This blog is now located at http://blog.justinstauffer.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.
For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://blog.justinstauffer.com/feeds/posts/default.
This blog is now located at http://blog.justinstauffer.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.
For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://blog.justinstauffer.com/feeds/posts/default.
If you are a "geek" like me, you have encountered many posts regarding how to explain search engine optimization (SEO) to your clients or workplace. I have come across many (good and bad) analogies to SEO using physical fitness, fishing, even sex. The truth is that many web marketers, myself included, are routinely challenged how to explain the purpose of SEO to the uninformed.  Personally, I identify with numbers. The bottom-line resonates with me; perhaps it's my experience working with (and for) small-businesses. I have seen estimates ranging anywhere from 240,000,000 to over 1,000,000,000,000 total websites available on the WWW. Regardless of the total number, it should be clear that your web presence is going to be hard to come by for the average web user.
It's imperative that you do everything in your power to ensure that your particular site becomes viewed by your audience. Otherwise, your site will not be noticed and you are throwing away your money - period. About this time in the conversation, I usually receive a half-sarcastic (though perfectly reasonable) question. "Shouldn't you program all of your websites to allow for search engines to find your site?" The simple answer is - Yes! I firmly believe that EVERY web developer should have basic knowledge of internal (website specific) search engine optimization tactics and Best Practices. This includes programming website elements with the following considerations: 
- properly formatted CSS/HTML
- META description tag
- robot tags
- robots.txt
- Title tags
- ALT tags
- proper internal cross links
- avoiding duplicate pages/content
- 301 redirects
- creation and submittal of an XML sitemaps file
- Tagging non-HTML content (such as PDFs, DOCs, Flash and AJAX)
-- But this is where search engine optimization ends in terms of programming. Beyond these above-mentioned tactics, I feel that SEO is an extremely complicated task. For you see, the above best practice tactics only allow search engines with the ability to properly query (search) your content. They do not ensure that search engines WILL in fact come to your site. -- HUH?! Just to be clear, search engine optimization includes many more tactics than simply programming a site effectively. SEO also involves the following skillsets, which I believe are better suited for a marketer as opposed to a programmer: - Keyword research:
Can you identify keywords that are going to more likely get you listed within SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages)? It should not be a guessing game. Nor should it involve spoofing or cloaking results to "trick" search engines into querying your page.
- Competitive research:
It's always a wise idea to at least become familar with your competition. With regards to SEO, how does your site compare with the competition? What are they doing to ensure that their page appears within SERPs? How can you do a better job than them?
- Organic linking strategies:
Is your site listed within third party business directories, local business listings, affiliate websites and networks?
- Utilization of social media and other forms of emerging media:
Social media sites, blogs, forums, video sharing, and general WOM (word of mouth) sites all help in gaining your exposure.
- Geo-targeting data when necessary:
Is your data more relevant in a particular country, state, region or zip code? There are tactics that you can employ to help users locate your site.
 User/visitor retention:
Great! A user/visitor has arrived at your site for the first time. How do you ensure that your information resonates with them and draws them into coming back? Does this involve refreshing content regularly or do you need to perform A/B and/or multivariate testing? How do you know when to apply a particular tactic to ensure this occurs?- Knowledge Transfer:
There is quite a bit of "smoke and mirrors" with SEO. Unfortunately this field get's a bad rap for containing a good deal of "Snakeoil Salesman." The reputable ones routinely struggle to differentiate from the non-reputable. As a result, I feel a little education goes a long way in this field.
This differentiates me from others within my field. I strongly believe in teaching my clients and colleagues how to implement basic SEO strategies. I believe there are simple tactics that others can do that will aid in achieving a desired result.
After all, wouldn't education help alleviate the need to explain the importance of SEO to your clients and colleagues in the first place?
Wikipedia defines a heuristic evaluation as a usability inspection method for computer software that helps to identify usability problems in the user interface (UI) design. How many websites and applications that you use routinely could benefit from this form of testing? More often than not, usability problems negatively affect sales, result in larger than necessary bounce rates, and even increase operational costs in the form of unnecessary phone/email/chat support. Yet, this evaluation process is a simple one: Involve a small group of testers to examine the user interface (UI) and identify problems in design (programmatic or aesthetic) so that they may be remedied accordingly. From my own experience I have found that heuristic evaluations are best carried out when you provide your evaluators with the primary goals of the website and allow them to develop their own tasks in order to achieve these goals. Others may choose to be more rigid in their methodologies. For a website I will typically create an evaluation checklist and bucket this list into simple categories. I typically choose the following categories: Navigation, Organization, Accessibility, Compatibility, Aesthetic Layout, Typography, Content, and On-Site Tools. However you may choose to add any additional category that may be relevant to your website or application. Within each of these categories you may assign a series of questions for your evaluators to test. Be sure that the answers to each of these questions are simple Yes, No, or N/A answers. An example question for Navigation may be: "Is there always a clear indication of your current location within the entire site?" Having yes/no answers will allow you to definitively compare results and act accordingly instead of receiving subjective results. That being said, such evaluations can allow evaluators the ability to leave comments to describe their answer selection. Lastly, I feel it is essential to evaluate all answers against a severity rating. Based on a evaluator's feedback, I will typically assign one of the following (4) selections to each of their answers. - CRITICAL - A showstopper!. There is no way to avoid this bug. Normal usage or navigation of the site is not possible until a fix is made.
- HIGH - A critical bug. This bug appears frequently or is persistent and greatly hinders normal usage or navigation of the site.
- MED - A non-critical bug. This bug impairs normal usage or navigation of the site though can be avoided.
- LOW - A non-critical bug. This severity rating can even be reserved for general questions/considerations of the evaluator.
Once you have received feedback from your evaluators it is important that you carefully consider how to remedy the various issues that were encountered. Remember, when it comes to such evaluations, "there is no such thing as user error." If one evaluator found an element within your site confusing, it's highly likely that others do too. Labels: heuristic evaluation, UI, Web Usability
I just thought I would fire off a quick post and share my experiences with "Advanced Segments" functionality in Google Analytics.
Imagine this scenario, you are granted "read" access to a client's GA account. Yes, "Read" access will allow you to view all reports. Missing within "read" access (amongst a several other capabilities) is the ability to filter data - in this case, traffic associated with your physical location as well as your client's location. You're stuck, and must ask the admin of this account to grant you "admin" access, ehh?
Enter "Advanced Segments". Using this functionality it is extremely simple to segment (or in this case, parse) out unneeded metrics.
At the left, you will notice "dimensions" and "metrics". If you are not familiar with the two data types, "dimensions" are the types of data you are looking to analyze while "metrics" are the values you would find within these dimensions.
 For this example, assuming you are met with the same situation I have mentioned above, log into your account and click "advanced segments" within the navigation on the left.
First, choose a dimension or metric to segement. For this example, choose Visitors > City. Drag the green "City graphic" into the dotted line area that says "dimension or metric".
Next, choose a condition. Since we are looking to segment out test data derived from a particular location or locations, our condition needs to be set to "Does not match exactly". The "Value" drop down will then be equal to whichever City you do not wish to record within your reports.
Repeat this with as many cities that you are wishing to remove from your reports. Just make you you follow the above-mentioned instructions and do not drop your metric/dimension within the "or" but rather the "and" location on the list.
Lastly, choose a name for this custom segment and click "Save Segment". That's it!
Back on the main page of your GA profile, you simply need to enable the segment. Click on the "Advanced Segments" button in the upper right of your screen. Next select the segment's name. Lastly, click "Apply."
Pretty simple, huh?Labels: Advanced Segmentation, Google Analytics, metrics, web analytics
I am so very tired of hearing that social media is not trackable. This is simply not true. Whenever you post a link to your own site, whether it's to highlight products, news, events, etc you should track the inbound data.
Because Google Analytics is so readily available, I will use this program as an example and provide instructions how to measure inbound links to your site using Facebook.
The easiest way to create a link that is trackable via Google Analytics is to visit Google's URL Builder page and fill in the various spaces. I would advise being consistent for all of your posted links that you track. Otherwise, you will have a difficult time measuring your various web campaigns effectively.
Follow these Steps:
Step 1:
- Enter in the URL for the page you wish to share
Step 2:
- Enter in the place where this link will be shared (in this particular instance, I chose "Facebook")
- Enter in a "Campaign Medium". This will be the type of data that is being shared (in this particular instance, I chose "Text Link")
- Enter in a "Campaign Name." What is this link? How would you identify it easily within Google?
Step 3:
Step 4:
- Many social media sites (including Facebook, although it is more generous at 421 chars) offering "Status Updates" require character limits on any posts. Therefore consider shortening your URLs with a "Short URL" app. Depending on where I am posting my update, I typically use Twitpwr.com or tinyurl.com.
- Copy your "Short URL"
Step 5:
- Paste the link onto your social media page.Viola, that's it!
The following day (again assuming you used Google Analytics to track your metrics), log in and go to "Traffic Sources" > "Campaigns". Mid-way down the page, look for the "Dimension" drop down menu. You can cycle through various filters such as "Source", "Campaign", "Medium" as well as other dimensions.
Labels: Facebook, Link Tracking, social media, web analytics
To those that know me, I evolved into the field. In another life, I was a Creative Director and after immersing myself in the initial strategies that drove the creative execution, I found the evolution quite painless and eventually enjoyable.
To my knowledge there is no formal training or degree in order to become a web strategist. I have however found (6) commonalities of strategists who are my colleagues.
Web Strategists are:
1. Inquisitive. They are the type of person that always asks "why?" until they fully understand a problem. They ask the poignant questions that no one else is prepared to ask.
2. Passionate. This almost goes without saying. There is little reward in carrying out a task that you are not passionate about doing.
3. Able to Prioritize. Strategists understand that in order to reach a goal, you must prioritize your objectives. Priorities may need to be set because of budget, timing or complex needs (ie. in order to reach "z" we must first perform "x" and "y".)
4. Analytical. This is a big one. Strategy is not only developed by listening to one person or reading data from one source. Strategists pull data from a variety of sources. Analytic data is as important prior to starting a campaign as it is after the campaign has been implemented. (You can't know where to go if you don't know where you have been.) In my own experience, I have often times listened completely to a client's pain points only to find out that the source of the problem was not entirely what was communicated - it was a combination of various factors at play.
5. Versed in technology. I know some individuals will likely argue with me on this one, saying that web strategy should focus solely on business needs. I will agree with this view to a point. However more often than not, the best web strategists I have encountered know how and when to apply web tools that will affect a given outcome. This understanding involves a general understanding of "what's under the hood" of these technologies. From my own experience, the best web strategists have experience in one or more of the following: web technology, various forms of interactive marketing, web branding and business Best Practices pertaining to the web.
6. Experienced in FAILING. You read it correctly. Out of failure comes knowledge. The best web strategists will be open in their failures. The web is a new and ever-changing field. What you read and apply today may not work tomorrow. Moreover, there certainly will not be a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to web strategy. Those that recognize this and are cautious in their recommendations for campaigns are the ones that succeed in their trade. I will be the first to admit I have had some catastrophic failures in applications of strategy. However I will quickly add that I have also have had some monumental successes, that I feel have been a direct result of these failures.Labels: web strategy
The team responsible for the development of Google Analytics (GA) has developed an extremely robust application and it's always improving. With the recent addition of it's custom reporting and advanced segment reporting, it even meets many of my needs.) That being said, there are several items that I would like to see implemented in the near future.
#1: Customizable dashboard metrics:
I am familiar with Coremetrics and feel it's dashboard customization capabilities are a wonderful complement to the application as a whole. Collected data can be viewed in any number of customizable outputs so it can provide a snapshot to the user.
With regards to GA, some enhancements would allow persistent views of customized data reports to be built in as well. Imagine having the ability to compile a series of customized metrics and view these within the dashboard.
Additionally, I would imagine that within various reports, a new button could be added globally called "add this view to my dashboard". By clicking on this hypothetical button, a snapshot of the particular report would then be saved to a user's dashboard.
Ideally, these customized dashboards would be attributed to an individual's account regardless of user type (administrator vs. user). I would imagine that various users would have separate preferences on snapshots of data, much like Coremetrics' allows as well. Much like the sharing capabilities found within "Advanced Segment" reports, these custom dashboards could also be shared.
Lastly, whereas GA only allows a maximum of (4) dashboards to appear, users could display an infinite number of dashboards modules (assuming performance issues would not be a factor). All dashboards, whether standard or custom, could then be sorted through a drag and drop mechanism, as is currently provided within the application.
#2: Compare metrics from other profiles:
Various profiles can share (1) account, primarily for administrative reasons. GA allows the notion of comparing various metrics as long as the data resides within (1) profile. It would be useful to be able to compare metrics from (2) or more profiles. As a result, individuals would then be able to compare data from subdomains, microsites, even filters.
Naturally, comparisons would be constrained to profiles within (1) GA account as all profiles within an account share the same Account ID. Only administrators of a given account would be able to set up this comparison. Users would be able to view this comparison report only if they have access to each compared domain within a particular account.
#3: Comparing non-sequential date ranges:
Currently GA allows you to choose a sequential date range and even compare it to another date range in the past. Another wonderful enhancement would allow a user the ability to select non-sequential days in a month or times within a given day. This is currently only possible through the "Custom Reporting" tool. I would imagine this sort of within the calendar selection tool (top-right of the application) as an "advanced date selection".
#4: Account migration and/or removal: 
This enhancement is more or less utilitarian in nature. If a user is an "administrator" they are, in essence, the owner of an account. An administrator can add other administrators or users however they can not transfer or remove access rights for themselves under an account they have created.
Imagine an administrator sets up a GA account through their own account. They then leave a job or are no longer responsible for administering an account. They can not "pass the baton" to another administrator if they so choose - they are in essence "stuck" with an account unless the account is deleted altogether.
Another related scenario, lies within a "user's" inability to be removed from an account. "Administrators" can grant account access to users and can delete them. Why can't user's delete their own access to a given account?
#5: Integration of Greasemonkey's "Business Notes" Feature:
Routinely, more than one individual reviews metric data. Since the creation of GA's Custom Reports feature, I have found that a little bit of explanation can go a long way in terms of deciphering a report. By merely providing a notes feature (bonus points for integrating this feature with Google Docs), individuals can review customized reports and make sense of the data by reading any explanation I provide for them.
Additional Recommendations:
- Integration of "Google Website Optimizer"
- Integration of Heatmaps
- Enhancements with Real-time data collection
- Enhanced support for off-site data collection
- Collection of offline data
Labels: A/B Testing, Coremetrics, Google Analytics, Link Tracking, Omniture, web analytics, Website Analysis
I have always found it interesting that Usability Experts and Search Marketers both discount each other's work as not being relevant. Usability focuses on making a site more intuitive for an individual whereas Search Engine Optimization focuses (primarily) on making a site more intuitive for a search engine.
When compared side by side, both focus primarily on organization and retrieval of data. Let's think about this for a second. The algorithms that a typical search engine uses are built based on retrieving results relevant to how an individual would search for them.
Knowing this, it's easier to understand why when a client comes to me expecting a search engine optimization proposal that I have been known to respond with a proposal that contains tactics such as: "A/B testing," or "site analysis." Frankly (and this is where my colleagues in a competing business may get nervous), each business industry should be offering these skill sets as a service to their clients. I have found this knowledge imperative for developing my web strategies, implementations and subsequent testing. A process, that because of this methodology is no longer linear in it's approach.
Still, I know of many Search Engine Marketers (SEM's) that do not know how to read/write HTML. Conversely I can also think of many Designers, Developers and Information Architect's that have never considered a keyword strategy" or the ramifications that AJAX and/or Flash can have on a website.
A Designer may even tell you "We care more about the experience than the ranking that the site has on a search engine." A SEM may try to convince you that "exposure alone drives conversions." Both of these statements are missing the bigger picture.
In closing, a search engine will entice a user to come to a site as a result of proper page indexing. A properly designed and functional website will entice them to stay. When traffic and in turn content is targeted, usage and subsequently conversions will increase.Labels: A/B Testing, internet marketing, Search Engine Optimization, web marketing, web strategy, Web Usability, Website Analysis
Let me start off by saying that having many friends on Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn is important. I am on all three of these sites and use them very actively for different reasons. When you have an audience, chances are greater that your message will be heard.
The problem with this philosophy is also that without properly considering your audience and hand-selecting who you are engaging with, you may also be wasting your resources - let me explain.
Say you work for a retail establishment. Your primary focus is bringing customers in-store to make a purchase. The website may only be a supporting agent to this objective.
By performing a social outreach campaign you attempt to reach out to anyone that will listen. By the end of your endeavors you may even have a formidible friend list.
Yet when looking at your analytic data you see less than 1% are converting. In looking back you may have even targeted the proper demographic audience. In this particular instance, if you did not geo-target this campaign you are likely wasting your energy.
Of course this is an example and it seems so plainly obvious. Yet why are many marketers still considering a successful campaign by have 1,000+ friends on Facebook or Twitter when an extremely miniscule amount of in-store traffic is resulting from these efforts?Labels: common sense, social media marketing, web analytics
Note: I do not typically repost items I find elsewhere however I found the designer in me saying "yeah" after each statement. Mark, I can't find your contact information otherwise I would tag you on this, kudos to you sir!
By: Mark W. Lewis © 2005
1. "Do this one cheap (or free) and we'll make it up on the next one."
No reputable business person would first give away their work and time or merchandise on the hope of making it up later. Can you imagine what a plumber would say if you said "come in, provide and install the sink for free and next time we'll make it up when we need a sink." You would be laughed at! Also the likelyhood is that if something important came along, they wouldn't use you.
2. "We never pay a cent until we see the final product."
This is a croc, unless the person is leaving the door open to cheat you out of your pay. Virtually every profession requres a deposit or incremental payment during anything but the smallest project. Once you have a working relationship, you may work out another arrangement with a client. But a new client should not ask you to go beyond an initial meeting and, perhaps some preliminary sketches without pay on the job!
3. "Do this for us and you'll get great exposure! The jobs will just pour in!"
Baloney. Tell a plumber "Install this sink and my friend will see and you'll get lots of business!" Our plumber friend would say "You mean even if I do a good job I have to give my work away to get noticed? Then it isn't worth the notice." Also the guy would likely brag to everyone he knows about how this would normally cost (X) dollars, but brilliant businessman that he is he got if for free! If anyone calls, they'll expect the same or better deal.
4. On looking at sketches or concepts: "Well, we aren't sure if we want to use you yet, but leave your material here so I can talk to my partner / investor / wife / clergy."
You can be sure that 15 minutes after you leave he will be on the phone to other designers, now with concepts in hand, asking for price quotes. When you call back you will be informed that your prices were too high and Joe Blow Design/Illustration will be doing the job. Why shouldn't they be cheaper? You just gave them hours of free consulting work! Until you have a deal, LEAVE NOTHING CREATIVE at the clients office.
5. "Well, the job isn't CANCELLED, just delayed. Keep the account open and we'll continue in a month or two."
Ummm, probably not. If something is hot, then not, it could be dead. It would be a mistake to *not* bill for work performed at this point and then let the chips fall where they may! Call in two months and someone else may be in that job. And guess what? They don't know you at all.....
6. "Contract? We don't need no stinking contact! Aren't we friends?"
Yes, we are, until something goes wrong or is misunderstood, then you are the jerk in the suit and I am that idiot designer, then the contract is essential. That is, unless one doesn't care about being paid. Any reputable business uses paperwork to define relationships and you should too.
7. "Send me a bill after the work goes to press."
Why wait for an irrelevant deadline to send an invoice? You stand behind your work, right? You are honest, right? Why would you feel bound to this deadline? Once you deliver the work and it is accepted, BILL IT. This point may just be a delaying tactic so the job goes through the printer prior to any question of your being paid. If the guy waits for the job to be printed, and you do changes as necessary, then he can stiff you and not take a chance that he'll have to pay someone else for changes.
8. "The last guy did it for XXX dollars."
That is irrelevant. If the last guy was so good they wouldn't be talking to you, now would they? And what that guy charged means nothing to you, really. People who charge too little for their time go out of business (or self-destruct financially, or change occupations) and then someone else has to step in. Set a fair price and stick to it.
9. "Our budget is XXX dollars, firm."
Amazing, isn't it? This guy goes out to buy a car, and what, knows exactly what he is going to spend before even looking or researching? Not likely. A certain amount of work costs a certain amount of money. If they have less money (and you *can*) do less work and still take the job. But make sure they understand that you are doing less work if you take less money that you originally estimated. Give fewer comps, simplify, let them go elsewhere for services (like films) etc.
10. "We are having financial problems. Give us the work, we'll make some money and we'll pay you. Simple."
Yeah, except when the money comes, you can expect that you will be pretty low on the list to be paid. If someone reaches the point where they admit that the company is in trouble, then they are probably much worse off than they are admitting to. Even then, are you a bank? Are you qualified to check out their financials? If the company is strapped to the point where credit is a problem through credit agencies, banks etc. what business would you have extending credit to them. You have exactly ZERO pull once they have the work. Noble intentions or not, this is probably a losing bet. But if you are going to roll the dice, AT LEAST you should be getting additional money for waiting. The bank gets interest and so should you. That is probably why the person is approaching you; to get six months worth of free interest instead of paying bank rates for credit and then paying you with that money. Don't give away money.
Now, this list wasn't meant to make anyone crazy or paranoid, but is designed to inject some reality into the fantasy.
You are GOING to be dealing with people who are unlike yourself. Their motivations are their own and their attitudes are probably different than yours. There are going to be demands, problems, issues and all the hassles that go with practically ANY work/job/money situation. Too many times I see the sad example of someone walking in to a situation with noble intentions and then getting royally screwed, because what they see as an opportunity and a labor of love, the other party sees as something else entirely, not at all romantic or idealized, but raw and simple.
How can you deal with this stuff and still do good creative work? Good question. THIS is why an education is important. You learn, out of the line of fire, how to deal with the art at it's own level and also how to deal with the crap that surrounds it. You may have tough teachers and think that it can't be worse, but wait until a business person has a hundred grand riding on your art!
Then you will know what "demanding" means. You will then thank all those tough teachers for building up the calluses that enable you to enjoy the job rather than just feeling like it is all a big waste of time!
In the end, working commercially, being a terrific artist is about 25% of the task. If that is the only part of the task that you are interested in, do yourself a favor. Don't turn "pro."Labels: business practices, common sense, design
Google Analytics (GA) allows the ability to segment traffic rather easily using their new "Advanced Segments" tool (currently in Beta). Log into your GA account and on the lower left portion of the side nav, notice "Advanced Segments". It's small text and if you blinked you may have missed it.
After you click on the link you will come to a landing page with some common, pre-determined traffic segments. For the purposes of this post, disregard these and click "Create new custom segment" located on the top right-portion of the screen.
Now you will see a tool that I can best describe as a visual boolean operator tool. This tool allows you to create custom reports using a series of dimensions and metrics combined with various and/or statements.
For the purposes of this post, click on "dimensions" > "traffic sources". Now click and drag "source" into the first "dimension or metric" area to the right.
If performed correctly you will now see a condition drop down menu and a value text input field. Click within the condition drop down and choose "contains". Within the value text field, type in "facebook.com" it may even auto-populate for you. You can then click "test segment" to ensure this segmentation worked correctly.
Assuming all worked as planned, name and save your traffic segment so that you can analyze it later. I named mine "Facebook Visitor Segment". Now repeat this process using any additional domains that you wish to monitor (Twitter, MySpace, etc).
To view this report go back to your main dashboard. Click on "Traffic Sources", choose the date range that you would like to analyze this data. Above the right-hand side date range selector you should see a drop down menu that says "Advanced Segments". Select this. Once expanded, you will see your newly created custom segment within the options. Select the segment you wish to analyze. You can additionally compare this custom segment to other data sources.Labels: Data Segmentation, Google Analytics, social media
Routinely I field questions from clients regarding the metrics of their site. The questions are typically related to how many visitors came to the site over the past month, how many pages were viewed on average. Inevitably the next question I am faced with is "is this a good number?" Much to the chagrin of the person asking the question, I inevitably respond with a simple "it depends."
At the end of the day, does it matter how many people are visiting a website or how many page views they see during a given session if these people are not performing your desired tasks.
The more that I analyze web data for clients and companies, the more I am realizing that these individuals that base their ROI models on the above metrics are really missing the boat. They are the same individuals that become frustrated that the reports are not telling them anything in particular. And they are correct, but it's also correct that they are not asking the correct questions.
Look, at the end of the day it truly depends on how your individual web presence is delivering for your customer. Just like you would be foolish to run a business without a business plan, so is running a website without a web strategy. By outlining clear goals and objectives you can begin to ask solid business questions and hone in in your desired response.
Questions such as:
- Have we been able to increase site utilization while decreasing reliance on our phone representatives?
- Are we increasing our revenue by posting full-featured demonstrations of our products online?
- What kind of impact are our online sales channels having on our offline sales efforts?
- How are we building brand value on the website?
- What specific pages appear to be posing a problem to our visitors?
As a stakeholder, certainly you can see by being able to answer questions you can begin to properly determine a furthered strategy. This is as opposed to merely saying on X date, Y amount of people came to my site, which does not tell you what they are doing once they are on your site.
Once you develop your questions and subsequently have them answered; develop additional questions. You will find that gauging success or failure on the web becomes more obvious.Labels: business questions, web analytics, web strategy
I simply wanted to create a quick post to point out the differences between Social Marketing and Social Media Marketing as I have been hearing them used interchangeably. They couldn't be farther apart.
Social Marketing - Relates entirely to bringing change to cultural or behavioral attitudes/beliefs. These may include environmental initiatives, or no smoking campaigns.
Social Marketing - Social media marketing is the type of marketing that deals with Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Flickr, Wordpress. By very definition it deals with user-defined media. It relates entirely to the conversation and community of like-minded individuals.
Someone posted a great summary online. Social marketing is defined by objectives. Social media marketing is defined by tools.
Labels: social media marketing
"What's the difference between hits and visits?" I took a deep breath before attempting to explain the answer to this million dollar question to a group of board members during a client pitch this past week.
Explaining web metrics in a clear and concise way is nothing new to me. Especially since many clients do not take the time to consider analyzing their own data and instead focus on throwing money away on endless paid-per-click search campaigns without any sort of knowledge. I learned early on in my career, if you could explain things in an easy method, breaking down information into bite-sized chunks, chances are much greater that you could close a sale. Any salesperson will tell you that a client buys into you more than the product or service you are selling. Therefore I always made it my number one goal to educate my clientele instead of trying to pull the wool over their eyes.
Pre-dot com bust everyone focused on getting their business online and paid no attention to any web reporting (despite the fact that reporting was also in it's infancy.) Fast forward to today and I question if really anything has changed.
Clients often times clamor to get online without first considering web metrics, and in turn their own audience at all. Fortune 500 clients still do not employ web metrics into their routine. Those that do, are often times paying hand over fist to simply know the amount of hits they receive from a website. The problem that any analyst will tell you is that the number of web hits mean extremely little when it comes to metrics.
I will go one step further and suggest that a number of visits to a given website can mean very little as well. In the case of individuals within a niche marketplace it is acceptable to believe that the desired demographic is going to be more finite than a website that can pander to an extremely wide-ranging audience. Therefore it's important to pay more attention to time spent on the site, page views and bounce rates.
For example, I would much rather 100 people spending 6 minutes or more on my website, thumbing through every page vs 1,000 people spending 10 seconds and going through 1 page (or even leaving directly from the homepage.)
So back to my introductory statement and the answer I gave the group of board members for a luxury retail client... "There is a huge difference between hits and visits, but neither of which should be of a primary concern to you..."Labels: metrics, web analytics
Like many Americans, I watched the first Presidential debate on Friday night. (Don't worry this will not be a political post). During the debate, Senator McCain asserted that Senator Obama did not know the difference between a strategy and a tactic.
Routinely I encounter the same questioning from my clients. They fall into the trap of focusing on tactical executions rather than focusing on the strategy for achieving success in the first place. Strategies and tactics are often used interchangeably and this is clearly a mistake.
It's like the old adage of two men attempting to cut down a tree. One is using an axe and the other is using a hammer. Both may work very diligently at achieving the goal, however only one will likely achieve the desired results.
A strategy focuses on the 'big picture'. It focuses on the overall plan, and considers how your given campaign will achieve it's goals and objectives. Strategic planning involves positioning your company or organization to be viewed by it’s desired audience.
Think of strategies as the "why" we are doing what we are doing.
Tactics on the other hand are solely created in order to carry out a specific strategy.
Think of tactics as the "how" we are going to execute a given strategy.
Let me give you an example:
Objective: An online retailer is looking to become the #1 provider of a particular product line.
Strategy: Increase visibility online, making the online retailer top-of-mind. Educate consumers about the online retailer.
Tactic: Focus on search engine optimization within key traffic areas of website. Next, secure top placement (organic and paid) within key search terms, both branded and unbranded. Offer affiliates better commissions for referring product lines or placing banner advertisements. Utilize email marketing to increase brand loyalty and overall awareness. Utilize social media channels to gain awareness based on location, socio-economic, and key interest types. Once you have these tactics in place, analyze the results. Tweak and prune where necessary.
As marketers, it is our job to understand a client's objectives, and then devise a clear strategy. Only once this is accomplished can we then develop a series of tactics that will help us achieve our objectives.Labels: strategy, tactics
In the old days of the internet (approximately 2 years for you traditional marketing folks), data was measured in terms of one or two primary metrics. If you said "hits" please exit my site immediately. Thank you, now that I have your attention, let's continue...
Primary success metrics of a given online campaign were routinely measured by leveraging total visits with the average number of pageviews per visit. This was a gold mine. I could create seemingly limitless reports based on this most elementary data. Of course that was in the days of synchronously loading page data - before scripting methodologies such as AJAX had to complicate matters.
Fast forward to today, page views are still a main stay within analytics programs such as Google Analytics however I question whether or not they should be. This belief can still be summed up within a few short accronyms and one syllable words: AJAX, PDFs, and Flash.
This method of scripting, a document type and multimedia application have been causing havoc for web analysts for some time now. And Adobe, you still have not convinced me that Flash is completely queriable. Especially given the fact that so many people still use Flash within a timeline. That is instead of it's one frame object-oriented routines with simple "getURL" linking structures found within this said frame. (And this is just one example of Flash 'issues' with regards to analytics, I have several more). Like text that is broken apart or part of a graphic instead of dynamic text instances.
The point is creating 'fake' pages that only have the responsibility of being logged within analytics programs (to aid with AJAX and PDFs) is a tedious process.
So... What metrics do I particularly like to use when providing reports to clients? Every vertical marketplace is going to be different however if I had to pick two to replace the above two metrics in terms of equal importance it would most likely be "Bounce Rate" and "Average Time Spent on Site".
AJAX can have many calls to varying pages occurring within the same HTML based document. PDFs can have text that has been converted as an outline (and is essentially speaking, merely a graphic). Neither of my above-mentioned two metrics are clouded by AJAX, PDFs, and Flash.
With "Bounce Rate" I can see definitively that someone came to a given site and left immediately thereafter. If this rate is unusually high I can then monitor that cluster of users against a series of other metrics (visitor loyalty, and traffic sources) more effectively than I could have done with a "pageviews" metric on a site predominantly coded using a series of AJAX calls.
With "Average Time Spent on Site" I can still see that a given user spent (X) amount of time on a given site. Since I can correlate this data across a series of given days, I can analyze why time on site may have been so very much higher on Monday, June 23, 2008.
At the end of the day, the one quote I will always repeat is 'the only thing constant is change.' Within the area of internet technology this could not be more true as I have seen entire methodologies completely change online within 12-18 months.
That being said, as the fundamentals of a more engaging Web 2.0 are starting to be realized it becomes more important than ever that web analysts provide clean and accurate data to web strategists so that they can react with a proper course of action for a given web campaign.Labels: metrics, web analytics, web marketing
I came across a question the other day that made me really scratch my head.
"What is more important: 5 million Impressions or 5 Relationships?"
This question was apparently posed by Joe Marchese, President of SocialVibe at the OMMA Social Conference in New York. After reading a recap of the conversation it became clear Mr. Marchese is slanted towards the belief that relationships are more important. And let me preface my post by saying that as a marketer I tend to agree with his rationale. However it is also clear to me that there is another side to this story that shouldn't be ignored.
In all of my experience with social media marketing we have been ingrained to believe that relationships are key. After all, relationships breed other relationships and so on and so forth.
While 5 million impressions will likely establish awareness, they will not necessarily create any sort of direct and long-term relationship with with a brand. Through establishing a relationship, a given brand can establish loyalty. Through loyalty a purchase is more likely to occur. I keep this notion close to me when working with a client - in other words is this client going to engage with me as a "partner or a paycheck?"
That being said, I want to present the other side of the coin. Let me give you a hypothetical:
Imagine 5M impressions of a given campaign resulted in an average 1% conversion rate (or 50,000). The conversion (or goal) in this example is simply a driver to a given website. Of this hypothetical 1% (50,000) let's also reasonably assume that 3% (1,500) are driven to pick up the phone or purchase directly from this website. These hypothetical 1,500 individuals then receive a product/service.
You can see it now that it would be easy for a marketer to spin this campaign as a success; after all 1,500 people made a purchase. (1,500 is certainly greater than 5, correct?) Despite the fact that 1,500 made a purchase, it would however be ignorant to believe that these individuals have formed a relationship with a given company.
Statistics have shown that these hypothetical 1,500 may never be driven by the same impulse to purchase again. Despite the fact that the product/service was even satisfactory.
This is not the case with relationships. Since I have already indicated that relationships usually result in loyalty, a repeat purchase is highly likely and often times offsets the costs that were incurred through a campaign of 5M impressions. Let's face it, people talk to their friends and their friends tend to listen.
Marketers are continually facing the reality that people are turned off by advertising. People do not believe what marketers tell them. They DO NOT want to be sold something. They are already super-saturated with branded messages being shoved down their throats.
However these same people continue to be passionate about their brands and will even attempt to share their experiences with a given brand to others. This is not necessarily in an effort to promote the brand but rather in an effort to help out their friend/colleague.
With regards to the initial question posed, "What is more important: 5 million Impressions or 5 Relationships" I want to stress that any success metrics will vary by client. However you need to ask yourself, as a marketer, is the purpose of the campaign to form a lasting relationship or a simply get a quick sale?Labels: social media marketing
This video is too brilliant not to share:
http://www.vimeo.com/1083838?pg=embed&sec=1083838Labels: social media
Obviously social media sites like Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn are newcomers to the online marketing world. Their core focus is clearly evolving. Being that they are so new, it is easy to understand that most marketers are simply not experienced in marketing to these type of communities.
Unlike web analytic software (Google Analytics, ClickTracks, Omniture, etc) there is currently no widely accepted standard dashboard in existence that is able to monitor all forms of social media and in effect determine ROI. This process is left almost entirely to the marketer. There are many attempts to monitor conversations and measure overall buzz (Buzzlogic, TruCast). I have spoken with and demo'd the material of these two firms and they both measure conversations fairly well.
It seems to me that in order to measure success and inevitably ROI, you need to first establish your own objectives and determine which KPI's you wish to follow. I think it’s reasonable to believe that without indicators such as revenue growth and conversion metrics it is hard to determine overall ROI.
In the business world, ROI is typically determined by taking the amount of the total investment and dividing that by the amount of the return. Since social media marketing is based almost entirely on trust and dialogue, how can you measure this?
I believe that the metrics used in calculating the success of a social media marketing campaign area going to be unique. In short, a focus on lead generation and driving sales is going to have a different set of ideal metrics than a general focus on user engagement.
I am finding out in my own research, there are several ways to determine an individual's likelihood that they are providing influence to others - a common determinant in the success of a social media marketing campaign.
Metrics to consider: Do they have a blog? How many posts are within this blog? Do they have social network profiles? How many 'friends' do they have? How long have they been a member of a particular social network? How long has it been since their last login? Additionally, what kind of digital footprint are they leaving across the web?
Again, certain campaigns are going to follow a different set of parameters though it's a starting point.Labels: Buzzlogic, ClickTracks, Facebook, Google Analytics, KPI, LinkedIn, MySpace, Omniture, ROI, social media, TruCast, web marketing
I measure the success of any web initiative though clear use of metrics. I love analyzing "the numbers" because it gives me further incite into user data that as a marketer I may not have otherwise understood yet alone considered.
In my travels I came across a post by Rachel Happe. In this post she highlights methodologies for measuring social media success.
What I like the most about her proposed series of metrics is that for different individuals there are different types of metrics that should be analyzed. Great post Rachel!Labels: measuring success, metrics, ROI, social media, web marketing
In the several blogs and other online articles I read there appears to be some contradiction revolving around the motive of influencers. In a few cases there appears to be a general assumption that an influencer within a given marketplace is already a customer. While they can certainly fall into this category I do not believe this to be the case. Here's my fundamental reason why...
The primary objective for targeting influencers within a given market is that they quite simply have the power to sway your current customers and prospects. Which one of us goes around telling their friends about "product X" simply to talk about "product X"? While I am sure it does happen on a few occasions, I feel largely this is a marketer’s pipe dream.
Since an influencer is not likely to pawn products that they simply do not believe in the first place, a component of trust needs to already be instilled between a given influencer and their peer group. The influencer may bring up a particular product or brand however they are not standing by idly to market a desired brand. Instead it is more plausible that they are simply engaging in this dialog to help their friend.
Remember, when targeting influencers through online or offline initiatives, you are NOT looking to influence an entire demographic. You are looking to influence very specific people.
Therein lies the danger with targeting and then reaching out to influencers. Consider this scenario, as a marketer, I identify specific influencers for a client. (Which I am developing some software to do and will share this with you shortly.) I hand over the list to the client who in turn blasts out emails to every individual on the list. The vast majority of these individuals then respond with a one-word answer: "Unsubscribe". A death sentence for online marketers as the opportunity is wasted.
So you see, when people are passionately engaged, and when they are true believers in the brand they are promoting, viral campaigns will accelerate. And that is why the influencer theory of marketing continues to be one that is both useful and relevant.Labels: demographic targeting, influencers, internet marketing, social media, viral campaigns
A transformation is occurring within marketing.
Marketers are realizing that a single person's trusted advice and experience can be more valuable than that of many passive groups. Studies have shown that these key individuals, known in the marketing world as "influencers" reach over twice as many people through word of mouth as the average consumer.
It should come as no surprise then that marketers want to particularly target these influencers to increase their marketing efficiency. The question is how to do it. Many marketers attempt to lure these key individuals through beta testing, product invitations and samples.
Taking The Bait
According to a 2006 DoubleClick report on influencers, this market segment demonstrates a high-level of sophistication regarding the media and the advertising they consume. They enjoy being part of such programs and being able to learn about products in advance. Influencers are also more likely to want advertisers to target Internet ads to them based on their browsing behavior. They also like to give feedback to marketers regarding their ideas. This is evident in Starbucks recent campaign which attempts to solicit ideas from it’s user-base in an effort to "help shape it's future."
On the other hand, influencers are more likely to delete or clear their cookies and fast-forward through TV ads when using a digital video recorder than non-influencers. Simply stated, influencers are finely tuned into advertising, both positively and negatively.
Stay tuned for my next post on influencer behavior...Labels: demographic targeting, influencers, internet marketing, word of mouth
 I just returned from DC where I attended the Graphing Social Patterns conference. Keynote presentations included representatives from Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Bebo, & of course Google.
I must say that I went to this conference with no expectations. The CEO of Lorel joined me on Tuesday. In many regards I hoped there would be a good deal that he could take away from this conference. However at the same time I hoped that it would NOT be too introductory for me. For the most part I was rather pleased.
The first day of the conferences focused primarily on the business case for social media, the importance of widgets as well as general tactics in viral marketing. At night there was even an app nite focusing on demos of various developers.
Day two was extremely developer centric, focusing on "what's under the hood" of many of our favorite social media apps.
All in all, I was pleased with the conference, I learned a fair bit and networked like a mad man. My only minor criticism would be creating a business case for focusing social media based on different age demographics. We all know that the 15-35 crowd is a sponge, focusing on all forms of social media. However how do us marketing types reach older skewing age demographics? Our options are clearly limited as age skews.
Secondly and equally as important, I still question whether the long tail of social media will actually even exist within Facebook and MySpace? The concept itself has certainly become more main stream. Look at cnn.com for example with it's Facebook feeds and iReport capabilities. Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay.
For what it's worth, should Dave McClure and gang put on another show next year I will likely be there.Labels: conference, Graphing Social Patterns, social media, viral marketing
|
