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COPYRIGHT 2003 Information Today, Inc.
As we become more sophisticated in using the Web to deliver services and content to our users, the need to track user behavior and tie this back to meaningful results becomes increasingly important. In fact, with many companies now conducting a large portion of their business via the Web, the ability to evaluate results to drive decision-making is vital. Without performance tracking, Web efforts are unfocused and untargeted. The phrase "Throw it on the wall and see what sticks" comes to mind. We are so busy developing and managing our sites, we aren't taking the most important step of all: tying our efforts at the back-end--launching a new campaign or service line---to what's happening at the front-end. Are users even noticing our efforts and are they becoming consumers?
The challenge is to make this connection between effort and eventual outcomes, between the initial investment and eventual return on that investment. Sometimes equating what we do with a quantifiable result is difficult to achieve. It's scary to ask, "Are my efforts making any difference, and if so, how?" You suddenly realize that managing a site that is heavily trafficked each month doesn't really amount to hill of beans unless you can equate visits back to the mission and goals of your organization, whatever they may be.
The Web allows us to crack the customer, or potential customer, behavior cede in a way that has substantial advantages over traditional marketing efforts. A promotional mailing campaign is inherently more difficult to track. Although the response may be quantifiable--of 1 million pieces sent, we received a 5 percent response rate--it is difficult to understand the behavior of the 95 percent who didn't reply. But consider this same promotional activity on the Web where responses...
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