Web Analytics Wednesday London

Last Wednesday was the second WAW in London that I attended, and this time featured a presentation by Alec Cochrane using real data discussing how he's been working on amalgamating hundreds of Governmental websites (thousands if Bob Mitchell is to be believed), with a focus on page layout and the customer journey. As Miles mentioned in his post on the event, this was a really refreshing presentation as it wasn't a sales pitch, or indeed even cover sales analysis, these sites being informational. Who'd have thought the boiler replacement scheme could be so interesting? A great start to the evening.

The main thing that grabbed me about the evening was the friendliness of the participants (although the free beer might have helped!), and their willingness to not only talk to newcomers, but also to listen and offer advice. Speaking as someone who still thinks of himself as a newcomer to this field, it was fantastic to talk to so many experts and to pick up some ideas from them.

The side-discussion led by Bob on the future for the UK wing of the WAA was invigorating, with a variety of thoughts on what individuals wanted to get out of it. We talked about the education and engagement side of things, whilst issues around entry standards and cost were also raised.

It was a really enjoyable evening, despite having to share a train carriage for 2 hours with a Manchester-bound "character", and to anyone in the industry who's yet to attend a WAW event, I urge you to go. Did I mention free beer?

WAA UK?

I've been thinking about the need for a stronger sense of community for the web analytics industry in the UK, and was inspired to write about it after the creation of a WAAUK Twitter account.

Miles Bennett recently wrote about the need for a WAA UK. He made a number of good points which got me thinking. Do we actually need a regional WAA? Does not the sharing of information over the internet through Twitter and blog posts suffice? I believe that whilst these are great, we would actually need a central point of contact where standards could be defined, and events organised so discussions can take place.

In a 2008 post Eric Peterson states that Europe (and thus the UK) are 2-4 years behind the US, and reckons that web analytics adoption is due to take off on this side of the pond.

The creation of a regional WAA would help Europe close the gap. But I think (as a Brit) that a WAA UK would be more helpful. To me there are two key reasons to this. Firstly, geography. One of the key problems of the existing WAA is the sense of isolation that Europeans feel from the US-dominated WAA. Secondly, there are varying levels of development across Europe, as Eric stated in his post. The creation of a European WAA would just be a microcosm of the current set-up, with people in the UK feeling isolated from what's going on in the continent, and differing levels of adoption. There wouldn't be the cohesion that us Europeans are currently craving.

Steve Jackson in his 2008 post essentially backs up Eric, agreeing that it was time for the EUWAA to be formed. He's since posted another article in follow up to Miles about the need for a Finnish WAA, looking at it from a budget perspective as much as anything - how can we have a global WAA if it runs as a not-for-profit organisation? We need the funds from a global organisation to drive the industry forward in less developed countries.

If we can find enough people in the UK to organise a national WAA, then to my mind that's the clear way forward. The WAA should encourage engagement and participation (as it already does well in North America). As someone who works in the web analytics industry, I want to communicate with others, get advice and share experiences with others; not only online, but face-to-face. I read recently that if you're not worried about not doing enough and keeping on top of things, you're not doing it right. I know I'm always trying to keep up and learn how to do things better. So count me in, even if it is only as the teaboy...