Web Analytics Gives Search, Content Delivery a Personal TouchWeb Analytics Gives Search, Content Delivery a Personal Touch

Combining Web analytics search and content management adds up to more than one-stop shopping for Web site infrastructure. That's the basis of WebSideStory's plan, announced in February, to acquire Avivo, the search and content management service provider that does business under the name Atomz. WebSideStory, an on-demand Web analytics provider, will blend all three offerings and promises incremental benefits including advanced personalization.

Customers seem to be believers. "There's no reason that search can't drive the e-commerce experience, but when you add analytics, you get something very powerful that midsize companies can't get on their own," says John Bresee, president of Backcountry.com, a $27 million online camping and hiking gear retailer that already works with both companies.

Backcountry.com uses WebSideStory to track metrics including traffic changes by week, month and year, unique visitors, conversion rates, average cart expenditure and revenue per unique visitor — the last a crucial figure Bresee equates with revenue per square foot. Atomz drives the retailer's search-based navigation, which helps visitors quickly find merchandise by gender, sale items and brand within a few clicks.

Offering examples of how the combination will pay off, Atomz CEO Steve Kusmer says, "Conversion data [identified by analytics] can be used to influence search ranking so that proven sellers show up at the top of the ranking for certain keywords." Similarly, exploiting the tie to content management, media sites can use analytics to drive content delivery based on site navigation and proven visitor interests.
— Doug Henschen