One of the issues I have is that I am not a big time information gatherer, and I don’t really dive into the statistics and information I get. Some people I know can look at a table of information and draw some many useful business related conclusions from it that I sometimes sit their awestruck as they do it.

It is a skill that I am slowly learning as I dive deeper into working on projects where profit is a key goal. If you can’t find ways to collect the data you need, and analyze it in a way where you can create an actionable plan that will get you closer to whatever goals you might have, then you should also be finding ways to learn this very important, and highly profitable skill.

What are people searching for when they find your site? What do you want people to search for to find your site? What are people clicking on? What are they avoiding? What key factors go into building your traffic? When people leave your site, do they click on an external link?

Breaking down the patterns can allow you to manage your visitors in a more efficient way, bring on advertisers that are closer to what people visiting your site are looking for, or capture traffic that you otherwise would have missed.

We are fortunate in today’s web world that when you operate a site, you can get data pertaining to just about anything you might need, so don’t let that information go to waste. Lastly, don’t let the abundance of data stop you from reaching your goals. There are days where I try to get into data processing and analysis, and I just get overwhelmed, and end up wasting time. Don’t let this happen to you.

Are you good at understanding the psyche of your users? How did you acquire that skill, or was it natural? Let me know in the comments below.

Originally posted on July 16, 2010 @ 7:15 am