I know you’re excited. We just installed Google Analytics on your site and the dream of increased conversion rates glows brightly in your eyes.  You login and… uh-whaaaaa?  What is this jibber-jabber?  All you see is squiggly lines and a page full of numbers and links to more pages full of even more squiggly lines and numbers.

This is a common reaction to the Google Analytics Dashboard. The numbers look intimidating but with a little help, they’ll soon be your best friend.  The first step of being able to release the power of your site’s analytics is to understand the terms used.  After we get you familiar with what the terms mean, we’ll move on to understanding the way they interact with each other.  But that’s for another time.

So, put on a pot of coffee, grab your spectacles and settle in; I’m going to teach you some key definitions that will help you get the most out of Google Analytics.
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Presented November 23, 2009 by Jo Benson, COO of Vortx

If you were among those who listened in to our webinar recently on “All Things Google” then you’re likely feeling inspired to get to know much more about the tools within Google Analytics.

Jo Benson, COO of Vortx, reviewed key ways to increase traffic to your site, using Google Analytics. In the webinar Jo provides specific reasons why these techniques work and what you gain by using them.

The “All Things Google” webinar includes the following topics:

• Defining your pages with a sitemap
• Cloaking some content with robot tags
• Labeling pages with title tags
• Keywords
• Google filters
• Optimizing images
• How to please the Googlebots
• Google Product Feeds
• Techniques to increase web sales
• How to submit products for free
• Ways to reach qualified shoppers
• Why you should use Google’s “local” feature
• Google Product Search (aka Google Base)
• Major ranking factors for Google Products
• Google Analytics
• Google Optimizer

Consider using Vortx to partner with you in implementing the right tools to drive traffic to your site.  Please contact us by using our form or call Christian Young at 541.201.9965.

Site Architecture, sometimes called Website Information Architecture, is part of the structure of links in a website.

The links on a Web page create a parent/child relationship between the two pages where the source page is the parent and the destination page is the child.

Among the benefits of having good site architecture are increased crawlability (more indexed pages), better usability, and better search engine rankings.

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AspDotNetStorefront has a built-in Google sitemap that not many people know about.

Google allows website owners to submit sitemaps via Google Webmaster Tools. Submitting a sitemap to Google helps ensure that Google knows about all the pages on your site.

The built-in AspDotNetStorefront Google sitemap is dynamic; it changes as you add new categories, topics, and products to your site.

To get to the Google sitemap, type “googleindex.aspx” onto the end of your URL: www.YOURSITE.com/googleindex.aspx

You should see a page that looks something like this: (more…)

The predominant trend in 2009 will be leveraging the natural networking capacity of the Internet to increase the visibility of your brand and website. With the down turn in the global economy, online businesses need to focus their attention on proven methodologies for increasing online sales.

There is no ‘magic bullet’ for online success.

Customers buy from businesses they know, like, and trust.

Building trust and providing ‘real’ value is essential for eCommerce success in 2009. Effective eCommerce is a continuous process of providing innovative marketing and significant value.

You want to model your marketing strategy after the internet, and it will spread like the internet and grow like the Internet.

Focus on 2 things:

1. connecting with people
2. providing significant value

In 2009 you want to dominate your niche market. This means your website must implement the basic elements of eCommerce success:
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The first and most important step in optimizing a website is to compile a list of keywords and phrases. It’s the foundation your SEO plan should be based on. Too often, businesses invest resources in optimizing for search terms that do not serve them well.

Determining the specific key words and phrases that are most likely to bring profitable traffic to your site ensures that the time and financial resources invested in search engine optimization efforts will pay off.

When developing a keyword list, it is important to pay attention to the following:

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So you have a website and you are getting visitors. But do they make it to your products, the real meat and potatoes, or are they simply seeing the home page and little else?

Knowing which pages your visitors are seeing, and more importantly where they are leaving from, is key to any site’s success.

This is where Google Analytics comes in. A small bit of code will give you access to a wealth of information to help you pinpoint your site’s strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
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