Chapter 4: Ten Steps to Mining Your Data

Chapter 4: Ten Steps to Mining Your Data

Overview

The mining of your web data starts well before you begin using a data mining tool, and it continues well after your analysis. Several steps are involved prior to the actual analysis of the data in order to ensure the data mining process is a success and a profitable endeavor. Although the data mining tools simplify and automate the analysis of databases, care must be taken in using them or they may lead to faulty findings and erroneous conclusions.

Identify Your Web Business Objective

The mining of your website involves some advanced planning about what type and level of information you intend to capture at your server and what additional data you plan to match it with. This by itself will ensure your data mining efforts will yield measurable business results. For example you need to plan with your web team what kind of log, cookie, and form information you intent to capture from your visitors and at what juncture. Next you need to involve your business, sales, and marketing teams in deciding what kind of demographic and household information you need to purchase to merge with your server data. In addition, you should consider bringing in your information system team for the possible incorporation of your datamart or data warehouse and customer database into the mix.

This advance planning can save you time and money in your data mining efforts. It can also translate into quicker results and thus...

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Data Mining Your Website

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Chapter 4: Ten Steps to Mining Your Data

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