WebTrends provides an enterprise web analytics platform and, according to Forrester, has a strong focus on support for mobile and social channels and a very open platform. Webtrends competes directly with Adobe Site Catalyst, IBM Coremetrics. and comScore DigitalAnalytix.
Landing pages. Say, a webinar optin page. Or a lead magnet optin page. People can be persuaded to believe that others like the lead magnet and don't want to be left behind and also they can trust others opinions. So, having a widget on these pages that shows, "XYZ just signed up" can help with getting more sign ups. A widget that shows the amount of people that are looking at a certain page is also beneficial. The best thing to do, is to test at all times. See if the conversion rate is increased or if it drops. And test variations of the widget one at a time. Sometimes, it helps, but in some cases, one can see little difference. So the key is to test. We used it on a front page and we optimized it for speed. We saw that we had several things that slowed our site down. So we decided to take away some of the items. This included our widget from Provely. It does not take a lot of resources, but we were super savvy and wanted the optimal speed. We might revert back into adding it again, but for now, we stripped the page for all extra baggage so we were certain that we had the correct overview on the speed that was needed. The widgets can be less appropriate also, if one wants full attention to the copy on a page. This is also a savvy choice. So the key is to TEST, again... To determine if it helps or halts conversions. This example we are seeing on direct response sales pages in the make money online nice. They rarely use this. Some do. So again, testing will determine the effect. (A savvy user tests, but even those, skip it some times, so it is best to use your own due diligence)
Scenarios 1. If you want to use web server log files as input to your web analytics, then Webtrends will provides a good product, with great ease of implementation. Don't even think about being cheap on hardware, and make sure Webtrends runs on real servers, not in a VM environment. 2. If you want to use Data Tagging, similar to Google Analytics or Site Catalyst, Webtrends has a powerful product, just be prepared to pay. 3. If you are new to Web Analytics, but it is the strategic direction, start with Webtrends on Premises. Questions to Ask 1. What are you trying to accomplish? 2. Can you place a dollar value on the benefit that you expect/need from Webtrends? 3.Can you live with Webtrends running SaaS?
Control privacy, data sharing and competitive industrial knowledge using Webtrends on premises
Great control over custom reports, custom dimensions and metrics
Flexible tool which allows multiple methods of data capture. To my knowledge it was the first tool with a Tag Builder / Tag Management function built in via a supporting website.
The big downside, the elephant in the room, is that it does not (as of right now) have on-demand segmenting, drilldowns, etc. You have to think of what you want in advance and create those reports then analyze some data. This is huge. You can, of course, re-analyze old data after creating new reports but you still have to wait. (This deficiency may become obsolete with the release of Webtrends Explore later this month (May 2014).)
It has fewer mature integrations with other products and databases than competitors do, although I'm told it works with SharePoint better than anything else does.
Its attribution modeling capability is behind Google Analytics'. In my humble opinion, this could be changed quickly if Webtrends would make some tweaks to its standard visitor history files (i.e. preserve the order in which past visits were sourced beyond the single most recent one, rather than storing all those past sources as a randomized list).
It doesn't incorporate statistical tests, confidence intervals, or statistical associations. However, this same criticism can be applied to its competitors (other than A/B Testing products). It's a tabulation program, as they all are. In this respect, web analytics tools as a group are relatively primitive. Sorry to bring this up as a criticism of Webtrends but it's my pet peeve about the whole industry and I just have to say it. (p.s. take advantage of the heavy-duty Webtrends Scheduled Export functionality to get really granular data that you can feed to a stats program to get significances.)
Although the documentation, help screens, phone support and the knowledge base have improved tremendously in recent years, there is still a pretty steep learning curve because it is different from the tools that entry-level users may have already been exposed to. This can be a shock and many users are alienated at first because they just don't get some of the fundamentals at first. I'd like to see much better help screens that are thoroughly interlinked with the KB and documentation. Having superb online support would make a world of difference with the adoption of this basically powerful tool.
We see the professional look it gives, and the live proof it provides. It helps with conversions, so we want to be sure we have the optimized numbers for our business. It is worth keeping so we earn more leads, and sales by piggybacking on the psychological effect of FOMO and more. We believe it is a must have in our arsenal, at least on selected pages.
I would be willing to try Webtrends again AFTER some research from other users. I would need to see that users mention better and faster customer support on questions and issues that arise while using the software. The software is capable of vast and incredible things, but if it isnt properly set up and supported during use, it is just a big hassel and waste of everyones time and money.
If I could give it a 0, I would. Not having an intuitive user interface made it impossible to convince non-analytic business users to use the tool on their own. Even as a seasoned analyst, frequent calls were needed to get what should be simple tasks done. Account managers don't understand the tool either, and have to refer you to technical support
The v9 admin interface and v10 reporting interface work as well as expected, but have a tendency to be pokey, especially for bulky reports and whenever you're connected to wifi. I much prefer using the REST API for all reporting for this reason, which simply dumps out the data and doesn't bother with the user interface.
We had a question... We asked about a certain feature... One that was not present. So, what happened is that they responded quickly, but also, they developed the feature FOR US, which is unprecedented in many ways. It is not the norm, so we were taken great care of. The support was more than helpful and we would recommend them any day of the week.
I once went on to Twitter to ask for help from my network of analytics people, and Webtrends themselves responded. They have been an excellent partner in making sure that their product is being used to the best of it's ability and I greatly appreciate that. Both Omniture and Google Analytics, do not have that level of support over social media
The in-person training was comprehensive enough to get you started, but I strongly recommend having a more experienced person when beginning with the tool.
Webtrends provides several free webinars over the course of the year, many of which I would expect to pay for. The people providing the webinars seem to have a good feel for real-world application of the product.
The only thing to note, if you're afraid of tech, get the developer to install the code. You can do the design, but maybe get someone to install the code, again, it is done in minutes. Maybe 5. The other thing to note, keep an eye on your stats and analytics. You install this for a reason, to help with conversions. The only way to know for sure if it is right for your page(s) is to track it. If it does not aid your % it is of no use. Not EVERY page will be a candidate at all times. BUT, most are. So my advice is to go for it, get it set up. Track your before and after. If you an uplift in your % then keep it. If there is no visible change, maybe you're not tracking the right metrics over the right amount of time, so check if you can track deeper. If you have tracked really well, and not seeing an uplift, maybe change the wording, the widget, or the placement of it. And keep tracking. If there is no change short-term or long-term, then I would reflect on the usage. It is made to uplift conversions and it does so. But it is your job to place it where it matters, like on a lead magnet page, where others can see that they are not alone in both wanting and/or taking action and physically signing up to a lead magnet. So, again, my advice, get it set up. You will most likely do the job right on the first go, and from there, enjoy, and keep tracking
Careful planning and patience. Use a non-public test site to fine tune tags and reporting. Despite best laid plans, there will be surprises when you collect the data, run the analysis and begin generating reports using the tool. Perform a tag audit to ensure tags fire as desired.
We have tested 3 other products in the past, all failed to have the complete solution we were looking for. Provely is here to stay and has added lots of features. 1 of the other tools we tested are low on features. 1 of the tools we tested had a short run and updates stopped and the project was abandoned. 1 of them never worked properly.
Webtrends has its work cut out for itself considering you have the behemoth Google Analytics and Google Analytics Premium having a strong offering and brand recognition for the price of free. After reviewing the paid service I'd suggest you start off with GA as a cheaper alternative that is just as robust, if not much more flexible in regards to the reporting and goal tracking needs for our company.
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Webtrends has had a positive impact on site visitation because it allowed us to understand the sources by domain for site traffic and find out ways to increase visits from those domains.
Webtrends has also allowed us to understand areas of optimization on the site, which has had a positive impact on the overall user journey on the site, likely leading to longer site duration and engagement.
