Originally written by Eric Peterson on March 25, 2006
I just added MapSurface to my weblog so any of you can see the traffic to-and-from my weblog. All you have to do is click “Alt-X” and a layer will appear and provide some really basic web analytics.
I won’t know how much I like the tool until I have some traffic but I’m very interested in the idea of transparency in web analytics. Imagine if every web site provided some level of detail on a per-page basis — unique visitors, visits, page views, top “X” referrers — so that everyone could validate for themselves how popular/interesting/valuable other people found the content they were reading. Sort of like the “Page Rank” thing you get in the Google Toolbar but not just for Toolbar users and not only based on Google’s measurements.
Eric T. Peterson is author of Web Analytics Demystified, Web Site Measurement Hacks and The Big Book of Key Performance Indicators and a long-time member of the web analytics community. He frequently presents on web analytics and is often cited in articles about digital measurement. In the past Mr. Peterson has worked with well-known brands like Microsoft, HP, Cisco, Best Buy, Disney, LEGO, CBS and CBS News, and ESPN. More recently, Mr. Peterson has founded The Analysis Exchange, a completely new way to gain experience with digital measurement.
As an employee of Analytics Demystified Eric is a member of the Digital Analytics Association (DAA), an Adobe Business Partner, and a Google Analytics Certified Partner.
