Blog Archives

Leveraging Google Analytics to measure effectively

Posted on 14/11/2019 by Dominic Hurst — Leave a comment

Three years ago I ran a MeasureCamp discussion session entitled “Track everything, measure what matters“; a concept that was the norm in 2016. Back then, the challenge with this concept, as it still is today, is the issue of “time”…

Scaling the experience

Posted on 21/03/2017 by Dominic Hurst — 1 Comment

Over the last 6 months I have been presenting and discussing the digital evolution of LJMU Digital Services at the Sitecore Symposium, several Sitecore user groups and the eMetrics conference. Part of the journey, explained in the slide below, shows how digital…

Tagged with: automation, experience, optimisation, personalization, profitgrid, scale
Posted in General Advice, Insights

Identifying content to a/b test using Google Sheets Google Analytics api

Posted on 27/02/2017 by Dominic Hurst — Leave a comment

Nonlinear sitecore content testing duration calculator results using google sheets

There are plenty good calculators to work out test duration for a/b split and multi-variant tests (optimizely, VWO…) but these tools are based on calculating a single page duration, but what if you are new to a/b testing and are just scoping…

Tagged with: A/B testing, Google Analytics, Google Sheets, nonlinear, optimisation, Sitecore
Posted in Google Sheets, Insights, Optimisation, Sitecore

Why we report data

Posted on 04/01/2017 by Dominic Hurst — Leave a comment

Over the years I have had many an opinion to data I have produced, both good and bad. Presenting data or research, especially to be understood and actionable, is a challenge. But unlike the written word, numbers can come across…

Tagged with: dashboard, dashboards
Posted in Goals, Insights, Measurement Model

Whilst i’ve been away

Posted on 20/11/2016 by Dominic Hurst — Leave a comment

So I realise I haven’t been as active on my blog as usual, but for good reason. Since taking up my role as Digital Service lead, i’ve been a bit busy on all fronts and whilst I have been establishing…

Tagged with: digital services, profitgrid
Posted in General Advice, Insights

Insights that matter

Posted on 01/09/2016 by Dominic Hurst — 1 Comment

Back in 2014, the excellent Ben Holliday wrote about metrics that matter and user research. Two key points stood out for me; firstly how as an analyst you have to change your thinking to work in an agile manner; secondly…

Things I learnt about #data this week

Posted on 27/05/2016 by Dominic Hurst — 1 Comment

LJMU Framework - always learning always sharing

Its been a long week, this week; but an exciting one as I have focused mainly on data. (The new day job for good reasons means less time on data… and thus blog posts.) However I thought i’d share some…

Tagged with: communication, dashboa, dashboard, data, Digital Marketing and Measurement Model, measurecamp
Posted in General Advice, Insights, Measurement Model

Data in the wrong hands is dangerous, just ask 007

Posted on 22/01/2016 by Dominic Hurst — 1 Comment

Spectre still - James Bond - copyright Twentieth Century Fox

If any of you have just seen Spectre, you will be aware that data can be used for good and for bad. I’ve lost count of the times I have talked/ preached/ ranted about using data, more so bringing…

Know your user – 5 advanced segments to use when defining “real users” – Google Analytics

Posted on 21/07/2015 by Dominic Hurst — Leave a comment

Following on from my post on aggregated metrics (pageviews, sessions, users) I thought it would be good to share some segment ideas that can define your users into “real users”. Using this metric (rather than the aggregated version) or as…

Tagged with: advanced, best practice, Google Analytics, insights, Segment, segmentation
Posted in Insights, Understanding Google Analytics

Humanise your data: 5 things you can do to get Google Analytics reporting on real “user” insights

Posted on 22/06/2015 by Dominic Hurst — Leave a comment

Often when we talk quantitative data, we talk metrics and dimensions: sums, averages, aggregates, time, day etc. Data is often soulless and very rarely contains context especially a human context. On the flip side, qualitative data or persona information is…