Check out my recent blog post on mobile analytics for mobile apps on Organic’s ThreeMinds blog. A special thank you to my colleagues for their feedback and constructive criticism. I really appreciate it.

My blog post is based on my experiences working on mobile analytics for iOS and Android apps. I cover mobile analytics best practices you should consider, if your company is working on a mobile app:

• Defining your team
• Defining your measurement strategy
• Developing mobile analytics tagging guidance
• Testing the analytics tagging implementation

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Three weeks ago I was really sick with strep throat, I couldn’t really talk and I had to take a couple sick days from work. I was still working part of my sick days though because I still needed to deliver on various projects and deliverables. Since I was in bed getting over strep, I took the time at night and I studied for the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) exam.

I’ve used Google Analytics a lot in the past, so I was already familiar with the material. But, I still took the time to review all of the material at Google’s Conversion University.

Conversion University consists of numerous videos breaking down Google Analytics into an easy to digest format. There are definitely some challenging technical subjects covered in Conversion University, and I found this to be really insightful and useful. The exam consisted of 70 multiple choice questions to complete in 90 minutes. I found some of the questions challenging, but overall, I felt very comfortable with the material and questions. I’d recommend any web analyst to review the material and take the Google Analytics exam to further develop your skill set, help your understanding of web analytics and add another certification to your resume. I find value in constantly improving my skill set in web analytics because I find web analytics so interesting and challenging. Studying for and taking the Google Analytics certification was definitely an educational experience and challenge.

I successfully passed the Google Analytics Individual Qualification (IQ) certification. I’m proud of my accomplishment and looking forward to learning how to work with the Google Analytics Mobile SDK for iOS and Android. I’m aiming for the Omniture certification next.

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I went to Disruptathon’s Hottest Mobile Apps event tonight. There was a huge turnout and I met a lot of interesting folks working on some pretty cool projects. The whole DC tech scene with mobile is blowing up. I even discovered that I live right down the street from a mobile app company called PointAbout. The contest between the developers was really interesting. There were some really cool apps from the DC area that have already been highlighted by Apple on the App Store. The winner of the contest was a demo for an app called Airendipity. I thought to myself the whole night about how I’d implement Webtrends SDK tagging for all of the custom functions in each of the apps. I’m looking forward to more mobile events coming up soon.

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Saturday morning was an especially good morning – coffee and mobile analytics iPad app testing. I’m right in the middle of testing a Webtrends Mobile SDK tagging implementation by Small Society for a new iPad app.

Normally I use browser based add-ons HTTPFox or WASP for performing QA of web analytics tagging on websites and mobile versions of websites. You can’t use these tools while testing an app in Android Emulator or iOS Simulator. You need a stand alone web debugging tool. I tried Charles, but wasn’t able to pick up any tags firing in the iOS Simulator. Then I found HTTPScoop and was able to track server calls coming from the iPad app in the iOS Simulator. Success! I’m pretty excited.

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I’m off to explore Sri Lanka with some friends for a much needed vacation. I’ve been really busy with custom Webtrends tagging implementation on a large web analytics project at work, as well as custom tagging using the Webtrends SDK for an Android app and an iPad app.

I’m planning to learn how to surf, do some scuba diving, read and relax on the beach and eat spicy curries. The best thing about traveling is disconnecting and getting new perspective on projects and life. I’m already excited about continuing my analytics work when I get back! Now I’m off to the airport for a 28 hour flight.

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I recently attended Webtrends training this past Monday. I took a Webtrends certification course in 2008 and found it very useful, so I was excited for the new training program. Sandra Elliot kicked off the beginning of the course. She’s a great teacher. The course was a useful refresher on Webtrends OnDemand and a good intro to the Webtrends Insight interface, which is essentially version 9 of the Webtrends OnDemand service. Last time I saw a demo of Insight, it didn’t incorporate Custom Reports, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that Webtrends now includes them.

I always hear from new Webtrends users that Webtrends is difficult to use. I think they’re right. But you also have to remember that web analytics is complicated and Webtrends is a powerful and nuanced tool. Webtrends is an “everything off” tool, meaning that every report and analysis is turned off until you enable it, whereas Omniture and Google Analytics are “everything on” tools. This is an important distinction which I think accounts for some of the frustration and confusion experienced by web analysts new to Webtrends. The high level of customization you get with Webtrends has its pros and cons. Con – you won’t get data if you screw up the initial setup of a report. Pro – Webtrends is very customizable which allows you to accommodate many custom parameters. I’m currently working on a number of custom tagging projects, so I’m always thinking of how I’m going to pull in new parameters as dimensions in Webtrends Custom Reports, so I definitely appreciate the flexibility I get with using Webtrends, albeit with an added level of complexity. At the end of the day, I enjoy the challenge.

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I’m really excited for Friday – not because it’s almost the weekend, but because I’m starting custom Webtrends tagging for an iPad app! I’m really excited to dive into the documentation of the Webtrends SDK and learn how to implement it. I think the testing of a recent Android app was challenging because the app was a hybrid app, not a completely native Android app. By hybrid, I mean that parts of the app accessed mobile versions of the website, which can always cause issues with testing and implementation, because the developer needs to build in logic to recognize the device ID and user agent string of your mobile device. This determines which tags to fire – the tags built for the mobile device, or the tags built for the mobile version of the website. The Webtrends SDK will help us bypass this issue and the tagging should work natively within the app, so we don’t have to rely on any external tagging bandaids.

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I’ve been working long hours during the Christmas season to test web analytics tagging of an Android App. It’s been a challenging and fun project – namely because implementing web analytics solutions is not a trivial undertaking. There are a number of pain points – the developer doesn’t care if we can’t run his Android app in the Android SDK emulator. On top of that, the current version of the Android SDK has a bug which won’t let you track HTTPS requests through the emulator while using debugging tools. And lastly, the developer didn’t implement our tagging instructions correctly. I plan to wrap up testing and providing guidance to the developers in the near future, but tonight, I’m going to enjoy New Year’s Eve.

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In my spare time, I sometimes work on WordPress web design. I’ve been hard at work on a new website for the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B. I used WordPress as a content management system and a Wootheme to craft a user friendly site that’s easy to use. I’m pretty happy with the end result. Check it out at dupontcircleanc.net.

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I recently took some vacation time to travel to Costa Rica to meet up with a buddy from Sweden. We’d been scuba diving in Thailand and the Philippines in previous years. I was looking forward to disconnecting from the net, javascript and custom web analytics tagging, to recharge my batteries. It was an interesting trip, and I enjoyed learning about the wildlife in the rain forest. Costa Rica was nice, although I must say that I find Asia a very compelling place to travel and explore. Overall, it was a good break from web analytics. The best thing about travel is gaining a different perspective on life, and that I did. Now I’m back and ready to jump into more custom tagging and gearing up for some huge and exciting web analytics projects!

Here’s a friendly sloth I met in Costa Rica. Amazing animals.

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