How to Use Metrics
Understanding the popularity of your site is fundamentally based on your metrics. Metrics provide the information on how your website is doing and go a lot deeper than merely page views.
Though there are some simple metrics, such as PPC and SEO, there are also another number of metrics that tell the tale of the tape and give you a better understanding of how your site is performing.
By understanding this performance it is possible to tweak your site to suit the metrics in such a way to make it more successful and get more from your site.
Conversions – these are a great way to gauge the success of a site, and though they are limited a little, they do offer a good idea. Conversions are the ration of people who click onto your site and are converted to purchase, or filling out the necessary request. They don’t include those who contact you via other means, such as phone, or email, but as most people will use online facilities, they do offer a decent reflection.
Visitors – Site visitors is the most basic of all the metrics and is just a showing of the amount of people who click on your site. This is the basic reason for metrics and is fundamental to success. It is a mixture of all marketing efforts and the more eyes you have onsite the better you can do.
Bounce Rate – This shows the amount that come to your site and leave immediately. This metric is a telltale for website design and layout. People who look on your site and can’t find a service on offer, don’t trust your site, or leave immediately for any one of a myriad of other reasons will increase this rate.
Time on Site – The longer people stay on your site the more likely it is they are reading through it and will have a high level of interest. Though, this may not always be true as people maybe can’t find the information they want – it is generally a case of the former and if not interested web users will click off. Longer times on site for web metrics, usually mean more success.
Top Content – This metric will show you the top web content people are clicking on and what they are interested in. This shows the characteristics of your audience and what interests them – something you can cater for in the future and increase page views.
Keywords – This in-depth report is a great way to see the keywords people are searching for online. This gives you a better insight into your web visitors and allows you see the phrases they look for and so cater for them. This metric also allows you to filter out the company name from the keyword list and shows a list of the terms people search for without your name and so show the amount of people who found you without knowing who you are. It is also possible to filter between paid for and no paid for keywords.
Comparing these metrics each month offers you a great insight into the difference and what areas need help. Making a positive decision on what metrics to look at is the first step here, then comparing them each month can really help you improve your site.
Blog writers block
Finding something interesting to say for your blog isn’t always as easy as it seems. Though, good blogs require great writing ability, it is often the content and not the wording that lets them down. We all run dry of ideas every now and then, and such a problem can really affect our confidence – something good writing thrives on. So, where are the best places to look and what is the best way to find inspiration – we look at some ideas to drive you?
Statistics
Looking through your metrics and the number of people who visit you can aid your quest for a blogging idea. Firstly, you see the numbers that still visit you, even during writers block. While, secondly, using your most visited and popular blog stats may show you what interests people the most and gives you ideas for a new blog.
Remember It’s Your Blog.
If you seem to be having problems thinking up ideas for your blog, perhaps you should remember that it’s your blog and your voice and so should be written accordingly. Voice your opinions write about what irks you and let your own beliefs flow.
Read and Write
Reading other people’s work and blogs can be a great way to find inspiration. Look into how others write, evaluate their opinions and form strong opinions on their thoughts. This may motivate you to write something for, or against, or even completely different. By reading blogs about everything from local allotments, to the plight of Africans, you may find something that stirs you to blog.
Even if you can’t keep writing. All great writers suffer from writers block and just as with a plunger and a drain, they will tell you to keep going and eventually things will become unstuck.
Lists and Guides
Lists of the best books, ideas, or people in your field, or how to guides on certain areas give you the limitations to push yourself to write. Writing a couple of these more prescribed pieces can really give you the push to get back in the zone.
Comments and Social Media
Looking through your social media sites, or comments on your blog posts can also offer you an area to write about. Perhaps someone has said something topical, or engaged in a divisive issue. Have a think and then write about it. This may create further debate and even more blogs.
Events
Every month has some form of an event that relates to you and your readers. Whether this is an industry based happening, or a national even such as Valentines, summer holidays, or Christmas. Write about these issues and you’ll have a blog past as quickly as it takes to say Happy Easter.
Digg and Stumble Upon
What better way to get a random idea for a blog post, then searching one of these sites of plenty and finding something that interests you. It might not be relevant, but it’s all about writing.
Use the above for inspiration and just keep writing to get those posts flowing again. Code23 to the rescue again.
How can a blog improve SEO? Does your website need a blog?
One of the best ways, if not the best way to optimise your blog for SEO is to create a blog. Many of us try a number of other means and fail to realise the SEO prowess of a blog.
For many with social media interests, there is only so much posting to new products, or news stories on your site your subscribers and fans are interested in. Blogs, however, offer you the opportunity to do more than this and produce interesting content that readers will like to look through. This interest obviously is a very positive move for a number of reasons, and SEO is certainly the pivotal one.
Every time, you create a blog; you are creating a link directly to your site. These brand-new URLs are used in a very positive manner by your SEO provider. These back links, are looked upon favourably by search engines and count as a vote for your site.
Include deep links to products and relevant stuff on your site to get even more from your new blog.
New Content
One of the other favourable things about onsite blogs is that they are creating new content for the site. This new content is seen as a very positive force by Google (increasingly so) and shows the search engine that the site is alive and being updated regularly. This will push it up the SEO rankings and aid your SEO. By adding in keywords to the blog, as well as anchor text you are aiding your blog.
Of course if the content on your blog site is deemed as quality, you will find it becomes more popular again. Through the aid of social media and video sites such as YouTube, it is very easy to get content seen. By posting interesting pieces, or videos, you can hope to increase the number of visitors, who wish to read your blog and then share it with others. These increases in traffic workswonders for SEO. In the case of Google +, the Plus 1 button also feeds directly into the site and aids SEO. So encourage, plusing, liking, or re-tweeting for some positive SEO.
Of course if you manage to produce content that is extremely intriguing, you may even go viral across the Internet, which means significant SEO benefits.
Customer Information
Blogs are also great for a process called; harvesting’. Harvesting is where you encourage readers and customers to leave their thoughts at the end of a piece. This in turn can then be used for your own purposes. Perhaps someone leaves a complaint; you can use it to make things better, or perhaps someone gives you some useful advice in the comment’s box – all the greaterning these boxes, with feedback from social media and also customer service and you can really improve the customer experience.
All of these pieces of advice aid you with SEO and are definite reasons why you require a blog.
