Well, here is the last piece of my website optimization positioning posts. If you feel like all of the posts were kind of squishy and non-specific, you’re right. Over time all of the ideas touched on will be developed in more detail, so I guess I am saying be patient.

Now, regarding database development. I know less about the actual implementation of this piece than any of the others, but to really get an optimized website and Internet marketing effort you need to touch this topic. Here is why — even the most expensive web analytics solutions cannot provide all of the information you will need to make data-driven decisions. A few months ago I was at a wonderful conference put on by Web Trends (one of the web analytics pioneers), and one speaker talked extensively on the 360 Degree view of the customers (here’s what my traveling companion at WestSlope Design had to say about it). Simply put, the speaker acknowledged that in order to get the 360 Degree view they will need to tap into your CRM, E-Commerce, Phone Records, Survey Results, etc.

Not every website optimization effort requires all of that, but alternate sources of data can provide you with valuable information. Ultimately, getting all of your analytics package data and other data sources in a central location and then dissecting it and analyzing it will require some serious database work.

So, we are talking beyond the basic website database structure at an integrated database that handles the specified data from several sources. This is, of course, no easy feat, but for a company intent on leveraging and optimizing their website it is a huge benefit. Web Trends’ Marketing Lab gives the best description of what I am talking about. For more budget conscious users consider a vendor like Visual String or Virtual Relations (they are fantastic database developers and are in the Boise area!).

A closing remark about this, I probably will not visit this topic again in any detail because it is not my expertise. However, I gave you three links to people who can help you extensively with database development. I know there are other good developers around (and I know there are a lot of not-so-good ones too), but if you work with us on a project rest assured somebody else will be doing your database development :-).

This entry was posted on Monday, October 15th, 2007 at 7:36 pm and is filed under Website Optimization, Web Analytics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.