Analytics, Statistics & Data…oh my!

June 25, 2010

Ratings, ratings, ratings. These days, it’s all about RATINGS. Where did we rank; how did we do; how can we improve; what are we doing right; what are we doing wrong; what are the numbers; what should we change?

OK, confession—we PR folks like to know these ratings so we have a general understanding of how our sites are doing, if we are improving, and if not—what we should improve. For example, has our website traffic increased since June 2009? I would sure darn hope so! Luckily, as many of you are aware, Google Analytics is available to monitor your Web traffic giving you detailed statistics about visitors to your website. In fact, Google Analytics tells you how people found your site, how they explored it, and how you can enhance their visitor experience. (Me like!)

I don’t have Google Analytics set up on my blog to add my personal and professional opinion. So I decided to ask my followers on Twitter for their thoughts…

…and here were some of the replies I received:

@jlisak: It has been great for @Fusework b/c it provides our clients with important data which can be easily organized and understood!

@stevenshattuck: I like to see what pages/content is attractive to visitors, and what isn’t.

@brussell10: I use it daily, we monitor our Chambers’ websites and it puts everything in one place. It allows our sales people to show value in our ad placement services.

@brussell10: It also monetizes website ad inventory, and it’s pretty easy to use. VERY handy for companies who specialize in online business.

@BeckyAPR: Can see spikes in traffic & correlate to marketing or PR activities. Also can see organic keyword searches. #GoogleAnalytics

Now, I know I didn’t ask about the weaknesses (saving that for another blog, perhaps) but it appears that brands and businesses should use Google Analytics because it improves website ROI, increases conversions and provides rich insights into website traffic. Regardless the industry, I think companies will use these ratings more often to improve marketing initiatives.

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Posted by Jackie

SE-O’…you better believe it!

June 15, 2010

The ROI of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one that isn’t noticeable right away but valuable in the long run. In fact, increasing a site’s SEO is one of the smartest things an individual or business can do to improve its Web visibility. Of course, having a Web presence via a website is great and all, but what’s the point of having a website if no one can find it? Enter SEO and the conspicuous improvement of site interaction with users and search engines.

This week  my professor shared a fantastic video called Talking Tech that features USA Today’s Jefferson Graham interviewing Google engineer, Matt Cutts. Now, I’ve read numerous articles, book chapters and blogs about increasing SEO, but Cutts sums it up pretty blatantly. The following highlights Cutts’ advice on increasing your SEO.

“How do I get my website so people can find it?”

  1. Content is king. Think about what users are going to type to want to find your site. Make sure those keywords are on your Web pages.
  2. Include multiple tags. Include tags (keywords) in the title, description and content of your website—enabling it to show up better in searches and portraying what your site is all about.
  3. Use links. Be sure to include links on your website. For example, say you start a blog and start posting content that is interesting to you. Well, this same content may be interesting to other readers or sites that have some correlation to your content. If you include those related sites as links on your blog, there is a good chance they will reciprocate. In turn, if search engines see 25 other websites linking back to yours as a resource, that’s SEO at its best! In essence—good content + popularity = more links.
  4. Save your $$. A common misconception is that Web users have to pay Google to have their site found or buy advertising on Google to rank higher. This is not the case. Google crawls all sites for free and tries to rank everyone the same way. Just make sure Google can find your site and it does the rest.
  5. Give Google your URL. Another myth is that it could take 3-6 months for your site to be found on Google. Wrong! Google is quick about crawling websites and refreshes its entire index every month or so. A trick you can do to help Google find your site is to go to www.google.com/addurl and submit your site’s URL. In addition, you can go to www.google.com/webmasters and submit your site map to help Google find new URLs on your site.

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Posted by Jackie

The Eight Commandments of Web Pages

June 10, 2010

I’ve never been interested in Web design or how it even worked. In my undergrad career at Butler I became acquainted with Adobe Photoshop, Flash and InDesign.  Right now, I’m currently learning the basics of Dreamweaver. However, you would never want to leave that task to me. Thank goodness there are talented specialists in those areas. Without them, what Web presence would your organization or business have?

I’m amazed by Web software and the power it holds to create and promote a brand and its products and services. Although I may not be the mastermind behind the design, in the PR industry it is crucial for practitioners to know what constitutes a good Web blueprint and how to provide the guidance to maintain a site. Part of doing business with clients is being able to determine what goals and objectives should be communicated through the site. But then you have to relay that same message to the Web designer. After all, what good is a website if it’s not useful to visitors?

With that said, I introduce the eight commandments of Web pages, courtesy of The Social Media Bible (Safko & Brake, 2009, p. 141). If your website follows these guidelines—you simply can’t go wrong. 

  1. Thou shalt understand your prospect/customer.
  2. Thou shalt understand the different sales funnel phases.
  3. Thou shalt implement metrics.
  4. Thou shalt understand the different conversion definitions.
  5. Thou shalt set specific measurable goals.
  6. Thou shalt remember that content is king.
  7. Thou shalt not use serif fonts.
  8. Thou shalt use frames and Flash cautiously.

Though I may never be a proficient website designer, it is certainly beneficial for me to learn and understand how they should be constructed. Websites are a staple in any organization or business regardless the size. And in the end, a well-designed web page is probably the smartest and greatest ROI an organization can do for itself.

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Posted by Jackie

Aggregators: Nothing Aggravating About It

June 9, 2010

OK, so I am a little embarrassed to admit this (judge me, I deserve it), but prior to beginning my current grad class, Managing Online PR, I had no idea what an “Aggregator” was.

<Insert laughter and finger-pointing here>

How could that be? Here I am, a PR professional working at an esteemed and well-known Indianapolis agency and I had never heard of a News Aggregator. Yikes. Let me tell you—when I say I’m learning something new every day, I mean it.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s OK! I was there…a week ago. News Aggregators have become a necessary component for information gathering in the 21st century. A News Aggregator gathers information and data important to you and puts it in one place for easy access on the Web. Originally, I had set up several RSS feeds of my favorite sites. But then I learned that all those feeds could be delivered directly to my News Aggregator; a one-stop-shop!

It was time I became acquainted with this so-called News Aggregator. Several Aggregator applications are available such as Digg, FriendFeed, My Yahoo!, Reddit, Yelp and more. In my case, because I already had a Google account, I decided to use Google Reader. According to my class textbook, The Social Media Bible:

Google Reader is a Web-based aggregator that provides you with the feeds of your favorite updated websites so you don’t have to spend time visiting all the sites you normally visit. It is capable of reading RSS or atom feeds both online and off-line and is a useful tool for reading the latest postings on your topics of interest (p. 604-5).

Once I started really rockin’ and rollin’, I discovered iGoogle.  iGoogle acts as a News Aggregator in itself and users can embed a number of gadgets on the page like a calendar, joke or quote of the day, fun facts, weather application and more.  In essence, it’s a personalized Google home page.

With iGoogle I can share feeds, chat with friends, search in all feeds across all updates and select the RSS subscriptions I want to see. In my Aggregator, I enjoy checking out the latest PR and social media postings from Mashable, entertainment news from People and what my graduate classmates are writing about.

Should you use a News Aggregator? YES! All my favorite site news is delivered directly to me on one web page. This saves me a lot of time, as opposed to going to each site and seeing what new information I missed. Gathering news that benefits my career in PR and social media is critical for me as a professional and enables knowledge sharing to my peers and followers on Twitter. With that said, I salute you News Aggregators. Thanks for making my job a little easier.

Here is my iGoogle home page

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Posted by Jackie

RSS 101

June 8, 2010

As a PR professional and individual who just prefers to receive news via the Web, I’ve gradually learned more and more about RSS feeds. However, I’ve had to learn about it on my own. No one ever taught or showed me how a feed works or what it even was. That is… until graduate school.  Luckily, I had a general understanding of RSS feeds prior to my Masters class, but I continue to learn more as the weeks progress. For those who want to know more, here are answers I wish I knew a long time ago about using RSS feeds.

What is a feed? A feed, aka RSS feed (RSS: Really Simple Syndication) is frequently updated content published by a website. It is usually used for news and blog websites, but can also be used for distributing other types of digital content, including pictures, audio or video. According to the Social Media Bible, an RSS feed is a one-click solution that allows content to be sent to followers the moment it’s published. The reverse is also the case; preferred blogs and news stories can be sent to subscribers automatically. This saves individuals loads of time as they won’t have to search their favorite websites every day for new content and updates (p. 343).

How do I know if a website offers feeds? When you first view a website, you will know if feeds are available if this button is located somewhere on the page .  The color may not always be orange; as you can see, mine is pink!

How do I subscribe to a feed? To subscribe to a feed, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the web page that has the feed to which you want to subscribe.
  2. Click the feeds button  to discover feeds on the web page.
  3. Choose a feed (if more than one is available). If only one feed is available, you will go directly to that page.
  4. Click “subscribe to this feed”.
  5. Type a name for the feed and select the folder to create the feed in.
  6. Click subscribe.

How can I automatically get updated content? You just do! With an RSS feed, you receive content automatically as it is published with the most up-to-date information.

Does a feed subscription cost money? Nope, it’s usually free to subscribe to a feed!

Learn more about RSS feeds and how to receive content in my next blog post about News Aggregators.

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Posted by Jackie

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