Today and tomorrow in London at the Russell Square Hotel, the Marketing Optimization Summit is being held. In fact, tonight is a free drinks event called “Web Analytics Wednesdays” which ironically has not been on a Wednesday for a couple of meetings now. As anyone in digital knows, analytics are vital. Conferences about analytics are few and far between so it’s always good to get to the few there are.
SEO Chicks have written about analytics before and we seem to have attracted a readership from among those gathered here. This year, my second year covering this conference as a journalist, I noticed some subtle changes that show just how much of an impact SEO Chicks have had.
Page views and unique users are the traditional measurements of popularity and impact, still used almost to the exclusion of all others by publishers. This metric is very much on its way out and I’m pleased to say I haven’t heard any of the chicks talk about either of these metrics when referring to impact.
Incoming deep links is another measurable calculator of impact. How many people are reading and being so inspired by the content that they cite it and use it as a launching point. Easily accessible, link love is one of the favourite methods of ‘measurement of popularity’ by both SEOs and Google (and arguably by some SEOs because of Google).
Measuring impact beyond the site is often difficult to quantify and a challenge to measure. One measurement is buzz online and SEO Chicks have certainly achieved that, measurable through Google alerts 
Buzz has been increasing as readership has so when we bring new news online, it now spreads across the web quite quickly. The recent article about certain online marketing practices becoming illegal in the UK is one example.
Progressing beyond the immediately measurable, how do you know when you have had an impact? When a conference offers chocolate. Yes, that’s right, there is chocolate at this web metrics conference. OX2, obviously aware that I was attending and aware of how much buzz on SEO Chicks there is about chocolate, brought boxes of 4 Belgian chocolates for everyone and there will be more at the drinks event tonight. That’s impact!
I was also recognised by a couple of people who read SEO Chicks which was wild. There’s impact as well. People coming to the site, reading the blog posts and remembering what we look like. As a dyslexic, remembering faces, let alone names, is a challenge so I’m always impressed by those who are able to do so.
Why don’t you come down to Web Analytics Wednesday (grab free expo hall pass) tonight (Tuesday night ironically), have some chocolate, grab a drink and say hello. And if you don’t want the chocolate you’ve grabbed, you know you have a willing recipient!
