Work Yourself Up!

Site Stats: Measuring Your Results

When you start planning your business, you have a business plan that will help map out where you see your sales going from one year to the next. With online businesses you can do this through website statistics. These are measurements of various activities on your website that directly relate to your business.

Site Statistics

One of the things that you want is traffic. Without traffic you won't get any sales and your business won't grow. Your marketing plan outlines how you will proceed with getting that traffic. But, it is not foolproof.

You won't know if your efforts are working unless you measure it. That is where statistics come in. What do you measure? Here are a few examples:

- Unique visitors (how many different people visit your site)
- Keyword analysis (which keywords bring in traffic and which don't)
- Conversion rates (how many visitors go from reading to buying items)
- Web page analysis (where visitors go when they are on your site)
- Page views (how many people visit each unique page on your website)

These are just a few of the stats that you will be interested in knowing. When you first begin marketing your site, statistics can help you find out if you are on the right page. Do the keywords you use drive traffic?

Statistics are gathered on a monthly basis but it can take a few months to see trends. Trends are a measure of the way that your current plan is taking shape. Because of the lag time, it's not wise to make changes to your plan for several months to give it time to work or not work. When a business is in start-up mode, it will take that long to get an accurate measure of sales.

Site stats give you a starting point. Without some way to measure your business efforts it is like shooting in the dark - you don't know if you've hit or miss. Looking at all the statistics together gives you a better idea of what to change first in an attempt to improve your business.

So, if you have not instituted a way to measure vital information pertaining to your website business, it is time to do so. There are software tools (both free and paid) that can help you compile these statistics. You can also hire companies to measure that information for you and analyze the data to anticipate the next more that you need to make. But, for small businesses, using software to compile the data and your own brain to analyze it will suffice.

What Site Stats Can Tell You

Why do some websites do well and others just crest for a while and then sink under the surf? It could be the big picture view. Website statistics can teach you a lot about how your online business is doing. Take a minute and look at those stats.

Getting Set Up

When you roll out your website, it is going to be important to monitor your progress. You can't visit the site every day. You may want to but there are other tasks to tend to. Besides, if you automate most everything, your site will be able to run itself with very little interference from you except for site upkeep and adding new content and products.

This will require a well thought out plan on your part. Basic to that plan is a way to measure what goes on during the course of a day on your site. People visit, read articles, click on ads, view products and use the shopping cart. Each of these activities will help you to determine how your business will proceed in the months and years ahead.

You can add files to your web page yourself to capture certain stats. An easier step would be to get involved with a website stats program to do the work for you. Choose something like Google Analytics. If you already use other Google services to help promote your business then you are already familiar with the variety of tools they can offer you.

Google Analytics lets you analyze several things:

- Traffic
- Marketing strategies (ads)
- Keywords
- Conversion rates

This is only a sampling. You sign up and the program will walk you through the rest of what you need to get be ready for business.

Making Changes

Now that you have a way to track changes on your website, it's time to see how they can help you over not using anything at all.

- Improve Keyword Optimization - The keywords that you decided to use may all not perform well. Using stats on page views and visitors, you can tell which of your keywords is bringing in the most traffic. For the ones that are not, consider exchanging keywords on that web page and see how that might improve sales.

- Improve your Content Offerings - The low number of page views for a specific page could signify that people aren't finding your content on the first page of search engine results. Take another look at your content. Is your keyword density within the right range? Are you using too many? Search engines don't look kindly to keyword stuffing and will not rank your work favorably. With content, provide useful information using only as many words as you need to get your point across.

What are your site stats telling you? Remember to change one parameter at a time to find the right mix that will help your website succeed.

4 Quick Tips for Increasing Traffic with Forums

Although online business owners are being dazzled by social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, the old-style method of participating in highly-targeted forums or message boards is still one of the most effective traffic-generation methods used today. Your link can be prominently displayed in front of the exact audience you're attempting to lure. Don't overlook this strategy. You may be surprised with the results it still brings in.

These 4 quick tips will ensure that you are using forums effectively and to the best advantage.

Quick Tip #1: Choose wisely

Forums are extremely popular on the internet. You can more than likely find a forum related to just about any subject you can think of from fantasy baseball to purses. Because of the abundance of forums, you should be very picky when choosing which ones you'll frequent and post on. This will save you time and allow you to achieve optimum results.

Basically you want to decide on a forum that relates either directly or indirectly to your niche, but there must be a connection. Otherwise, your posts will be just a time waster. In fact, the more you can “niche down” your topic, the most effective your marketing will be.

For instance, if you're selling NASCAR memorabilia, then targeting a general sports forum may generate some results, targeting a fantasy football forum will probably get very little results, but finding a NASCAR forum will get the best results.

Quick Tip #2: Read the Rules

Your next step after deciding on a forum to join would be to read the rules of the forum. There are forums that may not allow you to include a signature file (where you would put a link to your website) at all. Others have rules that dictate how many posts you need to have before you can add a signature file. Some allow zero marketing – so you'd skip those.

Once you read the rules, remember to always adhere to them no matter what. If you violate these rules in any way you may be pegged as a nuisance and kicked out of the forum, while possibly ruining your reputation and wasting your time.

As long as you're a valued contributing member of the forum offering great advice and content, more often than not you will be able to include a link to your site in your posts.

Quick Tip #3: Create a Compelling Signature File

After choosing a forum or two and familiarizing yourself with their rules, it is time to decide what you want your forum signature file to express about you. Since you want people to click through to your website, you need to make sure that your signature line is targeted and entices people to learn more about you.

This is a wise opportunity to utilize your copywriting skills. Make sure those one or two  sentences gets prospects attention and curiosity as well as alerts prospects that you may be able to solve a pending problem of theirs as well.

It is wise to test your signature file and tweak it to see which advertisement gets the best results. Keeping it fresh also gives the added benefit of attracting the eye to those who've gotten used to your old ads.

Quick Tip #4: Build Trust

People may be a bit suspicious of new members when they first join a forum. There is a dynamic in any forum, and believe it or not, often cliques are formed. If you want to have hope of getting people to click on your signature file and eventually buy from you, you'll need to earn their trust first.

There are many different ways to accomplish this, and you can get an idea for which way is best by looking at the profiles and posts of the most prolific and respected members.

Examples of how you may build trust with forum members include...

•    Having a profile picture.
•    Using a real name (or a real sounding pen name) as your username.
•    Filling out general info in your profile like location or birthdate.
•    Including some personal information in your profile bio, to make you seem like a real person that they can relate to.

People generally want to know something about who they are speaking to or considering doing business with.

Forums can be a source of highly-targeted web traffic when used smartly and correctly. Choosing a related forum, following the rules, creating a great signature file, and proving that you can be trusted are all excellent ways to ensure that you'll get traffic to your website and benefit from increased “expert” status while networking in online communities. 

4 Quick Tips for Getting Traffic with Social Sites

Social sites like Twitter, Facebook, and StumbleUpon have become hot and are getting hotter all the time. Both online and offline businesses are jumping into social marketing – and for a good reason. It works. To push past your competition, you'll want to continually build relationships and stay ever-present in the marketplace. Social media can help you to accomplish this. And, it's fun.

Thankfully, there are simple and effective ways to use these social Web 2.0 sites. I'll share some of those tips with you now.

Quick Tip #1: Twitter Is Golden

Many people are using twitter as a way to connect with colleagues, family, friends, and customers. If you haven't tried Twitter, now may be the time to set up an account and see what it's all about. Twitter is a "micro blogging" platform where you can write (in 140 characters or less) anything you'd like. You can update people about your day, share resources, send a link to your websites, etc. - anything that you feel your followers will find useful or interesting.

When you're a member of twitter you "follow" people and they will "follow" you.

This just means that when you log in to your twitter account you will see the messages posted by those who you're following. Likewise, the people who have decided to follow you will see your messages.

Ex. Sally follows Paul. So, when Sally logs into her Twitter account, she can see Paul's updates on her screen along with all of the other people she's following.

Assuming you're using Twitter for marketing and making money, the people you follow and those who follow you should be highly targeted. They log in because they are interested in what you and others have to say. Since there are only 140 characters allowed per “tweet” (twitter post), you'll want to encourage your followers to follow your link for more information on what you are referring to.

If you use this social media site in the correct way you'll gain loyal followers which leads to targeted traffic and then some very targeted customers. Some have even found Twitter traffic to be more targeted than PPC and article marketing, both which have been deemed proven methods of internet marketing.

Quick Tip #2: Facebook for Friends

Facebook is a social media site that actually started out as a way for college friends to keep in contact. Soon enough high school students signed on, now it is being used for business as well. It seems that everyone you run into today has a Facebook page. As of this writing, Facebook has over 200,000,000 active users. That's a whole lot of potential traffic.

Just like you have followers on Twitter, you have friends on Facebook and that's where the power of Facebook lies.

You can update your status, link to your website, and leave comments on your friends' Facebook pages. Again, this creates a great community feeling and also very targeted traffic since people will get to know you and become interested in your opinions and suggestions before clicking through a link to your website.

Quick Tip #3: Digg Your Way to the Top

Digg is a very interesting way to receive traffic, and it is currently adored by Google. The basic idea is that when you enjoy or really “dig” an article, you "Digg" it. If other people are interested they will Digg it as well (by clicking the "Digg" button that appears). The more Diggs a web page gets, the higher the rankings and exposure tends to be.

You can Digg your own articles and pages on your site as long as you are careful. Digg has banned users for spamming or being too self promotional. However, if you use the true social aspect of it by making friends, digging their articles, and digging great articles you find online you can easily drive targeted traffic to your own submissions as well.

Quick Tip #4: Linked In for Business

Linked In may be classified as an “unusual” social media site as compared to Twitter, Facebook or Digg. While those sites tend to promote finding old friends and making new ones while networking socially, Linked In is geared to the world of business networking. Using it will help you network within your chosen niche for suggestions, support and help. It will also allow you to search other niches and help you find targeted prospects as well.

Linked In is similar to Facebook in the fact that you will be given a Linked In “page” where you can post information about your business and the reason you are there. You can add business websites, blog addresses and anything else related to your business. As of this writing over 40 million professionals regularly use Linked In. Just think of how many people you may be able to reach out to in regards to your business, Linked In is definitely a great social site for all business owners become a member of.

Social sites put an exciting spin on website promotion and marketing. Not only are you getting fantastic exposure to your online business, but it's great to feel as if you are a part of a community, and it's a whole lot of fun.

Twitter Your Way to Instant Traffic

Twitter is a different take on communicating that blends instant messaging with social networking.  With a mere 140 characters per post, you answer the burning question, “What are  you doing now?”

To answer this, you have to make the most of every word. You have to capture attention quickly in each “tweet” (the Twitter name for a post). Sign up for Twitter and send out notices to your friends and subscribers. 

The more people who follow your “tweets,” the more your following grows as their friends see your profile thumbnail on other people’s profile pages and click through to follow you as well.  Every time you post a new tweet, each of your followers receives it instantly on their computers or cell phones if they’ve set it up like that.

Sending regular tweets can help build loyalty among your followers. Don’t just send anything, make it count. If you write reviews on electronic games or develop accessories for Avatars, then you want to let your followers know when you have something new for them.

You can develop an almost fanatical group who are so intent on knowing what you have to offer that they hang on your every tweet. For info marketers, this intensity can develop into a loyal group of buyers who respond to your new offerings.

Friends who want to set up a meeting can use tweets to inform everyone of the time and place. You can also send a tweet to direct attention to your latest blog update or lens creation. Remember to save room to add the URL for your site.

This is important for creating interest in your site and developing your brand. Even with a short post, you can set up your identity in a way that draws more followers to your niche. Twitter is a delight to some and baffling to others.

You have to get into it to really get what’s happening. Look at other Twitterers and see how many ways they’re using tweets to set their brand, establish a persona, show expertise or drive traffic to their sites.

The instant gratification of Twitter is part of its addictive potential. When you choose to Twitter within your field, profession, hobby, sport or business, then you’ll see how to dispense an enormous amount of new information rapidly, one Tweet at a time.

Social Bookmarking to Grab Attention Online

Social bookmarking is the electronic version of leaving a breadcrumb trail. After all, you can have a great product, but without enough traffic, it’s just another nice site.  Even if you have a faithful marketing list, you constantly want to reach new online viewers.

The options for connecting with social bookmarkers are exploding.  That’s why you need to surf around and see what’s out there, then set up a series of “regular” social bookmarking accounts to use.

StumbleUpon is one of the leading social bookmarking sites that’s both easy to use and powerful. Once you create an account, you can add the toolbar interface.  Then all you do is click the Thumbs Up icon to recommend a site.  You can do this for your own sites, or ask your friends to submit a Thumbs Up rating for you. Besides the rating, you can add comments about the site.

Can you Digg it? That’s not just a line from a 70s movie - it’s a widely used social bookmarking site. Digg functions much like Stumble Upon with raters given the chance push the ratings of a site to the front page. Making it to the front page of Digg gets your information in front of thousands of viewers and it helps traffic flood in to read your newsworthy submission.

Clipmarks describes itself as “scissors for web pages.” As with other social bookmarking sites, you can submit items that are sent to the web - including to Facebook or to an iPhone. As a one stop service and huge time saver, sign up with OnlyWire.

You begin by installing a plugin for your browers, and then you only need a single click to submit your item to multiple sites. To make this work, you still need to sign up at bookmarking sites that you plan to use. After that, you can use OnlyWire to handle the multiple submissions.

Make sure your site viewers know how to rate your site. You can’t reward or bribe them for bookmarking your site. That’s the social bookmarking version of stuffing the ballot box at voting time.

You can put links to the bookmarking sites on your sites as a gentle reminder. And don’t be shy about submitting your new information to the networks yourself – just make sure you also submit other sites so that you don’t appear spammy. Let people know what you’ve got and where to find your site and they’ll share that information with others.

Another Free "Traffic Secrets" Video from John Reese

John Reese just released another free video to promote his Traffic Secrets 2 product.  He's got some great information on how to get better results with outsourcing.

This thing has some great info, so definitely check it out.  I outsource hundreds of projects per year and learned some really great stuff about how to better communicate with programmers and others that I hire.

How to Get More Traffic to Your Website

John Reese just released a series of free videos on how to get more traffic to your website.

John is a sharp guy and there are very few people at his level when it comes to generating web traffic.  If you could use more traffic to your web page, take a few minutes and check out his free videos.

5 Traffic Conversion Hot Buttons

Grabbing the attention of an online surfer is challenging enough, so you want to turn as many viewers as possible into actual buyers. And you want to entice buyers to become repeat buyers.

Once you’ve told the product story, how do you get them to push that “buy button” again? Here are some traffic conversion hot buttons to add to your site today:

1.    Expose your competition’s warts.  You can expect popular products to attract competitors. Study the competition and find the weaknesses or differences that you can exploit.  Do you deliver faster or offer discount shipping, give choice of downloads or CDs, gift wrap, ship internationally?  Let buyers know what sets you apart from your competitors.

2.    Go ahead - name drop!  Find a celebrity to endorse your product. Not necessarily a movie star, just people who are known and respected in your niche market. Send your product out to niche superstars and ask for their honest review as well as permission to use the comments on your website. You benefit for the star power of the endorsers.

3.    Prove it! Find research that advances your product in the marketplace. Even a basic study that shows “7 out of 10 people who regularly exercise are less likely to get prickly heat,” might be linked loosely to your product.  Make the connection reasonable. If there isn’t any research, make your own by using results from an online survey or poll.

4.    Test yourself. Create three different pitches that play on your main product. Use each page for 10 days. At the end of the month, compare results.  The pitch that captures the most buyers isn’t always the one you like the most. Remember, it’s about what clicks with the buyer - even if it isn’t your favorite.

5.    Befriend to win. Make sure that your sales copy creates a connection with your buyer.  You can make money with straight sales copy but you’ll make more money when you build a relationship with buyers. 

Let them into your life enough that they care about you and they will be more willing to invest in your products. You can set up a forum to discuss your niche interest or add short reviews from your buyers.

Feature a buyer with a photo and candid interview. When you give buyers reasons to drop by regularly, then you are developing a relationship. Needless to say, your “special offer” email gets read when others are sent to the trash folder.

Quality Of Traffic versus Quantity Of Traffic

A very important concept to constantly have in your mind when you are going about your daily IM activities is that your goal is to sell your product. Your goal isn't to generate a million zillion visitors in a day. No, not at all. What you want to do is make a sale. It is crucial to always remember that when you are going about your traffic generating activities.

The first thing to never be tempted by is someone who offers to send you 10000 visitors for say $67. These visitors are never going to buy from you and are just people who get paid a little percentage to visit your site for about half a second before immediately getting off again. It is a useless source of traffic and one that will never pay off.

Moving on from there you will want to have your focus on looking for targeted traffic and the more highly targeted the better. If you are trying some search engine optimization then it is a really good idea to think carefully about terms the people most likely to buy your product would put into a search engine. General terms tend to have a far lower conversion rate that of more specific terms. Usually more specific terms are longer and more easy to rank highly for so these are the best one's to go for. For example, 40 highly targeted visitors per day may produce a sale per day that would take 200 visitors from a more general keyword.

If you can target highly relevant forums and make interesting, informative and educational posts then even if the forum doesn't have that many members you can still make a lot of sales because you are giving people exactly what they want. This would be far better to do than go posting on a more general forum, albeit with a far bigger audience, hoping that people who want it happen to find you. Better to go and find them yourself!

In summing up remember to never lose sight of your goal which is to make sales, not to get the most traffic any website has ever got in the history of the web, and to do this all you need is a reasonable quantity of highly targeted traffic.