Data Analytics and Product Strategy
I build digital experiences, analyze data and improve processes for audience-first newsrooms to maximize reach, engagement, and operational excellence.
About me
I'm a digital analyst and product leader with over 10 years of experience in news media. I specialize in untangling data for audience-first newsrooms and translating it into clear, actionable insights. I've designed civic engagement tools, led newsroom data strategies, and implemented analytics tagging using Google Tag Manager. I'm fluent in Google Analytics (GA4) and Parse.ly, and I build dashboards and visualizations that help the newsroom use data to inform their work. I’m especially drawn to projects where editorial, product, and technology teams intersect.
At CalMatters, I built three digital voter guides that empowered California voters, drove strategic web improvements such as recirculation elements and enhanced author bio pages. I'm proud to have contributed to the CalMatters team that won the 2025 Online News Awards for General Excellence in Online Journalism and 2022 EPPY Award for Best Online-Only News Website.
I've sought out a CMS solution and spearheaded its website migration and redesign. I've launched and written a weekly newsletter, driven SEO improvements that grew monthly organic search traffic by over 100%, trained newsrooms on how to use and interpret data, and delivered written reports that help teams make sense of the metrics that really matter.
I have a master's from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, and I'm a graduate of the 2024 Online News Association Women's Leadership Accelerator.
Experience
Product Manager
CalMatters
Jan 2022 - Mar 2025
Led and supported product initiatives that strengthened organic search growth, deepened engagement, and improved the reader experience.
Analytics Manager
CalMatters
Oct 2020 - Jan 2022
Built an analytics structure, including dashboards and weekly reports, that guided efforts to build an audience while informing and assessing the success of digital product initiatives.
Digital Content Manager
inewsource
June 2020 - Sep 2020
Oversaw the flawless execution of content across the website and all digital marketing channels, ensuring accuracy and timely delivery.
Web and Social Media Producer
inewsource
June 2020 - Sep 2020
Executed web content production and led multi-platform digital strategies across social media.
Projects
2024 Voter Guide
Description:
A digital guide that helped 1 in 5 California voters understand ballot measures, races and candidates during the 2024 primary and general elections. Iterating on the 2022 guide, this version utilizes persistent global navigation and a more intuitive user experience.
Role:
Defined the product requirements, led the SEO strategy, built the analytics framework, implemented product feedback surveys, and co-led the product development from concept to execution by partnering with design, engineering, editorial and marketing teams.
2022 Voter Guide
Description:
Building on the record traffic of the 2020 guide, this voter guide surpassed it in traffic — reaching 1 in 10 California voters — the majority of which found the guide through organic search.
Role:
Co-led the planning, development and execution of the guide in addition to owning the digital production workflow and monitoring analytics to track product performance. Collaborated closely with a team of designers, developers, and business stakeholders to ensure timely delivery. Led SEO strategy and developed editorial SEO playbook for the 2022 elections, which included technical, on-page and content optimization tactics.
Data Infrastructure & Dashboards
Description:
Designed and operated a data structure that guided efforts to build an audience and analyzed the success of product initiatives.
Role:
I built and maintained 10+ Looker dashboards, tracked and monitored KPIs monthly through spreadsheet-based reporting, wrote weekly analytics reports distributed across the organization, and wrote annual analytics reports that informed board meetings and executive decisions.
Taxonomy Overhaul
Description:
At CalMatters, I led a cleanup of the site's taxonomy, which included over 13,000 tags and 180 categories, and established the organization's first system for content tagging and categorization to optimize the information architecture, improve content discoverability, and align with user intent.
Role:
I audited the taxonomy and tagging workflow, researched taxonomy best practices and approaches from other news product and technical leads, researched technical solutions, and executed a massive (96%) cleanup of outdated, duplicate and low-quality metadata while establishing guardrails, writing guidelines for tag creation, and providing ongoing maintenance.
Get In Touch
I'm currently looking for new opportunities and would love to learn more about your project. Contact me at shyla.nott@gmail.com or find me on LinkedIn.