Big Foot Web Marketing

Got this e-mail from Clicktracks today- WELL worth the effort to tryb this. I you don;t have any kind of web analytics tool, you really need one. I prefer clicktracks but I have some clients that like Google Analytics ( which is free, but you have to place their java script on your site)

ClickTracks Announces Free Funnel Reports on Web Analytics Day
Related classes offered by Bryan Eisenberg of Future Now, John Marshall of ClickTracks
Santa Cruz , California – June 06, 2006 – On June 8, 2006, users of ClickTracks’ free Web Analytics Tool, ClickTracks Appetizer, will be treated to seven days of free access to ClickTracks’ Funnel report in addition to a series of free classes related to funnel reports and persuasion analysis techniques. Anyone may sign up for the online classes at http:// www.clicktracks.com/seminars .
The first class, “Waiting for Your Cat to Bark?” will be led on June 12 by New York Times and The Wall Street Journal best-selling author Bryan Eisenberg . Eisenberg’s new book by the same title publishes on June 13. Eisenberg’s class will teach how to persuade customers when they don’t respond to traditional marketing, and covers the factors that affect how people act on the web. Eisenberg will also teach how web analytics can help site owners know whether or not a site entices people to purchase, or if it frustrates and annoys prospective customers causing them to exit.
Following up on June 13 and 14, ClickTracks’ founder John Marshall will teach “Measuring Web Page Persuasion with a Funnel Report”. Expanding on Eisenberg’s principles, Marshall will show how each page of your web site should persuade visitors towards your specific business and/or marketing goals. Whether it’s a newsletter sign up, an online purchase, a lead form or some other goal, web site owners need to understand which pages influence visitors and which pages send them back to the search engines. Attendees will also learn:
•Why persuasion is a better metric than conversion
•Common funnel progression percentages
•Why it’s important to apply visitor segmentation in a funnel
•How to find and fix pitfalls in your funnel path
•Factors in creating an optimal path through your web site
•Ways to get meaningful data from sites with multiple paths
“Bryan ’s approach to persuasion architecture was an important component in our design of the algorithms behind our funnel analysis. I’m delighted to have Bryan teach persuasion architecture through our online classroom series,” Marshall said.
Free Learning Edition: ClickTracks Appetizer
To complement ClickTracks’ online marketing and web analytics classes, the company offers ClickTracks Appetizer, a free web analytics software program that includes several of ClickTracks’ most popular features—like its famous overlay view, path view, page analysis and basic visitor labeling. Appetizer is a free license, is not a trial, and is available for download at www.clicktracks.com/products/appetizer .
All You Can Eat on “Web Analytics Day”
This month, on June 8, ClickTracks will “turn on” additional advanced features in Appetizer that correspond to the current instruction topics. For 24 hours, Appetizer users will have full use of ClickTracks’ industry leading funnel report , robot report , campaign report , search and keyword performance , and advanced visitor labeling – features found in ClickTracks’ more powerful editions (Analyzer, Optimizer, and Pro). This month, the funnel report will be enabled for an additional seven days after Web Analytics Day.
About ClickTracks
Based in Santa Cruz , California , ClickTracks is the maker of award-winning web analytics software . The ClickTracks family of software was designed out of sheer frustration with existing web analytics offerings. Spending hour upon hour trying to understand web site visitors was certainly a motivating experience: there had to be a better way.
ClickTracks was voted ‘Best Web Site Analysis Tool’ in ClickZ’s 2003, 2004 and 2005 Marketing Excellence Awards and was rated “Positive” in Gartner’s 2006 MarketScope for Web Analytics. The company received a “Very Good” top rating from the InfoWorld Test Center for its 6.1 product suite, and a Computerworld Innovative Technology award in the web site management category. ClickTracks’ software has been reviewed and featured on CNET, ZDNet, Builder.com, TechRepublic, Internet.com, CRM Magazine, Media Magazine, MarketingSherpa and About.com.

Tags: SEO Tools by Lisa Stewart
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I do a lot of non-profit work. So much so that my husband thinks I should register my own business as a charity. I work with many single moms and women struggling to get back on their feet or trying to start a new business. Their business concepts are sound and their ideas good. I started out just looking at their sites to give the odd suggestion tip and then after looking at these sites knew that with a few small changes it would have a big impact on their traffic and ranking. I have limited time to spend on so I try and go for the fixes that will have the most impact and are usually the easiest to fix. If you are an experience in SEO professional than this article is not for you. If you are a site owner overwhelmed by the whole concept of SEO or just getting your feet wet and don’t know where to start- then read on- their will probably be a useful tip or two.

#1. Bad Title and Meta Tags
My number one pet peeve. A good title for your page is in my opinion the single most important factor when it comes to in-page optimization. The title of your page should not just be the name of your company. You should have a key word phrase in the title. For example, if you have a site that sells hand made candles name of your company is “ Luminosity” don’t have the title of you home page be “ Luminosity”, this is a mistake that 90% of all sites I see make. Title should contain keyword phrase “Handmade Candles by Luminocity”. Or better ““Handmade Scented Candles and Natural Soy Candles-Luminocity”. Every page on your site should have unique Meta data (title, description and if you feel like it keywords). Your description should weave in the keyword phrase you used in your title and use less than 80 characters in description. . Keywords are virtually meaningless but if you must add them go ahead. If I do use them- I use my top 5 or 6 keywords and I don’t put comma’s in between- I prefer to let search engines figure out the different combos.
Take the time to do this step. If you can only do one thing on this list then do this.

#2. Using Graphics Instead of Viewable Text

I still do come across this. A site this has bulk of its text- embedded into graphics. Having a logo with your name or product description embedded into the graphic instead of using actual text. Spiders and bots cannot “see” images and the words embedded into pictures have no meaning. So have your mission statement embedded into fancy graphic may look great but will not index in any search engine. When using images on your site you should always use ALT tags to describe your image i.e. “blue soy candle” not only for non-sighted users but these are recognized by spiders.

#3. No Standard Navigational Links
These are the links that are on pretty much every page of your site. You will see them most often at the bottom of a page and it will feature links that say things like “Home” and “Site Map”. More and more I am seeing menus and navigational bars that use java script. These are nice but not crawl-able. Make sure you have things links in html format somewhere on you pages- most will sit these in footer or bottom of the page. This is also a good chance to use keywords. Try “Scented Candles” rather than “Our Products”.

#4. Large Image Files
Hard to believe- but this still happening. Potential buyers and clients will abandon their site if it takes too long to load. Most people are still using dial-up and can’t wait for multiple and bulky images to download. Some easy tips- make sure you images are set to 72 pixel resolution. Resolution set higher than that it a waste and unnecessarily large. Most photo editors will allow you to set compression rate. Test different compression rates- you can reduce file size by more than have with no visible difference. If you really need the large images then consider using thumbnails that lead to a separate page. (This has added benefit of creating another page and more text that spiders and bots crave).

#5. Lack of Content
Pages that have little or no text. A photo can always use a description and product can always be more than a name. When you have a bunch of pages that have little or no text sitting on same domain they can look the same to spiders and may get dumped as supplemental results. Go through your site and see if there are opportunities to add content. Elevate your SEO expertise and try using keywords in you copy. There are many excellent articles and resources for keyword research.
Consider adding content that has substance and offers related and valuable information to you products or services. Put up a page that describes all your different scents. List your most popular colours and styles. Tell your readers what candles are best for a dinner party and which are the most hypo-allergenic. Get in the habit of creating content for your site. Commit to writing one new page a week or month. Think in terms of building your site wider rather than digging downwards.

#6. Duplicate Content
Do not cut and paste and pass off other people’s work as your own. It’s not just unethical and illegal- most likely it will be picked up as duplicate content and dumped in supplemental results. This means that the search engines disregard any information on the page and your page may as well not exist. Keep this in mind if you plan on doing something like putting up another site with a different domain and different name and just copy your original web site. I have seen this done by many site owners thinking they have stumbled on the secret weapon to higher rankings. The results can be disastrous. I could write another article on all the bad things that can happen if you do this. Just don’t do it.

#7 No Back Links

By links I mean other sites linking to you. These are called inbound links or backlinks. I have worked on sites that have been up for months and are not indexed anywhere. Your site has to be linked somewhere- anywhere- on the internet to “exist” otherwise it is just a deserted island. Not having any inbound links is like opening up a flower shop in Antarctica and wondering where all the walk-by traffic is. If you have not done so suggest your site to DMOZ. Then look for other relevant directories. Almost every business or service will have niche directories where you can submit your site- most times for free. Visit other sites that are related to your and ask them to link to you. Try and think in terms of traffic and avoid the page rank trap. If a link will bring your site traffic then go for it.
I have a homeschool site, www.lifelearning.org , with some well placed backlinks in homeschool directories and related sites. The site does extremely well in terms of traffic and as money maker. I have never asked for a reciprocal or three way link and never will. I work at the content and I don’t worry about aggressive link building – by producing consistent quality content other sites naturally link to mine. This is the approach most site owners should take. If you are in a highly competitive market, than I take exception and you should learn how to build quality links or seriously consider hiring some one to do it for you.

Useful tools and Links
Keyword Discovery – Find best keywords to use for your site.
Word Tracker – Another excellent keyword research tool.

Google Analytics: A free service you can apply for by opening a Google Adwords account. You do have to add their java script to pages on your site you want to track. Tracks things like keywords people use to find your site.

Clicktracks Web Analytics – They now have a very good free version that you can use once a month with all the bells and whistles of paid version.

Recommended Reading for SEO Beginners:

Search Engine Ranking Factors
Zero Dollars, a Little Talent and Thirty Days This is a MUST read for anyone with a small business site or looking to start a small business online. Also great tips for bloggers using adsense.
Fitting the Pieces Together for a Great Website

Tags: Blogs and Blogging, Google Adsense, Internet Marketing and Blogs by Lisa Stewart
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