I haven't had a chance to read it yet. In fact, it's still downloading, but anything Jim produces is usually golden.

FREE White Paper: 'Web Channel Performance Management: Aligning Web Site Vision and Strategy with Goals and Tactics', by web analytics expert Jim Sterne. Target Marketing's Jim Sterne looks at how web analytics should be used as an integral part of a company's business strategy.

An extract from Jim's summary in the report is below:
'We have long desired to have the ultimate spreadsheet that can take daily or hourly sales, production costs, promotional expenditures, etc. and scroll down to the bottom line to see how things are going. Web analytics has provided the tactical and goal-oriented tools necessary to understand the interactions and behaviour of Web site visitors. But we quickly discovered that the health of the Web channel depends on more than historical data such as financial metrics, number of visitors or performance of the site. These fail to allow an organization to manage future performance. While critical, Web analytics is just one piece of the puzzle, and without a connection to strategy and vision, it is impossible to manage future performance.

A performance management system provides the link between strategy and vision, and goals and tactics. It can help organizations lay out their Web site strategy and then break it down into objectives related to specific departments, business units or functional areas. Metrics and targets can be associated with these objectives to manage and monitor progress. This allows managers to track performance against organizational goals and objectives. Drilling down into detailed performance information can provide a window on local operations for every manager throughout the organization. With Web channel performance management, organizations can now move past simply measuring and monitoring Web site traffic to motivating their employees and managing the Web site toward a common vision.'


[via netimperative]