I’d love to hear from you as well!

“I’m doing some research in an attempt to stay ahead of my commitment to Jim Sterne and the upcoming Emetrics Summit in Washington, D.C. in October. I’m wondering if any of you would be willing to share examples or anecdotes about how you have been successful at getting your company or clients to actually ** take action ** based on web analytic data.

We’ve talked about BLUF and KPIs and the use of Powerpoint and presentations and jumping and shouting and all of that in the past so I know the information is out there. And, of course, I know what I know, but I’d like to hear some new stories from you directly if you’re willing to share.

I’d love to see sample reports and presentations (feel free to remove the raw numbers/brand identity/source of data) that demonstrate ** your successful strategy ** for communicating this (often boring) data in such a way that people sit up, listen, and then take action!

I’m inclined to ask you to ** not ** respond to the entire group with what you have to say but I suspect other people will be interested. I’ll leave it up to you. If you want to share, respond to this post; if you want to be more secretive, feel free to email me directly at “eric at webanalyticsdemystified dot com”

I will, of course, be more than happy to share the results of my research with anyone who shares their “secret sauce” either at Emetrics (if you can make the event) or via PPT after Emetrics (if you’re not going to be able to attend the big party in our nation’s capital …)

Again, “eric at webanalyticsdemystified dot com” and I thank all of you who are kind enough to take the time to respond.”

Over at Coffee, Sun & Technology, Xavier Casanova has a nice shout-out for Web Analytics Wednesday as a Web 2.0 event. When I first established the event nearly a year ago I wasn’t really thinking of it as “Web 2.0″ I suppose I see what Xavier is saying, sort of “for the people, by the people” with a basic database to support it.

Honestly I like the idea of user groups, mostly because someone else picks up the tab. That said, I’ve never said that vendors can’t sponsor Web Analytics Wednesday events and would welcome the idea. Do any of you who have attended these events have any suggestions about how to improve on this Web 2.0 idea? If so, I welcome your comments!

I’ve been on a family vacation this week and have largely been offline but the kids are finally sleeping, the wife is reading a book and so I have a few minutes to comment on some great stuff I’ve read in the blogosphere and online this week:

• Robbin Steif declared Portland, Oregon the capital of web analytics based on what sounds like a fun visit to the Rose City where she met with Brent Hieggelke, Lauren Hadley, Andrea Hadley and Eric Butler and some WebTrends folks including Greg Drew. I’d hoped to join Eric and Robbin for dinner but I have a standing date with my three-year-old daughter on Fridays …
• Jason Burby, hot of ZAAZ’s acquisition by Wunderman/WPP, has some advice for companies looking to hire web analytics professionals where he reminds us that “it isn’t really about Web analytics; it’s about improving Web businesses.”
• Avinash Kaushik is interviewing some of the very interesting folks in the web analytics industry. His first interview is with someone widely respected throughout the web analytics industry, Dr. Stephen Turner. Dr. Turner wrote the forward to Web Site Measurement Hacks for me and wrote some of the most compelling hacks (the “do it yourself” tag-based analytics solution, still the only open source tag-based solution in the world as far as I know.)

There was more but my battery is just about dead. Hopefully I can catch up next week!