If you ask most small business owners if they’re happy with the number of visitors coming to their website? or

How long were they on their site or,

What action they took?

You could say over 90% wouldn’t have clue, because they have no way of tracking and monitoring their websites. You see out of the 11 websites i review last week only 1 had installed Google Analytics.

Why you install Google Analytics

The blurb from Google Analytics Enterprise-class web analytics made smarter, friendlier and free.

“Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you’re more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.”

So 1 out 11 sites  had the tools to analyses their site performance for the rest it just a guess.

Google provides this tool for free so you can understand how your visitors arrive at your site.

• Isolate and analyze subsets of your traffic. Select from predefined custom segments such as “Paid Traffic” and “Visits with Conversions”
• Track sales and conversions. Measure your site engagement goals against: threshhold levels that you define.
• Optimize your AdWords performance with post-click data on your keywords, search queries, match type and more.
• Trace transactions to campaigns and keywords, get loyalty and latency metrics, and identify your best revenue sources.
• Understand visitor intent, find out what your customers are really looking for and speed up time to conversion.

Google Analytics is aimed at marketers as opposed to webmasters

Here a video by Google http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KK7i084W2w

A brief overview of how to use the Google Analytics interface. If you are new to Google Analytics or you’d like to pick up a few tips on how to use some of the different features, this video is a good place to start

I remember having a discussion with a lady who told me she  was getting 10,000 visitors a month to her jewellery site. The only trouble no one was buying any of her jewellery.

I know it pretty exciting checking your logs on the server and seeing 10,000 visitors per month.

It’s a tragedy if you do all the work to get them to your site, then they just leave and don’t come back. It’s all for nothing

Once we installed Google Analytics, it was pretty obvious where the leakage was occurring. (it’s simply to do, just add a line of code to your website, or if you’re using WordPress, add the code to Google Analytics Plugin)  Most of her visitors were leaving from the same place.

The problem was twofold, her marketing efforts pulled in heaps of people, unfortunately these people were not buyers. It’s a bit like advertising Ferrari cars in an unemployment magazine, they love the cars, but they have no capacity pay for the Ferrari.

You see her marketing attracted people looking for free jewelery, suddenly these people landed on her site and were bombarded with expensive high jewellery ads.

Her marketing was not congruent with her website. She failed the no 1 rule of marketing Give the right message to the right people.

Now may not making a sale no big deal, accept she was buying the traffic from Google Adwords, so for 5 months she been handing over a bag of money to Google, with nothing to show for it.

Google did it’s job, showing her ads to her poorly chosen keywords. Now let’s be clear  Google Adwords is powerful marketing tool, if it’s set up properly. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, the ultimate direct response marketing tool. Google has a built in defaults ,what you might call a Stupid Tax, unless you know how to fine tunes. Not a game for beginners, as it can cost  you a fortune.  ,

So why was her Google Adwords campaign such an expensive money suck

Her site was confusing and slow to load

All her traffic was sent to her home page, which did not match her marketing message.

Once on the site they had no idea what action to take

Almost impossible to find the Cosmetic Jewellery section of website, so they just left.

Her Google analytics told us, most of the visitors used the term cosmetic jewellery, but site tried to  push Cartier diamonds and other exclusive brands, so most people gave up because they weren’t directed to cosmetic jewelry section when they landed on her site.

It amazes me it took her 5 months to realise, there was something wrong with her website. And If I hadn’t suggested using Google Analytics, she could still be donating money to Google or would of gone broke.

As a direct response copywriter, I know if I can’t measure it then i can’t manage it

Can you afford to waste 5 months wondering how your sites performing . Go over to Google Analytics and set up account http://www.google.com/analytics/

So what’s the lesson here. It’s not how much traffic you get, it’s how it converts to your goals, whether that’s measured in sales or leads.

Don’t let your website suffer from not knowing what’s going on.

Don’t miss Part 3 of lessons learnt from reviewing websites How find your ideal clients

Share your tips for using Google Analytics

How do you get found in the Search Engines

Last Week I spent a couple of hours reviewing websites, for people who requested feedback on their websites.

Lets Start with SEO Search Engine Optimisation

Some managed to discover Meta tags (Title, Description, & keywords). In most cases, these were left blank. Why not give your site the best opportunity to get found in the search engines. Now before you jump up and down, I know these aren’t the only things Google looks at, but it certainly going to help – rather than leaving the meta tags empty.

It still amazes me that people still build sites using flash, (yeah I know the techies love it and it looks pretty) here’s the deal Google and the other search engines can’t read it, and for that matter they read JavaScript either.

The search engines can only read the words on the page, they store these words in their database and using complicated math algorithms. They match these to the words typed in the search engine and the links to the page, to find the best fit, for the search.

Now why do I say this, these sites with Flash are slow to load, and you only have 8 -15 seconds to get their attention, and their gone. Bye Bye their not coming back. Do you really want your visitors watching a spinning hourglass while it tries to load., I don’t think so. If that’s not bad enough Google has build in to their Algorithm a punishment for slow sites , by downgrading the search because there to slow to load. Ouch. So site might be pushed to page  4 or 5. (there goes the visitor)

If you don’t believe me check your Google Analytic Stats, then you’ll see how long they stayed on your site.

Having a pretty site, that no one stays longer than 15 seconds, it’s like my Dad’s old saying “ their spinning their wheels, but their going nowhere”

To make it worst some of these sites had an intro page with only a Flash video, with the only text on the page saying “Enter Here”. That should really help you in the search engines, if you hoping to get found for “Enter Here, (not very likely)

It’s like having a nice new shinny brochure, then sticking it with a billion other brochures, hoping someone finds your brochure and reads it. Not good odds.

So why do some many websites suck, because most of these websites are built by geeks, who love spinning, twirling flashing things. It makes you feel good, having a so called expert, who knows PHP and javascript and 7 other impressive computer languages.

The only trouble, is these guys, seem to be inept when it comes to marketing and the purpose of the website.

Their doesn’t seem to be much point in having a website, if no one finds your site.

Sure, it looks good.

So far, we looked at your On Page SEO, this certainly can’t do any harm and you might be surprised, by getting more visitors.

This is of course if have, Google Analytic to monitor your visitors

Keep an eye for Part 2, Using Google Analytic

Taking the Voodoo out SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

SEO seems like Voodoo, add some magic potion, whisper a couple incantations and tricked the search engines into find you. That’s how the SEO experts sell their secret magic SEO services, to get your site found in Google.

SEO is a science. Google employs the smartest math people to create complex algorithms, to rank and index billions of WebPages for the Keyword being searched.

If you want rank in the search engines, then write good content, people want to read. Make it useful and educate people, on how your product or service solves their problem.

The more relevant content you have on your site, the more people will link to you.

The easiest way to get high search engine rankings is get more links. If other sites are linking to you then the search engines believe you must have something to say on the keywords typed in.

Social Media allows you to get exposure and links from sites, which have a high Page Rank and a carries, a lot of authority. Facebook is the no 1 site visited on the Web.

Make sure you’ve got your On Page SEO under control.

On Page SEO On Page SEO – Your in charge here, it’s what you put on each page

So take Control

Title Tags	Title tags are displayed at the top of the browser and can be found in your header of your page code. They look this <title>   </title> Google displays 64 characters, try to have your keywords in, tell what the page is about. This usually shows up as the first line in a Search listing.
Words on Page	Make your pages, so people can read them, have relevant and useful content. Sprinkle keywords or phrases, that suitable for the content. Don’t stuff it with Keywords as looks like spam, usually doesn’t make sense to a reader. If people like content, then it will rank higher the search engines.
Domain Name	When purchasing a Domain Name try to get your Keyword in the Domain. Keep short and easy to spell, don’t use hyphens as they’re hard to remember. Try to get a .com, seems to higher trust factor, better known. This does not play a big part in SEO, but people are more likely to click on a domain that contains keyword there looking for.
URL	A URL(uniform resource locator) is the Internet address of a particular site or document available via the World Wide Web. Keep these clean as search engines have difficultly reading “& “?”, so if you’re using these characters your pages almost invisible.
XML Sitemaps	A XML Sitemaps is like roadmap of your site making it easy for the search engines to follow how your sites connected. This shows where your pages are and how they linked together, so they can be index in the search engines. Google offers a free Sitemap Generator https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/docs/en/sitemap-generator.html
Internal links	Create internal links throughout your website, using keywords as the anchor text. Don’t get all fancy using graphics links as the search engines struggle to follow them. The web is built on linking pages and sites together, make it easy for people and Search engines to follow your ideas.

Off Page SEO – It’s All about the links

This is mainly controlled by People linking to you

Incoming Links	Google Search Algorithms are based links, its structure and anchor text. When someone searches, Google looks at your site to see how many incoming links you have. The more relevant links you have to the search phrase, the higher you will rank. Google assume you must be Authority site on the subject.
Anchor text Links	Google doesn’t just accept your links on face value, it looks at in context to the words around the link. Do the links tell the person something about where they’re going or their purpose. So how should you write a link a href=”http://www.rowanshead.com/”>Cashflow Copywriting  and Marketing</a> The link would look like Cashflow Copywriting and Marketing
PageRank on sites linking to you	PageRank reflects Google view of the importance of a web pages. Pages that Google believe are important pages receive a higher PageRank and are more likely to appear at the top of the search results. The Google PageRank formula consists more than 500 million variables and 2 billion terms, so you’re talking High-level maths.
Authority Sites	Authority Site are regarded has expert in their field because they have lots of links and they have a high page rank. Authority sites generally have more content and more pages than other sites.

A interview Matt Cutts head of Google Spam, they look after Search quality

His job how can make search engines better.

These are the suggestion has small business marketing

Google’s Matt Cutts gives tips to small business owners

• You should be using WordPress – Open source, tons of plugins – does SEO really well
• Content is king write for people
• Think what a users going to type in the search engines
• Make sure you’re offering useful service
• Give a reason  for them to come back to your site
• SEO Search Engines optimisation
• Use Google Webmaster central these tools will help gets your site  indexed
• Local Business Centre + Google Maps, show up locally
• Sitemaps tells Google which URL are important
• Google Base you can list your Products
• Video where to submit if less, then 10 min use YouTube
• If more than 10 min , the  upload to Google Video
• Trick use transcript in description, have meta tags
• Google can’t read Flash or JavaScript – use html

This is good advice, so if you need any help with these topics let me know, then I’ll be happy to help.

It’ s 27^th of Jan, this is the time business awakes from it summer hibernation. The kids are going back to school. The holiday is over.

This is when business, gets fair dinkum.

Everybody had their holidays, it’s back at work.

So as a small business operator what’s your plan?

How are you going to get more business?

There are over 1.9 million small businesses across Australia – many of these businesses are struggling to survive.

Small business realise it’s getting more expensive and harder to get in front of new prospects. You’re looking at better ways to find and qualify your target market

You’re looking at practical ways to reach new customers.

My clients tell me consistently

“they’re aware they need to have website and get found on a Google search, they just have no idea, how to achieve this.”

You probably fall into this boat too.

It’s hard for Small Business to stand out in a crowd because the big boys are throwing bucket loads of cash on Fancy Billboards and TV advertising. They’re just making noise.

“Use of the internet is high among Australians and, importantly, among consumers. Small business owners are missing valuable opportunities to use the web to promote their business and build their customer base,” Tim Reed, CEO of MYOB.

Businesses are looking for solutions to dwindling profits and sales.

If you don’t have a website, then take a look at these stats

• As of 27 Jan 2010 the population of Australia reach 22,130,470 , according to Australian Bureau of Statistics Website http://www.abs.gov.au
• In 2007 there was 1 Small business for every 10 people in Australia, approximately 1.93 million active small businesses (1,927,590) in Australia, representing 96 per cent of all businesses (2,011,770)

ABS Counts of Australian Businesses, Including Entries and Exits, June 2003 to June 2007 – 8165.0, Table 13 p 18.

Australian use the internet so Small business needs to have a website

• At the end of June 2009, there were 8.4 million active internet subscribers in Australia.
• Digital subscriber line (DSL) accounted for 57% (4.2 million) of these connections, which decreased from 63% since December 2008 when DSL represented 63% of non dial-up access connections.
• This is mainly due to an increase of Mobile wireless subscribers from 20% of all non dial-up connections (1.3 million) in December 2008 to 27% (2 million) in June 2009. That’s an increase of 51% over the six-month period.

ABS8153.0 – Internet Activity, Australia, Jun 2009

Small business and using the Internet

• 97% of SME’s owned a computer of some description compared with medium Business this sits at 98% Small Business  owners have  embrace the concept of being portable with 63 %of SMEs now owning a notebook computer – Sensis® e-Business Report –The Online Experience of Small and Medium Enterprises 2009
• 95% small and medium businesses are connected to the internet, an increase of 1% from last year. 96% of SME have broadband internet connection
• 97%  of SME use  the internet , to communicate with clients, customers and suppliers, with 92% used to look for information on products and services and then 91% using for research

Results from the MYOB Australian Small Business Survey, 31 Mar 2009,

“Use of the internet is high among Australians and, importantly, among consumers. Small business owners are missing valuable opportunities to use the web to promote their business and build their customer base,”  Tim Reed, CEO of MYOB.

“The web is a critical information and communication platform, an important tool for small businesses, particularly now with the current economic turbulence,” continues Mr Reed.

Survey Indicator Report – March 2009 http://myob.com

• The MYOB survey found only 39% of small business had a website and of these only 30% were able to sell online (online shopping or e-Commerce facility)
• Only 44% of Small business had registered a Domain Name, as of March 2009, with 52% don’t even have  domain name registered
• As of 30 June 2008 36% of Australian businesses have a web presence, this includes businesses with a website, home page or presence on another entity’s website http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/ProductDocumentColle..
• The bigger the company the higher the chance of having a web presence – a company with over 200 employers 96% likelihood of having a web presence compared  only 27% for businesses employing 0-4 persons  [1] Sensis® e-Business Report –The Online Experience of Small and Medium Enterprises 2009
• Businesses employing 0-4 persons comprise just under two thirds of the population and have a relatively low incidence of web presence.

These statistics show why businesses who don’t invest in a web presence will be left behind

If these figures help you to see the opportunities of having a web a presence, then it’s time to take action.

What are your Website options

1. You could build a website yourself (Do you have the time  or knowledge to learn html and how upload files to the a server, probably not or you would have a site)
2. If you have a geek as a friend, then they could build you a site, They usually have lots of fancy code,(but are not very practical for marketing purposes)
3. Get a web designer to build you a site. You need to know your purpose and what your trying to achieve ( the trouble with these sites, is every time you need to update them, you need to have the skills to update them or pay the web designer, this is why most Websites have stale content)
4. Use a CMS Content Management System, like WordPress, or Joomla which take a bit effort to set up, but it’s as easy to update your content, all you do is create a document in Word, then cut and paste and click publish. Google loves CMS because they have fresh content.

Most small businesses don’t have the skills to build a website and those that do struggle to have their website show up in the Google search.

Building a website the easy part, the trick is getting the website found on a Google Search.

If you ask most business. “Are they happy with the amount of traffic their website generates?” and “Do they know how this traffic converts?” Most business owners want more traffic and have no clue if it produces any extra business

If you looking to get a web presence and not sure how to go about, then Cashflow Copywriting & Marketing would be happy to guide you through the process.

For more information on CMS check out Which Blogging software should you use?

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[1] Sensis® e-Business Report –The Online Experience of Small and Medium Enterprises 2009