Tim Elleston

Senior Manager of Digital Media at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia.

I have the pleasure of heading up a fantastic Digital Media team within Murdoch University.  Before this, I was the Head of Retail eCommerce for BankWest, and before that, I was one of three founding partners for a digital agency, WebFeat Multimedia Inc, in Toronto Canada.

I have worked in the online space since 1996 and over that period, I’ve been lucky enough to work with many great brands and the individuals that run them, such as BMW Canada, Loblaws, Oceanspray Canada, The Globe and Mail, FujiFilm, Budget Car Rental, Sears and HP (to name a few).

In 2007, my wife, two kids and I, emigrated from Canada to Australia (what an epic journey that was).  In 2008 I joined Murdoch University to head up the ebusiness division within the Office of Corporate Communication and Public Relations.

So, why another blog on web analytics?

Well, hopefully it’s not.  Hopefully, I’ll provide some insight into measurement and measurement strategies.

People I’ve spoken to seem to understand that they need to measure things, so they end up doing just that – measure everything and hopefully something insightful will jump out at them.  But it’s not about that.  Just like everything, you need a strategy.  You need to understand your business goals, your customer goals, and then use metrics to measure the gap between the two.

So why believe me?

Quite a few years ago, at WebFeat, we implemented WebTrends Enterprise Server as our analytics platform of choice for client sites.  Over the years my knowledge on analytics increased – not only on the how, but on the why, and more importantly, the value.  I then had the fortune of working with the Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto and their metrics platform was Omniture.

Since then, I’ve become an Omniture convert.

I’ve also used a number of other metric platforms, but I can safely say I consider Omniture to be the leader in this field.

At Murdoch, we have a highly customized solution and we have incorporated a number of their products into our behavioural analytics:

• SiteCatalyst
• Discover
• SearchCentre
• Test and Target
• DataWarehouse
• Genesis

We also use many of their tools such as SAINT classifications, ASI Segments, ClickMap and Excel Plugin.

I’ve now integrated Omniture into countless sites and flash applications.  I’m also priveledged to sit on their Customer Advisory Board (CAB) and participate in beta testing their new product releases.

Contrary to some opinions, Omniture is not difficult to implement or maintain.  It can be implemented in pretty much the same time as Google Analytics (ok, a touch longer in reality).  But it’s real value comes from the customization of it.  And that is where you spend a bit of time.  But not alot.  Yes, it has a price tag attached to it, but like everything else, you get what you pay for.  And the ROI is definately there and is an easy sell.