Tuesday, 15 February 2011

As this author thinks about what to get his significant other for Valentine's Day (a little late), he reflects on the myriad of businesses that have improved their game with Google Analytics, including the following example recently highlighted on The JAPAC Conversion Room Blog by our very own Vinoaj Vijeyakumaar, Senior Conversion Specialist, Google Southeast Asia. If only Vinny had told me about this earlier so I could've been ready for Valentine's Day: online shoe retailer Shoes of Prey, where you or your honey can custom-design a pair of women's shoes and Shoes of Prey will make it and send it to you. So fun! Sweeter than chocolates, and cooler than flowers for sure. And the great thing is, they're using a combination of Google Analytics and their Intelligence Alerts to keep tabs on which blogs and websites are writing about them. (Just like you keep track of the love notes that you're sweetie sends you.) Check out their technique:

As a newly-formed startup, Shoes of Prey rely heavily on positive buzz about their products, so staying up-to-date on these sites is crucial. One of the ways they keeps up with online buzz is by regularly checking their traffic sources and Google Analytics Intelligence Alerts to see which blogs are sending them the most valuable converting traffic. They constantly monitor the Intelligence Alerts reports to look for unusual spikes in overnight traffic from referring sites. Since the web moves at light speed, Shoes of Prey wants to ensure that they are speaking to people writing about them as soon as they publish and not a week or two later.

Check out more specifics over at post on the JAPAC Conversion Room Blog to learn more about how Shoes of Prey took advantage of the insights gleaned through Intelligence Alerts to increase traffic to and sales on their site.

About Intelligence Alerts: For the time-poor analyst, Google Analytics Intelligence Alerts are as good as having a personal assistant. Analytics Intelligence constantly monitors your website's traffic. Anytime your traffic patterns change significantly, such as a dip in traffic from a particular country, it adds an automatic alert to your Intelligence reports.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Posted by Jeff Gillis, Google Analytics Team and Vinoaj Vijeyakumaar, Senior Conversion Specialist, Google Southeast Asia