Let’s face it, in the Internet age, information is power. Google pioneered an entirely new, highly profitable business of leveraging information. But you and I, we’re the little guys. We don’t have access to the same information the big companies have and as a result, we often make decisions based on little more than an educated guess. For example, if I’m creating a mobile version of my Web site, what screen size should I use? Sure, I could arbitrarily pick a number, but wouldn’t it be better to back that number up by some cold, hard data?

Well, SiteCatalyst NetAverages is just that, data aggregated from Omniture’s SiteCatalyst customers. As part of the CS Live suite of online tools, Omniture, now an Adobe company, provides a peek onto the dashboard of site analytics data to help users of Creative Suite software make better decisions about their Web sites. Now, as I’m planning my mobile site, I can dive into the Mobile statistics, select Screen Resolution and learn that more than half of all smartphone visitors are using a 320×480 pixel display. Bingo! Data I can use to make educated decisions.

With SiteCatalyst NetAverages, you can look at usage trends and key metrics without having to gather or sift through statistical data. This is a useful supplement to your own site analytics. By comparing NetAverages to Google Analytics for your site, you can begin to see how your site visitors compare to Web users as a whole and you can make business decisions based on this information. For example, looking at the mobile statistics for one of our consulting clients revealed that 90% of mobile visitors are using the Apple mobile platform. This is much higher than the Web average of 43% as reported by NetAverages and confirms that we need to be careful to test any site changes on both mobile and desktop versions of Safari since they are such a large portion of our audience. We may also pair this analytical data with demographic data from other sources to begin to paint a snapshot of our client’s site visitor’s likes and dislikes and can begin to tailor the design, colors, type and photos to better meet our client’s needs.

As you can see, information is powerful and as a part of the CS Live services, SiteCatalyst NetAverages is a valuable tool for making informed business decisions about the Web.