Tuesday, October 28, 2008

#16 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#16 - Website Analytics: Review Keywords Regularly

In your website statistics you should also find "referring keywords," or the words people used to find your website through a search engine.

If the keywords you are targeting with your page copy and in your search engine optimization strategy are not showing up in your keyword referrals, there is something wrong with your keyword strategy, search engine optimization strategy, search engine positioning, or all three!

If you are getting only a few visitor sessions from the keywords you are targeting it could be an indication of poor organic (i.e., free) search engine positioning.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

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Tuesday, October 21, 2008

#15 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#15 - Website Analytics: Make Sure You Identify Referrers

There are many things to look at when reviewing your website statistics but one of the most important things to review is referrers.

Referrers show you which other websites are sending you traffic and how much are they sending. This is particularly important if you're advertising online as it will confirm that you are getting traffic from the sources you are paying.

When I review someone's log, I go straight for the referrers after reviewing total visitor sessions.
I want to know where the traffic is coming from, how much, and over what period of time.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

#14 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#14 - Average Time On Site Is A Useless Measurement

When your website statistics, these days being referred to as "analytics," refer to the average time spent per visit on your website, don't put too much emphasis on it.

There are too many variables involved for that number to mean much, in most cases.

Some search engine spiders act as a real person and impact that number. Some brides will load your website and then go to dinner and come back two hours later. Others might visit your website and then walk away from their computer for the rest of the day with your web page still "live" on their computer screen.

These visitor sessions throw the average time per visit number into the garbage. I'm not saying to ignore it, but don't lose sleep over it. The best thing to do with this number is to track it over time and make sure it does not trend downward significantly.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

#13 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#13 - Half Of Your Traffic Is No Good

Roughly half of your visitor session traffic is absolutely no good.

It is not qualified traffic and probably isn't even a bride or groom.

It could be a competitor, possibly a search engine reviewing the pages at your website, or some other unqualified visitor.

I tell my clients to take their total visitor session count and divide it by half. That will give you a better idea of the true number of "qualified" visitors.

Use this "adjusted visitor session" number to analyze your traffic and calculate conversion.

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?

Sign-up for my free Internet Marketing Tips for Wedding Professionals and learn how to DOUBLE your traffic and TRIPLE your inquiries.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

#12 - 25 Things Your Webmaster Will Not Tell You

#12 - Hits Are Not Individual Brides And Grooms

The next time your webmaster says "hits" when talking about traffic at your website, fire him.

Why? Because either they don't know what they are talking about or they are intentionally misleading you.

"Hits" are not real people. "Hits" are not real brides and grooms. Real people (i.e., brides and grooms) create "Visitor Sessions."

When a bride visits a web page that has ten images on it she creates 11 "hits" on your server.

Here's how it is calculated: your server was asked to deliver a full page of code and 10 images to that person's computer screen, creating 11 "hits" on the server. This is only one visitor session, but registers as 11 "hits."

Marketing to brides online will become tougher in 2009. Don't let the competition eat-your-lunch, join my ADVANTAGE program today.

Looking for the latest wedding industry statistics?