Integrating Web Analytics and Optimization Into Your Business, Part 2
Integration is key, but so is changing the way the team looks at improving your site and Web business.
Integration is key, but so is changing the way the team looks at improving your site and Web business.
In part one of this column, we focused on the changing landscape of how companies structure and place their Web teams. More specifically, we discussed the importance and benefits of integrating your Web analytics and site optimization teams into the rest of your business. Some of the important elements of integrating these groups are:
Now let’s focus on some of the risks when integration goes too far and you start to lose the power and value of site optimization and Web analytics. These should not be seen as reasons to avoid integration, but rather things to watch out for to ensure long-term success.
Three common problems that can occur with greater integration of these groups into the rest of the business are:
Now that we’ve covered the importance of integration and the risks when integration goes too deep, what’s the answer? What does medium or partial integration look like? How do you take advantage of the benefits while not sinking yourself with the risks?
The answer doesn’t necessarily rely on how you integrate but rather on the cultural shift that needs to occur as part of the focus on measurement against goals and ongoing optimization. This means changing the way the organization looks at launching new site content or designs and the goal to constantly improve based not on what seems the easiest or safest but on what has the greatest potential impact to the business.
This often means gaining executive support to help push the new focus through to the remainder of the organization and Web team. You need upper management help you force ongoing improvement and testing and change the attitudes so people aren’t afraid to fail.
Integration is key, but so is changing the culture and the way the team looks at improving the site and Web business. Push for integration and find that executive sponsor that can help you shift the thinking.