Allow myself to introduce... myself. I'm a Senior Analyst in the online department for a major regional bank. My job is to oversee web analytics for all of our online properties. In this hub, I'll discuss web analytics - the science, and art, of gathering and analyzing data on the visitors to a website and their activities on the site. I'll also throw in some SEO talk - that's search engine optimization to the uninitiated.

What is web analytics?

According to the Web Analytics Association, "Web Analytics is the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for the purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage." The purpose of web analytics is to provide actionable data - information that can be used to improveyour website.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Bruce Clay, a leading expert in search engine optimization (SEO) states that "[t]he objective of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to increase web visitor counts by ranking very high in the results of searches using the most appropriate keywords describing the content of your site."