We at LoudClick are excited to announce that we will be heading to the Demo Conference Fall 2011 in Silicon Valley, California from September 12th through the 14th.  Our team has played a vital role in developing and marketing an app that will be launching at the conference and we will be involved in communications at Demo.  The Demo Conference has been a launching point for game changing tech companies like; E Trade, Java, Tivo, and Salesforce.com.  Congrats to ClickWrite as well, the platform was used to build the app so they will also be representing in California! 

Our lips are sealed until launch (literally the guys over at Demo came and glued them shut) so we can’t say much more, other than be on the lookout for a special announcement from us and our partners at ClickWrite over the Demo Conference weekend.  Trust us you do not want to miss it!  We will be tweeting during Demo so please follow us: @loudclick or @clickwrite for all of the latest news.

For more info on the Demo Conference Fall 2011 visit their site: www.demo.com

For more info on LoudClick, and how we can work with you to improve your marketing strategy, Click Here.

Quick Response - aka QR - codes are the square barcode-like images popping up on print ads, brochures, business cards, billboards, tee-shirts - just about everything related to marketing a product or service.

So how do they work?
When scanned by a QR reader enabled smartphone, they provide a means to distribute information about the product or service being advertised.

Where do you get QR codes?
A simple search for "QR Code Generator" will help you locate an online QR Code Generator. Some online services generate them for you automatically: Google Places is an excellent example: each location added to Google Places includes a unique QR Code in the profile you can use in other places.

Where do I get a QR reader?
Most smartphones now come with a QR reader app pre-installed. If yours doesn't, there are many downloadable apps available in the App Store (iPhone), Market (Android) or AppWorld (BlackBerry) - most are free.

How should I use them?
That largely depends on how you are trying to interact with your potential customer. It may make sense to start with the basics - include a QR code on your print material linking to your main website displaying basic information about your business (i.e. address, map, business hours, contact information).

From there, start thinking about how you can personalize the experience for the perspective customer. Here are a few ways QR codes could be used to make a visitor experience unique:

• A QR Code added to a mailed marketing brochure from a franchise can boost local sales. When scanned, a specific offer displays to the customer localized for the zip code that the brochure was mailed to. This creates a unique, local connection with the local franchisee.
• A restaurant places a QR code on a bus stop billboard. The code links to a web page that changes throughout the day - in the morning, the site features dinner to-go menu items that could be picked up on the bus rider's way home; switching in the evening to breakfast menu items for the following day.
• QR codes could be generated for each salesperson attending a conference and then added to special business cards distributed at the show. Each card provides a special coupon for "show pricing" when scanned. While not personalizing the experience for the new customer, the unique QR codes provides a personalized tracking mechanism for the company participating in the conference.

All these examples demonstrate a web application (the scan resulted in a website displaying on the smartphone). QR codes can also be linked to text messaging, emails and even telephone numbers. For example: connecting a QR code to a telephone number provides a link to your call center if that is your preferred method for closing a sale. Using one of these methods may provide a better match for your internal sales needs than a website - it may be a good test to try anyway.

Consider using QR codes

QR code campaigns can create buzz and user participation. They remain novel and lead to unique interaction for your customers/visitors.

-Paul Konrardy

Sticking A Toe In Social Media Waters Series - Part 4

In this final installment of the "Sticking a Toe" series we will discuss what didn't worked in our experiment and why. We'll also discuss what's missing from most social media campaigns and how to make changes to get your foot in the door.

Didn't Work: Just Having a Twitter and Facebook Page
As discussed before, the simple act of opening a Twitter account and putting up a Facebook page does not a social media strategy make. Being there just isn't enough. Engaging in the space is crucial, but even then it is no guarantee that you will find success. Part of engaging is having a genuine presence including a complete profile which shows people that you are real and not a spam bot.

Also, it's really important to see where your people hang. You need to do research to determine the social network(s) of choice for your customers. And don't forget to look for the other communities out there that are created and loved by the people who may be interested in your particular product or service.

Didn't Work: Strange Engagement
An important part of engaging is having a clear vision of who you are and what you are trying to accomplish. Remember me Tweeting about social media stuff? Talk about lame! What did social media tweets have to do with MyLeftBigToe? Since there was no description of what "the toe" was all about, why would people engage with me even when I observed Twitter protocol and followed people that were interesting to me? The few people who did react were kind but tentative at best. And on Facebook I'm pretty certain my dear friends became fans simply because of their affection for me - not because they were true fans of "the toe". I'll take rabid fans anyday - and they are a crucial part of any connection mix. However, to gather new opportunities it is every bit as important to engage with new people in a way that will produce credible leads.

Most important didn't work: Not Having the Critical Asset
This experiment demonstrated the main reason people may not be finding success with social media marketing. What's missing is the most crucial part of any social media marketing strategy - the critical asset - a website full of helpful content. This content is what is crucial to any social media marketing campaign because it is the content that will make interaction with other people possible. Without it, you are left with nothing to share. Nothing to make interaction with people valuable for both parties. Nothing to provide the validation that you are a real person.

Take Away
Stop thinking about "doing" a social media marketing campaign and more about creating a valuable website asset that will allow you to do content marketing. Be certain your website includes:

• Helpful, frequently-updated content
• Easy ways for people to interact with you (comment box, contact forms, social media links)
• Simple ways for people to share your content (social media sharing tools like AddThis, Sharethis, etc)
• Helpful, frequently updated content (this is so critical it must be listed twice)

To successfully market online requires a desire to reflect what people look for when developing a relationship in real life: honesty, integrity, helpfulness, simplicity and a desire to be real. Those qualities expressed through good, helpful content and in real interaction with people will allow you to not only get a foot in the door, but will help keep the door open long enough to potentially make a sale.

-Paul Konrardy

Other posts in the Sticking A Toe In Social Media Waters Series:

Sticking A Toe In Social Media Waters - Part 1
Build it And They WON'T Come - Not Without A Reason - Part 2
Stubbing Your Toe With Inadequate Social Media Engagement - Part 3

Sticking A Toe In Social Media Waters Series - Part 3

For the past couple of weeks I've been expanding our social media experiment by trying engagement principles using the 2 accounts I'd previously set up on Twitter and Facebook,

Twitter:
First thing I did was go out and located some toe-related Twitterers. It was quite illuminating. There's a lot of interest in toes - and stuff I hadn't anticipated frankly. Let's just say my eyes were opened to yet another alternative lifestyle and I wont be able to look at my toes again in the same way ;-).

At the end of 2 weeks I was following 30 people and now have 3 people following me - the same 3 that I had going into this engagement phase. Simply put, following someone does not constitute engagement. And the people I did engage with were not interested enough in our communications to follow me.

Facebook Fanpage:
Over on the Facebook, I invited 110 of my friends.

I think the best comment so far sums up why only 16 people have become fans....

(BTW - Thanks, Bill, for that post - I appreciate you making my point better than I could!)

So, what do you make of these results?
Engagement without purpose is a recipe for frustration. In all I engaged over 140 people but ended up with 16 new connections - surely not enough to pronounce this experiment a success. To really engage someone means having a genuine conversation not unlike face to face conversions. Just being there is not enough - you need to add value to the conversation or you will end up being that person at a party that sits in the corner alone. Yeah, they were there but I doubt they will be back next time.

Take Away:
When you engage with people online, make sure you have something to share and have a complete profile indicating you are real with a genuine reason for being there. Otherwise you run the risk of people not wanting to connect with you because they think you are a spammer looking to exploit them.

Next up:
Determining if the asset is there. Stay tuned.

-Paul Konrardy

Other posts in the Sticking A Toe In Social Media Waters Series:

Sticking A Toe In Social Media Waters Is Not Enough - Part 1
Build it And They WON'T Come - Not Without A Reason - Part 2
Get A Foot In The Door - Not Just A Toe - Part 4

Sticking A Toe In Social Media Waters Series - Part 2

OK, last week I started this experiment by signing up for a Twitter account and built a Facebook Fanpage. Here are week one's results:

Twitter:
I Tweeted a few times on the Twitter account. Mostly about Social Media stuff. As of today, 2 people are following MyLeftBigToe. Person #1 followed the first day. Person #2 just signed up and I have a feeling they are watching this experiment (just a sneaky suspicion based on the fact that this person follows my personal account as well - you know I love them ;-). There was another follower earlier in the week but they stopped following the next day.

Facebook Fanpage:
Zero. Zip. Nada. No activity whatsoever. No fans, no wall posts. Nothing.

So what do you make of these results?
It's really quite simple and I doubt anyone should really be surprised that nothing happened. After all, all I did was broadcast a few tweets about social media itself - sort of like preaching to the choir. And as for Facebook - who the heck cares about MyLeftBigToe? Especially if there is nothing on the fan page other than a website link to my Twitter account.

Take Away:
If you enter social media without a plan, you will likely end up with results similar to what the experiment's week one just demonstrated - a couple of followers and a sad, sad fanpage.

Next up:
Engaging people. Maybe it will work. Maybe not. Guess we'll see.....

-Paul Konrardy

Other posts in the Sticking A Toe In Social Media Waters Series:

Sticking A Toe In Social Media Waters Is Not Enough - Part 1

Stubbing Your Toe With Inadequate Social Media Engagement - Part 3
Get A Foot In The Door - Not Just A Toe - Part 4

Part 1 of a Series

I was chatting it up with my partners here at LoudClick about a new blog post and we bantered back and forth as usual. Despite the levity, we came up with an idea that I'm going to pursue - something based upon the off-handed comment: "Not a lot of people are understanding social media so I'm going to write about my left big toe." Absurd, yes, but there is something of value here.....you'll see.

Obviously we all hear a lot about social media and Social Media Marketing (SMM) in particular. One thing that has really caught my attention is the lack of success some businesses are having with SMM.

Digging in a bit I'm discovering an all too common problem has been a lack of basic social media understanding and lack of a tangible strategy with its use. What I see time and time again is that companies stick their toe in the social media waters with the simple act of creating an account on Twitter or Facebook. They then tout this as a Social Media Marketing strategy.

Does this sound familiar?

We've starting an experiment to demonstrate why social media in and of itself is not the best strategy for marketing your company online. As we progress through the experiment, we'll be able to show you why various actions (or inactions) do not a strategy make. Perhaps others will see reflections of their own experience and will be able to relate. If so, we'd love to hear your stories.

We'll then provide insight as to why these things didn't work and identify what DOES work. Demystifying the process is the goal.

From a decidedly off-the-cuff remark a grand experiment has been born.

This will be a multi-part series of posts - it's just too much to cover in one. To start, I've done what so many people have done and created a Twitter account (@MyLeftBigToe) and a Facebook Fan page. All I will do with these accounts is Tweet for a week. Stay tuned to find out what's next!

-Paul Konrardy

Other posts in the Sticking A Toe In Social Media Waters Series:

Build it And They WON'T Come - Not Without A Reason - Part 2

Stubbing Your Toe With Inadequate Social Media Engagement - Part 3
Get A Foot In The Door - Not Just A Toe - Part 4

The times they are a-changin'...still. The effect the internet has had on all businesses is profound. It is so futuristic, nothing is really new. Where we once had word-of-mouth, we now have social networks. The days of command and control have given way to 24/7 global distribution of all things digital. While many companies see this as a daunting challenge, we see opportunity. The opportunity is getting back to the basics. Putting it all out on the table and letting consumers, employees, shareholders and critics say what they will.

For companies to take full advantage of the opportunities that abound today, they need to think smaller, more personal and less corporate. It isn't about better corporate communications, it's about great companies having the guts to let their great people talk about, promote, challenge and redefine the company in a manner consistent with the brand.

Getting there is survival. We have all learned how to drive down the highway without reading the billboards, fast forward through the commercials, hang up on telemarketers and basically ignore mass media advertising.

What it takes now for your business is an honest recommendation and pride in being part of something greater than one's self. If your company believes it is truly great, then every day that passes without reforming relationships between people inside and out of your company is another day of lost market and mind share.

It's time to start making your web relationships resemble your people relationships. Customers don't have a relationship with your corporate headquarters; they have it with the barista, teller or bagger at the local stores - all providing reasons your customers like to interact with you.

The time is now to reform your company for modern times, you need a partner who is passionate about it, who lives there and can harness the sheer numbers of people to create relationships with your brand.

Build hundreds, no thousands, make that millions of websites that are microcosms of your company. Let people interact on the web the same way they do in real life...locally.

Do it in a way that allows people to participate in the conversation. Not just your communications department, but the person on the front lines, meeting the people or taking the calls. The people who hear the same problems over and over again. Let them create an asset for your company that will be with you long after they have moved on. Rather than issue policies prohibiting people from participating online - make it a requirement.

It's no coincidence that companies have come out of nowhere to have extraordinary value and similar valuations. When websites can challenge media conglomerates, when newspapers and magazines are filing bankruptcy and companies that are "too big to fail" fail, it's time to pay attention and implement some of these principles to change the value of your company.

We believe that bold moves are in order and we would be honored to workwith great companies to help reshape their communication strategies forthe next 100 years.

LoudClick.net has been launched using the ClickWrite Microsite Platform. As the developer of this technology, we thought it was high time to show its many capabilities and implement our own network of microsites.

What you are reading now is powered by ClickWrite and is a network of several microsites contributing content from one site to another via syndication. The illustration below showcases one such connection - the syndication of the ClickWrite.com blog on the pages of LoudClick.net.

If you check out The People page, you will see links to other sites in the network - each built by the individual. A really cool thing to note is how different the same content looks on each website. This is because each website has its own style sheet controlling how the content looks. 

More than syndication is involved in a microsite network, however. The links created between sites creates a whole bunch of good search optimization opportunities. Not to mention the ability to share traffic and build brand recognition. Other features include:

• Centralized and localized marketing controls
• Higher visibility on search engines
• National and local promotional campaigns
• Integration with social media

Hope you enjoy exploring the new LoudClick.net. We're really proud to share our new home with you and welcome your thoughts below.

LoudClick now offers the ground-breaking ClickWrite Microsite Platform providing an online marketing solution for store and/or agency networks that far exceeds the benefits found in conventional web marketing. ClickWrite creates a coordinated network of websites consisting of a corporate (brand) website integrated with local or targeted microsites. ClickWrite automates the creation of individual, unique microsites - all coordinated from a central administration interface. This structure offers amazing flexibility, marketing and SEO benefits.

"ClickWrite finally allows individuals or individual locations to maintain customer relationships online the way they do in person," said Alex Huff, Founder of LoudClick. "The ClickWrite platform presents a new model of online marketing - offering the power of global with the precision of local - that many businesses are going to find compelling."

ClickWrite facilitates:

• Content distribution via syndication

• Centralized and localized marketing controls

• Higher visibility on search engines

• National and local promotional campaigns

• Integration with social media 

ClickWrite capabilities provide unique and valuable benefits to business networks like:

• Franchises - use the platform to give each franchisee their own website.

• Agencies - allow each agent to have their own microsite to target their sales efforts to their market.

• Market Segmentation is perfectly suited to a ClickWrite solution.

Customers have selected ClickWrite and the first implementations are now online.
 
More information on ClickWrite can be found at www.ClickWrite.com. Interested in a demo? Sign up for a live demo -or- drop us a line at info@loudclick.net and we'll schedule it right away.

The microsite is an effective marketing tool that can be used for a vast number of purposes.

What's a microsite?
Technically, a microsite is a website - albeit a small one. It usually consists of just a few pages - sometimes only one. They are often used in conjunction with another website. Other terms for microsite include minisite, weblet and even landing page.

If you think about how people look for information on the web, microsites can play a key role in helping them find what they are looking for. By focusing an idea or product and then limiting the amount of information to one or a few pages, the microsite creates an easy-to-scan resource providing an uncluttered path to the information they are looking for.

Some of the benefits of microsites:

1. Branding

Microsites can easily help brand a product or service in a way that is unique from the "mother" brand while introducing it to a new audience.  

2. Details
Having a home for the pertinent details surrounding a product or service makes it easy to clarify your offer.  

3. Provides a Clear Path
A laser focus on an idea or product makes the microsite the perfect online tool for leading people to a call to action. Without the distractions of a bunch of other products, your customer can be better able to filter what they need to do more quickly.

4. SEO Benefits
Since each microsite is a unique website, it has it's own unique URL. This can be used to make it easy for people looking for a particular product or service by selecting an address that people can easily remember. This feature also helps in SEO as the search engine algorithm will likely add ranking importance to the contents of the URL.

5. Fast Deployment
Microsites can be deployed quickly making them perfect for events with a short lifetime on the web. Seasonal promotions are another terrific application of microsites.

6. Email Campaign Integration
Leverage your email campaigns by adding a microsite into the mix. This allows you to track conversions like crazy. And allows you to determine effectiveness to a higher degree.

7. Audience Grabber
Most people will look at the home page of a site and then leave before digging in. With more homepages (from more microsites), you have more opportunities to grab your audience.

8. Increased Online Footprint
When combined with a network of other microsites, your company's online footprint is increased. This leads to higher search rankings and more successful organic search marketing results.

9. Experimental Dream
Try different campaign messages by deploying unique microsites - takes A/B marketing to a whole new level. What better way to gauge a market than trying several messages to see what resonates?

Consider microsites if you are looking for an amazingly flexible marketing tool.

-Paul

For a long time now we have been talking about the virtues of having an online marketing strategy. At the core of our idea is the concept of Content Marketing - but what exactly does that mean?

Content Marketing uses carefully created content in a way that visitors to your website will find useful as a resource.

Content Marketing is a marketing philosophy that uses content as a way to attract and engage customers. Content - by definition - is the text, images, video and other items that resides on a web page. In essence, Content Marketing uses carefully created content in a way that visitors to your website will find useful as a resource. This content is also intended to help turn visitors into customers - and provide the means to turn those customers into rabid fans of your product or service. Ultimately, and if done correctly, your customers will then share your content with others helping to distribute your information virally.

Content Marketing sounds intriguing. How is it done?

The very nature of Content Marketing lends itself to open and honest dialogue from real people to real people. This means that it is not advisable to enter the Content Marketing space with a desire to manipulate others or the truth. Instead, it is critical to be as genuinely human as possible. It is only through being a real human that you will find people are willing to share your content with their own network of friends/family.

The most important part of any Content Marketing strategy is to have a core asset that you control. This asset is your website. It must contain helpful information and be updated frequently. By having as asset base that is functional and a good resource, you then have something to share with others when you enter the social media space. It is worth repeating, you are creating a resource, not a sales catalog.

Why Should I Bother?
93% of teens ages 12-17 and young adults ages 18-29 are online...

Consider this: the Millennials (also called the Y Generation) are generally viewed as the next big drivers of the consumer market. This block of between 73-110 million people - depending on who's counting - are more connected than ever before, spend more per person than other generations and are far more interested in what their peers are saying about a product/service than what advertising is saying. When you factor in a Pew Internet Project report which reveals that 93% of teens ages 12-17 go online, as do 93% of young adults ages 18-29, it's pretty easy to see where this huge block of potential customers will be living in future years. You think it's a good idea to miss out?

In our view, Content Marketing is the embodiment of good, honest and real communication - leading to good, honest and real marketing. Get your asset together, create a useful resource and be engaged. You will be happy you made the effort now rather than waiting for your competitors to be there first.

- Paul

Much has been said of the importance of two way conversations online - the very core of social media offering the ability to build genuine relationships with potential friends and customers. Yet some continue to see this as a one way street...

A cautionary tale: I recently posted a comment on a blog that I found thought-provoking enough to want to engage with it's author - potentially starting a good conversation and/or relationship. Sadly, after 3 weeks, my comment remains un-moderated (i.e. not posted) with no word from the author. I've since noted that there are no comments posted to ANY of the blog's posts - something I didn't see before I commented. The result: I unsubscribed from this blog's RSS and am contemplating un-following the author from Twitter. This is not for personal reasons. It is because this blog's author doesn't actually engage readers and is therefore not walking the walk.

This example illustrates how important it is to be actively engaged in whatever social media you decide to participate in. If you do not have the desire or time to participate, perhaps this isn't the space for you. My best advice for the individual in the above example is to remove the comment section from the blog as it gives the illusion that they are interested in engaging in conversation. Don't half-heartedly offer a two-way conversation vehicle and not support it. Everyone's time is valuable. Don't waste it for those that would like to engage.

-Paul

After reading a blog post about the minimum skills necessary to operate a computer (Dwight Silverman's Techblog | Chron.com | What are the basics of computer literacy? ) and got to thinking about what additional skills are necessary to be successful in social media.  In a sense, the skills necessary to be successful with social media are not necessarily technical skills - they are more people skills.

What? People skills? Yes, people skills. Social media is all about being social. When using social media to market your company or product - a huge component of content marketing - the need to be socially adept is even more critical. Users of social media want real interactions with real people. Like it or not, to find success means being as genuine as possible and that includes being appropriately social.

So what does it take to be social? To answer this, think about the skills you use when working an office party or other quasi-business social gathering:

• you greet people with positive intent

• you listen intently

• you are cordial and positive at all times

• humor is applied with elegance and finesse

• you add to a conversation rather than being the center of it

Social media interaction is no different than any other human interaction (except for the obvious distance between participants). Consequently, the same skills mentioned above apply to successfully navigating social media.

Let me translate this into some concrete social media skills and how you can use them.

1. Listen

There are two components to listening: a) listen to what people are really saying when they post their thoughts -and - 2) know what people are saying about you or your company. The fastest way to figure out how to enter a space is to listen to the conversation prior to entering it. To do this, conduct a search for your company name on Twitter. Search for groups dedicated to your industry on Facebook and read every comment. Use a search engine to locate blogs that are talking about you or your product. Be willing to dig in and take the time to listen - it's vital.

2. Add to a conversation rather than being the center of it

This follows listening as a very important social media skill. When posting comments, it's vitally important to add information that will benefit the conversation rather than attempting to steer it toward yourself. No one likes to maintain a relationship with people who only talk about themselves - that is a sure-fire strategy to losing your audience.

3. Be cordial and positive at all times - avoid being negative

When posting anything online, use the adage "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." That's not to say you can't say anything negative ever - just be aware that over use of negativity turns people off and consequently away from hearing you.

4. Use humor appropriately

Apply humor in a positive light without using dripping sarcasm. Did you know that the root of the word sarcasm is a Greek word meaning "to tear flesh"? That's why sarcasm can really sting and may not be an appropriate type of humor for business communication. Also, in a written medium, it is difficult for people to recognize you are trying to be funny - sarcasm often comes across as your actual thoughts. Instead, use self-depreciating and ironic humor that allows the reader the opportunity to know you are a real person and not someone who takes pleasure in ripping others to shreds.

5. Treat people the way you would like to be treated

This is more than just a way to live. I'm amazed at how responsive people are to being treated well. Here are a few ways to do it:

• If someone posts a nice comment to one of your posts, acknowledge them (just say thank you and then shut up - this is about them, not you).

• When you see a helpful post on another site, post a comment that encourages them.

• If you see something posted that is not entirely accurate, use carefully chosen words in your response to convey the inaccuracy (I like to think the person is simple in need of education rather than thinking they are being cruel).

6. Follow through

Always, always, always follow through with any promises you make. If someone asks a question, be sure to answer as quickly as you can. If you don't know the answer right away, respond that the question is a good one and you will need to research a bit to provide a good answer - then make damn sure you follow through with an answer.

Making sure you participate in social media as a real person will ensure you a certain amount of instant respect and will lead to people trusting you. Trust is the key to successful social media participation - and subsequent content marketing success.

-Paul

While working with a client I was asked about social media yet again: "I don't use this social network stuff so why should I offer it on my website?" At the core of this is an educational opportunity that I took and will now share with you.

Social media - for those that may not know its definition - is online content created by people and shared using various methods. Social networks, photo sharing, microblogging and even email are all part of the social media realm. Currently popular applications including Facebook, Twitter and Flickr all fit the definition of social media.

Using social media to distribute the content of your website is a proven formula for success. Always remember that social media is not the heart of the matter - the content of your website is. Your website and its high quality content is the asset to be distributed and social media helps you do that.

Let me give you a real-life example. We recently launched a website for another client, JT. Most websites sit quietly until someone discovers it (often by chance) and then it goes back to sitting quietly again. What this website had going for it was an owner who had built up a social media arsenal that was used to draw attention and traffic to the website asset immediately.

To demonstrate this, let me use some real numbers. Over the past year, JT had built up quite a few friends on Facebook (1653) and Followers on Twitter (656). When the website was ready for prime time, JT posted a message on Facebook (including a link to the new website) and Tweeted another message (also including a link). Within minutes, the traffic started pouring in and within the first week, the site had 847 visits - 52% (441) of them from Facebook and Twitter.

JT continued to post more quality content while adding corresponding messages on Facebook and Twitter throughout the week - a total of 3 each. The resulting traffic was a testament to the quality of JT's content in combination with the wise usage of the distribution channel the social media presents.

Few opportunities have as much power to build a website's reach quickly as social media. We advise our clients to continue building the asset - your website - with high quality content. Simultaneously, continue to build your social media connections. Knowing when and how to use them wisely will help make your online marketing plans successful.

- Paul

The content overview answers the question: what pages are visitors viewing? It also provides other details regarding their visit.

Below the graph showing your pageviews for the past 30 days is a display of the number of pages that have been viewed, how many of them were Unique (meaning multiple views by the same visitor has been filtered out) and your Bounce Rate (see Dashboard post for more details on these terms).

Further below is a list of your 5 most viewed pages under Top Content. This list displays how many pageviews these top 5 pages have gotten and the percentage of total pageviews this number represents.

Click the "view full report" link just below the list to see all your pages that have been viewed, how many were unique views, the average time spent on that page, the Bounce Rate and the percent of visitors that exit you site from that page. Drilling further, you can click on the individual pages to see these details for the individual page.

Also located on the Content Overview is the Navigation Analysis which shows how people got to your pages and what they did after viewing it (whether they went to another page on your site or exited your site altogether).

By reviewing the Landing Page Optimization, you can find out how people got to your site and/or what Keyword they used to find you. This is particularly important information to use to determine the stickiness of your site (more on that later).

Content Overview: What you need to know
This overview helps you monitor visitor behavior. Knowing what pages are getting viewed most often helps you determine if your goals are being met. Drilling in to see what pages visitors are exiting your site from helps you update your content to keep them on your site as long as possible.

Previous posts in the Google Analytics Series include:
Part 1 - Dashboard
Part 2 - Visitor Overview
Part 3 - Map Overlay
Part 4 - Traffic Sources Overview

-Paul

This overview allows you to see how your traffic is getting to your website. A pie chart allows you to see the break-down of traffic sources graphically. Next to it is the same information in table format displaying percentages of traffic coming from a particular source.

There are 4 main traffic sources tracked by Google Analytics: Direct, Referring, Search Engines and Other. Let's dig into these traffic sources a tad more.

Direct Traffic
This is traffic that goes immediately to your website from a user's browser. In other words, the user has entered your URL directly into their browser and clicked enter. Remember that if anyone bookmarks your website, this is also Direct traffic.

Referring Traffic
When someone clicks on a link to your website on another website, that is Referring Traffic. Examples of this include social bookmarks (Digg, StumbledUpon, etc), social networks (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, etc), Link Directories and all other websites that display your link.

Search Engine Traffic
Pretty self-explanatory - this is traffic that comes when someone receives a search engine result and they click on a link to your website. You can see what keywords people use to find your site by looking into your Search Engine Traffic results.

Other
Any traffic that Google Analytics cannot determine its source will be listed on Other. This is generally a very low number.

Below the graph and table mentioned above is Top Traffic Sources. This displays the top 5 sources of traffic and the top 5 keywords used to find your website.

Sources
The top 5 sources displays the top ways people are coming to your website. Click the "view full report" link below the list to see indepth results - this opens a report of all your traffic sources. By drilling into your traffic sources you are given a wealth of information about how people are finding you and provide you with clues on how to grow your traffic numbers.

Keywords
Also displayed in Top Traffic Sources are the top 5 keywords used to find you. This is one of those hidden treasures in Google Analytics. You need to dig into this a bit but the effort is rewarding. By knowing what terms people are using to find your site, you can see if your plans are working - or if you need to improve your content to better match what people are seeking. Click the "view full report" link located below the list to dig in.

Traffic Sources Overview: What you need to know
Knowing where your traffic comes from helps you determine what you should concentrate on to grow. Keywords used to find your site are especially important to review and track. Take the time to drill in and learn all you can about how your users are finding you.

The next post in the Google Analytics Series:

Part 5 - Content Overview

Previous posts include:
Part 1 - Dashboard
Part 2 - Visitor Overview
Part 3 - Map Overlay

-Paul

The map overlay allows you to see where your traffic is coming from. This is done by displaying a map of the world and highlighting the countries that have provided traffic to your website.

Interact with the map by rolling your cursor over a country to display how many visits you have gotten from it - double click it to see which cities are providing you traffic. Click on the city for more details of the traffic. Note: the USA map allows you to drill in on the state level prior to the city level. If you know of another country that allows this, please contact me - I'd love to know more about it.

You can select different traffic criteria by selecting something else from the dropdown menu above the map. Selections include: Visits, Pages/Visit, Average Time of Site, Percentage of New Visits and Bounce Rate.

The Site Usage Tab displays the Country that provided the traffic and breaks it down into further detail using criteria previously discussed - this time in graph form.

The Goal Conversion Tab displays the various conversion or per visit goals you have customized. Don't worry if you haven't done this work yet. Your time will come.

Map Overlay: What you need to know
The Map Overlay is a fast and easy way to see where your traffic is coming from geographically. Especially important if you are targeting certain geographic areas and need to see if you are being successful.

The next post in the What You Need To Know About Google Analytics Series:
Part 4 - Traffic Sources Overview

Previous posts include:
Part 1 - Dashboard
Part 2 - Visitor Overview
Part 5 - Content Overview

-Paul

The Visitor Overview provides information about the people who have visited your website. At the top of the page is another chart tracking the number of visitors for the past 30 days. Change the date range just as you would on the Dashboard.

The most important thing to remember with the Visitor Overview is that the term visitor is different from the term visit. A visitor is defined as actual unique people rather than the number of times they have visited. Yes, the same person can visit your site multiple times, thereby increasing your visit numbers but not your unique visitor numbers. The key thing to take away from this is that to truly know how many people are visiting your website, you need to know how many Absolute Unique Visitors have come to your website.

Other really cool things about the Visitor Overview is that it displays the number of pages the visitor has viewed (PageViews), an average per visitor (Average Pageviews), the percentage of visitors who have left immediately (Bounce Rate) and the percentage of visits that are from new visitors to your website (New Visits).

The coolest thing however - in my opinion - is the Time on Site results. This is the amount of time your users spend on your website and is part of what is known as "stickiness". I'll discuss stickiness in more detail in a future post but for now just keep in mind that the higher the Time on Site results the more time your visitor stays on your website - leading to greater stickiness. One rule of thumb I've heard is that any Time On Site over 30 seconds is a success. That means the average of all visits to a website has been over 30 seconds. Keep in mind, though, that Time on Site can be skewed by people coming to your website and then leaving their browser window open without ending the session. So while it is is a cool number to know, drill into the numbers to see if it is a trend or just a fluke. Time will tell.

Also on the Visitor Overview is Visitor Segmentation which allows you to see the Languages your website has been viewed in (this tracks the default language selection as defined by the user's browser), Network Locations (helpful in determining trends among users) as well as Browser Profiles (allowing you to customize your website to your users technical capabilities - things like Flash version, browser/operating system combination and screen resolutions most visitors use to access your website.)

Lastly, on the Visitor Overview you will see the Technical Profile of your visitors. This is a list of the prevalent Browsers your visitors use to access your site as well as their Connection Speed. Why is this important?

Browsers
Knowing which browser your visitors use to access your website may impact how you interact with them and what applications/plug-ins you offer (example: some applications/plug-ins don't work very well with Safari browsers - if you have a lot of users coming from Safari, you may want to re-think using that applications/plug-ins).

Connection Speed
Connection Speed is becoming less relevant with the expansion of broadband acceptance. However, if you find that you have a lot of dial-up users, you may want to avoid using a lot of video on your website (for example).

Visitor Overview: What you need to know
The Visitor Overview tells you if your traffic is coming from a few people visiting you many times or several people visiting once. It also allows you to see how sticky your website is (more on that in future posts) and what technical issues may be impacting your traffic.

The next post in the Google Analytics Series:
Part 3 - Map Overlay

Other posts include:
Part 1 - Dashboard
Part 4 - Traffic Sources Overview
Part 5 - Content Overview

-Paul

Google Analytics is one way to determine how people are finding and using your website. Many people use this free service yet do not know exactly what they are looking at. Google Analytics is a very powerful tool with lots of features. Consequently, this series of posts will concentrate not on every detail but on the features you will interact with frequently and those that provide you a basis to know how it can make your website successful.

Part One: Dashboard
Right out of the chute is the Dashboard - the first page that displays when you open your Google Analytics profile. On this page is a load of facts and figures and charts.

At the top of the page is a chart of the traffic numbers for the past 30 days. You can select a different time period by clicking on the date range in the right corner - this displays a calendar.

Below the chart is the Site Usage data. This is a snapshot of visitors and what they are doing on the site. The terms used on the page are fairly straight forward but some need a bit of explanation:

Visits: this is the number of times users have visited your site.

Pageviews: the number of pages that have been viewed. This will likely be higher than the total number of pages on your site (hopefully). Each view of a page is tracked separately - even those made by the same person.

Pages/Visit: the number of pageviews divided by the number of visits. This gives an average of how many pages are viewed during each visit. Not a hugely helpful number though.

Bounce Rate: a Bounce is when someone visits your site and then leaves immediately. We've all done it when we've ended up where we didn't want to be. This just tracks that activity. It also tells you if people are staying on your site. A low Bounce rate is a good thing.

Average Time on Site: The average length of time a user has spent on their visit to your site.

Percentage New Visitors: How many people have come to your site for the first time as a percentage of all visitors.

The rest of the Dashboard displays condensed reports of other user behaviors which will be covered in future entries to this series. They include Visitor Overview, Map Overlay, Traffic Sources Overview and Content Overview

Dashboard: What you need to know
Seeing your traffic and visitor numbers from a high level view helps you quickly track how well your website is performing. You can tell right away if something is going well (or not) just by seeing how your traffic is doing. You will need to drill into each area if you need more details to help determine a solution to slow traffic - unless that is what you expected in the first place.

The next post in the Google Analytics Series:
Part 2 - Visitor Overview

Other posts include:
Part 3 - Map Overlay
Part 4 - Traffic Sources Overview
Part 5 - Content Overview

-Paul

When talking about SEO, Google should be your first stop. They have many tools to help you optimize your website and get the best possible search engine results.

Webmaster Tools

Webmaster Tools provides you with information how Google sees (indexes) your website. When you submit your URL to webmaster tools you are essentially telling Google your website is out there.

Quick Overview Webmaster Tools

- Submit a sitemap - In your LoudClick Website Properties is a sitemap. Once you submit that, every time you publish a page it tells Google your website has changed. It takes some time for them to index your website but you need to let them know you are out there.

- Find top Keywords that bring people to your website

Google Analytics

Google Analytics can help you analyze the traffic that your website receives. You will need to embed the analytics code in the footer of your LoudClick website in order for Google to receive the data.

Quick Overview Google Analytics

- See how many visitors and  page views your website receives everyday. You can select various date ranges to see traffic trends over a period of time.
- Find out where your traffic is coming from.
- Keyword searches that bring people to your website.

Keyword Research Tool

Google's keywords tool helps you research keyword and keyword variations to use when optimizing your website. You can analyze the keywords by search volume or by the competition for that keyword, both of which are important to consider when deciding which keywords you should incorporate in your SEO efforts.

- Kristin

Information gathered from Addicott Web