This week, we've seen how to find your analytics information, how to read the Site Usage information, and how to understand Traffic Sources. While there's lots more to learn about analytics (and I write about it a lot at this blog), it can be overwhelming to try to look at and learn from everything at once.While you're at the Traffic Sources section of your dashboard, though, check out the keywords. Click on that link for a full explanation of how to interpret the information, and learn also ... Read Full Story

We're continuing with our series of posts for people with new websites, or who are generally new to Google Analytics. Yesterday, we saw how to get in to look at the data, and had a look at the Site Usage section of the dashboard. It's good to have a look at that information on a regular basis.The other part of the dashboard that you ought to get familiar with right away is the Traffic Sources section. You can click on the words "Traffic Sources" in the navigation in the upper left of your das... Read Full Story

Myra Grayson's new website, GraysLlandAcres.com, has been live for a few weeks, and she wants to see who's visiting. Tom installed Google Analytics for her when we built the site. This is my personal favorite analytics program: it's free and it gives a wonderful depth of information.I keep track of Analytics for some clients, but others -- including Myra -- want to do it themselves. While I do trainings for local people (like the folks at BabySmart Travel, who made cookies for the occasion ye... Read Full Story

It's too early to play Christmas music (except in rehearsal) and too early to decorate for Christmas, but it's exactly time to get serious about holiday e-commerce.The average American female shopper has already decided where to do her major holiday shopping. Does that make it too late to get her attention? Not at all. This generally means that she knows where she'll get the big-screen TV, the A-list toy, or the gaming system. She still has lots of purchases -- for friends, family members, an... Read Full Story

We've talked before about the benefits of having videos on your website. I've also suggested that we're currently in a window of opportunity for casual videography.After all, there was a time when really poorly made websites were acceptable to most people. This is no longer true. Your amateur website (if that's what you have) now makes people feel less trusting of your business. And there was a time when mechanical-sounding midi files were acceptable to people on the internet. This is also no... Read Full Story

I'm working right now on an enormous content update the Kennedy Center is doing for its educational site. One of the main things we writers on the project are doing is making the content suited to the way people read online.It's not the same as the way people read print.Above, you can see the way people read books -- they settle back in comfort, intending to read for an extended period of time. Even if they have several books on hand, they usually plan to read one for quite a while before shi... Read Full Story

We've talked about whether to use stock photos or to use your own images. Say you want to create your own images, how can you go about it?First decision: should you hire a photographer, or do it yourself? Assuming that you are not yourself a skilled photographer, these are the questions you need to ask yourself:How important is quality? If this is the photo of your building which will provide the centerpiece of your web design and indeed of all your graphics from now on, then hire a photograp... Read Full Story

GraysLland Acres, Steve and Myra Grayson's Oklahoma farm, now has its own website.Oh, Rosie has some things to check off her list, and Shan hasn't quite pushed the button yet, but by the time you read this, the site will probably be live.Launch Day is always exciting for all of us. But, like a wedding day, it's not the end, even if it is the day you bring out the champagne. We now will submit the site to the appropriate search engines and directories and tell everyone we know about it.You do... Read Full Story

I wrote the other day about communicating about a website while it's in progress. I made some light remark about how emails back and forth can get confusing.In conversation among the team working on the GraysLlland Acres website, it struck us that I might have been understating the case.Looking back over the past month, not particularly among ourselves but including all the teams we work with, plus the classes I teach which communicate largely via email, we were able to come up with multiple ... Read Full Story

I've written about a lot of redesigns here. Often, someone comes to me with a website that isn't performing well, and it's clear that there are usability issues, major design issues, obsolete coding, or other issues that mean that a complete redesign is the best option.Not always.Appsolute Media's Kosher Cookbook for the iPhone had a website that didn't have the allure their app deserves. You can see, looking at the "before" picture below, that it had no clear call to action, and in fact that... Read Full Story