and so on, you are likely to be quite happy about that.

If you notice that a lot of these shovel-hungry searchers go on to actually purchase a shovel, even better! You now know more about what brought visitors to your site, what products you have that are sought after and the fact that there may be niche markets out there worth targeting.

Good stuff!

But what if your visitors are looking for something you don’t have? What do you do if you are drawing visitors to your site in droves, but they have been misdirected by your site content, a product brand-name, even your company’s name?

Take this blog, for example. Leaving aside my loyal readership (Hi Mom!), most new referrals are via Twitter, LinkedIn or search engines.   Most of the visitors who come via search engines are studying web analytics at UBC and are looking for reviews or overviews of the course. Fair enough, I’ve done a post on that and linked to various resources so I think I may be providing reasonably useful information there.
However, a significant number of search engine visitors are in search of Ninjas.  That’s right, Ninjas.   Now, if you’re unaware of this, there are web analysts in the industry that call themselves Ninjas.   So, when I wrote a post outlining my entry to a Web Analytics Association competition (called The Tale of the Littlest Ninja), I used the word “Ninja” roughly two gazillion times.

Looking at the search phrases that have brought visitors to my blog since, I note with amusement the jolly kidders who’ve come in via these search phrases – employing “ninja” and also referencing some of my other posts:

“ ninja sheep with waa certification”
“brave web analytics ninja sheep”
“did the ninja on moses ark have baked beans?” [yes, yes he did]

But then there are those who are genuinely casting about for information on ninjas who do less analysis and more fighty punchy kicky stuff. They want to know where ninjas gather, what phrases they use, what adventures they have, and so on.

So, what do you do when this is more of a serious problem? What if your company is called Bathtub and you sell unusually-shaped flowerpots?

What if you realise that a sizeable number of website visitors are looking for something that you don’t provide, whether it be a good, a service or information?

How do you remedy this – after all, you should be managing your online reputation, and it doesn’t do to irritate visitors, whether you want them or not (especially if they have a keen interest in martial arts or burying bodies).

What if your best-selling product has an unusual brand-name and this is causing the mis-direction, it would be drastic to stop selling it. What if your own company name is misleading, but too well-known to change?

I put out the question to Twitter and one wily respondent suggested simply acknowledging the fact that you have been known to mislead. For example:

(I’m sure this is what was meant, right @jcallison ?).

Alternatively, provide links or start displaying ads for the relevant product/service.

Or, perhaps you should just ignore it.  Simply put it down to the fact that you can’t please all of the people all of the time.  What do you think?

I interviewed and surveyed a number of people recently to ascertain how they felt about tracking generally.  This was spawned by the fact that when someone asks me what I do (which results in explaining what my company does), I generally find them to be both bored and terrified – a very remarkable combination and one which illustrates the fact that many visitors who claim to distrust tracking will very seldom do anything to counter it.  Lethargic horror is probably the most exploited aspect of website visitors.

Most of those I spoke to were shocked to discover what could be learned about them in a single visit and described themselves as suspicious, paranoid and manipulated as a result.  I then asked if they would feel differently if this was a site they visited often.
No.
Would they feel differently if they knew that the data was being used to improve their experience on the website?
No.
Would they feel differently if they knew the data would be used to generate tailored advertising?
No.
Would they feel differently if they knew that personally identifiable information (PII) was not being collected and used?
And this was the turning point.  There is an assumption that if “I” am being tracked, then “MY” information is being collected.  This seems to be the point that needs clarification.

After that, all hell broke loose.  Those I spoke to wanted their permission to be sought before tracking was done, but didn’t want a pop-up or to go to a specific page on the site.

The other feeling, from the remainder of the interviewees, was “indifference”, a sense of fairness that if I go to a “free” website, I should “sell something”.  Which, I felt, illustrated a belief that “the data is probably used for something sinister, but who cares”?  To my mind, this is just as unwelcome a feeling as one of paranoia.  It still paints us as the bad guys, but gives us permission to quietly commit our sins.

In Yahoo! Web Analytics, you can see the “interest categories” of your visitors, based on the Yahoo! properties they visit.  Eric Peterson, in a fascinating post, has outlined a browser history hack!  With tools like these, it is therefore possible to begin building a profile of your visitors as users of the internet, not just as visitors to your website.  And this can surely give you incredible insight.  But even I, while finding these possibilities dance-in-my-pants exciting, also sometimes find them dance-in-my-pants disturbing.  It’s a reflex and I can settle the little voice inside with my knowledge and understanding of the industry.  The general site visitor may not have that luxury.  If you look up “website tracking” with a search engine, you will see thousands of results from vendors and analysts, but little (outside of from tinfoil-hat-wearing conspiracy theorists) along the lines of “Dear Visitor – here are the reasons, without the fancy blurb, why we track your visit and this is what we use the information for”.

Should we be taking greater responsibility for educating website visitors?  Should we work on our “vempathy”?