Craig Soup Web Design Blog

Until recently, I’ve always used the website tracking tools offered by my webhost. For the most part, they were decent tools, but I have several domains on the same server, and it was difficult to weed through all the information to figure out how each domain was doing individually.

Enter Google Analytics.

I had certainly heard of Google Analytics (Who hasn’t?), and I had even heard that it was a fantastic tool, but for some reason, I had always assumed that all analytics tools were the same.

I was wrong. After using GA for only two days, I can already tell that it’s going to be much more informative, much easier to use tool than I could have imagined. So, why is it so handy?

1. First of all, it allows me to view each of my domains separately. Might not sound too exciting, I know, but after a year of using the tools I’ve been using, you’d be excited, too!

2. It’s remarkably easy to use. The different categories of statistics are easy to access and easy to understand. And if you DON’T understand a certain statistic, you can easily click on the “About this report” link on the left side of the page, and it will explain everything for you.

3. It’s a great teacher. Along with explanations of what each report means, Google Analytics also gives you suggestions on how you can improve your stats.

4. Easy link tracking. GA has an amazing “site overlay” tool that opens up your site in a popup window and shows you visually how often each link was tracked (see picture below).

All in all, Google Analytics is an amazing tool that anybody with a website can benefit from (not just web designers). I avoided it for so long (for no good reason), and with my new Flash blog (http://www.SchoolOfFlash.com), I finally decided to swallow the red pill, and I’m glad I did.

For ten months I’ve lived in this house, and for ten months I’ve had an internet connection that has been about as reliable as the first generation release of any Microsoft product on the market. At times I’ve been driven to the brink of insanity by a wireless connection that sometimes won’t stay alive long enough to download an MP3. If I had a dollar for every time I’ve shut down and restarted my wireless router, I would own more islands than Keanu Reeves and Marlon Brando put together (which, I believe, adds up to about two)!

And this morning was the last straw. As I logged on to start the workday, my lousy ActionTec router refused to stay connected for more than 30 seconds at a time. I restarted the router over and over, and every time I restarted it, it began working again . . . but only for a very limited time.

After an hour of this, I felt my brain swelling inside my skull like a volcano ready to pop. Over the past few months, I had tried everything that it made sense to try. I tried restarting routers, tightening cables, and I even purchased signal boosters, all to no avail.

So, since common sense didn’t seem to get me anywhere, I tried the only thing left to try. I knocked it over.

Okay, I didn’t KNOCK it over, but I did take it off the upright stand it had been sitting on and set it down on its belly. And guess what! It worked! Ever since I set it on its belly, I haven’t had a single problem, and my internet connection has been chugging along faster than ever!

And it’s all kind of strange, considering that I had a similar problem with my xBox 360. As soon as I set it in the upright position (which it was supposedly designed to be able to do), I started having major problems.

The moral of this story? If you purchase anything that comes with an upright stand, throw it away. Electronics like to lay on their bellies.

One of the best things you can do to enhance your search engine results right off the bat is to select a domain name that has some of your desired keywords in it. For example, if you’re trying to sell cross stitching masterpieces online, having a website named ‘www.gertrudesplace.com’ isn’t going to help you get traffic. On the other hand, a website name like ‘www.cross-stitching-masterpieces.com’ will give your SEO pursuits the boost it needs to get started.

But what if your dream domain name is already taken and you can’t think of anything else to use? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve entered in domain name after domain name just trying to find one that isn’t already taken. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a tool out there that could help you with suggestions?

Well, there is. It’s called Bust a Name. An article by ProBlogger’s Darren Rowse brought my attention to this great site, and if you’re a web-dork like myself, it’s actually a very addicting service.

So if you need to come up with a good domain name but can’t think of one, check out Bust a Name.

Often it takes a lot of time to generate good, organic search engine results that drive traffic to your website. Search Engine Optimization can often be a tedious, lengthy process that takes months and months, especially if you have keywords that everyone else is fighting for.

Which is why it’s absolutely crucial to target very specific key words and key word phrases in your SEO pursuits. Specific, targeted search terms are much more likely to get you to the front page on a listing of Google search results. For example, if you build a website selling golf training videos, you’re not very likely to get good search engine results by going after the keyword “golf.” On the other hand, if you get more specific and try to target a search phrase like “free online golf training videos”, then you’re much more likely to someday wind up on page one of somebody’s search results. Even though there are probably millions more people searching for the keyword “golf”, those millions of searchers are going to get you NOWHERE if you’re constantly winding up on page 60 of the search results. Most people never even navigate past the first page of search results before they find something that they’re looking for.

Anyways, I’ve said all of this to say that I’ve finally reached the first page of Google for the search term “web design, keller”. Keller is a suburb of Fort Worth, Texas, where I live and work. By getting specific, I’ve been able to bring my website to page one of the search results for my targeted phrase, making it much more likely that searchers are going to find my little piece of internet real estate!

One of the main reasons that I’m sitting here writing this blog is because being transparent and personable is quickly becoming a crucial success factor for an online business. When the Internet first began gaining popularity, many aspects of society surprisingly became less and less personal. We had access to more people and more information than ever before, but it seems our social skills started to decline.

We started to see the Internet as an easier way to talk to people without having to worry about all the hands-on frustrations of face-to-face communication. If there was something we needed to say to someone but we were too afraid to do it in person, we’d send an email or an instant message! We suddenly became braver. Socially inept teenagers all over the world, when introduced to chat rooms and instant messenger services, suddenly became social butterflies. People who were by nature timid and non-confrontational suddenly found themselves hurling insults and threats at people who they knew they would never meet.

Unfortunately, this detachment from reality also started to seep into the business world. Hiding behind fancy websites, companies large and small built a presence on the Internet that offered them global exposure to people who would never set foot in their stores or offices. And the people who ran the companies became less and less connected with the people who were buying their products. If a company’s website had any contact information, it would ultimately send the customer’s messages to any number of obscure office workers who were being payed minimum wage to weed through customer inquiries. The end users of a company’s website were severely disconnected from any of the company’s major decision makers.

And for a while, it worked. But lately, the Internet is starting to become more personal. Blogs like the one you’re reading right now are giving personality to websites, and it’s getting to the point where a successful website without some sort of blog or personal touch is almost unheard of. Social networks are bringing people together in ways that were never imagined, and businesses are becoming a large part of it.

One company in particular, as pointed out to me on PagePlane’s Blog, has taken a drastic step in the right direction. House Industries has posted names, portraits, and email addresses of their employees on their contact page. Want to email one of their illustrators directly? No problem. Just go to the company’s contact page, and you’ll find the email address you’re looking for.

But wait a minute, Craig! What about spammers?

Well, it seems that sifting through spam is one chore that a business is going to have to endure if they truly want to connect with their customers. It’s a nuisance, sure, but in the long run, I think it’s certainly worth it.

So if you want to set your business apart, stop farming off your customer service calls to some other country just because their wages are lower. Invest in your customers by giving them access to YOUR people.