Google Updates New Analytics Platform

You may be interested in hearing that Google has released new features with their latest free Analytics package. Back in October Google announced that the new version of its tracking code “ga.js” will be updating with new features. In October it sounded great but today it is actually here.

On November 2nd Google Analytics (GA) announced in-site searching capabilities which basically allow you to track what your users search for within your site. This information can be really valuable. Not only will you see the keywords that brought them there, you will also be able to see their refined needs.

Yesterday even more functionality was released. GA announced the multi-data point graphing feature along with ga.js tracking and availability to new language groups. Learn more by visiting the Google Analytics Blogover at blogspot.com. If you are interested in these additional features contact your webmaster or SEO to let them know that you are interested in converting to the new code.

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Reader Feedback

Without a doubt the best part of blogging is getting feedback from readers. I look forward to reading the comments, emails, and surveys that I receive on a frequent basis. Just yesterday I posted a couple different polls on my website and look forward to seeing how well they are received. If you are interested in doing the same check out polldaddy.com it is free and extremely easy to set up with minimal HTML knowledge.

Getting reader feedback is pretty challenging. What makes the task 10 times harder is that readers usually don’t want to be directed away from the site they are currently viewing. If you are able to overcome this obstacle the results of polls and surveys are extremely helpful in understanding the needs of your reader.

The only use of polling that can be incorporated into WordPress is a link to an outside site. This is because WordPress does not permit the use of JavaScript due to it being a potential security issue. I appreciate the concern they have about security and remain hopeful that this obstacle can be resolved soon.

Target Your Audience, Increase Your Readership

Who are you targeting when you write your blog? Your blog should target a specific audience. If you don’t know your target then you may miss your mark.

Consider this my second installment about generating traffic and a continuation of my previous post. To again preface my post I must say that all of my results are preliminary and like many of you I am still learning the best ways to generate traffic. My observations should serve as verification of many things you may have noticed on your own.

Blogging in general attracts a wide variety of people. Regardless of where you fit into the blogesphere you benefit in some way (there are many ways people benefit). Each blogger has a message and a motive, what is your motive? If you are unable to understand your motive for blogging than chances are that you do not know who you are targeting either. An identified target audience is the first step in designing and implementing your marketing strategy.

Readers usually don’t read your blog for your benefit. I know that your spouses or family may check out your blog but you can’t expect everyone to love you in the same way. Your target has needs that need to be filled, how can you meet their needs? The unique skill sets that you have are what make you valuable to your audience. Giving your audience resources and specialized insights help them become more successful. If you are able to meet their needs then you build trust. If you are valuable to your audience and they trust you, readership rises and your motives will be rewarded.

Drive Traffic to Your Blog/Website

I haven’t been blogging very long but I started blogging with a few different purposes in mind. One of those purposes is to practice techniques related to Guerilla Marketing. Matter of fact, most things that I have been doing on the Internet have been experiments in process and strategy. I would like to share some preliminary findings about what techniques have worked best. If you have a blog or website this post may help to reinforce what you have already witnessed.

#1 Never underestimate the value of tagging your posts. A blog post without tags is like a hook without bait. Tags that I have inserted over a week ago are still occasionally being clicked. The tag was either of interest or met a perceived need of the reader. Tags alone are not enough to increase the readership of your site, they just bring in random visitors and traffic from the tags will decline over time.

#2 Posting on other blogs drives traffic to your site. If you post on blogs that pertain to a topic that you write about you may gain return readership. Otherwise you are wasting both their time and your own.

#3 Creating controversy or disagreeing with a post drives traffic to your site, just not the right kind of traffic. It isn’t worth it if you want to grow loyal readership.

#4 Posting comments on websites and blogs with tons of previous comments makes it really hard to differentiate yourself from the crowd. I have seen greater success in targeting sites that have less traffic.

#5 The time of day, even the day that you post really makes an impact on your traffic. Peak readership times, times like early evening, can be more effective than early morning. This of course will have no bearing on return traffic, only increasing traffic. It would probably be best to stay consistant, though this is just an opinion and I do not have any data to back it up.

#6 Detailed titles of your posts are very important, they should draw in your audience. Today I wanted to draw in bloggers and others wanting to drive traffic to their own site. It’s detailed in the title. As a result I would expect to receive over 75% of my traffic from this target demographic alone.

Like I mentioned these are preliminary results and I am constantly learning like a lot of you. If you are interested in hearing more let me know. If you have other insights in addition please let me know. There are many other things to cover here are some related points that I have posted as well:

Target Your Audience Increase Your Readership
What Are Your Readers Searching For?
Reader Feedback

The Value of Web Analytics

If you have been around the web for any length of time odds are you have heard the term “Website Analytics”. I know that many people hear such words and shudder. After all, the internet should be a fun experience right? I whole heartedly agree that the Internet should be fun.

The truth is that setting up website analytics on a website is simple. I wouldn’t necessarily call it fun, but it is fun to see what people seem to spend more time reading, or what they are have an interest in.

There are a lot of free programs available for analytics. I suggest that you go to del.icio.us and do a search for “web analytics” and see what users are linking to. I personally use Google Analytics it was easy to set up and the reports are well laid out.

How does it work? After signing up with a web analytics program you simply paste JavaScript into your source code. The program then monitors activity as it comes to your site. You sign in through their interface and point and click.

Some of the best uses of website analytics are determining what is working for you and what is not. If you spend 80% of your time working on a section of your site that only 2% of people spend their time you then know about it. If 90% of the visits to your site bounce right back out you at least know that you may need to make changes. But at least you will know that what you are doing is not working. There are many more uses of course. If you are interested in a certain aspect of Internet marketing let me know by sending an email to james@jmhelms.com or leave a comment.

If you benefited from this blog I would love to hear from you. If you didn’t like this blog I would love to hear why, leave a comment! Do you have something to add? leave a comment, we can all benefit from your perspective.

Great Resources for Marketing Your Business

Recently I had an opportunity to attend a series called “Your Go-To-Market Strategy”, an Executive Series through Oregon Entrepreneurs Network. The quality of the series is perhaps the best that I have seen. Like many people I have had the benefit of taking several classes around marketing. Through the classroom environment I learned the basics and had a chance to apply some of the principles. The Executive Series through OEN is a perfect bridge between class learning and practical application.

Yesterday at the series a guy by the name of Jeff Williams from eROI presented a brief overview of Guerrilla Marketing. Specifically he covered simple, cheap, cost effective ways to market yourself, or your business on the internet. Some of the points that he made were:

• The value of having a website cannot be understated. You need to have a place to send potential customers.
• The point of a website is to get leads, or potential consumers of your product or service.
• Blogs, podcasts and user uploaded video are all easy ways to sell your business. The idea is to build a community.
• All marketing efforts should be to drive users to your site. Yet your site should not be about “you”. The point is providing value, resources to the end user, In exchange for potential business.

There was a great deal of information and advice offered to the attendees. This of course is just a very brief overview of the value that eROI provided at the series. If you are looking for resources about marketing there are a ton of resources at their site.