MPThree Consulting Inc. » Articles

Avoiding the Glazed Eyes Syndrome – Writing for Your Website Front Page – Part II

Massimo Paolini — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:00:20 +0000

It’s a fact. There is nothing more appealing to us than to know that we matter to others. Creative use of web data mining by way of Google Analytics can help you unearth the hidden gold “in them thar hills”. The golden nuggets of information that, when used correctly in good content writing, can make your site visitors feel like the King of the Mountain.

When you meet a new person for the first time, do your eyes glaze over and your ears stop hearing them after a while, when all they can do is to go on and on about themselves? How great their service is, how fantastic their qualifications are… on and on….

You want them to hear about you as well – a give and take of conversation. Well, it’s exactly the same on-line. If your Home Page isn’t focused totally on who your site visitor is, what their concerns and needs are, then they will do the on-line equivalent of the “glazed eyes” which is, to click-off your site and go elsewhere – where they are more appreciated and their concerns heard.

Use of Google Analytics, either on your own, or by using a web analytics consulting company, can make the task of finding out what is going on with your site visitors so much easier. Why keep digging in soil that has no vein of gold? When just a few feet away the proverbial Mother Lode may be waiting for you. Discovery may be as simple as website analysis.

In order to provide your on-line visitor with an experience that makes them feel heard and appreciated, you need to clearly understand who your visitor is – the whole demographic package. Once you have this crucial piece of information you can use that as the foundation for your writing.

Your writing will be totally different if your primary audience is 20 years old, male and going to college verses 45 years old, female and working in a corporate job.

Until next time, Happy Data Mining

Suzanne Elliott
Website Content Copy Writer
www.sueelliott.com

2.0 to go (web series): WordPress from start to finish

Massimo Paolini — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:00:43 +0000

Let’s face it, the best part of take out is that you don’t have to do the cooking.

Come spend the day in our local Tech Kitchen as we whip up some fantastic web pages with WordPress. We call it “Make it and Take It,” but you can call it a mini miracle, you decide !

I’m not saying that WordPress is easy-peezy-lemon-squeezy, but let’s face it: you’re all intelligent people with a keen eye for what you want in a website. Why let someone else control the wheel? We’ve designed this workshop with beginner and intermediate users in mind. By the end of the day you will have a better understanding of WordPress and sit in the driver’s seat of your own, custom-made site. And the best part is that you won’t have to pay someone else $5,000 every time you need a picture added. (Well, the best part is that you get personalized attention from the best in the Bay Area, but saving money is a close second).

Event Registration Online for WordPress – From Start to Finish powered by Eventbrite

Benefits of the Workshop

Install WordPress on a web host using FTP
Select themes, add content & publish
What are the best WordPress plugins / widgets to install
Keeping your WordPress website safe and secure from internet hackers
Controlling spam comments
Getting the help you need and putting it all Together

The Details

Hosting
Installation
Customization
Configuration
Themes
Plugins
Widgets
Pages
Posts
Media
Links

All this for only $99 with the discount code “mpthree” ($149 from August 1st to the 18th and $199 at the door, if space is still available.)

Chopsticks are optional.

P.S. Future 2.0 To Go workshops include SEO, design, social media, and content generation. Join our mailing list and you’ll be the first to know!

PPS. For those interested, we will be having one/one trainings for people – $25/15 minutes for either Massimo or Clyde.

Your Front Page – It’s Not About You…

Massimo Paolini — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 16:00:14 +0000

One of the most important things you can do to improve the content of your Front Page, in addition to use of Web Analytics, is to ask yourself this question. “Does this page address the concerns and needs of my site visitor?” – Will your site visitor immediately feel a connection and want to keep reading your content – and then take the next step, which is to be interested enough in your site to stay and check out some more information – maybe even sign up for your ezine or special offer…

Web Analytics can be used to see what topics are top of mind with your target audience for your web site – website content can then be directed towards these hot topics.

Take an objective view of your current Front Page and ask yourself the question “Does this page address the concerns and needs of my site visitor?”

If the content of your Front Page is all about your qualifications, experience and education, the answer is “No”.

If the content is all about how great your company is – then the answer is “No”.

If the content is all about how great a consultant you are….well, you get the picture.

You have spent an incredible amount of time, money and energy getting your web site visitors to your site, please don’t immediately turn them off with “how great we are” content. This will result in a quick click off.
Your visitors have a particular need or problem that they feel your website may address, otherwise they wouldn’t be there.

There is a place on your site for your qualifications and how great your company is – it just isn’t the first thing your site visitors want to see on your front page.

Give them what they crave – the answer to what they are seeking.

First and foremost you must provide your site visitors with content that is valuable to them. Doing the upfront detective work by using Web Analytics with Google Analytics will give you valuable clues about how to direct the content of your writing towards your visitors’ topics of interest. Needs and concerns may change from time to time, so using web intelligence to keep on top of these changing needs will keep your Front Page fresh and current – and generating the life blood of your business, site visitors who return again and again.

I’ll be blogging from time to time on how to write for the web. So next time we’ll talk some more about giving your site visitors what they crave.

Suzanne Elliott
Website Content Copy Writer
www.sueelliott.com

When a Mentor Becomes the Mentee

Massimo Paolini — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:00:43 +0000

I just finished working on a web analytics project through the Analysis Exchange. It was a great experience and so I wanted to take this time to encourage other web analysts to consider donating the time and expertise as well.
First, after signing up with the exchange, I was matched with the Myelin Repair Foundation–the world’s largest research organization looking for the next generation of MS treatments. Coincidentally, I have two people in my life who both suffer from MS and was thrilled to be able to work with a group that is working so hard to help people like Sylvie and Derek. The foundation has a full-time employee working on the site’s web analytics, but they needed some extra guidance on working with the conversions. After initial consultations, we decided to focus on good alternatives to their existing system in order to track conversion to it’s conclusion.Next, I worked closely with Matt, the Analysis Exchange student web analyst. As a mentor, it was important that I didn’t just take over, but rather use guidance and instruction to help Matt expand his understanding. I think this was one of the most valuable lessons that I learned: how to instruct and teach more than grabbing the reigns and controlling the whole project. In the for-profit world, people hire me to do the web analytics FOR them. What a change this was!
Finally, after a quick two-week period, we presented our final results to Justine’s boss. In the process, I learned a few interesting items about non-profit web analytics:

Non-profit donation systems are not web analytics friendly
While Google Checkout will wave the processing fees, they don’t have the functionality needed for non-profit donation tracking
Just like for profit companies of the same size, non-profits find it hard to justify a full time analyst even though that position usually pays for itself many times over

While my brief time with Myelin Repair Foundation was beneficial to them–and we are looking at working on more projects together in the future–I truly gained a new understanding and appreciation for the challenges that non-profits organizations have with web analytics. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Web Intelligence Details: Your Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

Massimo Paolini — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:00:02 +0000

If you’re new to web intelligence and struggling to gather data, how do you know if your efforts are really paying off? Well, there are these wonderful things called “benchmarks” and KPI, and this is where they come into play.

What is a KPI?

Not to be confused with SEO’s KEI (Keyword Effective Index), KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. As Avinash Kaushik would say, KPIs are measures that help you understand how you are performing against your objectives. They can help you define and evaluate whether you’re making adequate, successful progress towards your long-term goals.

KPI

measure

Uncomplex
Relevant
Timely
Instantly useful

Now, KPIs can’t be copy/pasted from one organization to another or from one strategy to another. Each KPI is unique, dependant upon what your company does, what industry you’re in and what your strategy is. As well, it is a key part of your measurable directive, which includes five pieces:

Company direction
Key performance indicator
Benchmark
Target
Time frame

For instance: [1] Increase [2] Average Monthly Revenue from [3] $300,000 to [4] $600,000 in [5] 6 months.

Eric T. Peterson wrote a great book called The Big Book of Key Performance Indicators, which can be downloaded for free on the Web Analytics Demystified site. The KPI Library is free to use at their basic level and has more information and discussions.

Some sample of KPIs are:

Bounce rate
Conversion rate
Average order rate
Days to purchase
Visits to purchase
Loyalty, Recency
Task completion
Share of search

Don’t forget to segment your data!

Putting Your Measurable Directive Into Action

Using your measurable objective as a focus, you can then begin to build a strategy to reach your company goal.

Define your model.
- What type of site do you have? You may think, “Well, I’m bringing in money, it must be an ecommerce site.” Maybe, but don’t be so quick to assume. There are at least five different site types including information/news portals, lead generation sites, educational sites, ecommerce sites and support sites. Your website may have multiple functions, so choose which fits the site’s main function the closest.
Define your goal / objective.
- What’s your primary goal? What’s your secondary goal? An ecommerce site may want to increase their revenue; an information site may want to increase their targeted traffic.
Define your potential conversions.
- Based on your goals, outline potential conversions, both primary and secondary. Which is which – and what falls under each – all depends on what type of site you have. For example, an informational site might use newsletter signups, PDF/brochure downloads, RSS subscribers and contact form completions as primary conversion points. However, an ecommerce site might use affiliate sales, ad revenue and products as primary conversions, with the others being secondary.
Define your strategy.
- How are you going to make sure people hit your potential conversion points? Develop a strategy based on your model, goals and conversion points. Your strategy might be something like, “Create a higher, more targeted traffic base.” This is one strategy to raise your KPI.
Define your tactics.
- Because “tactics” are different then “strategy”, you also want to pinpoint your tactics. If your strategy is to create a higher, more targeted traffic base, your tactics might include:
  - Social media platforms
  - Link building campaigns
  - Engaging content creation

Now you know what your goal is, what you need to get there and what tactics you’re going to use. By watching your chosen KPI and benchmark, you have a much better chance of making sure that your company objective moves forward. The great thing about it is, when tied in with the rest of web intelligence, the KPI is one of the keys to finding your site’s formula for success!

Be a Web Ninja: go measure your KPIs.

Web Analytics & Search: What’s Happening to My Traffic?

Massimo Paolini — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:00:03 +0000

You’ve spent $10,000 on your new web site design. 25 hours creating all the cool social media links for people to find you. Maybe you even bought 10,000 pay-per-clicks. But if you can’t figure out what’s happening to your traffic, all that earlier time and money is wasted. So what now?

First, it’s important to remember that the number that really matters is your bottom line. Then, turn to web analytics and look for the answers.

Using Analytics to find the answers:

You need analytics to help you understand what’s happening on your site. To gain that information, you need some way to track the analytics. Since there are plenty of blogs with detailed information this is only an overview:

Your hosting provider: Many hosting companies provide a built in traffic analysis program. Webalizer and Awstats are two excellent examples. If your provider offers one of these programs, log into your online hosting account and take advantage.
Java script trackers: You can find free java script trackers in several places on the web, such as the one offered at www.histats.com. Paid services offer them as well, and may provide more information. To see your statistics, sign up with the site, install your java code and then log in. (search term: java script trackers)
Access logs: Every site has access logs, but they usually look like a bunch of nonsense. However, you can use installed computer programs, such as the one at www.openwebscope.com to analyze the logs and get a visitor activity report. There are several free and paid versions available. (search term: web server log analyzer)
Google Analytics: Google offers a free Java Script program for tracking visitors, conversions and many other metrics. Start a Google account, add the script to your website and log in to see the statistics. (This is my preference over the other systems. The why’s are the subject of another post)

Understanding Your Web Analytics

Once you decide which form of web analytics tracking program you’re going to use, there are a few things to learn:

Hits – Forget about them. Especially on your hosting provider’s analytics program, you might see anywhere from 10 to 10,000 hits per day or more. However, “hits” simply refers to how many times someone requests a file. The problem is that each web page offers several files, such as the page itself, all the graphics, the design files, etc, so the program will register several hits just for that one page visit.
Unique Visitors – This is a statistic you can grab on to and watch. Although it’s NOT a precise number, it offers a good estimate of how many unique visitors actually reached your site in a day. You can find your conversion rate by comparing how many visited to how many orders/ inquiries (insert your goal, i.e. what you want your visitors to do) you received.
Referrers – Where did your visitors come from? Did they just type in your URL or did they follow a link from another website? Knowing which websites – and what type of websites – actually brought traffic can help you with your link building efforts.
Search Terms – Search engines are also considered referring sites. However, the important information you gain from search engine tracking is the terms visitors use to get to your website. Pay close attention to the terms they use. You may be pleasantly (or unpleasantly) surprised by what you find. If the terms have nothing to do with your site, or if your important keywords aren’t being used, you’ll need to adjust your content and keyword focus.
Entrance/Exit Pages – Which pages do visitors land on first? Which pages do they most commonly leave from? Where do they go while they’re on your site? Good web analytics programs will give you this information, which helps you find weak spots in your content and page layout. If they aren’t following a sequence that leads to your goal page, these statistics will give you an idea of what needs to be optimized.

Web analytics tracking gives you a helpful overview of your website’s weak and strong points. The information you’ll gain shows you, not only where to make the changes, but the best way to make changes for better traffic, higher conversions and, ultimately, a stronger business.

Now go crunch those numbers and make them count.

Website Audit – The “Dreaded” IRS of the Internet

Massimo Paolini — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:01:51 +0000

“Website audit” – It sounds like something you wouldn’t want to happen to you, much like the IRS. However, a website audit–unlike the IRS knocking on your door–is definitely a good thing. Not only will it help you define a direction, but it can also help you discover any problems the current site is having.

When and why a website audit is valuable:

Preparing to redesign your website
Understanding your current website’s effectiveness
Planning your strategic growth
Uncovering hidden issues preventing you from accomplishing your goals

Most website audits can be done by your web designer or consultant, if you have a strong marketing team. If you don’t have any of the above, however, you might want to consider a professional web intelligence analyst to take on the responsibility.

Let’s be clear: the goal of a website audit is to show a site’s strengths, weakness and changes that need to be addressed. This includes everything from content and design to SEO, structure and programming. A well thought out checklist will have these important components and establish the following, along with other bits of information:

Needed improvements to create a superior visitor experience, such as:
- The information architecture (how the site content is laid out)
- Compliance to accessibility guidelines (whether sight/hearing challenged visitors can understand the site)
- Design layout (whether it’s visually appealing and easy to understand or confusing)
- Navigation (how clear the navigation, how easy it is to follow, whether important information is hidden)
Web design vs. SEO strategy – Often web designers/developers are not familiar with search engine optimization, and may make mistakes that either affect your rankings or, in some instances, block your website from the search engines entirely. For instance, many web designers use code to block search engines from viewing the design on a testing site. Occasionally, a designer may forget to remove that code when the new design is uploaded to the live site, thus keeping search engines from being indexed. A website audit will quickly catch these errors and correct them.
Browser compatibility – If it’s been awhile since your last website audit and/or redesign, newer browsers may not render (or show) your website properly. As well, common screen resolutions have changed, allowing a larger percent of the online population to see a wider site. In other words, your old site may be stuck in the 90’s, and your online business may be suffering for it.
Content effectiveness – Your site content is well written: a shining example of the art of words. You know it is; after all, you wrote it. However, even a copywriter, whose entire business centers around words, makes mistakes. For example, a common mistake is to write content using industry terms. While you know what the words mean, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your visitor does. As well, it’s often hard for the writer to know when the content has lost relevancy and gone off topic. A website audit catches these and other issues.
Competitive intelligence – This is potentially the most crucial piece of information a website audit will contain. Comparing your website to the competition helps the auditor find your site’s strengths and weaknesses vs. the competition’s.

Other important points include how your website supports your brand, how strong your conversion tactics are and how well you participate in social media. Not how much: how well. Even in social media, quality outweighs quantity every time.

I realize this may seem like a lot of work, especially when preparing to redesign your site. Consider this, however. If you don’t know and understand what your current site is doing /not doing, how can you create a new site that doesn’t replicate the old one’s issues? How can you have any hope of having a new site that drives targeted traffic, rather than just – traffic? “Pretty” only goes so far; functionality, user interface and user experience are the things that keep visitors coming back for more. A website audit is the first step to getting you there.

Social Media: Use it or Lose it

Massimo Paolini — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:12:34 +0000

Chances are that six to twelve months ago you “gave in” and added a LinkedIn profile/Facebook page/Yelp entry. You thought it would be good for your business and everyone had been telling you that you “must do it.” At the time it felt a little like the middle school, “to be cool” group mentality, but Hey! What could it hurt? Maybe you kicked it around a little. Had some fun watching your fans go from two to twenty in a week. Some old college buddies even found your profile and connected to you.

And then the honeymoon was over. Now what? I have to wake up every morning with this page staring at me and wondering when I’m going to update it? Cripes, it’s not like real life isn’t keeping you busy enough—now there’s this albatross hanging around your neck. Maybe if you just ignore it . . .

This week I’m telling you to use it or lose it. Seriously. The first mistake you made was starting something that you did not entirely buy into. Don’t begin a social media campaign unless you are fully informed and willing to commit to it.

The second mistake was believing that all social media outlets are equal. They are not and, just like the Grail Knight said, you must “choose wisely.” My wife is in charge of her group’s Facebook page and updates it every few days, but she won’t touch Twitter. That’s not to say that they don’t have a presence there—it’s just that someone else in the group handles that outlet.

This leads to the third mistake: don’t take it all on yourself. If you’re busy with operations or cold calling or the financial reports, assign the social media campaigns to someone who finds it fun and is always thinking of the next post.

If this has convinced you that social media is not valuable to your business right now, then go remove your page. Allowing it to remain static and untouched for six months makes your company look stale and lazy. If you haven’t updated your LinkedIn profile through two jobs and four volunteer positions, it is a clear sign that you don’t pay particular attention to detail.

However, if you’re ready to engage the public, attract customers, and receive attention, then USE IT. Here are five easy ways to get your social media groove back:

Schedule your updates. Maybe it’s Monday morning or Friday afternoon. Whatever works for you, put a standing appointment in your calendar and do it weekly. There are many tools out there as well, like SocialOomph or HootSuite that allows you to schedule a several updates all at once and tell the program when to release/post them. I schedule my Twitter Chatter a month in advance and let WordPress do the rest.
Offer coupons. We found our vet on Yelp when he offered a 15% new customer coupon on the site. After reading several outstanding reviews from other pet owners, we made an appointment and love our choice. Along these lines, consider offering your current loyal customers an incentive to write a positive review for you. If you Twitter, offer your followers a weekly special for those paying attention.
Check back and follow up. Social media is about conversations. Gone are the days of static advertising AT the consumers. If someone makes a comment on your page, be sure to respond to it. A few months ago, we were looking for a good brunch restaurant and selected one from Yelp for a single reason: the owner responded to EVERY review—including the mediocre and negative ones! We thought that it showed an incredible commitment to his customers and that was enough to convince us.
Blog. Go ahead—chat away. Talk about new products coming out, your latest conference, the recent industry article that has everyone buzzing. Share your opinions, expertise, and insights. Enable the comments section (see #3).
Create contests. Be creative and engage the competitive spirit of your fans. Launch photo contests, video contests, tweet contests, and more! The 100^th fan on Facebook wins a ____. Design our new logo and you will win _____. Not only will you get more brand awareness, but you’ll build a greater fan base and end up with new content.

Finally, be sure to measure your results. Did your website traffic increase during the campaign? Did you make new contacts? Was your ROI worth the time and effort spent? Don’t just throw spitballs on the wall and wait for one to stick—be thoughtful and precise in your efforts.

Get out there and Just Use It!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Squirrels, and Web Analytics

Massimo Paolini — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:58:15 +0000

Last night my youngest son asked if we could put on a movie while we ate dinner—a rare treat for him. We let him pick the movie and he came back with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II. I know what you’re thinking: that’s not even the good one! But as I watched the four masked herbivores surprise, tumble, and kick the bad guys, I remembered a recent talk by Avinash Kaushik at the Business Intelligence SIG: Web Analytics 2.0: Rethinking Decision Making in a “2.0″ World. There he pointed out that the best web analysts are ninjas rather than squirrels.

Now trust me when I say that I know my squirrels. I live in a tree-heavy neighborhood where the pests run haphazardly across my fences, up my trees, and in my path. They are among the most pitiful rodents, running around and grabbing whatever is closest and then scampering back to their home to take a closer look. I’m convinced there’s a wife squirrel back in the nest saying, “I sent you out to get some food and you come back with this?!”

Squirrels are so skittish that they don’t take the time to look at what they’re actually picking up. They waste a lot of energy running around in broad daylight, coming within two feet of a jackpot, and then abandoning their quest if something larger comes along and grabs their attention.

Web analysts can’t afford to be squirrels. They can’t run up to the edge of a conversion discovery and then back down because the information is not immediately evident, it will cost the client too much money, it will uncover unpleasant truths, or any number of other excuses. A good analyst can’t just grab the first nugget and hold onto it as if that’s the only thing he’ll find.

The best web analysts are ninjas says Avinash. Maybe not large and green with sayings like “cowabunga,” but more like the covert agents of feudal Japan. True ninjas practiced the art of espionage, infiltration, and used covert methods to wage war. Web ninjas today are nimble and apply a variety of methods for making discoveries. They don’t need to run in and run out because they are hardly detected by the human (web) eye. The code could be staring the user directly in the face, but they still click away for your A-B test.

Web ninjas are tireless in their search for answers and will test their hypothesis with several approaches to deliver a fully accurate picture for the client. The best ones leave “calling cards” of sorts: bringing the client actionable insights that a company can use to improve their website, rankings, the user experience, or whatever serves as their personal bottom line.

All in all, these ninjas use what I call “web intelligence.” The growing field of web analysis—just coming into its own teenage years—is growing in its ability to drill down into the underbelly of a website and discover gold. Good intelligence combines web/customer/business data with statistics, surveys and testing to provide useful and immediate actions that anybody from the CEO to a squirrel catcher can use to improve their enterprise.

Don’t let shiny things catch your attention and distract you. Bring in the ninja to take care of the job. But ask him to leave the goofy eye mask at home.

SDForum Business Intelligence SIG – Web Analytics 2.0: Rethinking Decision Making in a “2.0″ World

Bootstrappers Breakfast Presents Web Analytics

Massimo Paolini — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:19:00 +0000

It was a great honor to speak at the Bootstrapper’s Breakfast last week. Where else can you meet and eat with local entrepreneurs who you can one day say, “I knew —- back when . . .”

For those of you who were unable to attend, here’s a recap:

Web analytics is all about understanding your customers, your site’s performance, and the results of your marketing efforts across all mediums. It’s not a one-time vaccine that allows you to dump all your efforts into your website one time and then leave it alone for the next three years. It’s an on-going process of making changes and then watching the results of those changes.
Use analytics to understand your audience and behaviors and then optimize/improve/correct the site based on that knowledge. Watch what new results come out after the changes then, as I say, rinse and repeat.

Specifically, businesses should use analytics to

Know exactly where their clients are coming from
Learn how much time/money it costs a company to find those clients
Discover how satisfied people are with the course that is mapped for them
See where companies are losing their customers
Find out where to focus their time

In an ideal world, customers will find and come to your site, fall in love with your product, purchase it without any issues, and sing your praises to all of their friends. But the reality is that only small percentage of visitors ever start your sales process and those numbers continue to dwindle with every click.

For example:

3,285 people visit your site
428 put items in their shopping cart
195 go to the shipping information
104 continue to the payment screen
65 hit submit and place the order

The 65 represent 15% of the initial visitors with intent to purchase and 2% of your total visitors for this period of time.

Analytics will sift through data at each step to find out where those first 3,285 people came from. What were they looking for? What information did they want? What items did those 428 put in the shopping cart? What didn’t they like or what couldn’t they do that made 54% leave the shopping cart sitting in the aisle? Where did the 91 people go after completing the shipping information? What did they find out that made them “get out of line?” How can you get more people like the 65 who actually completed the whole process?

Ultimately, what are the goals for your site?

Get more leads?
Increase sales?
Increase downloads?
Increase usage of FAQ/help?

When you use solid and thoughtful analytics, you can match customer expectations with your intent to create the magic called conversion. But without a goal, web analytics is just a huge collection of data.

Information is fun and fascinating, but ACTIONABLE insights create revenue. And that’s what we’re all here to do, right?