Last year at Blogworld, I attended a session entitled, “Just the Numbers: Understanding Analytics” with Google’s Avinash Kaushik. It was an outstanding discussion and Kaushik is a terrific speaker. Not only is he brilliant, he is super nice and even hung around to answer questions from those who flocked to meet him after his presentation.

Kaushik’s blog, Occam’s Razor, is a must read for anyone looking to crack the Web analytics nut. After all, it’s all about metrics, right? In fact, I hear this ALL the time: “Dave, I get the Web, but I can’t seem to sell it to those above me. All they care about is the return on investment (ROI).”

I agree. Some things are fairly quantifiable like traffic referrals, page views, media download numbers, and blog rankings. However, other things aren’t as easily measurable such as specific actions that may result from those who read a blog post, watch a YouTube video or join a Facebook group.

Kaushik is currently traveling and sharing some of his latest thoughts. At a recent stop last week in Columbus, Ohio, Kaushik spoke with roughly 200 including marketing execs from Procter & Gamble, Victoria’s Secret, Coca-Cola and Timberland. Advertising Age covered his remarks and ran this piece, Google’s ‘Analytics Evangelist’ Explains Why Websites ‘Suck’.

(As a side, ironically, the article is no longer available on the AdAge site. A quick search for it yielded several results of those who posted on it such as Joe Marchese, Shel Holtz, and HotelMarketing.com - and they all link back to the original AdAge article page.  So much for analytics here!  Good thing I made a hard copy because I wanted to share it on Tuesday night with the students in my class.  For you younger readers, confused by what a “hard copy” might be, I suggest you check out Wikipedia.)

During his comments, Kaushik explained that the reason why so many Websites “suck” is because of ”Hippos” or the ”Highest Paid Person’s Opinion.”  Hippos may see something they like online or read about the latest Internet trend in the Wall Street Journal and then jump to a “Hey, we need that!” approach without considering site goals or purpose. 

Instead, Kaushik suggests that when developing sites, marketers should get away from the “what” and focus more on the “why.” One way is to engage consumers and assess their needs via brief online surveys.  He recommends asking questions such as:  Who is coming to your website? Why are they there? How are you doing? What do you need to fix?

This is right on. We often ask clients, “What is the business challenge you are trying to solve?” Once that’s determined, we can identify the best digital strategy to employ in an effort to tackle it. When the obstacles are clearly defined, then the solutions are the ultimate measure of success!

Last night hundreds of Washingtonians braved a cold and wet wintry mix to attend a reception hosted by Google as they unveiled their new DC office space.  Although Google has been in Washington for some time, occupying temporary offices on Penn Ave, this move is significant primarily because it further evidences the search giant’s commitment to establishing a stronger, more permanent presence in the nation’s capital.

The New York Ave location is home to approximately 15 Googlers for now – with ample room to expand.  In keeping with Silicon Valley style, the space itself looks more like the Googleplex in Mountain View, rather than a traditional, stodgy law firm which is a welcome departure – and an indication that times, they are a changin’! 

Individual work areas are complete with colorful yoga balls, curved desks and open air studio celings.  Various other meeting spaces including conference rooms, a game room lunch room and kitchen bear names familiar to the DC power set such as the Situation Room, Camp David, and even, yes, a Secret Undisclosed Location - which isn’t too secret considering the bold-lettered sign by the door. 

Google CEO Eric Schmidt attended the event, as well as members of Google DC’s leadership team including Alan Davidson, senior policy counsel, Dr. Vint Cerf, chief Internet evangelist, and Bob Boorstin, corporate communications.  

As guests, we were treated to an open bar and lite fare of mini-beef or turkey burgers, coconut shrimp, lamb, sushi, corn pudding and tiny ice cream cones for dessert.  Vodka and cranberry juice shooters also made the rounds served in test tubes, appropriately named “YouTubes“ after the popular video sharing site that Google acquired in October 2006.  However, no worries for parents of Hill staffers, these “series of tubes” were consumed responsibly.

Related:

D.C. Googleplex: 1,100 sq. ft. per worker, and built to party (CNET)

A Night Out: Google Opens a DC Office (Washingtonian)

Google Welcomes Washington (TechRepublican)