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
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!)
I wish I could find a site like this every month.
This may the first of it’s kind… a social networking site willing to give up a few bucks.
Have you ever thought to yourself, “Man, I wish I had a quarter for everyone I referred to Digg…”?
Well, how about 2 quarters?
Given the pace that us SMers join the latest web 2 services, that could add up!
Ximmy is a new social networking service that offers both a fully functional affiliate program and rewards program which both pay real $$ via PayPal.
As a full-time social marketer, I spend a lot of time submitting posts, buzzing, voting, tweeting and, yes, shaking the cramps out of my mouse-hand.
It is about time someone put a decent social networking site together that shares its success with its core submitters.
Here’s a quick look at the programs..
Rewards Program
Affiliate Program
Why Not?
I just started using Ximmy to as a social marketing hub so I can’t tell you if it will be a big traffic source yet.
But, believe me, nothing gets marketers more excited than affiliate earnings, so I expect to see Ximmy leapfrog some of the other “me-too” Digg-style social networks and get some traction with the social media crowd.
So, I say why not…
I will keep you posted on how many I get to sign up… see you at Ximmy.com!
Related Posts On Other Great Blogs
Social Bookmarking: Saving Sites of Interest
34 Google Trusted Social Sites
Social Bookmarking and Diigo
Are Consumers Ready For Social Marketing?
Social Bookmarking for Small Businesses
10 Social Bookmarking Sites
42 things about Web 2.0 in 2008, part 1 of 3
Friday, June 27, 2008
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