7 WEB-ANALYTICS EXPERTS YOU SHOULD BE FOLLOWING To advance your career and keep on top of best practices, cool tips and free website swag, you should acquaint yourself with these seven personalities if you're not already following them. Learn the terminology these well-established and up-and-coming digital and web analysts are using and what trends they are talking about; these are the words and phrases you ll need to know and drop into web analytics conversations on a regular basis. Read on to learn from their experience.
Avinash Kaushik@avinash The original guru of web analytics, Avinash Kaushik is now Digital Marketing Evangelist at Google. One of the most well-known and widely respected personalities of web analytics, Kaushik s books have been translated into many languages. His blog is an absolute must read for anyone working or just interested in web analytics. His main focus is on simplifying data analysis and on measuring outcomes rather than hits and visits. His Twitter feed provides a wealth of links to useful articles on web analytics and marketing, great quotes, and the occasional football reference. In a post on his blog, Occam s Razor, he identifies some of his favorite websites and explains what they are doing right and why they are successful. Kaushik has helpfully consolidated the blog post into an article entitled 7 Incredible Web Design, Branding, Digital Marketing Experiences, which contains quick, useful tips. Kaushik s writing is easy to read and understand for web analytics professionals and website owners everywhere. http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/
Jim Sterne@jimsterne Founder of the emetrics Summit and the Digital Analytics Association (DAA), Jim Sterne has been at the forefront of Internet marketing since the beginning. Describing himself as a professional explainer, Sterne s goal is to simplify the complexities of online marketing to live audiences and through his books. Sterne has two main axioms the Internet is a tool that can create and strengthen customer relationships, and it is quality not quantity that counts. He believes that combining these two convictions is the secret to success. Described as the Godfather of Web analytics, Sterne was named as one of the fifty most influential people in digital marketing by UK Marketing magazine. Follow his Twitter feed to keep up with essential updates from the emetrics Summit and the DAA, such as cheaper early bird registration and summaries from recent symposiums and lectures. http://www.targeting.com http://blog.emetrics.org
Rudi Shumpert@RudiShumpert Rudi Shumpert is the man to follow for the latest on tagmanagement systems. With an award winning web analytics podcast, a blog and a prolific Twitter feed, this self-described digital management junkie provides tips and explanations that use lots of graphics and are easy to read. Shumpert began to love computers as a teenager and is now the director of strategic services at Satellite, concentrating on social media and web analytics. At Beyond Web Analytics, Shumpert has a podcast where he interviews new and established people in the web-analytics world. The podcast is updated regularly and provides a great window into understanding the trends and jargon of the moment. On Shumpert s Twitter feed, you can learn which apps he is using by following his conversations with other web-analytics celebs. http://www.rudishumpert.com
Justin Cutroni@justincutroni Justin Cutroni is the new Google Analytics Advocate responsible for helping organizations to integrate data analysis into their decisionmaking processes. He believes in sharing knowledge and is therefore very active in all social media; moreover, Cutroni s Twitter feed is full of advice. He happily answers questions and provides tips, along with personal quirks and lots of humor. For example, this is his advice on how to show a conversation between two people: Size to show volume. Color to show sentiment. Spacing to show duration. Animation to show change. Cutroni is a clear and simple public speaker and has written three books for beginners and advanced GA users. His enthusiastic participation in the web-analytics community led to his nomination as innovator of the year by the DAA in 2011. http://cutroni.com/blog
Adam Greco@adamgreco Adam Greco is a long-standing member of the web-analytics community and has been involved in shaping the industry to ensure that web-analytics data can be used to actively help businesses. His main area of expertise is Site Catalyst. His blog at Web Analytics Demystified (http://adam.webanalyticsdemystified.com) is full of very practical and focused information. Greco tries to answer questions like "I know I want to do this but how do I do it? and his answers are based on personal experience. He has recently published the first book about Adobe Site Catalyst, with the aim of helping customers understand the product and how to use it to maximum effect. Greco s Twitter feed is a mix of personal messages and problemsolving tips. Recently, he has even been offering to schedule informal chats with people with questions at the Adobe Summit, confirming that Greco is indeed a man with a personal touch. http://adam.webanalyticsdemystified.com
Gary Angel@ garyangel Gary Angel is described by Semphonics as a groundbreaking pioneer. Angel is the founder of the company, building on many years of experience in CRM to help marketing professionals develop and use web analytics and SEM decision-making tools. Angel has published many articles and his SemAngel blog is updated regularly. It deals with many current issues and is often a practical guide to problem solving. Follow him on Twitter for links to Semphonics whitepapers and blogs. Angel is also the founder of the X Change conference, a new concept that focuses on small groups known as huddles. In a huddle, top professionals in the web-analytics field can meet, exchange ideas and learn from each other. It s a chance for technology people to communicate face to face and address questions and problems in the industry together. Angel is proud of the fact that the first European X Change conference took place in Berlin last year and says that the best part of a conference is the unforced, honest conversations that happen between real practitioners during the breaks. http://semphonic.blogs.com
Michele Kiss@ MicheleJKiss http://www.michelekiss.com In a field dominated by men, Michele Kiss really stands out. Known to her friends as Jojoba, Kiss is bubbly, enthusiastic and outgoing, taking all the jokes about her name in good humor. She has great articles on her old blog and is building up a new blog at Web Analytics Demystified, where she has recently become a partner. Kiss says her focus is mainly on analysis and she enjoys working both with clients and as a consultant. Kiss was the winner of the Rising Star Award from the DAA in 2011 and seems to be living up to expectations. She is an active member of the community, serving in the DAA and as a volunteer mentor for Analysis Exchange. One of her biggest contributions is the DAA Career Development Guide, which she compiled with the hope of guiding others to join the DA community. Kiss Twitter feed is VERY busy, but it is a must for its links to great articles and updates that are essential for the community. She describes herself as a self-confessed analytics geek, but her experience in many areas has made her a leader. It seems that Kiss was not slow to take her own advice: if you are passionate about the work, you will go a long way.
So Why Should You Be Following these People? Because they are in the know! Whether you're a rookie in web analytics or have already built a reputation for yourself, following these professionals will help you build an excellent knowledge base of what s going on in the digital analytics sphere. Stay on top of conferences, innovations, lectures; be updated whenever a new blog post or article is published; get comfortable with the vocabulary of web analytics; and communicate more closely with some of today s top personalities in the digital-analysis world. After all, in this fast-paced industry, if you remain standing in the same place, you're actually falling behind. Make sure to follow us on Twitter (@ClickTale) to get up to the news on what s been going on, and give us a Like on Facebook as well, http/www.facebook.com/clicktale.
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