1. Guest authors / columnists: want to write? The idea here is that we make businesses operate better because of analytics, so if you want to help that happen, reach out on twitter. What we don’t do around here is talk about statistical models to predict the effect of 20-sided dice on the conversion dungeon master. This blog is about making things easier in real, live businesses where cash pays the bills and paychecks, not where “bounce bucks” or “multivariate happy rainbows” run the show. We may use [sometimes] complex tools and thinking, but we are not in the business of making things more complex. We have to tie it back to the real world, always.
2. Interviews: I’ve been very lucky to meet some extraordinary people, both who practice web analytics, and those who are the businesspeople who consume the trade to make their company hum. Let’s talk to them!
3. Niceness: I know that this blog can and has come across a little strongly, and we can’t have that in the south, where hospitality is king. So the blog isn’t going to be like a nun waving her finger at you or slapping you knuckles with a ruler any more. It’s going to simply lay the ruler upon your knuckles at high speed. Much nicer. But in all seriousness, I want to make this something collaborative, not something that divides anyone. So call me out if you see it and I’ll fix it, because that’s never the intent.

Boo ya.

Let me know if you want to help.

A: shorter posts more often, like quick Godin posts that have something you can think about

B: long posts like the ones you normally see here, exploring a concept in some depth

C: a combination of both

What would be helpful? Post in the comments.

So here is some of what’s to come over the next few days and weeks:

• The blog, of course.  It’s time that we got this started, right?
• A glossary – somewhere you can go if you’re wondering what the difference is between ‘visitors’, ‘visitors by session’, ‘unique visitors’, ‘absolute unique visitors’, ‘weekly unique visitors by month’, and all of that mess!  It’s probably more of a wiki than a glossary, so please comment if you’d like to contribute.  I’ll take all the help (and give all the credit) that I can
• A how-to section.  This is where I’m going to rip off Avinash the most.  OK, just kidding.  I’ll just link to everything he’s brilliantly put together already, but if there are any good ideas about how to figure things out, this will be the place
• Interviews!  Let’s talk to people in the industry!  Please twitter DM me @evanlapointe if you’re an analyst with something to say.  Also, we’ll be talking to people in the industry in…you guessed it…Atlanta.  To start.
• Q&A – the blog might take care of some of this, but let’s start a place where people can ask questions and others can help out.
• Reviews/instructions for using the various tools.  Are we getting tired of this yet?  Somehow, I feel like this might be useful, especially for those who are switching or thinking of switching tools.
• Good ideas and bad ideas.  Ever heard that radio ad that says you wouldn’t put a cabinet together with a carrot peeler?  Well, we probably won’t resort to that level of metaphorical desperation, but let’s talk about some of the do’s and don’t's of web analytics.  There are a lot of both.

I’m looking forward to hearing from any and everyone who takes the time to visit.  Please stay tuned and add this to your RSS reader!

Thanks for stopping by.

The purpose of this blog is not to make you a better analyst, per se, as much as it is to give already talented analysts a few ideas about how to increase the visibility of a department (or your own visibility, if you’re alone) that can change the future of an entire business.  Nobody that works on a web site has greater power to improve the bottom line than a good analyst.  And I mean nobody.

We’ll discuss a multitude of things around a handful of topics, notably:

• How to hire good analytics people
• Why implementation is the most important thing you’ve got going
• Why it should be against the law for people to “specialize”
• Some tips and tricks on the big tools out there
• And more!