Instead of staring at your analytics and scratching your head, the following information will tell you exactly what you should be monitoring.

Audience Engagement

You want your audience to come to your website and spend some time perusing what you have to offer and possibly making an inquiry or sale. In order to know how your audience is being engaged on your site, you’ll want to track the average amount of time that users spend on your site; how often your content is being shared; the average number of pages a visitor views before leaving; and your bounce rate (the number of people who don’t go past your first page).

When you know all of this, you can determine how long your website has to capture your audience’s attention. If you notice that the average person is only spending 1 minute on your site, then you have to gain their attention in 1 minute. This will also show you which pages are receiving the most traffic. This could tell you where you have the best chance of getting your visitor to convert. If you notice that your About Us page is receiving a significant amount of traffic, you may want to put a call to action on that page, such as sign up for your email, register for your blog or even inquire about a product or service.

Website Conversions

You’ll also want to make sure that you’re tracking your conversions. A conversion refers to someone who transfers from a simple visitor to taking some type of action, such as signing up for your newsletter. You will need to decide what your conversion is based on your goals. For example, if the goal of your website is to get more people to sign up for your newsletter, then your conversions would be those people who sign up. If your goal is to increase sales, then a conversion would be someone who makes an online purchase.

Knowing your conversions will help you determine if you are reaching your goal and if your tactics are working. If your goal is to increase online sales, but you haven’t generated one, then you know that your online marketing needs some adjusting in order to give you the results you want.

Website Traffic

You will also want to track where your traffic is coming from. Are you receiving traffic from search engine searches? If so, what keywords are the most successful? Are you receiving traffic from a backlink on another website? If so, which one? When you know where your traffic is coming from, you know where you can reach your audience. If your traffic is coming from the search engines, then you know that you should put an extra focus on your search engine marketing.

There are plenty of tools out there that can help you measure your online marketing success. Google Analytics and Topsy are great resources to help you measure these items most effectively.

Visit www.seomap.com to learn more about their work

Online Marketing: What Should You Measure? is a post from: PowersBusiness.com

• WWW. vs non WWW. urls and the importance of 301 redirects from whichever one you’re NOT using
• Verifying ownership of your website in Google’s Webmaster Tools
• Submitting a Reconsideration Request via Google’s Webmaster Tools
• Website design and your audience profiles
• Defining visitor conversions for every page of your site
• Using relevant keywords naturally in your website’s text
• Answering your consumers product related questions within your content
• Creating unique copy, a unique theme, unique page title and unique meta description for every page of your website
• Avoiding pitfalls like hiring a rogue seo(“if they guarantee anything, that’s bad news”), participating in link schemes or link buying, and focusing more on design than index-able text and site structure.

It’s definitely worth watching if you’re a small business owner who’s unfamiliar with SEO and you have 10 minutes to spare.

There’s always good information related to SEO best practices at Google Webmaster Tools

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SEO For Startups In 10 Minutes is a post from: PowersBusiness.com

2. I Will Be Honest In All Transactions

3. I Will Forgive Others

4. I Will Be Just, Fair, and Generous

5. I Will Discover And Correct My Weaknesses

6. I Will Slander No Person

7. I Will Think No Destructive Thoughts

8. I Will Conquer The Common Human Tendencies

9. I Will Think Thoughts Of Courage And Faith

10. I Will Put Into Action The Golden Rule Philosophy

11. I Will Take Care In Developing A Sound Character

12. I Will Find Enduring Happiness Through Helping Others

My Code of Ethics is a post from: PowersBusiness.com

This article is the first in a series of posts that shows how Dogfish Head effectively uses social media to communicate and engage with its customers.

Using Behind-The-Scenes Images and Videos

In the following examples, Dogfish Head uses pictures and YouTube videos to bring their fans up close for an explanation of what goes into brewing their Sah’tea beer. The information below is a good example of how a business can engage its audience through the use of Facebook, Youtube, and social media.

Sah’tea Brew

Each year Dogfish Head brews a limited amount of its Sah’tea Brew, a modern take on a 9th century Finnish proto-beer. opportunity for some behind-the-scenes pictures and video commentary about the brew and the process – all shared via Dogfish Head’s Facebook page. In the video below, Dogfish Head Founder and Owner Sam Calagione explains – in just about a minute – how they go about brewing the limited release.

One of the steps involves heating rocks over an open fire and dropping them into the tank of beer. Below is an image posted to the Dogfish Head Facebook page showing an image of what the white hot rocks actually look like.

Another short video (just 0:54 long) shows the heated rocks going into the Sah’tea wort.

The image below shows two Dogfish Head employees cooking hot dogs and brats on the grill that was used to heat the rocks just an hour earlier. This simple post not only introduces two staff members to Dogfish fans but also drives home the brand’s message and positioning, “Off-centered stuff for off-centered people”.

In two short videos and two pictures taken with an iPhone, Dogfish Head has succeeded in bringing fans as close possible to being in Milton, DE, for the actual brewing. In just over an hour, the video and the two images received a combined 460 likes and 96 comments. The video of Sam Calagione is posted to YouTube with search engine friendly tags that include “Sam Calagione”, “Dogfish Head”, “Milton, DE”, “Sah’tea”, and “historical beer”. At the time of this case study, the video has received more than 12,000 views. And there’s virtually no mention of buying a product.

Dogfish Head Beer’s Facebook Page

Create Compelling Facebook Content: A Social Media Case Study is a post from: PowersBusiness.com

I must admit that I had little knowledge of Franklin’s life or accomplishments a year ago. Aside from a foggy memory from grade school that involved a man standing out in a lightning storm flying a kite with a key attached to it, Franklin was a mystery to me.

Until I read Napoleon Hill’s The Law of Success. In The Law of Success, Hill speaks of Franklin’s 13 virtues and explains the lengths that Franklin went to in the name of self-improvement. In business and in life, there’s a great deal that we can all learn from Franklin and his 13 virtues.

Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues

1. Temperance

Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation

2. Silence

Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself

3. Order

Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time

4. Resolution

Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve

5. Frugality

Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; waste nothing

6. Industry

Lose no time. Be always employed in something useful. Cut off all unnecessary actions

7. Sincerity

Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly and, if you speak, speak accordingly

8. Justice

Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty

9. Moderation

Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve

10. Cleanliness

Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation

11. Tranquility

Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable

12. Chastity

Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation

13. Humility

Imitate Jesus and Socrates

More about Franklin and his 13 virtues

A great take on the 13 virtues from The Art of Manliness. While you’re there be sure to learn “How to Shave Like Your Grandpa”.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin’s 13 Virtues is a post from: PowersBusiness.com

Just about three months ago, J.C. Penney ranked at or near the top of organic, or non-paid, search results with Google for terms like “Bedding,” “Dresses,” “Skinny Jeans,” “Home Decor,” and a large number of other search terms. The high placement may have helped J.C. Penney post 2010 fourth quarter internet sales of $495 million, an increase of 6.7 percent over the previous year (J.C. Penney’s Quarterly Earnings Report). The article below by the New York Times argues that J.C. Penney accomplished this by using a firm that employed “Black Hat” Search Engine Optimization tactics. This is a huge problem with Google. Black Hat SEO refers to practices that raise the visibility of a website by means that are not-so ethical. Google takes these “cheaters” seriously.

As you can see, as of April 1st, 2011 J.C. Penney’s only presence on the first page of Google results for the search term “Bedding” is a paid placement. I had to go to page 5 of the search results in order to find an organic result for J.C. Penney. It’s worth noting that I live about a half mile from a J.C. Penney and they didn’t even show up on the Google Maps result for this search.

Full New York Times article: The Dirty Little Secrets of Search
Google’s SEO Guidelines

Lesson: Don’t try to fool Google. It isn’t worth it.

Search Engine Optimization: Why You Shouldn’t Mess With Google is a post from: PowersBusiness.com

A summary of the key points to the article is listed below. For a list of resources associated with the article including Facebook’s Step-by-Step Guide , read the entire article at MarketingProfs.com

Keypoints

1. Define Your Audience

Good advice for any marketing project. Be specific about who you are trying to communicate with and determine the things that appeal to them.

2. Create Goals, Objectives & a Strategy For Your Page

Is the goal of your page to drive traffic to your website? If so, is there a specific product or service that you’d like to create awareness about? Should your audience be directed to a specific page on your site? Are you planning on using your Facebook page in conjunction with a blog about your products and services? These are items that should be determined so that your efforts are organized and your response can be measured.

3. Settings

Your Facebook Page’s settings allow you to define how users can interact with your page. Whether they can post on your wall, upload photos, etc. The settings also allow you to determine whether new visitors are taken to a specific “tab” on your page during their first visit. This can be helpful if you’d like to offer new visitors a landing page that resembles you company’s website. Note: In order to create a custom landing tab, you will have to learn about FBML and have some background in web design or graphic design.

4. Create a Compelling Page

Your page’s wall is where you will be posting compelling content. The article explains that this area is vital for creating the potential for a viral response to your messaging. When a user interacts with your wall, there is the potential that this interaction will show up in that user’s News Feed – which is visible to their friends. This is by far the most important aspect of your page. By creating content that your users want to interact with…you’re encouraging them to show their friends that they like. Some of the author’s ideas for rich content include behind the scenes videos of your business, interviews with employees, or even creating a free guide that solves some problem for your prospect.

For a great example of a business providing rich content on their Facebook page, check out Dogfish Head Beer’s Facebook Page.

Without giving too much away – I know…too late – Here’s the first couple paragraphs of the article…

How to Develop a Succesful Facebook Page

By Mark Ivey

Businesses have begun to flock to Facebook Pages in the past year—and no wonder. With a Facebook Page (essentially, a mini website on Facebook), you can post company news, announce events, offer tutorials, highlight videos, conduct polls, and create community with discussion boards.

Facebook Pages are good for building your brand and creating conversations, allowing users to get more deeply connected with your business.

Recent changes to Facebook Pages mean they’re now more like personal profiles, with a real-time news stream and the ability to create your own specialized tabs. Facebook Pages are also searchable from outside Facebook, and they’re easy to set up.

Read more: http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2009/2968/how-to-develop-a-successful-facebook-page#ixzz1GmTVODVp

Develop a Successful Facebook Page is a post from: PowersBusiness.com

The 5 P’s of The Marketing Mix

Please Note: It’s not uncommon to see discrepancies in what the individual “P’s” are…I don’t believe that there is much to be gained from arguing about whether this “P” is included or whether that “P” should be included. The more important thing to understand from the 5 P’s of Marketing is that they make for an easy way to chunk together the key areas associated with your marketing efforts.

Product

What are you selling? Are you providing a service? How does the product work? What does the product look like? What type of packaging does it have? These are all aspects of your product. The product category can extend to things like the type of warranty you offer, service and installation to name a few.

Things to consider about your Product

What are the most important aspects of your product? Are these your most important features or your customers’ most important features? Do these aspects differentiate your product from the competitors? How are these aspects influencing your customers’ perceptions of your product? The way that it’s used (ease of use)? It’s attractive packaging? The extended warranty and quick installation? By determining what is important to your customers, you can determine which aspects of your product should be featured in advertisements, emails, brochures, etc.

Logo Design

A HUGE part of the five p’s is your company’s visual presence. A professionally designed logo is essential. Small businesses that are working with a limited budget can use sites like 99 Designs to have graphic designers compete to design their logo and marketing materials. Often for less than it would cost to have one designer provide multiple design variations. This is an invaluable resource for small business owners and marketing departments that

Price

Price refers to how much your customer pays you for whatever product your business provides. Price is normally based on a number of factors: cost to manufacture & distribute, promotional costs including advertising and marketing materials, shipping costs, discounts, and even the cost to switch from another provider.

Things to consider about your Price

- What is your product’s price in relation to your competitors’? If your product is similar to your competitors’ but is noticeably easier to use, you can charge a higher price. Make your product easier, your customers will pay more!
- What are you willing to charge when running a special offer? Does this price seem like a savings to your target audience? Have all costs been taken into account when determining the discount price? Can you manufacture more product for a better price if the promotion creates a large volume of sales?
- Be careful not to compete strictly on price! If you’re constantly positioning yourself as the cheapest guy in town, you run the risk of coming across as the cheapest guy in town. Getting involved in a price war with your local competitor is a good way to put one or both of you out of business.

Placement

Placement deals with how you plan to distribute your product…this can include where your product is available and when your customer can purchase it? How do you intend to get your product to your target audience?

Things to consider about Placement

When and where your product is available is immensely important. Are there time limitations due to store hours?
- Are there shipping times associated with the purchase? Does the distance from the customer create an obstacle for the purchase?
- Is a retail location reselling your product? What type of store is it? Does the store have a regular customer base? Does partnering with the store make sense? You’re not going to sell a prospect a computer at a hunting supply store.

Promotion

Promotion deals with how you communicate with your customers. This can cover everything from advertising and email marketing to brochures and catalogs. It also includes how the distributor of your product communicates with their customers about your product.

Things to consider about Promotion

Your marketing materials (brochures, website, advertising, email marketing, etc) should have a professional look and communicate your corporate identity and brand. This is not easy to do if you don’t have a background in graphic design. Determine your message, your goals and how you’d like to get there and then work with a graphic designer to develop your materials. Get some help as opposed to doing it yourself!
- Have some control over your distributors! Don’t let your distributors run your product into the ground. Set pricing levels for promotions and special offers with your distributors so that they cant sell your product for less than $XX.xx.
- When purchasing advertising, publications are always willing to negotiate. By waiting until close to the publication’s deadline to contact them, many times you can find discount pricing on advertisements, editorials, website placements, etc. Get the most bang for your buck!

People

These are the people that bring your product to your customer and the people that maintain this relationship after the purchase. This can include sales reps, customer service, receptionists, shipping managers, etc. People are an essential part of achieving your business’ marketing goals.

Things to consider about People

If your product sells, you won’t be able to perform every role in your business. You’re going to need help. Your people are an extension of your marketing plan and most often will be the people that are dealing directly with your customers. How well have you trained them? How do they respond if a customer becomes upset? Do these people have at least a basic understanding of your marketing plan? They’ll need to if you expect them to communicate that message to your customers.

Have a question? Let us know…

The 5 P’s of Marketing is a post from: PowersBusiness.com