Analytics is a messy and complicated business. Even if you're monitoring data, you probably get more than you know what to do with—and once you have it all, you still have to decide what it means. Ugh. As a result, you may seek professional help (of the data-monitoring kind). And you understandably seek to invest your precious dollars wisely.

Which is what drew us to a new breed of Web analytics firm that could help you take some of the pain out of your data-crunching process.

Consider Synthesio, for example, a Web monitoring/analysis firm that tracks online conversations, then creates visualizations that help you understand your data at a glance. Its services include:

• International monitoring of Twitter, forums, news, reviews and blogs (in 50 languages)
• Detection of topics and trends most associated with your brand
• Identification of influencers shaping your brand
• Alerts, ranging from crisis-mode (instant) to monthly
• A conversation digest that detects emerging trends and the sentiments surrounding them

You can slice-and-dice any of the above, or order an a-la-carte package catered specifically to certain industries.  Play with data, crunch it down, go straight to current mentions or extract to Excel. It's as simple as drag-and-click. Check out this video on Synthesio's Twitter monitoring tool.

→ end article preview
Read the Full Article