Most web professionals will tell you that Google Analytics (or a similar service) is a must have when creating a website. By and large, it’s the best way to measure your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Not only is it quite popular, it’s also free. Google Analytics can do many, many things, but most often it seems to do one thing a little too well. Intimidate the user. Almost to a fault, the amount of features and statistics are near endless. To a web professional, it can be a dream come true...but to a common web user, it can be a nightmare.

That’s why we’re excited to announce a brand new set of features meant for the common user, built directly into Spinternet...a high level mix of Analytics information and time savers you’re sure to love.

Analytics Dashboard

Every time you login to the new Spinternet, you’ll be greeted by the brand new Analytics Dashboard. It features four distinct areas highlighting your site statistics for the last 30 days. The streamlined look and feel is meant for easy, at-a-glance browsing.

Visitors – How many visitors are you getting?
Visualize the number of visitors to your site at a glance, or rollover the line graph for date specific information.

Traffic Types – Where is your traffic coming from?
Compare the percentages of incoming traffic sources, or rollover the pie graph for the exact numbers.

Top Ten Keywords – What do people search for to find your site?
Understand how users found your site from search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing plus what keywords brought the most traffic.

Top Ten Pages – What are your popular pages?
Recognize your most popular pages and notice their page titles and URL structure.

QR Codes

Gone are the days of manually creating QR codes one by one with an online generator. QR codes can now be auto-generated for every page you create in Spinternet and are easily located under the QR Code tab on a per page basis. They can even be downloaded, and ready for use in your marketing and advertising materials.

URL Builder

Spreading the word about your site and getting people to visit is one thing, but knowing exactly how they heard of it is even better. The URL Builder is designed to do just that. With ties to your existing Google Analytics account, the URL Builder creates shortened URLs (and QR codes) for a single page. By giving a separate URL for all your marketing efforts (i.e. email newsletter, banner ads, ppc ads, etc), you now can identify what’s working and what’s not.

301 Redirect

Sometimes URLs can get a little too long and it’s typically unavoidable, but with 301 redirects you can literally create any URL you want. Best used for advertising purposes, especially when the page has to be memorized, 301 redirects can now be created directly in Spinternet.

Turn any long URL: www.yoursite.com/product/category/type/year/color/model.aspx
Into a short URL: www.yoursite.com/catchyname

Plus, 301 redirects are the perfect way for you to transition your visitors away from old pages, and towards new pages during a new site launch.

Page Analytics
Where the Analytics Dashboard is great for a broad spectrum view, Page Analytics is great for page specific stats. Browse pageviews, traffic types, even the average amount of time users spend on that page while you make page edits.

Like what you see? Want these Spinternet features on your site!?

Don’t wait, contact Spinutech today...send us an email, give us a call, heck even march down to our office. We’re really excited about these Spinternet enhancements, and know you will be to.

So, you’re looking for help with your website...more specifically, you’re wanting more traffic, more leads, and more sales. You heard through the grapevine that Search Engine Optimization (commonly known as SEO) is your answer.

Where do you start? How does it work? Who you gonna call? (not Ghostbusters) It's important to know what you're looking for in an SEO agency/company/person.

Start off by asking yourself these questions:

Do they guarantee first-place rankings? Don’t get hung up on being number one. More often than not these types of guarantees are used to compensate for a lack of experience or track record. Instead, focus on the quality of the visitor, and how you can get them to convert (i.e. fill out a form, make a purchase, download a file, etc).

Do they focus on conversions and goals? Search traffic reports are nice, and can provide useful data on your visitors, but a high number of visitors doesn’t necessarily mean a high number of conversions (i.e. leads, buyers, signups, etc). Ensure your goals are able to be clearly tracked and reported on.

Do they use a one-size-fits-all approach? It can’t be emphasized enough...every SEO proposal should be unique. What works for Company A may not, and usually does not work for Company B. Request a proposal that has action items detailed specifically for your business.

Do they complete the work in house and are they self sufficient? The biggest hurdle is typically the least obvious. SEO is often mistaken for a simple task like turning on a light switch, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Beyond knowing exactly what they will be working on, it’s also important you understand who they will be working with. As mentioned in a previous post entitled One Stop Shop, any work done to your site is often convoluted with multiple parties, multiple departments, and multiple decision makers. Make sure any costs associated with these tasks is clearly laid out.

The world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is quite massive and ever changing. Whether you've had experience with SEO in the past or are a complete newbie, contact us about SEO...we're here to help.

People DO judge a book by its cover (which is certainly the case on the web).

Fortunately for some, and unfortunately others...perception = reality.

• If the user perceives your website to be of value, than it is valuable.
• If the user perceives your website to be of no use, than it is useless.

Apple, arguably one of the highest quality brands across any medium, made it a point early on to address this exact issue. Mike Markkula, who for a short time was the third partner at Apple with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, is credited for creating “The Apple Marketing Philosophy”...a basic philosophy for the company containing three points from which the last addresses the importance of value and perception.

Point No. 3: Impute 

Apple should be constantly aware that companies and their products will be judged by the signals they convey. "People DO judge a book by its cover," Markkula wrote. "We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software etc.; if we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceived as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities." 

(Impute [imˈpyo͞ot]: Assign (a value) to something by inference from the value of the products or processes to which it contributes.)

To this day, the basic Apple philosophy still holds true. Everything from the design of the hardware, to the usability of the software...all the way down to the details in the packaging portray not just a sense of “consumer want”, but a sense of “consumer need” (Some might say, “the devil is in the details”).

So how does this relate to your website?

Simple, as soon as your website loads, your brand, product, or business is exposed. Within minutes or more likely seconds and before you can even “sell yourself”, the user on the other end has made a determination.

How do you ensure your site is worthy of pageviews?

Start by asking yourself a few simple questions:

What are you doing to convince the user that they need your product or service?
Where do you want them to look?
What do you want them to click?
What do your headlines convey?
How are your graphics supporting your copy?

If you don’t have an answer, don’t be alarmed...many others don’t have an answer either. Value, especially perceived value, is hard to create. Your preferences in everything from food to clothes to electronics has come with time (and has surely changed over time). What better time to start creating that user preference and value for your site then now?

For more information on “The Apple Marketing Philosophy” see Walter Isaacson’s book “Steve Jobs”