How much value is your website data giving you?

I'm on a mission to make sure companies get more value from the online data they collect. Why?
Well most companies now know that they can plug analytics into their website, ranging from the free (but still incredibly useful) Google Analytics, to paid for products such as: Coremetrics, Adobe [yes, we do still call it Omniture] and WebTrends.

For me the diagram below highlights the increasing value of website analytics and their importance to the business.

Reading the diagram from the bottom up, you firstly move on from a position of no data (or badly collected data) by setting up correct data capture processes. This can be anything as simple as collecting log files from your web server of visitor traffic. However by taking the next step (e.g. implementing website analytics) an organisation makes the move to having information it can use, now typically presented in the form of tables, diagrams, etc.

But, that is typically where most companies stop. However there's an additional layer above that, delivered by carrying out data analysis on the available information and creating valuable online insight.

No you are not an expert!

It seems like every is a bloody expert these days. From self-styled Digital Marketing gurus through to Social Media ninjas (please, enough with the fantasy role playing... you should have got that out of your system playing Dungeons and Dragons in your youth), it feels like everyone wants to be known as an expert in their field.

It's actually not that hard to look like an expert these day. Just like nobody knows if you're a dog on the Internet.... it is relatively easy to create the pretense of a fair amount of knowledge, so that anyone quickly looking at your online activity will think your an expert.

Don't believe me? Take a look at a range of colleagues and ex-colleagues on Linkedin. Check out how many are now using the new 'skills' functionality to label their expertise. Now look at how many are over-stating what they are capable of and therefore how little they are getting their fantasies validated by their peers.

So next time someone says they are an expert in a specific subject, just look at how many people have confirmed this in their Linkedin profile.

Note:
So far, in my Linkedin profile I have given myself the following skills, which have yet to be validated by any of my contacts: Online User Experience, Internet Strategy, Project Management, ecommerce seo, Technology, Programme Delivery, Web Analytics, Web Content Management, Online Marketing, SEO, Web Solutions, E-commerce Solutions, Multi-Channel Commerce, Digital Communication, Conversion Optimization, Web Strategy.
Does anyone fancy confirming these for me please? :-)