There’s obviously a risk in ‘exposing’ inaccuracy and no-one, least of all the CEO, likes to see their numbers go down. But having a comprehensive understanding of your customers and the amount they spend on your site is absolutely crucial in making sure that your campaigns are targeted in the right way to the right people. Would the board really rather see reports that suggest you have 10,000 visitors who only ever come to the site once (and spend £3.00 each), or that you actually have 1,000 visitors who come back nearly once a month and spend £30 every time? 

Ultimately increased accuracy leads to better campaign attribution, which is fundamental in demonstrating a return on investment. So, are you prepared to sacrifice your campaign effectiveness (and possibly your bonus) just so the boss can see bigger numbers? Wouldn't you rather be able to prove that the small fortune you spent on Google was actually worthwhile?

Recently third-party cookie rejection has been at the centre of the debate on accuracy and much has been said of the increasing confidence gap in using measurement to optimise web marketing efforts, ultimately driving business professionals to more deeply understand their metrics. This is a great thing for the industry in the long run, the end result being a move beyond simple reports and flashy visuals, so marketing professionals can focus on what matters most - the ability to make the right decisions in order to improve results.

Web analytics companies have taken great steps to assure marketers and business managers that their metrics represent the most complete picture of visitor information possible. This has been successfully achieved by those companies that employ unique first-party cookie management solutions that adhere to best practices. But it seems that a significant group of users still use unreliable metrics on which to base the success of a site and understand the movements of its visitors.

The use of first-party cookies is certainly one of the most important elements a company should insist their vendor provide. Whereas the analytics vendor sets third-party cookies, an entity with which the user does not have a relationship with, the first-party cookie is set by the business with which the internet user has specifically chosen to do business. These cookies are deemed, justly or not, to be a more secure cookie by the user. By providing this system, your analytics provider can ensure that their metrics represent the most complete set of visitor information possible.
2005 has been a huge year for the internet and those that use it to sell products and services. For example recent figures have shown that online advertising revenues have overtaken outdoor for the first time. Again this represents a challenge to web analytics vendors and their users. With millions being invested by site owners in advertising, now more than ever it is key that the metrics used to count unique visitors, and in turn to track revenue generating click-throughs, can be depended on. These need to reflect with absolute clarity the exact number of times a user has moved from your site to a partner’s but also to identify pages that should carry a higher cost to advertisers.

Having this level of insight into the online behaviour of web users is vital in ensuring that advertising can be targeted more explicitly. Questions like, where did they go after they visited my site? How long did they stay? Is there a page where people are consistently abandoning their shopping carts? must be answered by using the most up to date and reliable data to provide answers that are invaluable to advertisers and site owners alike. For example, by identifying a page where people are dropping off, hosts can ensure that advertisers with a presence after that page can be assured that people will see their banners.

Talking telephone numbers to the CEO may impress in the short term but marketers must now take the next step in tracking site popularity and optimising content effectiveness.  Ultimately the men and women at the top will not thank you for keeping them in the dark, especially once the industry moves forward en masse. It might take courage to explain why the data is not as reliable as it should be, but with more money being invested than ever before and people’s jobs being put on the line, a CEO needs numbers he can bet his house on.