Stabbing in the dark and not finding the prize?
By Tamara Caddy
You need hard figures for real insights into who, how and why is using your website. Use analytics to measure and optimise web traffic and effectiveness.
The “build it and they will come” mantra is fine for Kevin Costner but in the fierce environment of online operations it is fool hardy not to have strategy (informed by data) behind your web presence.
Understanding the source and the behaviour of your users will help you get the best out of your website, generate more leads and hopefully help you fulfil your online objectives.
Web statistics have long been used to track where visitors are coming from (geographically and online) what language they speak, how often they visit and what browsers they use. There’s a barrage of software available, although, in its new 2012 incarnation, Google Analytics includes information for web strategists to use as part of their arsenal including ‘real time’ data.
SEVEN WAYS TO HARNESS WEB ANALYTICS
Track user behaviour by measuring pages per visit; average time on site; bounce rates. Create events to track such as enquires, conversions, downloads, how many scrolled all the way to the end. See what parts of the site are attracting the most users, getting them to stay, such as landing pages or campaigns. This allows you to adapt the site and content strategically rather than on an ad-hoc basis
Goal flow allows you to evaluate a conversion funnel and identify processes that aren’t working or that are too fiddly for most users to bother with.
View top keywords and search terms to spot trends based on different criteria that you select – including visits, bounce rates and pages per visit.
The ability to monitor the average page load time you can make sure your site is running smoothly as delays result in lower conversions.
Examining mobile web analytics enables you to cater your site according to what devices, smart phones and tablets people are using. This is a crucial consideration when building your web’s functionality and useability.
Gauge users’ level of social engagement with your site by tracking what content and pages inspired social action: such as shares, retweeting and likes. We recommend plugins such as Sharethis and AddThis sharing plugins to boost traffic and for which Google Analytics is a complimentary tool.
Personalise areas such as dashboards so your users can quickly access the statistics that relate to their area of responsibility. Or create separate areas for different campaigns or target groups.
Our advice is to employ analytics to put strategy, backed up by figures, behind your site and to ensure it is functioning at its optimum and designed for your business’ needs.
Want help building your website and powering analytics to get the best results?
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Google SearchWiki
By Sam PascuaHas anyone noticed the small new feature Google has released that has the potential to influence overall search results? We assume this has probably gone unnoticed by many, especially those without Google accounts. The new feature is called SearchWiki and it allows users that are logged in to rank up, remove and if they like comment on search results.
Google have stated that it will have no impact on search results, however seeing that this now allows users rank results we assume that as popularity increases it will eventually influence the search result set for the general public.
The tool is simple at this stage, which the video below will show. Users can basically promote websites to the top of the pile, remove ones a user doesn’t like and leave comments.
Read moreTracking your Website with Google, Yahoo & Bing
By Sam PascuaAre you or your web manager tracking your site on the major search engines? We are big supporters of using Google Webmaster Tools, Bing’s Webmasters Tools and Yahoo Site Explorer to upload XML Sitemaps and track the ways the different search engines are indexing our own and our client’s sites.
Google Webmaster Tools lets web managers control their Sitelinks which are being displayed on Google results, it also alerts us to error pages or pages not being properly indexed by Google, and a displays info on how Google picks up the incoming links to our sites.
Bing Webmaster tools provides users with a range of graphs displaying info such as pages crawled, traffic summaries over the past six months.
Yahoo Site Explorer gives similar information with clearly indentified sections such as feeds, crawl errors, stats on their own indexing of your site.
The information provided by these three tools are essential in understanding how your web is being displayed to these search engines and will help identify areas which need to be improved or analysed to help scale the heights of search engine ranking.
Setting them up is relatively easy and if you don’t have the time, or don’t want to play around with a ftp program, just ask your web developer to set it up for you.
Are you or your web manager tracking your site on the major search engines? We are big supporters of using Google Webmaster Tools, Bing’s Webmasters Tools and Yahoo Site Explorer to upload XML Sitemaps and track the ways the different search engines are indexing our own and our client’s sites.
Google Webmaster Tools lets web managers control their Sitelinks which are being displayed on Google results, it also alerts us to error pages or pages not being properly indexed by Google, and a displays info on how Google picks up the incoming links to our sites.
Bing Webmaster tools provides users with a range of graphs displaying info such as pages crawled, traffic summaries over the past six months.
Yahoo Site Explorer gives similar information with clearly indentified sections such as feeds, crawl errors, stats on their own indexing of your site.
The information provided by these three tools are essential in understanding how your web is being displayed to these search engines and will help identify areas which need to be improved or analysed to help scale the heights of search engine ranking.
Setting them up is relatively easy and if you don’t have the time, or don’t want to play around with a ftp program, just ask your web developer to set it up for you.
Read moreIs Magento the right eCommerce platform for your online buisness?
By Sam Pascua
When Magento was released in early 2008, it was met with excitement and interest from e-commerce site developers around the world. It quickly became the preferred software option for mid-range ecommerce sites due to its powerful administrative features and functionality. As Armando Roggio states on www.practicalecommerce.com,
“Magento’s feature list is clearly the result of years of ecommerce experience. The platform includes features like a built-in product image zoom capability, advanced pricing rules to support special promotions, a landing page tool to help with marketing campaigns, inventory management, side-by-side product comparison tools, and more.”
If you are in the market for a new platform on which to run your ecommerce site, here are some reasons why Magento may be the right choice for you.
Read moreGoogle Web Fonts
By Sam PascuaIt has taken way too long, however the day has come, Google has announced that it is joining Typekit, Font Squirrel, Ascender, Font Bureau and others with open-source-licensed web fonts.
The Google Font Directory lets you browse all the fonts available via the Google Font API. All fonts in the directory are available for use on your website under an open source license and are served by Google servers.
We love it, and the first project using these lovely web fonts has already started.
Search Engine Optimisation Tips
By Sam PascuaCreate as much content on your site as possible.
The more content, the better. Of course the content needs to be of good quality. Basically, a search engine will view a 50 page site to be more important than a 5 page site. Here are some ideas as to what can be used for additional content:
Educational Content
Adding useful information aimed at educating your visitors about your product and/or service can be extremely beneficial. Not only will search engines be happier, you’ll find that other web sites within your industry will be more likely to link to your site for the benefit of their own audience. If you know of a popular site in your industry that offers helpful links, try to think of what content you can create to inspire them to add a link to your site.
News
News articles are probably the most popular method of content creation, used by many of the major SEO companies today. All web sites should be able to create a news section filled with articles relevant to their industry. Articles can then be archived so that search engines can find them, even if they may seem out of date. Over time larger sites can accumulate 100′s of extra pages in their news section.
Expansion of Core Information
You may be able to expand the information that currently exists on your site. For example, you could create a separate page for each staff member in your business. Or you could offer a more in-depth explanation of your product or service. You may want to run a forum or a blog on your site that is focused on related topics to your web site.
Read moreGoogle to leave Australia over ‘evil’ filter
By Sam PascuaWhat a great April fools article and at the same time an important political message agasint the attack on Australian freedoms over the net by the Rudd Government and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
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(Credit: ZDNet.com.au)
Google will close its Australian operations, effectively blacklisting the country in response to the Federal Government’s “evil” plan to filter the internet.
Goooone
ZDNet.com.au has confirmed that the search engine giant will close its doors on Australia for good, effective immediately, marking the end of four years of its operation here and a long-running battle with the government over its plan to filter the internet.
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