In my last post I gave some of the reasons for the buzz of Web 2.0. But what does it mean for you? It could save you a lot of money.
The Chicago Park District has been our client for many years. When we first started working with them they primarily needed help with site architecture and content management, and online registration was one of their requirements. After 5 years of growing over 40% annually, online registration for programs had become a major component of the functionality of the site – stretching our hosting capabilities and justifying the need for (considerable) additional equipment. So how could we increase throughput without increasing the size of the pipe (bandwidth)?
Web 2.0 gave us the answer through the development of an Ajax application for online registration. We also introduced a new layout and user flow, adding a “wish list” function to allow the user to select programs in advance. The wish list offers increased functionality and decreased server load on registration day.
So what were the results?
- 50% increase in throughput over last year. Thousands of classes were successfully purchased through the system – at the initial rate of nearly 500 registrations per minute!
- 10% decrease in bandwidth over last year.
- Decreased cart abandonment by 80%.
Because we were able to increase throughput without additional bandwidth, we saved tens of thousands of dollars in additional hosting costs – while creating a better experience for the user. That is just one example of how Web 2.0 can make a difference.
A number of our clients have recently discovered the power of web analytics. One company used a tool to track the number of downloads to a product on the day it launched. Another was able to determine whether or not use of a link on their site increased based on a small change they made to its appearance.
Everyone with a website should be setting goals for that site that are directly related to their business objectives. With the tools that are available today, this is relatively easy to develop a web analytics plan – the only challenge is actually putting this plan into action.
If you are one of the millions who are still learning about web analytics, our new whitepaper by Fred Salchli is a great primer. The paper provides specific definitions, examples and sites reference materials that are useful to anyone vested in your organization’s website. Click here to download the whitepaper, and look for more information on web analytics and the various tools available for measuring your website from Duo Consulting.
We’re constantly improving our presentations and have used feedback from our November presentation of “Building Websites That Work” to revise our encore presentation on January 24. One thing that changed was our line-up. We’re going to open the presentation with our in-house rocker, Yvonne Doll, who will cover website design and then move right into Adam Howitt’s presentation on creating an action plan for your website. Next, Sonny Cohen will provide an overview of one of his many specialties, search engine optimization. Fred Salchli will then unravel the mystery that is web analytics. Finally, Kim Williams-Czopek will provide us with 10 tips for a successful website project.
We’d love to see you there! The January 24 presentation will take place at the Catalyst Ranch from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Register soon, because seating is limited to 20 participants!
This week, two of Duo’s own will be presenting at the Gilbane Conference on Content Management Technologies in Boston. Kim is
presenting on her area of expertise, project management and CMS
implementation and how to avoid nasty surprises along the way. Adam will
cover understanding how to manage your content so the search engines
can make it available. Each will be reprising their presentations from
our Content Matters Workshop, “Building Websites that Work” (which, incidentally, we’re presenting again on January 24).
We’re
happy to be involved in conferences such as Gilbane’s and feel that it
adds thought leadership and value to the services we provide to our clients and friends. For
more information on our workshops, click here.
Website analytics is hot and getting hotter. I have written about the importance of
analytics frequently over the last few months – and am pushing many of our
clients to sign up for our web analytics service. One of the “hurdles” has been the cost for
access to a good analytics package for tracking your website usage.
Enter Google – who decides to offer their excellent Urchin
analytics for free – under the name of Google Analytics. Now you can track up to 5 Million page views
with this tag-based service for free!
This is huge – last week this same service would have cost $200/month
from WebTrends – even more from Omniture!
So if the cost of software was a stumbling block in moving forward with
web analytics – that shouldn’t be a hold-up anymore.
Those of you with maintenance contracts should contact us use
some hours to integrate the Google Analytics tracking code into your site – and
we will get you going with one of the better analytics packages around.
Thank Google.
Remember when, if you wanted to make a call from outside your home, you’d need to find a pay phone? Now when people realize they’ve left their cell phone at home, many turn around to get it. With the increased availability of WiFi, experts are predicting that people will soon become as used to (and dependent upon) mobile Internet access as they are to indoor plumbing. The Chicago Tribune’s Jon Van discusses the advantages and disadvantages of “omnipresent wireless” in an article published Saturday. The article discusses steps being made by small businesses, cell phone companies and even Internet moguls like Google to promote Internet accessibility.
How does this impact you? It is becoming increasingly important to be not only present online, but to be making an impact. Sites need to be found, they need to have user-friendly navigation, they have to offer something to the visitor (even if that thing is just an address) and they have to make the visitor want to do something (even if that’s only come back). According to Van, we are going to see some big changes by 2007, and it’s important that your website is ready for prime time.
Although many still equate spending resources on optimizing online searchability to spending big dollars on a telephone book ad, others are realizing that this is a big deal. Organizations of all sizes, including retail-giant Walmart, are realizing that just as easily as Google leads customers to their website, they have the power to lead them away.
The New York Times published an article on the topic Sunday. My favorite quote was by David B. Yoffie, a professor at Harvard Business School. He says, "Google is the realization of everything that we thought the Internet was going to be about but really wasn’t until Google."
Duo can help your site optimize its searchability. To learn more, click here.
Your website has an awful lot to tell you, but only if you know that you should be listening and understand what to listen for. Aren’t your best goods and service providers the ones that ask good questions, listen carefully and then work to tailor their offering to your expressed and unique need? Can’t we all agree that it is important to understand our customer or client if we are to provide them satisfaction? Your website is your representative in the online world. Is your representative tone deaf?
In your effort to create great content - to “talk,” it’s altogether possible that you didn’t know you were also supposed to listen or what to listen for. Hence the priority many place on having a good looking website and a drop dead spectacular home page. Looking good may have been good enough for you. But if you’re listening to your website, you might realize that, for example, 60% of the people who visit never see your home page. So how important is that impressive Flash movie you created? Or you might learn that 80% of your site visitors never get past the first page of your website before leaving. So what’s the significance of 10,000 visitors this month if 8,000 left immediately? Individual results vary. What are yours?
What else is your website trying to tell you? That depends on your organization and your website’s objectives. At a high level, your website can tell you what people are looking for and whether they find it. Are your visitors getting a broad view of your firm or are they driven by specific needs? And what are those needs? If you’re listening carefully, you might be able to offer your visitor something of immediate value in return for a little more information about their needs – a quid pro quo – a little information for a little information.
Learning to listen, of course, is only the first step. What you do with the information you “hear” is the important next step. But if you open your ears and listen to your website you have a better opportunity to make it a more effective part of your client and customer relations program.
Our newest white paper, Getting Noticed by Search Engines, outlines what it takes to get websites listed prominently in search engine results.
Getting smart about search engines should be on the top of every online marketer’s to-do list. Most adult internet users start every web session with a visit to a search engine. If your business isn’t showing up in search engine results, you’re likely missing an opportunity to get in front of customers.
Our white paper explains the basics of search engine optimization, reviews best practices and warns of common barriers that keep websites from getting optimal placement in search results. Although primarily intended for marketers, the paper also has some technical advice helpful for Web developers and programmers. You can download it here.
We did a survey last week of Duo customers and learned that more than half of businesses and organizations are barely looking at, let alone really using, data from their websites.
That fact isn’t a surprise. Many businesses spend lots of time and resources in creating and building a website, but far fewer in monitoring its progress and making changes. Yet that is where the gains are – in being able to change sites to adapt to customer needs.
In Web Analytics Demystified, one of the few books available on using Web data for business intelligence, author Eric T. Peterson writes that Web analytics isn’t about numbers, it’s about knowing how the Internet is impacting your business. Peterson is talking about tracking all online efforts, from the website to RSS to blogs to email, and looking at how they are growing your business, or not, and then using that information to build even better campaigns.
Peterson builds a compelling case for making Web analytics a top priority for any online marketing effort. Check out Peterson’s blog here.
