engage 2013 - improving data quality

Improving Data Quality: Why's & How's Robert Seolas, Co-founder, ObservePoint

Jeff Jobe, Lead Tech Support Engineer, Webtrends

The Truth About Tags

•  Tagging Technology is Fragile – Prone to Inaccuracy and Error – Prone to Leakage – Prone to Loss

•  46% of companies made an inaccurate decision based on bad or outdated data

Web Analytics Data is full of Invisible Inaccuracy

Cause Incomplete Tagging JavaScript Errors Long Load Times Broken Links Unauthorized Tags

Effect Inaccurate Reports Poor User Experience Lost Sales Broken Pathing Data Leakage & Privacy Breach

The Top 5 Problems Seen in Webtrends Implementations

#1 Pages Not Tagged

•  The most common problem – Skews data in various reports

•  Bounce rate •  Page views •  Exit rates •  Conversions

– Causes self-referral problems •  Creates noise in referral reports

#2 Tag Versions

•  Different versions of the tag – Tag versions can have alternative definitions

of what “visitor” means, which causes inconsistent calculations

#3 Tag Remnants

•  Some tags should not be deployed – Tags might remain from previous

implementations – Worse, these may be “intruder” tags

•  Data collected is not accessible to the web site owner

•  Data is available to unknown third parties •  Such collection may violate company policy,

regulatory constraints, or EU “cookie law”

#4 Links & Redirects

•  Broken links degrade data integrity and frustrate users. – Conversion process killers – Negative SEO value

•  Excessive redirecting – Causes web site bloat – Negatively impacts conversion rates

#5 JavaScript Errors

•  JavaScript errors cause the page to load incompletely – Errors interfere with execution of tracking code – Results in data loss – Unexpected visitor behavior – Poor User Experience

How do you find out about your data quality problems?

Data Quality Best Practices

•  Audits –  Page-by-page tagging

inventory –  Identify common and

uncommon problems –  Confirm web analytics

data accuracy

•  Simulations –  Real-world user

simulation confirms continuous functionality

–  Real-time fault notifications

–  For pages, tags, and complex multi-step processes

Recap: 5 Most Common Problems •  Missing or inaccurate data

–  Pages missing tags

•  Inconsistent data –  Different tag versions across site

•  Data Leakage –  Tag remnants

•  Poor User Experience –  Broken links & excessive redirecting

•  Broken Objects –  JavaScript errors

Quality & Results: Here’s How

•  Webtrends Data Quality Assessment –  Comprehensive Audit –  Expert Assessment &

Recommendations •  Contact your Account

Manager

•  ObservePoint –  Self-managed platform –  Full Service –  Multi-Vendor Audits

•  Conference Attendees get 5% off

Rate Session

& Speakers/ Panelists

Thank You

Jeff Jobe Lead Tech Support Engineer, Webtrends

jeff.jobe@webtrends.com

Robert Seolas Co-founder, ObservePoint

rob@observepoint.com blogs.webtrends.com