A friend is contracting with a design firm for work that will include web analytics, so I asked my colleague and expert Marko Hurst for resources that would provide a gentle introduction, mostly from a marketing perspective. He recommends:
- Web Analytics Demystified — A bit more technical, but not a tech book geared for someone who wants to learn analytics
- Call To Action — Good mix of marketing & analytics
- Waiting For Your Cat To Bark — More of a marketing first, then analytics, but a fantastic read that everyone should read regardless. Introduces Persuasion Architecture, very cool stuff.
btw, congratulations to Marko and Lou Rosenfeld who are teaming up to write the Search Analytics book.
Response
I think “Persuasion Architecture” is little more than a buzzword designed to appeal to web site managers who don’t know how to talk to creative people and don’t trust information architects.
That said, the Eisenbergs’ books (#2 and #3) are surprisingly good reads. Very well written, chock full of ideas and historical insights. I read them both recently for research and was pleasantly surprised that they are completely different from the insubstantial and often wrongheaded opinions featured on their FutureNow blog.