Google Analytics - formerly known Urchin - is probably one of the best web analytics tool on the entire Internet and thanks to Big G it is completely free to use. if you’re not tracking your website visitors and sales using something like Analytics, then you’re really missing the boat.
Instead of going into great detail of why, here’s a list of videos straight from the horses mouth. By the way, I used our awesome video posting tool Video Utility Poster, to create this post, which will launch next week.
1. What Can Google Analytics Do For You?
2. Beginning Analytics: Interpreting and Acting on Your Data
3. Google Analytics Tutorial: Essential Stats
4. Google Analytics Overview
5. Google Analytics Bounce Rate: The Simply Powerful Metric
Anyone who knows anything about social media knows that there is a nearly endless supply of tools available (both good and bad) to assist you as you make your way through the Internet marketing world.
Choosing the right tool for the job can make all the difference.
After all, you wouldn’t put a new roof on your house using a butter knife, or use a screwdriver to spread peanut butter……..you get the point.
Choosing that perfect tool can be pretty daunting if you’re new to the game. If you are considering downloading any kind of social media software tools, then reviewing them first is critical. Tons of money is wasted on bum programs.
Tons of time is wasted finding out that it’s a bum program. Make sure that the person promoting the social media tool is a fellow blogger who can attest to and prove some level of success using the particular tool you are considering.
Three tools that are currently very popular:
TrackBoost
This tool will search for other blogs when you enter a keyword. Finding other blogs in your niche just became a whole lot easier.
Making competing with them a whole lot easier! Connect much more easily with other bloggers, trackback to any blogs that have posts matching your niche or area of interest.
Make the blogosphere a little smaller and more manageable with TrackBoost. Some have said that this tool has revolutionized the blogging world!
Utility Poster
This is a tool designed to make coming up with new content quickly and regularly less of a chore. In no time at all, you can drag and drop content hits from other blogs right onto your blog.
No need to re-invent the wheel every day, use material you find in other places to keep your site fresh! Easily find and capture the content you need.
Web2Submitter
Save tons of time and get an endless supply of deep backlinks to your site by using this program. Submitting your posts to individual sites takes a tremendous amount of time; Web2Submitter makes it more automatic and streamlines the whole process for you.
Spend the time you have in more important places, and use this program to get your site and posts out there more quickly. You will have a lot more time to focus on your other marketing strategies and come up with more content, more ideas, and more profit!
The importance of using the right tools for mastering the social media world just cannot be stressed enough. You’ll learn, maybe the hard way, how to select and use the right tools for the job.
The blogosphere is very overwhelming to any newcomers (and sometimes to the veterans, too!) so make sure you consider your choice carefully. Saving time and money means more profit more quickly!
That’s why we’re all in this, right? Share your feedback and experiences with TrackBoost, Utility Poster, and Web2Submitter here! We want to know what you think!
Most experts would probably agree that excellent search engine optimization (SEO) combined with excellent social media optimization (SMO) will offer the best opportunities for more traffic, more exposure, higher page rankings, and ultimately, more conversion into dollar signs for you.
Social sites have quickly gained speed in the Internet world, and are dominating much of the traffic.
How can you get that traffic to notice your site?
Several “rules” apply for driving traffic with social media. Here we will focus on seven of the biggest:
1. Links!
Get several social sites going, with the different services that are available. Network to various online friends and contacts, and exchange links with them. More links will increase your page ranking.
Even better are the links that are relevant to your niche or theme; irrelevant and unrelated links can only help so much. For example, if your niche is patio furniture, you might try to link to others with gardening, pool equipment, or picnic tables, but probably not aromatherapy.
2. Get your content out there.
Keep your content fresh, and current. Regularly add content to your site. Help that content travel around the Internet by submitting your articles to various directories and gain more links that way. Static sites are no longer the way to go, they go largely unnoticed by search engines these days.
3. Reward incoming links by keeping them listed on your blog so that others may click through to their site.
Think of how many times you are listed on other people’s blogs! If everyone plays nice, we can get a whole lot of links together.
4. Tagging and bookmarking.
These are increasingly important social media tools. Be sure to add the links at the bottom of your blog so that others may tag or bookmark your site for other social media sites (you’ve seen these buttons, “digg it” or “add to del.icio.us” at the end of a blog item).
5. Allow others to use your content.
It doesn’t hurt you to allow others to use your articles or video clips.
Getting your information out onto YouTube or posted on other sites will generally help you get noticed. Now, this doesn’t encourage anyone to steal content but if others use your content and give you credit or a link, then this will help you.
6. Become a resource in your niche.
Developing your site and making it a place where people would go for helpful information about your topic will increase your credibility and make you the invaluable resource.
7. Reward those who promote your site.
If you have a visitor or user that especially helps you, put a posting or a banner or some sort of extra special link that is noticeable, right on the home page of your site. You’d want someone else to do the same.
These are just a few of the top ways to use social media techniques to increase the traffic to your website.
What other strategies have you found helpful for driving traffic?
The web 2.0 expo is happening right now in San Francisco. If you live in the Bay Area then you might want to jump into the car and check it out yourself.
If you can’t afford to buy a ticket right now and leave everything behind to get on a plane and get yourself in the middle of one of the biggest web2 events of the year, then just simply visit the links below and check out what other visitors have to say about this huge event.
Web 2.0 Expo: Start-Up Metrics 101
In picking my session for the afternoon today at Web 2.0 Expo, I was torn between three. Two were more interesting to me personally, but I thought Profy readers would be most interested in the Startup Metrics 101 session with Dave …
Web 2.0 Expo: The First Day
Greetings from very chilly San Francisco where the 2nd edition of the SF Web 2.0 Expo, organized by O’Reilly and Techweb, is going strong. Yesterday was the kick-off to the geeky celebration of all things surrounding social computing, …
Web 2.0 Expo 2008: Do You Know What's Missing?
The photo is of a selection of stickers which Web 2.0 Expo is handing out to all attendees as you register, the intention is to personalize your badges with the phrases and sentences that describe what you are looking for, who you hope …
Web 2.0: The Expo
Today I’ll be heading across the Bay to attend Web 2.0 Expo. I don’t have a ticket. I don’t attend to buy one. It’s not that I’m cheap (although I generally am) so much as I don’t have three days for this. …
Web 2.0 Expo - Social Media Optimization
My first post from the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco is the second half of “Free Traffic: SEO/SMO 101 (Search Engine & Social Media Optimization) with Stephan Spencer of Netconcepts and Muhammad Saleem of Advantage Consulting Services. …
Web 2.0 Expo - Day 2 Session Planning
10:50am Consumer 2.0: How Web 2.0 is Changing Moods, Metrics, & Monetization Rafe Needleman (CNET), Konrad Feldman (Quantcast), Erin Hunter (comScore, Inc.), Garrick Schmitt (Avenue A | Razorfish), Murtaza Hussain (Peanut …
Some of you have emailed about the features on our new theme so I did a quick “take a look under the hood” video.
Inside Our SEO’d Wordpress Theme
We were seeing so many “me-too” bloggers in the social marketing & online marketing space that we felt it was time to get serious about Web2Center’s look.
Since we are directly linked to NetsmartMedia and Social Power Linking, two major online marketing businesses, we thought we’d better dress up a bit and shop for a custom WP theme designer.
We looked into custom, completely from scratch, designers but at $3K on average we decided to take a look at premium themes… and we liked what we saw.
We settled on the FlashNews theme from Adii Freelancer at Premium News but there were other solid choices that made the decision harder than we thought it would be.
It came down to the following four, check them out if you are ready to upgrade your blog.
The Fantastic Four
Revolution themes
iThemes
Premium Press
Adii’s Premium News
NOTE: If you are a theme designer or have custom templates for sale, let us know and we will feature you on this page (assuming your themes rock!)
Friday, June 27, 2008
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