Technology can very well make marketers nervous. And that is quite understandable since gadgets, coding or anything to do with technology is not usually a marketer's forte. Ask them about budgeting, branding or something along those lines and they might be able to handle that well. Having said that, however, marketers are becoming more and more aware now that they cannot hide from technology. Even though it might not be their field of expertise, there is a certain level they have to know to keep the rest of the things in check.

It has been said before and it is being said here again that technology is constantly changing. Which is another reason why you need to be on your toes all the time. But if you understand the basics, it might be easier for you to keep abreast of the latest developments. The fact is that, even as a marketer, you will have to make decisions that are related to technology.

Now when we talk about web analytics, we are talking about complicated technology. Putting the softwares in place and figuring out the numbers that you get out of your web analytics system are just some of the things you need to know about. The whole process it a little bit more intricate than that, and the more you understand, the better it would be for you.

When choosing your web analytics vendor you will have to make a few decisions about how you want things done for you. But even before that you need to decide if you want to hire a vendor at all. If you think your organization is well equipped to do its web analytics internally, that is well and good. Either ways, however, you will have to make a decision about the web analytics solution that would be apt for your organization.

If you decide to hire a web analytics vendor then you still need to decide if you are going to run the solution internally or let the vendor do it from his or her end. You need to settle on if it is best for the software and hardware to be located at the vendor's place or at your own office. The good part about the solution being run internally is that your IT department will be in control of the whole thing, in terms of data and privacy. But that same thing can be a problem if your IT guys have other priorities apart from web analytics. Part of the decision should be based on how capable your in-house staff is to handle the solution. Once again you need to look internally to see what your organization's aptitude in relation to web analytics is.

Another bit of web technology that a marketer should be aware of is where your software is collecting data from. The two different ways of collecting data is based on if the data is coming from the client's side or from the server's side. In other words, client-side data collection gets information from the end users on a website while server-side data collection gets the information directly from the servers.

There are advantages and disadvantages for both and you should consider which one is best for you. Amongst other advantages, server-side data collection is usually easier to implement and it could be more feasible to retrieve missing information. But data collection from the server-side usually requires committed IT resources and the generation of reports could take a bit of time. On the other hand, however, many people believe that client-side data collection will give you more accurate information and it can be more flexible in terms of variable range. However, this kind of data collection could give rise to privacy issues. Once again, the kind of data collection that you choose should depend entirely on which suits your specific situation best.

Of course, these are not predetermined pros and cons of client-side data collection and server-side data collection. It depends on how the whole package works out for you. And it is not like vendors are not aware of these issues and they are working hard to eliminate as many potholes as possible. After all, they would want to offer your perfect services.

At the end of the day, the world of web analytics is constantly changing. But that is not something marketers need to be worried about. You can always treat a change as a change for the better. The point is that you keep up-to-date with what is happening. Additionally it is not such a great idea to let your IT guys take all the web analytics related decisions. Work with them and see what the best solution for your organization might be. Befriend web analytics technology so that it can do great things for you.

About the Author

Jeev Trika is a principal at azentec, Inc.,. an e-business consulting firm, based out of South Bend, Indiana. He possesses extensive experience in sales methodologies and holds over 9 years of experience in assisting organizations with their online experiences. His professional services have been garnered by organizations like IBM Global Services, Siebel, Jordan Industries, Cayman Islands Government, and more. Jeev holds a Bachelors in Compute