Web Analytics Job Market
As a web content manager for seven different websites, I
need web analytics to help me make decisions and propose new content to our product
managers. But I have often found it difficult to understand what data I need
and what it means. For all of our sites, we have extensive analytics, but what
we really need is to know what in those analytics is important to us to drive
our decisions. I need someone who can
work with the data to help not only with understanding how content is viewed,
but also helping web product managers determine enhancements and marketing for
the sites they manage. In this case, what I need is a web analyst.
Web analysts are quickly becoming yet another person in the
mix that companies seek after and hire to be able to really understand their
businesses and help in making important decisions. This growing field can
actually offer a competitive salary and great opportunities for future growth.
A
quick search on Indeed.com today revealed 12 available jobs with “web analytics”
in the description in the Salt Lake City area and 28 in Utah. (http://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=%22web+analytics%22&l=Utah).
In a 2008 video about web analytics, Caroline Burns, manager
of Indigo Book and Music said a starting salary for a web analyst was around
$40,000 a year. With experience and maturity in the field, the range increases
to $60-80,000 and can hit over $100,000 for senior management. (“What is Web
Analytics as a Career?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA02lVL-06Y).
A January 12, 2013 look at payscale.com listed web analytics
careers with a range of $35,764-$83,062
(http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Web_Analyst/Salary).
Glassdoor.com lists the Web Analyst salary in Salt Lake
City, Utah as a median salary of $69,000 (http://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/web-analyst-salary-SRCH_KO0,11.htm).
What is a Web
Analyst?
On wisegeek.com, a web analyst is listed as “someone who has
a thorough understanding of internet technology and the best methods and
tactics for driving visitors to a website” (http://www.wisegeekedu.com/how-do-i-become-a-web-analyst.htm).
A web analyst is required to understand the products/projects from beginning to
end with the goal in mind. They also must “have a basic understanding of or
desire to learn business strategies, be good presenters, have enthusiasm for
data, be constantly looking for ways to improve things and always be willing to
go the extra mile to analyze the data rather than just report it.” http://www.wisegeekedu.com/how-do-i-become-a-web-analyst.htm).
John Steven Niznik on the jobsearchtech blog says web analytics
“essentially merges marketing research with information technology, to improve
user experience while increasing return on investment (ROI).” (http://jobsearchtech.about.com/od/internetjobs/a/web_analytics.htm).
A Web analyst then is one who has to merge those two fields to understand
online activity and help companies with their presence online.
Because this is a field where there is little to no
technical training in public education, colleges and universities, web analysts
come from a variety of fields. Typically web analysts emerge from an
undergraduate technical degree (engineering, math, commerce). A lot of the
training is on-the-job with additional continuing education on the side. (“What
is Web Analytics as a Career?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA02lVL-06Y)
The SearchEngineWatch blog lists the “Top 6 Skills of a
Great Web Analyst” as those skills that, if present, can help develop a web
analyst. They are problem solving, technical aptitude, strong communication
skills, patience, perseverance and business acumen. (http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2065210/Top-6-Skills-of-a-Great-Web-Analyst)\
What does a Web
Analyst do?
This humorous video shows “A Day in the Life of a WebAnalyst”
While somewhat exaggerated, this new field of web analytics
is often perceived much like this situation. In many workplaces, the
upper-level management is not familiar with what kinds of data can be obtained
through web analytics. They most likely have their Key Business Requirements
(KBRs) defined because that is what explains their business. But often,
companies have not established what their main Key Performance Indicators
(KPIs) are in relation to their KBRs. Just because data is available, does not
mean that all of it is useful to making business decisions.
As a Springmetrics.com blog concludes, back in the dot-com
bubble, the analytics mainly consisted in “eyeballs” (ie. How many people
viewed the pages). This metric, although useful to know the traffic to the
site, did not in any way represent revenue or new customers or increased conversion
through advertising, etc. Quickly the field of web analytics emerged into
determining the actual data necessary to make accurate business decisions and
then analyzing how to improve a website or a marketing campaign or the public
image based on that information. (http://blog.springmetrics.com/2011/11/infographic-the-evolution-of-web-analytics/)
Further Resources
- What is Web Analytics as a Career? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jA02lVL-06Y
- Web Analytics Career Guide http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/web-analytics-career-guide-job-strategy/
- How Should Web Analysts Spend Their Day http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/how-should-web-analysts-spend-their-day/
Great post Liz. In my industry I am familiar with investment banking analysts, private banking analysts, and investment management analysts, but am not familiar with a web analyst. Not surprising, they are also the ones who do most of the grunt work. Thanks for helping me better understand what they do, how I can use them, and where to find them.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great topic to look at and to know that there is a nice career path available in web analytics. Also, I loved the video!
ReplyDeleteAlways good to understand the job market, when studying various subjects. I'm sure this market is poised for growth as well, as more firms adopt anaytics technology, change or add new suites, or simply adopt the practice initially.
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ReplyDelete