Over the last few weeks I have had some interesting discussions with several people about the “what really works” for optimizing websites.  Of course, there are as many opinions on the subject as there are people.  The funny thing is that in all of the confusion there are some common themes. 

Tanya Vaughn may be one of the most practiced SEO professionals in the Treasure Valley, and in a short discussion on the topic she admitted a little frustration about hearing the same old stuff at the various conferences she attends.  Shortly after we chatted she posted about which upcoming event to attend.  Now, while I sympathize with her frustration, here are two possible reasons I think that may cause the “same old stuff” problem (very conflicting reasons): Read the rest of this entry »

Web analytics in a vacuum is not effective.  I would even go so far as saying that “analyzing” your data without some sort of context is actually harmful to your ability to make good business decisions.

One of the problems I see beginners (and even novices)  have is basing success on some nebulous concept of personal fulfillment.  It smacks of the feel-good approach people take to ad design — the highest paid person likes it, and therefore it is good.  I am being a bit over the top, but the reality is:  making decisions without context is dangerous.

So, here are three suggestions for getting some context on your data.

1- Compare Recent Data to Prior Data

This is sort of a no-brainer, but that’s why it is the first one; it is the easiest too.  Some web analytics packages don’t allow you to easily compare two time periods (if you have one, nuke it and get Google Analytics or ClickTracks Appetizer).  If you had 8,000 visits this month one way to tell if that is good is to compare it to prior months. Read the rest of this entry »

Well, I had a fantastic chat with Barry Teppola from the Legend Company today (he is one of the most progressive home builders in the Treasure Valley, IMHO), and I left with a big smile.  Why?  Because he gets it.  He gets web analytics.

We helped Barry get rolling with web analytics a few months ago, and followed up with him today to see how things were going.  As he explained how they were using the data the analytics provided warmed my soul (no kidding).  You see, the decision makers in the company meet once a week to review the data, and use it to shape their forward progress.   Read the rest of this entry »

A year ago the search marketing space in Boise wasn’t extremely crowded. In fact, when Marc and I first embarked on our venture (2005) I think there was basically nobody in the space. Well, over the last few months I have met several people in the industry that are specifically “search marketers.” Granted, some of the people reading this are saying, “Well, I have been doing search marketing in Boise for years.” And, they probably have. I think there are few things at play here…

First, have you ever noticed how when you buy a car all of a sudden you see the same make and model all over the place. I bought a Chevy S-10 Blazer when I was in school, and the next thing I knew they were the most popular car on the street. Was it because I was so cool everyone wanted to be like me? No, I was just more aware. So, I freely admit that is one possible reason why there seem to be more search marketers in Boise than there used to be. Read the rest of this entry »

So this is a little slower than I had hoped, but as promised here are the slides from our presentation (in a handy PDF):  Internet Marketing Slides. 

 Okay, so these are not exactly the slides I promised, but they are essentially the same.  After the SBDC presentation Marc and I were invited to teach two of the “capstone” GB450 courses at Boise State University.  These are those slides — essentially the same though.

Key points from the presentation were basic trends in online marketing — I particularly love the example Tim Kopp shared at a Web Trends conference I attended, regarding Diet Coke and Mentos.  It is an amazing example of the movement in marketing from a highly controlled message to transparency.

Basically, the concept is that with many mediums we can control our message very carefully, and the success equation is a function of reach and frequency.  On the web, as with word-of-mouth marketing, the equation changes significantly.  Product quality, customer service, and the other very important business stuff is taking the starring role of the “marketing message” and it will be your customers, partners, and market mavens that extend it.

So, the moral is, people will see you for what you are and the word will get around — so be great :-).

This Friday, Marc and I are going to be presenting the very broad topic of “Internet Marketing” to some of the smartest business people in Idaho. In preparation for that presentation I am creating slides (I will upload them later so you can take a peak) and deciding how to approach such a huge undertaking — we only have an hour. So far the basic outline looks something like this:

1. Industry Trends
2. Top Ten Internet Marketing Mistakes (this is a lot of fun)
3. The Proven Process for Continuous Improvement
4. Overview of a Few Select Online Marketing Tools
5. Resources for Learning to Use the Tools

Read the rest of this entry »

Paid search is a useful tool for supporting almost any online strategy. In some cases it will be the primary tool for driving sales through a website, however, it usually is not. Before you start your AdWords campaigns (some of these concepts apply to other search marketing platforms as well), know what you are trying to achieve.

You can use up all of your resources getting optimal click-throughs and not increase conversions one bit. If you are marketing a new product to a highly targeted market that may be an acceptable strategy — perhaps you will want to optimize your campaign for traffic. If you are in a well-developed market your ad spend will be better allocated by optimizing for conversions. By the way, this decision will affect everything from keyword selection to landing page content.

In practice, most businesses want to create campaigns that increase traffic and specific conversions. However, to simplify the presentation I am going to ignore that and treat them as completely separate. Read the rest of this entry »

I am relieved to be done with the very constrictive set of posts giving a waterfront view of website optimization. Now, we can get into the good stuff. What is the good stuff you might ask.

Well, my first stab at the good stuff is with regard to “getting a new website.” I am anxiously anticipating the upcoming posts by an acquaintance of mine at our local grassroots marketing firm. Turns out Sam Swenson, the Blueline web guy, is writing some great stuff about pricing new websites. It is fun and very insightful to get a developer’s view on the industry.

The part that is not surprising, but still frustrating is his absolutely correct answer to the question, “how much should a new website cost?” The answer we all expect and hate — It DEPENDS. Oh, those web developers are just trying to get as much as they can from us right? Wrong. It really does depend. Sam is going into a fair amount of detail about why it depends, and giving you a bit of an idea of what to expect when you go looking.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, here is the last piece of my website optimization positioning posts. If you feel like all of the posts were kind of squishy and non-specific, you’re right. Over time all of the ideas touched on will be developed in more detail, so I guess I am saying be patient.

Now, regarding database development. I know less about the actual implementation of this piece than any of the others, but to really get an optimized website and Internet marketing effort you need to touch this topic. Here is why — even the most expensive web analytics solutions cannot provide all of the information you will need to make data-driven decisions. A few months ago I was at a wonderful conference put on by Web Trends (one of the web analytics pioneers), and one speaker talked extensively on the 360 Degree view of the customers (here’s what my traveling companion at WestSlope Design had to say about it). Simply put, the speaker acknowledged that in order to get the 360 Degree view they will need to tap into your CRM, E-Commerce, Phone Records, Survey Results, etc.

Not every website optimization effort requires all of that, but alternate sources of data can provide you with valuable information. Ultimately, getting all of your analytics package data and other data sources in a central location and then dissecting it and analyzing it will require some serious database work.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, we are winding down on our “lay of the land” topics and then we can start getting into the real fun stuff. Today’s topic is Data Analysis. This can be a really nerdy (not to be confused with geeky) topic. Let me just touch lightly on a few of the high points that you should be aware of, whether you are doing your own website optimization or have a consultant doing it for you.

Perhaps the most important point here is that if you are going to analyze data, you need sufficient amounts of data. What is sufficient? Well, it depends on your tolerance for error. More data will generally lead to more accurate decisions. In your college statistics classes the minimum sample size is 30, or something like that. In the real world 30 is very deficient. 100’s are good, 1000’s are better, and 10’s of 1000’s are great. Now that I have scared small businesses into thinking their web data is useless let me share a brief story.

I have a good friend that is a data analysis expert. He did some work for a local company regarding their media placement. He ran an online survey and within a few days had 200 results (not optimal). He did his regression analysis, and massaged the numbers in SPSS and concluded that the primary market for the client’s service was working moms and that they should advertise on three specific radio stations.

The advertising/marketing agency working for his client was quite upset because they had already determined that stay-at-home moms were the primary market. When a “discussion” ensued the ad agency argued that 200 responses was not a sufficient sample size and that because the survey was web based it was likely biased. My friend simply responded that a base of 200 customers is certainly more reliable than 4 “marketing guys” sitting around the table pulling ideas out of thin air.

Read the rest of this entry »