If you use Google Analytics, this post (and accompanying video) is a must-read. Avinash, an expert on web analytics, especially Google Analytics, explains how the session algorithm changed and the resulting impact this has on various reports and metrics in GA.
Of particular importance, this changes the number of visits (not unique visits, just visits), as well as that metric’s cascading change on avg pageviews per visit, time on site, bounce rates, etc.
If you are still asking yourself (or your business) this question, the good news is that it is not too late to start; the bad news is that you are a little late to the game.
Gavin O’Malley for MediaPost reports that in-app inventory is expected to surpass display inventory in the not-too-distant future.
It is easy to get started if you are already advertising through AdWords. You can begin creating campaigns that specifically target mobile devices such as tablets (which is a no-brainer) and smart phones. If you are going to target small-screen devices, I strongly encourage you to create separate campaigns and landing pages. If your existing landing pages and forms are already mobile-friendly, then you may be able to skip creating a new set. There’s an easy way to find out – just pull up your pages on a mobile device and participate in the user experience first hand. Here’s what you need:
Jenna Lebel penned a fantastic article on Likeable.com that discusses how to get started with measuring social media. It is spot on! The first thing you must always do is understand what you hope to achieve. In this case, you need to ask yourself, why are we using social media, and why does that matter? Is it to generate sales opportunities, build relationships, create brand awareness, provide customer support, or something else? This is so important, as each of these goals may translate into a different set of metrics.
Now, as you go about your measurement and management of social media, you might be focusing on one particular area, such as lead generation, and realize you are also gaining in another area, say customer service. So, it is okay to update your goals AND metrics as you go along. An ROI strategy should not be without some elasticity.
I’m doing a number of presentations over the next several months looking at the next step of ROI. The step that comes after you have identified your goals… How to convert those goals into some sort of metric, report and dashboard. I will share that information hear soon! In the mean time, start documenting your goals!
Pace Lattin produced a great article about advertising fraud over at ClickZ last week. It details how ad exchanges will go to any length to grow their inventory and undercut competitors.
To this I reply, why even bother advertise on any network outside of Google or Yahoo/Bing? Is your business so big that it has exhausted all its inventory possibilities on these networks? Hardly!
Okay, so you can still branch out a little bit… Hulu for instance, is fine… and I’m sure there are some media companies such as AOL and NBC that you can be okay with… but beyond these players, just stay away. The more us advertisers come together and stop buying on these crappy networks, the shorter the life span these networks will experience. So, in the end, just say NO!
Mobile Commerce recently published an article showing that adoption of QR codes by students is lacking (especially compared to other areas of the world such as Asia).
Could this be due to trust issues? Is it possible that young students don’t particularly trust advertising? Rather than save time by scanning a code to pull up a page who’s content they are not aware, students would rather control the conversation and type in the URL manually.
I just read an interesting article from Dan Sapp (from a while ago) about PowerPoint presentations and how they might be hurting your business success.
It’s not the first time I’ve heard this, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.
I generally agree with Dan… that PowerPoint presentations shouldn’t (ever) be the focus of a presentation, and instead, the speaker should be able to communicate his points whether or not he has a deck of 80 slides.
However, I think the discussion is incomplete without addressing why people use PowerPoint so heavily.
I believe that most people are just plain uncomfortable presenting in front of any size group. So, they turn their focus on something they can control – the logistical components of their presentation – PowerPoint. PowerPoint slides become their crutch and give them confidence that if they stick to the ppt script, they can survive the presentation. Good presentation skills are a rare trait, so for most people, relying on PowerPoint is their only option.
If you ever wanted to know how to build out complex advanced segments for a brand with non-traditional product names, Stephen Croome at SEOmoz has produced one of the finest articles I’ve come across in quite some time.
But, it is not for the analytics newbie or even the faint of heart. If you are an experienced analyst, this article will walk you through a fantastic example.
However, if you are just getting started with adavanced segments, you may want to start out with something more simple.
One that is a good starter is one I like to call “Social Media Traffic”. This segment lets you compare traffic and behavior on your site as a whole to that of visitors referred to you by the major social media websites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
It’s easy to create…
I’m sick and tired of reading bullshit comments on websites, typically written by uneducated, non-expert people hiding behind a shroud of anonymity offered by the web and forum-based review and rant-oriented sites.
It’s time we hold these sites accountable for pedaling their filth, or better yet, hold the people who write and contribute this brain-less comments more accountable.
Of course I’m talking about the people that to go various websites and quasi-anonymously bash companies, people, products and/or services. This is often done with out merit, supporting facts or any other sources.
The internet, for some reason, has given uneducated, every day people the perception that they are experts on virtually everything. Take WikiPedia for instance. This site gets contributions from millions of people on subjects they are not experts on.
Look at Yahoo Answers for instance… People (not all of them), post legitimate questions on this site (usually because they are too lazy and don’t know how to perform proper research, or don’t really want to seek the truth). However, anyone can answer these questions. And everyone does, providing poor quality answers that lack primary-source references, facts any other data to support the answers.
We need to implement new technology (and laws) that require posters to reveal their true identity. People must be accountable for what they say. If we held people accountable, there would be more civility (because less garbage would be published) and we would be a more productive society that had less hate and animosity.
Have you read the comments on a political story posted to Yahoo.com lately? The discussion forums are ridiculous and tragic. It’s a pile of shit, yet Yahoo continues to propagate it. Imagine if you these posters had to reveal their real identity. How many would post the exact same comments? Almost no one.
I propose that the three credit bureaus combine to create a “web verified” identity that people must use when posting comments. It would be backed by the crediting agencies who would verify that you are who you say you are. Then, when you post a review of a restaurant on Yelp, comment on a political story on Yahoo, or review a business on Google Places, you have to sign in with your real identity that explains who you are and what you do.
With such a system in place we would protect kids from being attacked by bullies, businesses from being attacked by anonymous trolls (and give businesses the opportunity to make good on their mistakes), and finally, eliminate a lot of the mud-slinging and lack of civility in our society.
One step in the right direction is a project being conducted by Cornell University software engineers to root out fake reviews. Their experimental technology has proven successful in identifying reviews that lack authenticity. This is another step in the right direction.
(the review on the right is fake – thanks to Eric Smalley and his CNet article)
Dan Soschin 