"Sometimes re-targeting is done with little expertise"

Beat Muttenzer (40) is co-managing director and co-owner of Yourposition. The SEO, SEA and web analytics agency is based at NOERD in Zurich Oerlikon and employs 30 people. Yourposition was founded in 2003.MK Who is the typical client of Yourposition?BEAT MUTTENZER We tend to work with larger companies that are active worldwide. We have an increasing number of online stores, but we also work with insurance companies, media companies and government or former government agencies.MK What can an online store ideally measure?MUTTENZER Until a year ago, it was mainly about measuring visits via sessions. Someone comes, what they do on the website, when they leave - but without identifying or categorizing the visitor. In the meantime, the tools allow to recognize the returning visitor thanks to user IDs and thus to evaluate them over several visits. How they behave over several sessions with different devices yields new, important insights. And these can be used immediately: The website can be personalized in real time and the offer can be adapted according to the visitor profile.MK Doesn't success in web analytics depend on whether the user accepts cookies or always deletes them?MUTTENZER The percentage of users who do not accept cookies is probably still below 15 percent. Compared to other measurement methods, 85 percent of the available user information is a fantastic value. And new alternatives to the cookie are emerging: With so-called canvas fingerprinting, users can be reliably recognized via operating system and browser version.MK How does Switzerland compare to other markets?MUTTENZER Switzerland's problem is its size. Here you always have to ask yourself, is it worth the effort for the limited market? In Germany or Great Britain, the expenses for web analytics can be amortized more quickly; accordingly, Switzerland lags behind these markets by two to five years.MK After an online purchase, you are often inundated with newsletters or banners from the provider about the same product that you now own. Isn't that mischief?MUTTENZER Here and there, re-targeting is certainly still done with little expertise. Companies want to exploit something, but forget that the user is not stupid. However, companies like Zalando do this very cleverly and target the customer with suitable products from a similar category. At this point, it is also important to keep frequency capping in mind: If the user has not clicked after ten times, he will not do so even after fifty times...MK What tools do you use for web analysis?MUTTENZER We are guided by the customer's specification. Google Analytics is in the foreground with its massive distribution. The free tool constantly comes up with many innovations and adjustments. However, we also work with the open source solution Piwik, which can offer advantages in the area of data protection if you operate the server yourself. We also work with Webtrekk, Webtrends, or Adobe Analytics (formerly Omniture).MK What recent developments has Google Analytics come up with?MUTTENZER About a year ago, Google Tag Manager was launched. Previously, you had to manually add the tracking code on every single page, at best with a plug-in. The Tag Manager allows a one-time input thanks to a container built into the website. For large websites that only release two or three times a year, this is very helpful.Then, cross-device measurement has improved the tool. And last but not least: Focusing solely on the last click before purchase used to introduce bias. Today, Google Analytics uses so-called multi-channel funnels to make visible which paths the user used in the customer journey, and attribution models can be used to calculate the value of the individual touchpoints.MK What are companies doing wrong in web analytics?MUTTENZER Many companies have the necessary tools in place and the data is collected. But many fail to adequately evaluate and work with the data. There is a lack of in-house data analysts. Leaving the analysis to an agency without building up internal expertise is a missed opportunity.MK How important is web analytics for media companies?MUTTENZER The findings are also very helpful here. It's no longer just reach that's measured, but also clicks on individual articles. It is of course exciting to sound out the public's taste. Well, for the media the fundamental question then arises: What weighting is given to the editorial decision in the choice of topics and what importance is attached to audience taste.Interview: Gregor Waser