Strong Website Design and Development

Track Your Visitors

2008-05-27T18:27:00.009-10:00

In my previous blog I discuss the importance of your web report and go over several terms and definitions of your report. This update to the blog will give you real examples of how a web report can help you not only in marketing, but also in how you spend your marketing dollars.

Below I have listed scenarios that almost all website owners and marketing staff will face, and the solutions using very little programming and your web report.

SCENARIO 1: You signed up for a 3 month banner / text ad with another website and it is time to renew.

Solution: Out of all the different scenarios, this is the easiest to track and determine how effective your ad was. First you will login to your web report, then you want to find your section called "referrals". Then scroll through your top referrals and find the website you have been advertising with and see how many referrals they have sent you in the 3 month advertising period.

Once you have determined your total number of visitors, you can use some simple math to determine what you are paying per customer and how effective your advertising dollars have been.

As an example, lets say you spent $300.00 for a banner ad for 3 months. After viewing your report, you see the ad generated 3000 visitors, that works out to 10 cents per customer and is probably definitely worth renewing since it would be very difficult to find advertising that inexpensive per customer. On the other hand lets say you generated only 300 visitors, your cost per customer now raises dramatically to $1.00 per customer. In this situation you know have to weigh the effectiveness and detrmine if the ad is worth renewing

SCENARIO 2: You have signed up for a 3 month print advertisement and want to track how effective it is.

Solution: This scenario is actually fairly easy to implement, but the accuracy can vary, so when reviewing you need to consider other factors. To implement you would contact your webmaster and tell him you plan on placing an ad in a specific magazine. Your webmaster can then implement various methods, but for me, I prefer to create a directory and place a redirection script in it. For example if the ad was in Sports Illustrated, I would create a directory called "SI", and then have my clients place that in their web address for the ad (www.myweb.com/SI). When a person types that address, it will just redirect them to the home page and they will not notice anything.

Now when you login to your web report, instead of ggoing to your referral section, you will look in your "Directory Tree" or Pages to see how often the directory was visited. Once you have your total numbers, you repeat the steps listed above to determine your cost per customer.

In closing using these simple tips above can save you greatly in time and most importantly money!

Understanding Your Web Report

2008-05-05T15:21:00.004-10:00

One of the most important tools for a website owner is their web report. In fact when I am contacted to discuss redesigning an existing website, one of the first things I'll ask about is the web report. The thing that surprises me most is that many website owners have never viewed their report or they have viewed it but don't understand it.

Even though I always advise my clients of their reports and the location to view them, most people just don't refer to them that often, if at all. I highly recommend that all website owners get familiar with their reports and if needed call their webmaster to discuss the report in greater detail.

A web report is a treasure trove of information and anybody serious about marketing will have a good understanding of their report and the terms used.

There are many types of reports, but the basic terms and functionality are the same. Below are terms that are most often used in a web report and their definitions.

Term: Unique Visitors
Definition: A count of how many different people access a Web site. For example, if a user leaves and comes back to the site five times during the measurement period, that person is counted as one unique visitor, but would count as five "user sessions."

Term: Visitors / Sessions
Definition: The total number of distinct visits made to a site for a given period. A visit starts with an entry click and ends with an exit or a 20 30 minuteperiod of inactivity. Every visitor can make an unlimited number of visits.

Term: Page Views
Definition: Pageview: A single web page viewed by a human through a browser is a pageview. Technically: a file, or a combination of files, sent to a visitor as a result of that visitor's request being received by a server.

Term: Hits
Definition: The retrieval of any item, like a page or a graphic, from a Web server. For example, when a visitor views a Web page with four graphics, that's five hits, one for the page and four for the graphics. For this reason, hits often aren't a good indication of Web traffic.

Term: Entry Page
Definition: An entry page is located on your site. It is the first page through which a visitor enters your site, aka 'landing page'.

Term: Exit Page
Definition: The last page a visitor views before leaving your site.

Term: Referrer
Definition: Third party website (i.e. search engine, link, banner) through which a visitor reaches your site. Search engines are the primary example, but other sites with links leading to your site are also referrers. Examples are forums, banners, links, directories, etc..

Term: Key Phrases
Definition: Phrases used in a search engine that return your site within the search results.

Term: Key Words
Definition: Single unique words used in a search engine that return your site within the search results.

Customer Service

2008-04-07T13:56:00.003-10:00

Several months ago I was contacted by a local company who had recently re-designed their website. The company had hired their own in-house programmer and working with the marketing staff had re-designed their website, as well as their e-commerce platform.

In my initial conversation with them I asked why they had contacted me, given their new site was up and they had their own staff. The person who contacted me, stated that since the new website had gone live, sales were were actually falling instead of increasing as everybody had predicted. They were starting to get very concerned and felt that an independant company with experience in web development and e-commerce might be able to consult with them and stop the decline in sales.

I told the contact that I did consulting work and would be more than happy to review the website and arrange a follow-up meeting to go over the site and my recommendations. After my initial review of the site, I pretty much knew where the problem was.
On the day of the meeting, I asked that the web developer and marketing people also be present, so everybody could give some insight as to the design of the new site. The site looked great and the developer was a very capable programmer, but his inexperience was really visible in one key area, customer service.

As I went through the site with everybody I asked where the Help section was, the answer I received was "on the contact page". So we went to that page and I asked again "where was the help", the developer pointed to a contact form and said anybody could send a question via the form. There was also another omission on the contact page and that was a phone number, in fact the phone numbers had been removed from the entire site. When I asked why there were no contact numbers, the developer said that kids now days don't want to talk on the phone and everything was done online.

I asked the owner of the company what the average age of their customer base was, and he said mid 30's to early 40's. I then said "their clients did not sound like kids to me", and I believe at that moment everybody had figured out what I had suspected, if you don't want to assist your customers, why would they want to buy from you?

I spoke with the company contact not long ago and they mentioned that sales had improved dramatically and they were very pleased with the direction they were heading.

I personally believe that customer service is the most important part of any business and in a tight market as we are experiencing now, take the extra time to provide superior customer service, your clients and customers will remember that.

Blogging Part 3

2008-03-12T13:30:00.006-10:00

I HAVE A BLOG NOW WHAT?
You have gone through the trouble of creating your blog, editing your settings and even customizing it a little and now your ready to start writing, but your stuck! Well join the club as anybody that has ever written content about themselves, a corporate function or anything else for that matter has had the same feeling.

If your blog is for a large corporation the content of your blog will usually be handled by your marketing staff, but if your a small business, chances are you are the marketing staff.

Below are some helpful hints on how to get started:

1- See whar other people are writing about within your industry. For example if you are a dive company do a search for "Dive Blogs" on the web and chances are you'll see hundreds of other companies that are already blogging.

2- Take a piece of paper and write down items that customers request from you regularly in e-mails or phone calls. For example if your company offers outdoor activities, you may want to write about weather conditions, clothing to be worn, or what was experienced on your last outing.

3- Keep writing! If you get on a roll and finish one article, move on to another, and then another. You do not have to post them all at the same time, if you post weekly and write four articles you now have an entire months worth of content.

4- Make it matter! Remember you are writing content for your customers, so always keep them in mind, but there is also absolutely nothing wrong with providing Grandmas'cookie recipe to your guests that enjoyed them during a day trip with your company.

YOUR BLOG IS A TOOL
As with any marketing strategy it usually does not not consist of just one form of media and the same is true with a blog. In most cases your blog should be used in conjuction with your website, newsletters, and print media. For example if you publish a newsletter include a brief overview of your posts with links to your blogs.

Encourage your management to create a blog, for example if your company offers several completely different products, create individual blogs for each and then cross promote them (link to each other).

IN CLOSING
It may seem to be a daunting task, but creating and managing a blog isn't. You will look back months or even years from now and what started out as a bi-weekly or monthly blog has now become a major marketing tool for your company.

Blogging is here to stay and what was once thought of a passing thought is now considered a must for any company. Remember it was not that long ago when people asked the question, "does my business need a website", and we all know the answer to that.

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Blogging Part 2

2008-03-12T10:56:00.010-10:00

ARE BLOGS HARD TO SETUP?
By far the largest obstacle for most individuals is the initial setup of your blog. I receive many calls and e-mails asking questions about blogs, below are some of the most FAQ's.

Q: How much does a blog cost to create?
A: In general blogs are free to create and maintain if you are using a hosted service such as: Blogger, Vox, and Live Journal to mention a few. There are also very low cost blogging tools from the open source community, but in general I recommend one of the free hosted services when starting out.

Q: Are they difficult to setup?
A: If you are using a free hosted blog, the actual setup is quite easy, in fact most people can be up and running within a couple of hours. More advanced features such as customizing the layout and adding custom graphics or features may require assistance from your webmaster. If you wish to host your own blog it is recommended you consult with your webmaster for more detailed information.

Q: Can I use my own domain for my blog?
A: This is really dependant on what type of a blog you use. If using a free hosted solution you would need to check with the company to see what they support, but in general most companies will allow you to use your own domain. All you would do is register a new domain name for your blog and then apply it to your blog (if allowed). If you are hosting your own blog, you probably don't need a new domain and your webmaster would use either a subdomain (myBlog.mydomain.com) or a subweb (mydomain.com/myBlog)

Q: How often do I update my blog?
A: The quick and easy answer for this would be whenever you want. The reality is people update their blogs daily, weekly, monthly and sometimmes not all. My advice is to create an update schedule that fits within your allowed time.

Q: How do people see my blog?
A: A blog can be seen in several ways, linked from your website, searched via the web, links from other blogs, and linked from newsletters to mention a few. In general your blog is most visited by following a link from your website, but as blogs grow they can take on a life of their own.

Q: Can anybody post comments to my blog ?
A: In most cases your blog an be setup to allow: anyone, only to registered members, only Members of your blog, and nobody can post comments. It is always recommended to read the FAQ of each hosted or software blog application.

WHERE CAN I GET A FREE BLOG
Below are some of the more popular blogs and their web addresses.

1- Blogger: Owned by Google and very easy to setup (Free)http://www.blogger.com/

2- VOX: Owned by SixApart and highly rated (Free)
http://www.vox.com/

3- Live Journal: Owned by Microsoft and also easy to setup (Free)http://www.livejournal.com/

4- WordPress: One of the most popular blogs in use (Hosted / Free)
http://www.wordpress.org/

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:: View part 3 of this artical, I have a blog now what?

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Blogging Part 1

2008-03-11T16:23:00.009-10:00

WHAT IS A BLOG?
As described by Wikpedia a blog is "a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog".

A non-technical description could be described as a web journal, diary, commentary or news on a particular subject.

Regardless of the actual definition of blogs, or how they came about, the bottom line is that in todays business enviroment, a blog is as important as having a website.

WHO CAN USE A BLOG?
Anybody can create and use a blog, but for some businesses they are especially useful. For example how many of you receive e-mails that are 1-2 pages long regularly from individuals. Or perhaps you receive the daily, weekly or monthly newsletter via e-mail, with your e-mail address, as well as the other 500 e-mail addresses in the CC field of the e-mail.

Yes, these are the individuals that can greatly benefit from a blog, but there are many other businesses that can also benefit from a blog.

EXAMPLES OF COMPANIES/INDIVIDUALS USE OF BLOGS:

REALTORS:
As a realtor you are able to post up-to-date news and articals on the current trends or even daily or weekly mortgage rates. Imagine posting the monthly sales for a specific region on your blog, or use your blog to showcase your featured properties or even upcoming open houses.

ACTIVITY COMPANIES:
This specific field can make great use of a blog, especially during certain times of the year. For example if you run a whale watching trip, you would be able to post daily or weekly blogs on the activity of the whales, or even create a special blog just for the whales. Maybe you just want to announce some upcoming specials or discounts during certain times of the year.

RETAIL STORES:
Many retail companies have asked me about a blog, and I always tell them the same thing, used with a newsletter a blog is highly effective and a must for serious marketing. Retail giants have been using blogs to build their brand and get their message out. Blogs can be used to pre-launch specific product lines, or just make announcements such as, what tradeshows or conventions they will be attending or exhibiting.

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In closing a blog can be a major tool for any company, or a simple online journal of your own thoughts on any given subject.

::View part 2 of this artical, Setup and Cost

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Domain Renewals

2008-03-11T10:34:00.004-10:00

A new year is here and it is time to check your domains !!

It is important that everybody check their domains to see if they expire this year. If they do expire, I highly recommend you renew your domains for a period of 2 years or more.

CAUTIONS:
There are several companies that are notorious for mailing out Domain Renewal forms in the mail. These mailings make it appear that they are the domain registrant, but if you read the fine print, they are advertising to "TRANSFER" your domain. In most cases people mail a check and assume their domains are renewed and end up losing the domain name.

If your domain expires, you can be facing fees of $150.00 - $450.00 to get it back and that is if your lucky. In most cases they are quickly renewed by off-shore registrants and you'll have to register a new domain name, which can cost companies thousands of dollars (New E-mail Accounts, New Print Material, Loss of all search engine listings, etc..)

Needless to say, this is VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!
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HOW TO CHECK YOUR DOMAIN:

1- Go to any whois query (Below is one I use)
http://www.domaintools.com/

2- Enter your domain name (DO NOT ENTER www.)
EXAMPLE: mydomain.com / mydomain.net / mydomain.org

3- Click Search, The page that will come up contains your whois record. Scroll to the bottom of the page and check your contact information as well as your expiration date.
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OTHER ITEMS TO CHECK

1- Verify your contact information is correct, such as mailing address, phone and most importantly your E-Mail Address.

2- Make sure you are the registered owner / administrator.

3- If you do not have your login information for your domain registrant, contact them and GET IT !!
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In closing I cannot stress enough the importance of your domain name and keeping track of it, as well as the details that go with it.