Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
Analytics are a business owner’s best friend. They can help you optimize your strategies and tactics. They help you get a better understanding of what your customer wants and needs. Website analytics can be the most valuable asset you have. However, choosing the right analytic tools can be overwhelming. There are many to choose from. Here’s a brief list of some of the more popular analytic tools, and advice on how to choose the right one for you.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is free. You simply register with Google if you don’t already have an account. Sign up for the analytics tool by providing a bit of information about your website. Then it’s merely a matter of cutting and pasting the code into your website.
You can choose your settings and the data you track. Google tracks visits, average time on site, page views and the referral source. It also tracks geographic data and can be used to track split testing results. It’s a comprehensive analytics tool that provides just about everything a website owner could need.
Piwik
Piwik is an open source type of analytics. That means it’s free. It’s also open for development. This can be a big advantage if you want your analytics to accomplish something new. Piwik is designed to be the open source alternative to Google analytics so their offerings are similar. With Piwik your analytic data is on your server. You own your data. Additionally, you can customize your interface to suit your needs.
AWStats
AWStats is another popular analytics tool. Again, it provides much of the same data as most other analytics tools. However, it also provides some unique data. For example:
* Visits of robots
* Worm attacks
* HTTP errors
* Number of times your site is added to a visitor’s favorites
AWStats doesn’t work with all websites. You’ll need to double check before you install it. It can work with all web hosting providers which allow Perl, CGI and log access.
Site Meter
Site Meter offers two options. They offer a free version. They also offer a paid version that starts at $6.95 for 25,000 page views. The rate increases depending on your page views. Site Meter offers a vast amount of information including page views, bounce rate and time spent on your site. Site Meter also tracks the path your visitor takes when they arrive at your website. This is extremely valuable information. It can help you tighten your website content and copy to achieve a desired result.
Which Analytic Tool Do You Choose?
Decide which data points will be most useful. What do you need to know to optimize your website? Also consider who you trust with your data. If you utilize a service, then they have access to your website data. If you install the software on your server then you’re the only one that has access to your data. Also make sure you can easily read and understand the reports. All of the tools mentioned provide demo data and reporting.
Once you have a trusted source and the data you need to grow your business, it comes down to price and personal preference. Most analytics tools are free or very inexpensive. Choose your tool, install it and start taking advantage of the information website analytics provide.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
There are millions of websites. This is both an opportunity and a challenge. If you’re a website owner, you want to stand out from the crowd. When you achieve website prominence the competition no longer matters. Here’s how to stand out from the crowd:
#1 Easy navigation
It sounds so simple, yet many websites are a navigational disaster. When a visitor cannot find what they need quickly and easily, they leave. Ideally your website will be designed to facilitate a visitor’s experience. Not only should they be able to quickly and easily find what they’re looking for, you also want to guide them to achieve your goals.
For example, if you’re an affiliate marketer you want to guide your prospects to the second and third tier pages where your affiliate links and ads are placed.
#2 Keyword research
Keyword research supports easy navigation. Your visitors and prospects find your site with keywords. That means those same keywords need to be present on your site and easy to find. They not only need to be part of the content, they should also be part of the navigation. Research your keywords to support your customers and prospects. Include them in the navigation flow.
Additionally, keyword research helps you provide the most valuable and beneficial content possible. When you know what your customers and prospects are looking for, you can provide it. Providing top quality content will set you apart from the majority of your competition.
#3 Analytics
Analytics provide valuable inside information. They help you track where your customers go on your website. They also tell you:
* How long people stay on a single web page
* How long they stay on your site
* How they found your website
* What keywords they use to find your website
* How many visitors return to your website
This information is invaluable. Create a practice where you analyze your website analytics regularly. Create content and navigation systems that support your findings. And take the initiative to test and track your results. For example, if you add a new feature on your website like a survey, test and track where on your site it receives the most attention.
Standing out from the crowd isn’t difficult. However, it does require a solid plan. Know your audience. Research your keywords. Create a navigation structure that supports your customers and your business goals. And pay attention to the data. Your website analytics are the key to helping you achieve website prominence.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
An online business that ignores keywords and search phrases will surely struggle. The internet is based on information. That information is sorted and organized based on the topic or keywords that best describe the information. When you embrace keywords and search phrases, you’re better able to position your website competitively. Here’s why your keywords and search phrases matter.
#1 Search phrases help you achieve good page rankings. When your website shows up on the first page or two of search results, you will get more website visitors. Each website visitor is a potential customer. That means search phrases are directly related to your profits.
#2 They help you target specific customers. Appealing to a broad audience can be difficult. There’s a lot of competition. However, when you narrow your focus and target specific keywords and search phrases, you can focus on appealing to a smaller audience. You can be the big fish in a little pond. That often results in more financial success than competing for the other high demand high supply keywords.
#3 Keywords and search phrases help you learn about your audience and prospects. Keyword research helps you learn what your audience is looking for. Entering your keywords or keyword phrase into a keyword research tool will generate other relevant keyword phrases. You can use the supply and demand data to learn what your prospects are searching for.
#4 Keywords and search phrases help you organize content in an effective and meaningful way. They help you organize your website navigation by tier one, two and three pages. You can use them to create a streamlined navigation system.
#5 They help you create content and provide value. Keywords can give you content topics and topic ideas. Simple keyword research will generate potentially hundreds of content ideas.
#6 Keywords help you profit through PPC ads. You can target specific keyword phrases and profit from placing PPC ads on your website. They can also help you attract traffic and other advertising or affiliate profits.
#7 Keywords help you market and advertise. Finally, keywords and search phrases help you create targeted advertisements. They help you market to your audience. When a PPC ad, for example, contains the keywords it’s targeting, it’s been shown to be more effective than an ad that doesn’t contain keywords.
Finding keyword search phrases is a matter of research. Utilize keyword research tools. Install and review analytics. Pay attention to trends. Participate on social networking sites and other blogs and websites. The more you integrate keywords into your overall business strategies, the more success you’ll achieve.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
To become a successful affiliate marketer it is imperative that you have a content strategy and implementation plan. Content is what makes your blog or website attract visitors. It works in two ways. First, the keywords within the content help the search engines know where to find your article. Secondly, once the reader finds your blog or article via the search engines the content engages the reader.
Without dynamic content your blog or website is no better than a paper brochure which no one sees unless someone puts it in their hands. There is no doubt that brochures are useful, but if no one sees it, then it’s worthless. This is what makes blogs and websites so exciting. Due to search engines, people can actually find you and your information as long as you regularly add quality, relevant, original, keyword-rich content to your blog and website. The problem is, without a plan, you can get overwhelmed.
Create a plan for your content. Consider what products you want to promote, as well as what type of information you want to provide to your readers. With each product you promote you can create several pieces of content. First, inform your readers about a problem they have. Then educate them about the solution to their problem. Next, give them a way learn more about the product or a way to purchase the product.
Ideas for content:
A discussion about a problem
A product review that solves the problem
A product overview that solves the problem
Case studies that show how the product solves the problem
The content can be in the form of print, audio, video or a combination of all three. Organize your publication calendar so that you update your blog and website with this content on a regular basis. Shoot for updating your website or blog three to five times a week with your original content.
Next, work on putting your content on other sites, blogs, and article marketing websites. You can do this via a blog tour, offering to blog on other people’s blogs in exchange for your byline. Another way is to send out press releases to online press release sites, and to put general articles on article marketing websites such as Ezine Articles. This strategy will provide relevant backlinks to your website and hopefully lead people to sign up for your email list, where you can market your affiliate products to them.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
If you’re new to affiliate marketing you might be wondering if it’s really possible for a normal person like yourself to succeed. If you’re willing to do the work necessary to succeed, you absolutely can succeed at affiliate marketing. There are some good points to think about when getting involved in affiliate marketing such as:
Know the rules and laws — Keep yourself informed about the laws in your country, state or province so that you can always make sure you are following the law. This is a relatively new form of business in terms of laws being made therefore it’s important to keep up to date with the news of the day regarding the laws being created.
Is the niche profitable? — Just because you have a passion for something doesn’t make it automatically a good niche. Do your due diligence and study the niche that you want to become involved in so that you can determine if it is profitable or not. Learn about how to research a niche for profitability before moving forward.
Know your niche — Study your niche, which is the market segment you will market products to. Know what they like, know their ages, their sex, how many children they have. Know what they like to do during their free time. If you know your niche inside and out you will also know what types of products to market to them because you’ll know what problems they have and what solutions they need.
Less is more — Don’t allow “shiny object syndrome” to affect you and ruin your business. Promote one or two products at a time and don’t go crazy buying domain after domain. Get one domain up and profitable before moving on to another one. The rule less is more applies so well to the business of affiliate marketing because if you look at who is successful they usually have one or two products they actively promote strenuously and the niche is very well defined
Would you buy it? — If you’re trying to promote a product that you won’t buy, why do you think anyone else will want to buy it. It’s really important to get a review copy, or at buy products and try them out before you promote them to others. Skipping this step can make your job really hard because your cluelessness will come through when you’re trying to promote a product you’ve never used and would never use.
Julianne Wish, Member Contributions
You’ve heard of this business idea, Affiliate Marketing, and you want to try it, but you’re not sure it’s for you. You’ve heard you can make thousands of dollars a month, even earn your yearly J.O.B. salary in only a month! But you know it’s not that easy, so give this some serious consideration before you start.
Overnight success is not realistic and is in fact, a myth. It can take weeks, months and even years to perfect your affiliate marketing process to create the type of sales you desire. In order to be a successful affiliate marketer you will need to learn a lot about Internet marketing, Internet technology, and business in general. It takes time to become an overnight success! You’ll work hard to become successful but it will be worth it.
You need a profitable niche to be successful. Profitable does not mean it has to be a large niche. There are plenty examples of small niches that are under served and making someone a great deal of money. You will need to do research on possible niches that you can promote products for, and then stick to it and don’t get side tracked.
Be willing to stick to your efforts consistently and for the long haul. It’s also important not to reinvent the wheel. Find someone who is successful that shares your ethics, and model your actions after them. Doing this will help you reach success faster than trying to go it alone, not knowing up from down. It can take years to figure out what works, but there are experts who have already invented not only the wheel, but the entire car, all you need to do use their map and drive.
Educate yourself on the various methods of marketing other people’s products before you get started. Seriously research the different methods of marketing online, and once you start commit to stick to it for the long haul. In all honesty, if you’re only going to give it a try for a few months, you will fail. If you are willing to do what it takes for the next year, you’ll have a chance at success in affiliate marketing.
So, if you can be realistic, create a plan and stick to it over the long haul you can be very successful at affiliate marketing. It is a viable business to be involved in for most people who are interested in having a work from home business. You will not earn income over night, but with dedication, and knowing how to follow the road map that experts can provide, you will be successful.
Julianne Alvarez-Wish is a military wife, mother, business owner, professional writer, blogger and legislative advocate. She is the Director of Communications for Our Milk Money, the Colorado State Leader for the National Association for Moms in Business and the owner of Buy By Mom and Buy By Mom Blog. She is the Colorado Springs Stay-at-Home Mom Examiner for Examiner.com. She also blogs at A Wishful Thought. Her passion, purpose and goal is to help parents work from home so they can be home with their children.
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