WebTrends is the granddaddy of Web site traffic data, also known as log file analysis. With over 55,000 customers, no one else even comes close to the size and reach of the WebTrends customer base. WebTrends was also the first commercial log file analysis software that really caught on. From my interviews with marketing executives (see The Biggest Problem in Online Marketing) I found that some people still think WebTrends reports simply tell you how many visitors you had from .com domains, .net domains, and .edu domains. To borrow from Oldsmobile: This is not your father's WebTrends.
Today WebTrends, recently purchased by NetIQ, offers several different products for different markets. For the enterprise and for the middle market, true business intelligence is available. For the small business market, the data provided doesn't rise to the level of business intelligence.
WebTrends for Every Business Size
The figure below shows how WebTrends products are segmented by size of the enterprise.
Graphic used with permission, courtesy of WebTrends
Visitor Relationship Management for the Enterprise
For the enterprise, its Visitor Relationship Management (VRM) software permits businesses to understand and cultivate relationships with both customers and visitors who have not yet made a purchase. Its VRM package integrates with other enterprise software, such as customer relationship management (CRM) and order management systems (OMS), permitting a full picture of a visitor's clickstream history and content preferences. VRM also permits a site to take action based on the information collected.
WebTrends Reporting Center for the Middle Market
WebTrends has just announced its middle market product, the Reporting Center, which allows businesses to view either traffic intelligence reports or true business intelligence reports from within a Web browser. This multi-user product permits different audiences to see different reports without any IT involvement.
This product comes in three flavors: the eBusiness Edition, the Enterprise Edition, and the Solution Provider Edition. Only the Enterprise Edition offers true business intelligence, with the other two editions offering site traffic intelligence aimed at an IT audience. The Enterprise Edition starts at $5,000 per server (on a sliding scale). The other two editions start at $3,500 per server (on a sliding scale).
The Enterprise Edition includes more than 350 predefined tables and graphs, streaming media analysis, WAP/Palm traffic reporting, marketing campaign analysis, shopping cart analysis, and the ability to create custom reports, tables, and graphs. The other two editions include more than 250 predefined tables and graphs, streaming media analysis, and WAP/Palm traffic reporting.
WebTrends software is one of the few business intelligence solutions that actually reads the server log files from the server. This means that the data available is not real-time data, but delayed by one to four hours, as configured by the administrator. For real-time monitoring of the effectiveness of marketing campaigns -- required to optimize email marketing offers while a campaign is still in progress -- you'll have to look elsewhere.
WebTrends Live: an ASP for SMEs
For the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), WebTrends offers WebTrends Live. Offered as a hosted service (application service provider), WebTrends Live permits businesses to get up and running with Web site information in minutes. The reports generated by WebTrends Live are hosted on the WebTrends Live site. Pricing is based on usage.
In Conclusion
WebTrends offers a variety of log-file analysis solutions that may be of interest to an e-business. The VRM solution is well suited to a large content site. The Reporting Center is affordably priced for a medium-sized merchant site, but the absence of real-time marketing campaign intelligence makes this a less-than-ideal solution for aggressive marketers. WebTrends Live is an excellent starting point for a small business that needs to begin making sense of its traffic data right away.
Data → Information → Intelligence: The Three Levels of Data Collection
Your Web server is already collecting data about visitors coming to your site. That data is being housed in the Web server log file. Web server log files are large and ugly and not generally of much use to the naked eye. In order to make sense of the data, you need log-file-analysis software (like WebTrends Analyzer).
Log-file-analysis software converts the mass of data that your Web Server collects into usable information.
Business Intelligence software converts the information, which is frequently too abundant to be useful, into intelligence. It provides the third dimension. Good business intelligence offers highly targeted reports that answer the specific questions on the minds of business executives. There is always too much data to be useful. There is usually too much information to be useful. When it's finally aggregated and compared in a useful format, then it's intelligence.
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Alexis D. Gutzman is an author, speaker, and consultant on e-business and
e-commerce topics. Her most recent book, The E-commerce Arsenal: 12
Technologies You Need to Prevail in the Digital Arena, was named one of the
30 best business books of this year. For more information on her upcoming
speaking engagements, please contact her directly at agutzman@internet.com.
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