Understanding the Basics of Website Statistics

One of the questions that I often get when it comes to online communication/website design, is "How can I measure results?" One way to measure results is by taking a look at your web statistics before and after you make tweaks and alterations. You first want to have a goal in mind – increase the number of new or returning visitors, get more people to sign up for your newsletter, etc. Michelle Shaeffer provides an introduction to understanding website statistics is the following article.

For all the experts out there, what do you think are the most important elements to understanding and leveraging these statistics?

Article:

Learning to understand your website statistics can help you improve your website for visitors, measure if your promotional strategies are working, and find new opportunities to promote your business.

How can you measure your website statistics?

There are two common ways to measure this important information.

One is with software that analyzes the server logfiles. Each time someone visits your site the server records detailed information about the visitor and what they did on your website. With software like Webalyzer or AWStats that information is put into a form you can easily read and understand. Many website hosts offer this software already installed on their servers and available to clients through a cPanel or Plesk administrative area.

The second way to keep track of your stats is with a javascript added to all of your pages that sends info to another server each time a visitor loads a page, such as Google Analytics or Crazy Egg. With these services you sign up, then they provide a small snippet of code for you to copy and paste into your web pages. For WordPress sites you can install a special plugin to add Google Analytics or view visitor statistics.
You may want to combine both methods to get a better overall picture of who is visiting your website and what they're doing.

What do the terms mean?

Hits: Each request for a file from a server is counted as a hit. This is an often misunderstood term. It does not mean you’ve had 5,000 people visit your site if you have had 5,000 hits. If your page has one html file and five images on it, then each time a visitor loads the page it would count as six hits.

Page Views: How many times a "page" as defined in log analysis has been loaded. This is more accurate than hits because it will only count the .html or .php files instead of every image on a page.

Unique Visitors: This is an even more useful....

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Understanding the Basics of Website Statistics, by Michelle Shaeffer (@SmallBizMuse)

Market Segmentation For Online Marketing

Marketing segmentation for online marketing takes many forms, and before you go out and craft your first online marketing campaign, you need to be sure of who exactly each campaign is going to reach out to. Online marketing market segmentation has several similarities as offline marketing.

For example, in the offline world, you will always need to search for where your target audience is already hanging out, and put your advertising dollars there. The same goes for online marketing. You need to know which websites your target customers are already surfing.

Here are some ways you can segment your market. Remember, the clearer you know who your target audience is, the better it is and easier for you to find a place to fit your ad.

1. Demographic segmentation - you can segment your audience by age, gender, education level, or socio-economic status.

2. Lifecycle segmentation - this form of segmentation understands that consumers need different products at different life stages, and you need to target just one of these stages (e.g. pregnancy)

3. Geographic segmentation - in this form of segmentation, you target specific countries, or even as small as a specific neighborhood. This is particularly important if you are a brick and mortar service shop like a barber or law attorney.

4. Job segmentation - segmenting by jobs or occupational roles takes into consideration the roles of the particular person at work. For example, you might be targeting just the purchasing managers of a particular industry.

5. Specialty segmentation - this identifies a very tightly narrow and niche audience that is facing a common issues or have a common interest. For example, you could be targeting only the people who owns a certain model of motorbikes.

The power of the Internet is that is captures the global economy, and because of this, it is best to really niche your focus and find a segment that you can really serve well. By focusing on your segment, it will be easier for you to reach out to that particular segment.

Kent Tan is a full time article writer and web content publisher. Check out his latest website about Holiday Shower Curtain reviews and Pirate Shower Curtain designs.

5 Small Biz Website Musts

There are add-ons galore when you find hosting. Don't get more than you need. 


I recently saw a tweet from a small-business owner who had just purchased a domain name and a hosting plan from a website company. 


"There are all these other products . . . which ones do I need?" she asked the Twitterverse.

Choosing a domain name and website hosting plan can be daunting enough for a small-business owner, let alone wading through the myriad add-on products offered by website hosting companies. Many probably give up without ever knowing that a few key products can make a big difference in how they present their brand and do business online.

I have a few tips to guide you through securing a domain name and choosing a hosting plan. Then I'll follow up with the five best products for a small-business website.

A. 

There are more domain extensions available than .com. You may want to purchase several extensions with the same name to ensure protection for your online brand. For example, you can add .biz, .net and .org and have them all forward to the same website. 

In addition, a new option, .co, launching this spring, is available for pre-registration. General availability is $34.99 per year, with domains available on July 20. You can obtain more information here. 

B. 

Decide the following: 

• How many domains do you want to host? You may only need to start with one domain, but if you know you'll need more than one website in the future, it's better to purchase a hosting account that supports multiple domains. That way you won't have to purchase separate hosting accounts in the future, and you'll save money. Purchasing several domain extensions (.com, .net, etc.) for the same website still counts as just one domain. 
• How much bandwidth and disk space do you need? The amount each business needs depends on the number of users who simultaneously access the site. For most new sites, the minimum amount of space--typically 300GB--is enough. However, if you anticipate thousands of simultaneous users, a 300GB plan won't suffice, and your site will crash. This might be the case if your company posts something that goes viral and is shared rapidly by users all over the internet. 
• How many e-mail accounts do you anticipate you'll need? A company needs at least one e-mail account for every employee. If you plan to grow, consider getting more than you need in the short term. Most hosting plans include e-mail accounts as part of the cost.

Knowing the answers to these questions will allow you to better evaluate the hosting plans offered and choose the right one for you. You can also call your hosting company for expert advice on how these answers translate into the best hosting plan for your website.

Once you have your domain names and hosting plan purchased, it's time to look at the other products that can help you build a strong web presence:

1. Private registration (WHOIS privacy): Every time you register a domain, your personal contact information is submitted to the publicly accessible WHOIS database.......

By Clint Page


Read the rest of this post at Women Entrepreneur


I'll add to this with a couple of tips on website design. As a graphic designer and brand strategist, my experience has been that the essential elements to the design of a website is: 

1. Start with a template: Many web programs online and as separate applications, such as Dreamweaver, offer templates to get you started. 
2. Know your brand colors and use these colors as background colors, navigation colors, and font colors. (but don't use too many colors, otherwise you may distract from the valuable content on your website). 
3. Create or have someone create a website banner. You don't have to have a lot of graphics on your website, especially when you are starting out. A professionally design banner that is branded will do a wonderful job of pulling the design of your website together.