Monday 7 March 2011

Web Analytics can reveal startling offline trends about you and your business

Getting Value from Referring Sites


Key insights from web analytics data help England Rugby star cater to a segment of fans



@MrsFastBloke is a Rugby fan like me (@fastbloke) but for somewhat different reasons. Last night @MrsFastBloke was browsing the interwebs 'researching' Ben Cohen - England and Sale winger. Seriously top rugger player.

Anyway, an interesting article popped up about Ben's gay following. Not surprising really - I guess you could say the guy is 'easy on the eye' without sounding like I'm announcing a lifestyle change. So, the question that piqued my interest in the interview was:

Outsports: What has been the reaction to the idea so far? Have you been surprised by the reaction?
Ben Cohen: I just noticed that I was getting more attention. My website stats were shooting up and when I looked where the links were coming from, I could see that 90% of them were from gay blog sites. The biggest surprise I got was knocking David Beckham off the top slot in the Sunday Times Gay Icon list. I was gob smacked quite frankly.

Cool! This is a great illustration of a key analytical lesson I deliver to clients - check out your top referring sites and see who your BFFs are (Best Friends For evah!). The traffic volume and quality will vary hugely but in Ben's case there was a clear 'hot' segment of referrals and kudos to Mr Cohen for responding to the demand:

...he announced plans for a night in London to honor his gay fans. The event will be held at the Dorchester on May 28.


Impressive stuff. Anyone using web analytics can get the same value from this type of insight. You might find a lucrative traffic segment that is of value through monetisation or brand awareness in Ben's case.