Introduction to Web Analytics
It is time to come back to school. A new schedule full of interesting classes. The first week started with Analytics class.
Analytics is a discipline that is all about generating meaningful information and actionable insights from large amounts of data. Since we’re looking at digital media, we’re of course primarily concerned about data from the web. Obviously trying to make sense of the limitless amount of data on the web would be an impossible proposition, so Analytics introduces tools to help us sort from large and general to specific and relevant.
For example, we are interested in understanding where all website (app) traffic is coming from (how did users come to the site, how long did they stay, what hash-tags or keywords were they looking for and etc.). It is exciting because it allows firms to use data to gain insights and make better decisions about what their customers want. This in turn can drive revenue and reduce unnecessary costs.
As students looking to start our careers and add value to private sector firms, we need to understand how to focus on the right data, to figure out what's important and what isn't; analyze data in a meaningful way. This is what I find exciting about this class – it will (I hope) provide us specific tools to help our prospective employer make sense of the great quantities of customer information on the web, and then learn how to better serve their needs. The more specific tools we can develop, the more value we will be able to provide. What those are right now, I don’t know, but I am looking forward to finding out!