PureWebAnalytics launches Farmfolio
May 31, 2007
Well it is almost June! With summer coming it is time for a change at PureWebAnalytics. I am pleased to announce the addition of the “Farmfolio” to the PureWebAnalytics site. The idea is a section that showcases the work done at PureWebAnalytics with active links to the sites that PureWebAnalytics works on (if they are available). Look forward to seeing more of the work we’ve done in the coming months. Best of luck on your web projects.
Luc
What is the big deal with CSS?
May 27, 2007
Since the release of such apps like WordPress, Joomla!, Durpal and others CSS is moving to the forefront of Web Design because of a few simple reasons…
- CSS is layout-based – The language is structured around how you can layout elements in a page
- CSS is simple to learn – If you are a business owner it may not be so simple but in terms of programming languages there is no simpler language to learn
- CSS spells “usability” – Usability is quickly becoming a beloved buzzword these days because the web and more specifically online business is becoming all about usability
As a business owner you may face needing to know a little bit about CSS from a concept standpoint when you are working with your developer or designer. CSS is what is known as Cascading Style Sheets and regardless of what you have your site built in you can use CSS to enhance the look, feel and layout of your online property.
When you think about building and maintaining your site CSS and layout in general should be a key concern because if your site is not easy to use your customers will not use it. That means that you are losing sales, business contacts, and a wide array of information about your business that is ready for the plucking.
Using Funnel Visualization in Google Analytics
May 18, 2007
Yesterday I talked about how to track a goal using Google Analytics and I wanted to focus on a great feature that Google Analytics offers called “Funnel Visualization” which is a great tool for those business owners out there who want metrics on the successes and failures of their sites without the trouble of having to read stats that are difficult to read. Most people learn in a visual way so the “Funnel Visualization” part of Google Analytics really helps you learn about your traffic, sales and customers and how the customers’ habits relate to your site.
I decided to add a screenshot of what I am talking about for those of you “visual learners” like myself 
I hope that the “Funnel Visualization” tool helps you face and conquer some if not all of your online business problems.
Luc
Google Analytics: How to Track a Goal
May 17, 2007
I wrote about how to setup a goal in Google Analytics nearly two months ago. I discussed the process of how to go about creating a goal that you can track in Google Analytics. Goal setting is a way in which you can track the effectiveness of advertising and marketing campaigns on your site and get actually factual data and shows how much ROI (return on investment) you are getting for your advertising or marketing buck.
A great side resource I’ve found that will help you in analytics is a site and newsletter called “ROI Revolution” which has tons of tips about website ROI and monetization.
Because Google recently changed its look and feel a few weeks ago to a setup that I personally like better than the older Google Analytics version it has improved visualization aspects when dealing with stats.
When you go about creating a sales funnel for your website the front end code is only half the battle with the other half remaining in tracking the success or failure of the design and making improvements based on the results.
To see your results from creating an effective sales funnel and goal creation using Google Analytics all you need to do is…
1) Log in to Google Analytics
2) Go you your site’s profile
3) Click on “Goals” on the left hand side of the interface
4) You will then see the “Goals Overview” page which gives you an eagle-eye view of your goal tracking efforts
From there you can track “Total Conversions” which is basically a way to track the total number of sales your goal setting efforts have yielded. You can also check your “Goal Value” which is basically the price you assign to a completed goal. The “Funnel Visualization” is a neat feature because it gives you a visual representation of your conversion efforts with your data from your website which is very useful to say the least. “Abandonment Rate” is a great feature because it allows you to see who starts the process of buying or doing something related to a goal but never completes it. I am impressed by Google Analytics with my only problem being that Google Analytics is not a live application because you get data that is a day behind.
If you are building your sales funnels, setting up goal tracking then you are going to want to play with Google Analytics to give you valuable data about your online business. It’s better than doing business in the” dark”, isn’t it?
Luc
Google Analytics got a face lift
May 13, 2007
I logged into my Google Analytics account today to do a little work and found that they’ve updated the look of the application. I’ve got to say “wow”. Personally I liked the old look of the Google Analytics Application but the new look is actually simpler to use and understand. It seems to me that Google always does one thing well. When Google releases an application for people to use they remember that they are building it for people to use. I am sure that there is a way to get the classic Analytics look back but no harm on that because the new look is even easier to use in my opinion.
For those of you that do not currently track their website statistics or hate statistics in general you may not know about Google’s Analytics program but it makes stat collecting and analysis really simple and graphical (in other words it makes stats easier to digest).
In the old Google Analytics system, a lot of the graphic ease of use that is available in the new Google Analytics was not as readily available in the old version. The layout and feel of Goal Tracking is really simple to use once you’ve mastered setting up goals on your website and other various methods of collecting data. If you’ve had a chance to play with the new and improved analytics application lately what do you think of it? Good? Bad? Or otherwise?
Luc (Lead WebFarmer)
