“Be careful what you post on the Internet about yourself. Once you post it, it’s forever.” Something akin to this statement is a warning handed down from parent to child since about the early aughts, when “Web 2.0,” and the…
Category: musings
Metrics For Content Effectiveness: Part 3 of probably 4: The pageview is dead. Long live the pageview.
Remember last time, I said pageviews was a crappy metric for measuring content effectiveness? Well, today, I’m here to tell you about an exception. I had a client who was changing up some content on a particular topic. If we…
Metrics For Content Effectiveness: Part 2 of Maybe 4? The Dwell and Scroll
This is Part 2 of a series. You can read the first post here. Also, don’t forget to find the Tom Lehrer reference. Last we met, I said that content effectiveness is a murky concept at best and you’ll never…
Metrics For Content Effectiveness: Part I of \_(ツ)_/¯
Note: I almost never keep my resolutions for writing more. But I’m really trying this time, with a new resolution. For every post I write, there will be a Tom Lehrer reference. If you find it, tweet it to me…
Our Chance to Get Online Conferences Right.
So a few weeks into this pandemic, and many people are video-chatted out. Video conferences were the domain of weekly stand-ups and Saturday talks with grandma. Now, video conferencing software is ubiquitous. And nowhere more so than for virtual conferences. …
“‘Student Success My Ass’. Schools Are Tracking Students Every Move.
When I read an article about all we are giving up our privacy, I try to read it with a sense of understanding and nuance. I make my living tracking websites. I know not all tracking is evil. But when…
Your Attribution Model Sucks. And It’s No Big Deal.
While on my high school newspaper, I learned about the 5 Ws – Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Organizations want these answers too. They imagine we consultants have a magic attribution wand we wave. Suddenly we know everything about…
I Don’t Trust Session Duration, and Neither Should You.
I think session duration is a crap metric. It’s not just because it’s a misused measure of engagement (and I’m not the only one who thinks so – the Gurus at KissMetrics and Analytics Demystified are with me on this…
Just Say No to Screen Reader Analytics
Do you know what a screen reader is? It’s a piece of software that allows the visually impaired to read text on their digital devices. Digital law specialist Heather Burns wrote on the pros and cons of screen reader analytics.…
In Defense of Navigation
For several years I’ve been hearing variations on the theme “Navigation is dead.” As screen-size and attention spans get smaller, we shove navigation out of the way. We’ve ditched our dropdowns. We stick it in the footer. We hide it…