December 28, 2003

The Importance of Website Statistics Tracking and Analysis
Today we are going to discuss the importance of tracking the statistics of your website. We are going to also discuss the product we use to do this. I don't usually like to promote products in this blog, but this company's statistics tracking tool has really done wonders for our marketing campaigns and we would like to help them out.

Why are statistics important?

Your website statistics provide you with vital information about who is visiting your site, what they are looking at and where they are coming from. Knowing which pages visitors are surfing and finding and how they are getting there can help you in numerous ways. You will know the sections of your website are the strongest so you can optimize these pages to serve your internet browsers as best as you can. It will also show you the weak points of your website that need attention.

The service we use is a company called HitsLink.com. This service offers live statistics tracking, meaning that visitors are recorded and reported the instant they visit your site. This mean no more traffic analysis programs that have to analyze huge web log files. For a small monthly this company provides you with more statistical information about your website visitors than you can imagine, and all at a very reasonable price.

Click Here To Visit Their Website - The first 30 days are free!
These tools are a necessity to your internet marketing success !!!

A quick overview of statistics:
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Number Of Hits : A hit is not a single visitor like most people tend to believe . It is a file that is requested from your website in order to show the page like it is intended. This means, every single picture on your webpage is a hit plus the HTML-file itself. For example, if your index.htm file has 10 different pictures in- cluded, you would have received 11 hits to your website. If the visitor goes to a second page which has 4 pictures on it , you would have received 5 hits more, totalling 16 hits just by visi- ting two pages ! So the number of hits doesn't actually say anything about how many unique visitors your website had . And therefore it is the most inaccurate statement if a company says their website had 17,000 hits in a month .

Often, the expression HITS is related to as an abbreviation for "How Idiots Track Success" ! Number Of Unique Visitors : A visitor can be defined as one computer making requests for webpages . If this computer makes more than just one request within a period of 30 minutes (which would be the usual way...) then it still counts as one visitor even he looked at 15 different pages of your website.

With most statistics programs, the common search engines are excluded from the results. This is because they can make a signi- ficant part of the visitor total if they are included . At some days the search engines would qualify as 30-40 visitors if they were not excluded. Favourite Pages Which pages have been viewed most often ? This is a question that is very relevant if it comes to developing content for your website . You will be able to determine if your visitors really look at the pages which you consider to be the most important sections of your website.

If they do not visit those pages, you have to find a way to funnel them into the right direction by making your links more eye- catching. Then, if there are still no relevant changes, you need to analyze your visitors' behaviour in depth to see why your content is not accepted . Perhaps you will need to shift the focus of your site a bit .

Referrers : Where do your visitors come from ? This is the most relevant question when it comes to analyzing your traffic. With these logfiles (statistics) you will be able to see if e.g. your search en- gine submissions were successful . Or you can see which other webpages are linking to your site. This section "referrers" is the single most important part of your website statistics. You will be able to analyze exactly where your traffic comes from . Consequently, you can react if you get no traffic from the search engines or from certain websites where you have advertised.

Dead URLs (not found) : This part of your statistics gives you the possibility to look for broken links or for pages which cannot be accessed for other reasons. It is very important that you fix the pages causing these problems; you want to look professional, or not ? One tip from me : If you have redesigned your website and certain pages have been removed, set up redirect pages to re- place the removed pages. This ensures a visitor, who e.g. comes from a search engine, will not see the ugly "not found" page. Instead , use a little refresh tag which brings him to your main site so the visitor is not lost ..... The next time your website statistics want to tell you something, you should better listen carefully. It could save you thousands of dollars in advertising costs and could make you look much more professional ! Article courtesy of Detlev Reimer, CEO of 1A IMS-Marketing http://www.internetmarketing-success.com ===============================================================

December 25, 2003

Merry Christmas !!!
No post today, just wishing everyone a happy holiday.
           


December 17, 2003

Interesting Statistics from Recent Search Engine Survey
In a recent survey conducted by WebAdvantage.net, business users where asked which seach engine they were utilizing the most. Results weren't very surprising, Google ranked #1, but it should remind everyone how important ranking well on Google is.

Results to the question were as follows:

Google: 66.37%
Yahoo: 15.25%
MSN: 7.8%
AOL/Netscape: 4.16%
Lycos: 0.55%
AltaVista: 1.55%
FastSearch: 0.35%
Excite: 0.70%
Hotbot: 0.30%
iWon: 1.21%

However, expect to see a rise in Yahoo's numbers over the next few months. With Yahoo's purchase of Inktomi expect to see the Google results in Yahoo slowly disappear. MSN in also developing their own search technology. Who knows when that will be implemented but we all know you can never count Microsoft out even though they are behind in the search race.

If you would like to see the entire survey please click here.


December 16, 2003

Upcoming Search Engine War
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Here is an excellent article by Time explaining the future of search engines and their importance. Subjects covered in the article include Google, Froogle, Google Catalogs, Yahoo, Overture, AOL, Jeff Bezo's new A9.com and much more. An excellent read! Read Article

Also here is a great Flash Presentation of how Google works, how it spiders the web and indexes the spidered pages.
Cool Fact: As of last week Google had indexed 1 billion webpages - This only accounts for 1% of the net.
View the presentation


A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION - Mortgage Email Spam takes a hit
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush signed the first national anti-spam bill into law on Tuesday, outlawing some of the most annoying forms of junk e-mail and setting jail time and multimillion dollar fines for violators.

The law also lays the groundwork for a "Do Not Spam" registry similar to the "Do Not Call" anti-telemarketing list that went into effect earlier this year.

Bush's signing marks the final legislative step in a six-year struggle to curb the unsolicited commercial offers that threaten to overwhelm the e-mail system.

But the law is unlikely to provide much of a Christmas present, at least this year.

Experts say it will not immediately stop the torrent of unwelcome e-mails touting unbelievably low mortgage rates,

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This is great news for all of us that are putting their efforts into marketing their mortgage websites, and all websites for that matter, in an ethical manner. More laws placed on spammers means more website traffic for those of us who are maintaining well built websites. Search engines get smarter every day and those who build websites that are useful to the public will win in the end. Good News :)



December 15, 2003
On Friday we discussed the getting your website listed in directories, now we will discuss the importance of doing this. Bottom line, get in every directory that your possibly can especially directories that are most relevant to your content. One of the best benefits of directory listings is that they don't have to be crawler-friendly. If your site uses frames, Flash, session IDs, etc., directories are the way to go. One good example is the Jayde Business Directory, where you can submit your site for free.

One of the most important directories to get listed in is the Open Directory Project, http://www.dmoz.com. But if you've ever submitted a site to DMOZ then you know it can take months to get your site approved and its next to impossible to find out the status of your listing. But thanks to WebProWorld.com we've found a way to get a status update on your website. There is a discussion forum sponsored by ODP that can provide you with a status of your listing with them. Visit http://resource-zone.com and go to the "Site Submission Status" section. Make sure you read the guidelines before requesting a status update. Thanks to the ODP editors for taking their time to give us this information.

Another DMOZ Tip: You should resist the temptation to re-submit your site to DMOZ because it takes them a long time to check submissions, and as soon as you submit your site, you start the process all over again, losing your place in line, so to speak. Patience is a virtue, and nothing illustrates that better than DMOZ. (Tip courtesy of: Jill Whalen, owner of http://www.HighRankings.com)

December 12, 2003
Mortgage Marketing - Today i've found some great information from Cynthia King. Link popularity is very important to search engine rankings. However the popular method of exchanging links with anyone and everyone is no longer recommended for increasing search position. There are theories that link exchanging will even hurt your ranking. This is why i've chosen to publish the information from Cynthia. It gives us great ideas on how to increase your link populatity on sites such as GOOGLE without trading links in the traditional sense.

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How to Improve Your Link Popularity - Without Trading Links

Many search engines, including Google, rank your page partially on the quality and quantity of sites that link to you.

Here's a few novel ways to get more links from better sites - without having to trade away your traffic.


1) Make Your Site Link-able With a Ton of Content

If you're going to get people to link to you, you've got to give something away. While you don't have to (and shouldn't!) give your product away, you'll have to have a good amount of free content. My general rule of thumb is about twenty well written articles, although less is sometimes fine if you have a weblog, free downloads (like software or ebooks), or other freebies surfers crave.

Even if you are a corporate or very commercial site, there are ways you can easily incorporate free content. Selling cosmetics? Write articles on how to care for your skin, how to do a home makeover and how to get made up for a job interview. Promoting your catering business? Include a few free recipes, as well as tips for eating healthy food - and an article detailing which spices every kitchen should have.


2) Submit Articles to Complementary Web Sites

Once you've written some articles for your website, use these articles to get third party sites to link to you. Many sites are looking for article submissions, and while they won't pay you anything, they will link back to your site. Pick a few of your articles that get the most traffic, and add a small bio box to them, explaining your company - with a link to your website.

To get the greatest amount of exposure, send these articles to as many sites as possible. Two good places to list your articles are:

http://www.ideamarketers.com
http://www.zinos.com

You can also find more places to submit your articles though searching for "submit beauty articles" - or whatever keywords fit the topics you've written on.

One handy trick is to find someone in your field who is promoting herself through articles, and simply Google a few words from her bio box. You'll come up with almost all the sites who run her articles, and guess what? They'll probably run yours as well.


3) Get One Way Listings in Directories

While it's difficult to get a free Yahoo! listing, there's a few good alternatives. Submit your site to the following directories:

http://www.dmoz.org
http://www.about.com
http://www.xoron.com
http://www.zeal.com
http://www.hotrate.com
http://www.goguides.org
http://www.joeant.com
http://www.somuch.com
http://www.linkopedia.com

The best way to ensure your listing is to become an editor. This is easy to do at Zeal, HotRate, GoGuides, and Joe Ant. Beyond that, submit your site to the page that has the most sites like yours.


4) Send Out Press Releases

No doubt that regular press releases about company news are boring and hardly ever run. Ready to go how-to articles and very quirky news about your business, however, will get picked up like crazy. And links from actual news sources tend to make your link popularity soar. If you can't afford to pay for someone to promote your press release, you can still send it out for free at:

http://www.prweb.com

Supplement your free press release by faxing or emailing it to local radio stations and newspapers, as well as magazines that run articles similar to your release.


5) Post to Discussion Forums

Don't spam discussion forums, but do participate often in those where you have something to say. Many discussion boards allow you to have a signature which includes a link to your site. This is a great way to gain credibility - and increase your link popularity.


6) Liberally Sign Guestbooks.

Many smaller sites (especially those on personal and hobby sites) have guestbooks that include a URL form.

Even if you didn't like the page, say something positive and leave your URL. You've just snagged a free link for yourself with almost no work.


7) Ask For Links

Sometimes the easiest way to get links is to simply ask for them. If your site has a lot to offer, other sites with link sections may be happy to add your link - without anything in return.

To find sites that may link to you, look to see who links to your competitors. The easiest way to do this is on alltheweb.com, with a search like:

link:competitorsite.com -site:competitorsite.com

Then, simply email the webmasters of these sites, tell them what your site has to offer, and ask for a link.

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(c) 2003 shelikesmoney.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cynthia King, runs shelikesmoney.com a free marketing resource site for female business owners and entrepreneurs. To find more free articles like these, visit: http://www.shelikesmoney.com/

Want to use this article? You’re welcome to reprint this article on your web site, in your ezine, or in your ebook as long as it is in its entirety (including the copyright, author bio, and web site link).

December 11, 2003
Starting with a bang - GOOGLE. We should all know the importance of high rankings in Google by now. Having a good position in Google will boost your mortgage website traffic. How does this happen. Well it isn't easy, a slow and steady process.

Here is some good information from Garret French of WebProNews.com who is apparently at the Search Engine Strategies Conference in Chicago this week.

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Looking for ways to boost your Google ranking? Speaker Marissa Mayer, the Director of Consumer Web Products at Google, said during one of her speeches, "Have unique useful content. Have sitemaps. Make your site easy to reach with a text-based browser. Give your site a hierarchal structure. Have a single domain with mini-sites within, rather than having lots of sites."

Usability is a Must! Marissa says, "It's a good idea to design sites that are usable from any browser. That's something that Google may be taking into consideration - your cross-browser compatibility." Check out our Accessibility and Usability forum for more tips!

Googlebot Still Isn’t Perfect. Some of the problems Googlebot has, according to Marissa, are JavaScript, session IDs, too many parameters, dynamic URLs, Splash pages, and frames. Also, if your site requires cookies to deliver content to browsers, then that's a serious problem because the Googlebot can't accept cookies and therefore won’t be able to reach the content.

Froogle. Many of you have probably noticed Froogle results are now appearing at the top of listings in Google. Marissa also mentioned this - which to me says, “If you are selling, get yourself into Froogle now!” Froogle is becoming increasingly important.

An Exclusive Interview. Yesterday, I caught up with Marissa after her presentation. We walked through the hallway together and had a short but exclusive interview as she carried her suitcase outside to catch a taxi to the airport.

I asked, “What should people do if their sites were totally dumped from Google?”

She replied, “If you dropped in rankings, go back and look at who you linked to and who’s linking to you. If any of these people are using spam techniques, they're the reason your site no longer appears on Google.”

“Does this mean that new algorithm somehow measures the ‘neighborhood’ you're linked into more highly?”

Smiling, Marissa told me she couldn’t answer that question, because it’s a direct statement about the new Google algorithm.

We'll take that as a yes. :)
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This is excellent information. When someone that works at Google speaks i'm sure going to listen. This article basically restates the fact that in the internet search kingdom, CONTENT IS KING. Provide you users with valuable content and Google will like you.

Also don't SPAM or use any SPAM related search engine techniques to try and boost your ranking. Bottom line, you will get caught. Make sure you aren't linking to someone who is practicing SPAM techniques.



December 10, 2003
Welcome to the brand new Mortgage Marketing Success Blog. The focus of this blog is to help mortgage industry gain a stronger understanding of internet marketing, search engine optimization techniques, search engines and how they work, etc. We follow the internet marketing industry closely and are willing to share our knowledge with the mortgage industry in an attempt to help you increase your website traffic. Come back and see us ofter, we promise the information in this blog will be helpful.   : )