The Importance of Website Analytics

Tracking analytics are a polarizing subject. On one hand, its precise measurements and metrics can provide invaluable, scientifically tested information crucial to fine-tuning your website.

On the other, its very precise nature can quickly escalate into a dim haze of confusing lexicon, a bewildering amount of metrics, and complexities that surpass even many so-called specialists.

So why bother? What can analytics provide for me, and furthermore how is it worth the steep cost... whether that is in money, time, or sanity.

A Numbers Game

Analytics is all about the numbers. There are several services out there that serve analytics metrics, such as Google, Adobe Omniture, and others, but the one thing they all revolve around is numbers. Actually more like tallies.

In its simplest form, analytics are the grown up, lab-coat wearing children of hit counters. Tracking services tell you one thing in a seemingly infinite amount of different ways: how many people visited my site?

But it gets deeper than that. And do buckle up for this.

Let's say your website received 10,000 hits in one month. Simple enough, right? But wait, just in navigating a website a person is likely to visit the same page more than once. Maybe a single person visited your homepage several times in the course of their visit. Okay, so 10,000 hits isn't quite accurate enough. You need to know how many people came to your site, not just how many visits were recorded.

So it's several thousand people. But wait, how often did a person visit? It's one thing if they came back to the homepage multiple times in the span of an hour, but another matter entirely if they went to the homepage the next day. How long can a "duration of a visit," or a session, be defined?

For that matter, how much time have people been spending on your site? Seconds, minutes? Milliseconds? If it's the latter, then you're being visited by search engine spiders and bots, not people. That doesn't really count as "web traffic."

But even on the other hand, if all those numbers were of genuine people, are they spending a healthy amount of time on your website? Or are they simply stumbling across it and then ducking back out. Can a visit of a few paltry seconds really hold weight against a session of half an hour? The latter is quite a visit, while the former can barely qualify as one.

For all these people, spending at least a decent amount of time on your site, are they only spending it on the homepage? Or are they taking the time and effort to explore the other sections of your website. How can you be sure these visitors are truly seeing what you have to offer? Are they coming in to stay away and peruse your wares, or essentially window shopping; practically bouncing off your homepage as fast as they came.

So from just this most basic of levels we have unique visitors, sessions, duration, and bounce rate. See, not just mumbo jumbo after all.

Proving Its Worth

Why would a website need to keep track of what browser people use to view it? Aren't they all the same?

Not quite. Obviously desktop and mobile layouts differ. But did you know that how the Web is displayed is not truly uniform across all browsers? The Big Four: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Apple Safari all display web pages slightly differently. Also, different versions of those four browsers often display pages differently from other versions. And just to make matters even worse, the same browser running the same version but on different operating systems can display pages slightly differently.

Sometimes these differences are slight, literally pixels off. Sometimes it is major, like whole portions of the web page not formatting properly or consistently. This can lead, and often does, to throwing the entire alignment of the page into disarray. What may look fine in Chrome and Safari may look off in Firefox. What looks alright in IE9 may look terribly wrong in IE6. What looks okay on Firefox ver. 12 on Windows may be only slightly off as seen on Firefox ver. 12 on OS X.

With inconsistencies like this it's a wonder that anyone can view the Web at all. At this point you really ought to thank your heart out to your web design team for making sure that doesn't happen.

But this is where tracking really shines. Let's say after looking at your metrics you notice that visitors who use Firefox, Chrome, and Safari all seem to be mostly equal, but IE users are sharply low by comparison and have a large bounce rate. This is a huge red flag that maybe you ought to check your site's compatibility with IE browsers. Chances are your page isn't rendering correctly, perhaps even grossly off. This would explain why traffic is so low; people get turned off by broken websites.

Testing... 1, 2, 3

In another instance one of your graphic designers has proposed a new layout. Some people in your team think the layout is too confusing, others think that it looks more modern and trendy and will better increase traffic and visitor retention. Which do you choose?

Obviously either decision is risky and could jeopardize your site's traffic. If only there were some way to test which version people liked more before permanently deciding on one design or the other. But wait, you can!

It's called A/B or multivariate testing. Half your incoming audience sees one version, and the other half sees the other layout. Now you can judge how people react. If the new design seems to retain more visitors and exhibit more in-page exploration, then you have a good sign towards your final call.

Heatmaps can literally show you what people tend to click on the most. If you discover that people are frequenting one portion of the layout over the other, the question to ask yourself is Why?

Perhaps the other sections aren't clearly labeled, or inconveniently placed? Or perhaps something about that one section is just really attractive to your target audience, so why not take that cue and make your whole website more like that?

Science: Always Worth It

Analytics can be tricky to set up, and even trickier to interpret. It's very much all about statistics and constant fine-tuning. Nevertheless it provides an invaluable tool to gleam feedback through user behaviors, detect and isolate potential trouble-spots, and perform much-needed testing.

The examples covered here are but the most basic, simplest examples of what web analytics can do. Like any instrument in the hands of a master, it can manipulate your medium to no end short of the imagination. It can perform tasks you may not have always conceived of, but now surely cannot live without.

What are your thoughts on analytics? Quantum mechanics voodoo, overhyped statistics, or something no website at any scale can live without?

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Four SEO Myths Busted

If you are looking for a firm that deals with SEO, you are in luck because there are several such companies to choose from. Having said that, it is also important to mention that finding the right company for your business' SEO is much like sifting the wheat from the chaff. Listed below are four myths that, if kept in mind are only myths, will help you find the right company to help your business online.

Myth 1: SEO companies should offer a high rank and fast results right from the beginning.

This is the biggest myth of all. The truth is that it takes a while before your website can reach a high rank on a search engine. To reach a top rank and to stay at the top is a slow process and can take several weeks together. Patience is the key.

Myth 2: The more a SEO company charges you for its services, the better the company.

This is not always the case. There are several companies that deal with SEO, and many of these companies will give you what you want at a lower rate than some of the companies that charge an exorbitant fee.

Myth 3: The work of the SEO company is over once your website ranks high on a search engine.

Getting your business to rank high on a search engine is just half the job. Once your business ranks high, a good SEO company will make sure it stays at the top. The SEO company does this by monitoring your account on a regular basis, updating the information on your website as and when required, writing press releases and promoting your business via social media sites periodically.

Myth 4: A SEO company will not change the content of your current website.

If necessary, a good SEO company will change the content and write original content that will keep your audience engaged. It will conduct research to find out who the right audience for your business is and what they want, rather than what you think they need, thereby helping your business succeed.

Up until a few years ago, SEO was almost unheard of. Today, however, with Internet Marketing reaching a new high and everyone who owns a business - be it a big or a small one, wanting to market their business online, SEO is the buzzword.

The competition online is tremendous and companies fight tooth and nail for a top-ranking position on search engines to attract traffic, gain more clients, make more sales and thereby increase their revenue. With some of the SEO myths busted, it's time now to find a good SEO company that will help you get your business online and make it a success.

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Google Penguin Update Opens New Doors of SEO Marketing

History taught us that every change opens or closes roads for the ones that took part or were affected by the change. History repeats even in the online world, were the Penguin update launched by Google closed the door for over-optimization and opened roads for newer internet entrepreneurs, who now have the chance of starting a project from scratch and get to the higher positions in SERP (Search Engine Results Page) by using quality instead of quantity and prohibited techniques like Black Hat SEO.

Most of the webmasters know that Google killed most of the over-optimization measures once they launched the Penguin update to the ranking algorithm. As in any other case of algorithm updates, there are good parts and bad parts about this. On one hand, many SEO marketers will need to rethink their link building strategies, as most of them were arguably over-using the anchor text of links, filling it with the main keywords. Not only that this keyword stuffing wasn't ethical, but now, after the update, it won't help growing anymore; instead it will lower the ranking of the website. Webmasters are advised to use generic anchor texts for links, such as "here" or "my website". Of course, this doesn't mean giving up completely to keyword stuffed anchor text, but it is better to keep them at a low number.

Another element that the Penguin update acts on is the quality of the backlinks. Now, it is better to have less but higher quality links, than starting a link building campaign in which a SEO marketer tries to obtain links from each and every low positioned website. Buying links is also an option, as long as the links come from a quality website filled with rich content, and also if the anchor text complies with the rule of keyword stuffing.

When it comes to the good part, Google just opened a door for new internet marketers and individuals who desire to forge their business on the online market. By limiting and in some cases, disabling the effect that the number of backlinks has onto a website, Google provides the chance for new developers to manage smaller projects with reduced budgets, so they can focus on getting quality links instead of getting a larger quantity.

Finally, it doesn't really matter if you are old or new in the online marketing industry; the Penguin update must be faced equally by all of the SEO experts and webmasters, so everyone must watch out on the source of their backlinks, the over-optimization of them, and also on the pages being targeted in the backlinks.

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Looking at Medical Malpractice Law

Medical malpractice is actually a phrase used to explain a range of healthcare provider methods or neglect which result in injuries. It's actually a negligent and also reckless action by way of medical doctor, hospital, or possibly other sorts of health care provider. Medical Malpractice is really a doctor's inability to exercise a fair standard of care while treating his or her's patient and in reality occurs across almost all professional medical practice areas and also in every medical-related environment. Medical malpractice is actually a truly serious concern in American hospitals and it's a leading trigger of wrongful loss of life.

Medical malpractice certainly is the larger proportion of business for the majority of personal injury law practices.

Negligence might result from the actual performance of an act or the failure to act. It's the failure of you to conform to the standard of good care to protect somebody from harm. It's always behavior which in turn deviates from the standard of care expected by law for the proper protection of persons from harm.

Malpractice is actually professional failure or possibly a failure of a doctor whereby proper care just isn't delivered consistent with established standards of practice in the community associated with medicine. This is perilous for a affected person and can bring about injuries or with worst kinds of scenarios bring about loss of life. There are many sorts and also examples of medical malpractice, many incorporate, medication errors, birth injuries, surgical error, misdiagnosis not to mention neglect in rest homes. Most of the time, it's not clear for an individual not in the profession to work out the negligence and demands aid from experts. A medical malpractice claim can be pursued against physicians, nursing staff, dental practitioners, nursing homes, hospitals in addition to pharmacists.

For those who think malpractice has genuinely taken place, it's best to contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney. Virtually all attorneys, can provide a consultation totally free. The very first assessment is often enough for any Attorney to measure up for sure if you do have a medical malpractice case warranting further examination. In cases where yours is a malpractice case that has a sensible chance for being successful (determined by way of preceding precedents and existing laws about which any attorney should be well-versed), the initial lawyer or attorney assessment will certainly end with a plan of action. Next actions for the purpose of additional claim assessment incorporate obtaining all relevant medical data and also the selection of a medical expert or even industry experts to present viewpoints about the standard of health care and also the injuries or death.

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When in Rome

The proverb, When in Rome do as the Romans do! is known by most people. When going to live in another country, it is wise and advantageous to conform.

The history of the United States well proves this proverb. Throughout U.S. history, most immigrants came to the United States and tried to learn English and dress as Americans. Most everyone reading this article can testify to this truth by reviewing the past history of their families. There might be an old grandmother who never learned English, but the grandfather certainly did.

Today, that doesn't seem to occur. People come here for advantages that they discern. They willingly leave their native country, (a difficult decision no matter what) then travel over oceans or deserts to the United States. If they come here for what they think they want, they should want what they find - the English language, the dress and the ways of life. A good example of what should happen is with the Irish immigration. See them and you wouldn't really know they are Irish, but on St. Patrick's Day they proudly honor their Irish heritage.

We have the Muslims, the Hassidic Jews, and others who refuse to adopt the dress of the adopted country. Many others like many Puerto Ricans and Hispanics refuse to learn the language. This leads to racial profiling. Then the people, who want to be outstanding, for religious or other reasons, complain that they are outstanding. Racial profiling is then inevitable. Our ancestors faced the problems of being outstanding when first arriving in the U.S. But they quickly adopted to fit in with other Americans. They did not want to be outstanding.

The wide demand for Spanish as a second language demonstrates the refusal of immigrants to adapt to the U.S. by learning to read, speak and write English. Voting ballots now need to be in Spanish as well as English. Any person wanting to be a full citizen, should read, speak and write English. How does the U.S. government make citizens of applicants who don't? English is spoken by a great many people in other industrialized countries. Shouldn't learning and reading English be required of every U.S. citizen?

WE ARE THE BEST OF PEOPLE!

Every one of us, meaning everyone on the face of the earth today, is a very special person. That means you too! Why or how can one say this seemingly arduous statement? If you know history, it will become very obvious and clear.

From Biblical times throughout all of history our ancestors faced problems. In the Bible there was the great flood, which wiped out almost every living person. There were great famines during the fifteenth century. More than half of the population died from starvation. That was after the terrible calamities that ended the Roman Empire. About this time, in the Far East the Mongols were continually raiding. Eventually they succeeded in conquering China. The result was terrible destruction and countless deaths. Famines also affected the Far East. Around the sixteenth century there were the plagues, the Black Death that wiped out major portions of the world's population. That first plague returned, less than a generation later. The children who had been born in between the plagues were hardest hit because those who survived the first the plague were more immune. The plague returned to Europe several times.

There were many other deadly sicknesses, which were never understood. In addition there were continual wars between countries, religions and regions. All of these problems were made worse by natural calamities, which included: hurricanes, tornadoes, tidal waves, volcanoes, fires and insects such as locusts. As late as the end of the World War I, a plague of influenza spread across Europe and the United States. This plague killed over 40 percent of the world's population.

Those of us alive today have to have had stronger and healthier ancestors, who were better able to avoid or deal with life-threatening events and catastrophes. They survived things that killed off a large portion of the prior world's population. We are lucky and fortunate to have had such great progenitors.

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Smokers' Cuff - Limits of Sin Taxes

I started smoking at age 13, back in first year high. Smoking completed the image I was going for- hip, yeah man!. I was already wearing long pants, sported longish hair and know how to play the guitar. I was almost there, well, except I was fat. Smoking somehow won some who teased me for being fat over to my side.

43 years later, I'm still smoking, now for no other reason than the mere enjoyment. My teenage idols have all dropped smoking, others just dropped- because of smoking, may they rest in ashes.

My other sinful pleasure comes from alcohol. Unlike smoking, however, I don't do drinking alone. Dark Dan can not drink anymore. Cranky Cris is out there somewhere in Hawaii and my other drinking buddies turned to wine (yak!) while others have been ordered to stop by their doctors. I told them to get other opinions until they get one that says drinking is healthy. Now, I am forced to drink alone. Well it does have its upside- no sob stories and I pay for only my drinks.

Meantime, I am having the most difficult time of my entire life- at the edge of bankruptcy, threatened with foreclosure and credit suits- and now politics is about to throw another curve ball- the sin taxes. Sin of a botch, errr... whatever.

People pushing the bill say this is to deter the young from taking up the habit. Hey why doesn't the government tax to death all those who are starting to smoke? We'll put detector chips in all citizens who are non smokers and when they pick up the habit-WHAM!!! Nifty eh?

There is way too much government. It wants to be in my computer via the cyber crime law. It wants to be in my bedroom with the RH bills, now they want to be in my simple pleasures, cigarettes and alcohol too? It is choking me to death.

Government says it wants to protect the health of the 17.3M smokers and save the health care cost. I say the majority of the smokers are too late for saving and besides what better way to control population than 17.3 M smokers croaking at the same time.

What about the workers in the tobacco industry, the backward and forward linkages, they are sure of not dying of cancer but of hunger. Maybe that is the plan, another 17M or so croaking for population control. ingenious!

Back to the bills, the bill pushers say that the taxes to be generated could be used to fund priority program. I say, what priority program, the conditional cash transfer? This program gives out cash to the criminals, encourages pilfering by the agencies doling out the funds and is not teaching anybody anything except mendicancy.

Come on man, why tax me for their misfortunes? I've loads myself.

You know what I blame for the proliferation of smoking- Christianity that's what. Magellan with his motley crew came supposedly to spread the word of God but also brought with him tobacco all in the name of Christianity.

Hey, why don't we tax the catholic church and all the religious groups, I am sure there's going to be a lot.

Meantime stay away from my cigarettes and alcohol.

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