Over the last several months we have covered the basics of how to build your website. We could (and probably will) go into much greater detail on every aspect of web design - from usability to design, from actions to client types.

For now, let's leave design and cover another crucial but often overlooked tool in our box - measuring our progress.

We want to know how we are doing! And we do not want to wait until the sales numbers are in as the sales numbers may not be that good!

There are many metrics we can use to improve our sites. Among them are things like:

1. How many visitors?
2. Where are they coming from?
3. How did they find us?
4. How long are they staying on each page?
5. Where are they leaving the site?

And much more.

All this information can be found in one free tool. Google analytics also known as GA.

GA is easy to install on your site - a little more challenging to extract the information only because there is SO much information available it is sometimes hard to separate out what you need!

Install Google Analytics

If you do not have one yet (and you should) create a google email account at http://gmail.com. Then go to http://www.google.com/analytics/ and set up an analytics account. Just follow the instructions. The hardest part will be to add the code GA gives you to your site.

Ask your webmaster or call us if you have trouble.

And learn to measure your progress!

Strategic linking is more than just getting as many links coming into your website as possible. This can be a good start, but the "quality" of those links matter. It also matters what the "anchor text" of the link says.

Your incoming links do two basic things for you. First, they bring direct traffic from the sites where they are located. Second, they help optimize your website and get it found more often in the search engines.

Strategic Linking For Direct Traffic

Anywhere you put a link up, there is a chance that people will click on it and visit your site. Of course the odds are increased if there is more traffic where that link is, so you want to get your links on high-traffic sites and pages as much as possible. For example, when you submit your promotional articles to article directories, you want to start with those that are well used. When you exchange links, you want to do so with high-traffic sites if possible.

There is more than just traffic in this equation, however. You also want to get the right kind of traffic. A link to your website on chess won't get clicked much if it is on a site about boating, right? Strategic linking means putting your links on sites or pages with a closely related theme.

For this reason (and others) articles are a great marketing tool for your website. An article on making money at home is probably going to be read by people who are likely to click through to your site on home business opportunities. This targeted traffic is exactly what you need to make money with your site. This is one reason why links from the author's resource box in your articles are some of the best links you can have.

Strategic Linking And Optimization

Links also optimize your website. If nobody were to click on the links you put out there, the links would still help you increase your exposure in the search engines - meaning you'll get more traffic from them. What do you do to get the most "optimization" value from your links? Try the following:

1. Have a good keyword in the "anchor text." This is the language of the actual link. It is used by search engines to decide which sites to display in the results pages. With article submissions, be sure to also have the full URL displayed as well, so those who use your article won't mess up the link. For example, you could have the keyword "strategic linking" used as your link, but then also show the full URL (starting with http://). Of course, if the keyword is in your URL, you are already one step ahead of the competition.

2. Have links from more important pages. If you don't have a Google Toolbar on your browser, you may want to get one and start checking out the "PageRank" (Google's trademarked proprietary system for ranking web sites) of the web sites you put links on. Submit articles to web sites with a PageRank of 4 or higher, and exchange links with higher-ranked sites as well.

3. Slow down - maybe. There is some evidence that the search engines are downgrading the value of links when they occur too quickly. Perhaps their search algorithms assume that software or "tricks" are involved. They may consider a more "natural" or slower growth of incoming links to be indicative of a higher quality site. If you have several web sites, then, you are possibly better off rotating your link-building work between them, so the links to any one site are added more slowly.

There are links that are more likely to bring direct targeted traffic and links that optimize your website - which should you try for? Why not try for some of each type? Both are valuable, and you can often get both advantages in one link. Finally, there is one other key element to strategic linking: where the links go or “point to.“ Your homepage isn't always the best option - but that is a topic for another article.

Using Twitter more Effectively

These days it seems that you can't escape stories about Twitter.  With all the hype and celebrity endorsements, lots of people are asking "how do I use Twitter?".   

There are plenty of sites out there that will tell you how to use Twitter, but not so many to warn you of the pitfalls.If you take a moment to learn from this list of useful Twitter tips then you'll be Twittering away with the best of them.

DO remember to hold your tongue.Unless your updates are protected, anyone can see what you are currently Tweeting.Bear in mind the story of the girl who managed to Tweet her way out of a job just because a hiring manager read her thoughts on the position she interviewed for.

DON'T confuse Twitter for a chat client.No one wants to their screen full of irrelevant Tweets from a conversation that they're forced to eavesdrop on.

DO remember to retweet.This can be a very good way to build up a following of like minded Twitterers.

DON'T endlessly self promote yourself.Okay, we get it - you have your own blog.Twitter isn't a one way street - talk back!

DO follow users back, but….

DON'T be offended if people don't always follow you back.Users with tens of thousands of followers are unlikely to see your Tweet through the noise anyway.

DO try to be funny, entertaining, informative and creative with your tweets.

DON’T auto-DM.This is the Twittering equivalent of spam and a faceless “hi – thanks for following” is impersonal and off-putting.

DO use it to get help.  Once you have a reasonable following you’ll find it easy to find answers to your questions quickly.

DON’T twit if your message is likely to exceed 140 characters.Spreading messages over multiple tweets is just going to confuse and irritate your followers.

These handy hints should be enough to start you off.  If you are likely to spend a significant proportion of your online time on Twitter then there are plenty of guides on the net telling you how to use Twitter effectively.

A "Blog" is essentially an online diary where you can digitally write your views, thoughts, feelings and anything that you would want people to read. Web logs come in distinct styles, data formatting, and settings, contingent on the preference of the user. Many blogging sites, provide built in features such as hyperlink, direct texts, images etc. Many blogging sites, even allow for you to put video and mp3's on your blogs.

Among the advantages of "blogging" , is that it is constructed of only a few templates. Opposed to, other websites that are made up of a lot of individual pages. It is then easier for users to make new pages, because it already has gotten a fixed setting that have spots for the title, post, category, etc.

This is particularly useful for for the first time user, since they can begin "blogging" right from the start. They could chose from a wide variety of templates that are available from the internet. Anyone who would like to start up a blog can do so by becoming a member of a blogging website by just signing up. When they become members, they automatically become a part of that special community. Which they can start to browse through other sites, then link them back to their own personal blog. Also, they can read up on and make comments on them.

But, blogging is not just set up for personal usage. Many of them follow different themes such as: sports, politics, philosophy, social commentary, etc. In this way, it turns into a medium in which people could share some of their knowledge and views on a assortment of topics and subjects. A lot of bloggers will use their blogs as a means to advertise and make money. Numerous authors promote their books on their blogs. And there are others, who will use them to make views on current issues, outcomes, news and disasters.

Today in the education field, blogs play an crucial part in our society. Professors in college use blogs to document their lessons that they may have talked about and taught that day. In this way, students who have missed classes, can easily pick up on their missed assignments. Many entrepreneurs do good from blogging by advertising their businesses, with millions of people logging into the internet each and every day, blogging has become a profitable movement for them. Many who run internet businesses advertise their products online.

But, simply by far, the most popular type is the one that takes the form of a personal journal. As this is the one that is generally utilized by people who are first starting out. People who prefer to document their day by day personal struggle of their daily lives, poems, rants, thoughts, find that it offers them a culture medium in which to convey themselves. They all vary in topics, themes, and set-ups, and can be found in blog directories. For people who want to get an idea of what the blogging world is all about can surf through using these directories. This way they would begin to get an idea of what these communities are about.

You may be like most people, and not even know what an autoresponder is. An autoresponder is a piece of software, or a service that automatically emails a mailing list. Most would wonder what use someone would have for an autoresponder? Stop and ask yourself how many people opt-in to your website but do not buy anything? How much money do you think you could make if you could email those same people another offer? You are letting your customers leave your site with only a single impression, when you could be harvesting many more. Some statistics say that it will take some individuals up to seven impressions to decide about a product purchase.

You can send out daily offers to your opt-in list by using an autoresponder. Chances are far greater of making a sale by emailing your list. Maybe that person wasn't fully awake when they first saw your offer. Suddenly they get your message and have no idea why they passed it up and then make the buy!

Now you know why they say that the money is in the list. It's true. Autoresponders let you continue to add addresses to your mailing list from your opt-in. The bigger the list, the bigger the payout! Imagine having a few thousand subscribers on your mailing list, you could email them all simultaneously and give them a new offer, at the push a button. But, you will have to use a strong autoresponder to be sure that your emails are not landing in people's junk mailbox. For years I have used Aweber, and you can try it for free before you sign up for a service.

THere is no doubt that although it adds to the work load, an autoresponder/broadcast email program makes communicating with clients and potential clients a breeze!

There is a general misconception about home pages and landing pages for a website.

Let's begin by saying the home page is where someone ends up when they type your domain name into an internet browser.

So your home page can be a very important landing page because many of your visitors can 'land' on your home page.

However - almost any page of your website can be a landing page!

Visitors will find you through search engines, paid search or advertising, social media and much more - so you will have visitors 'landing' all over your site!

So the key idea is that we must take great care to understand and take advantage of the fact that any page could be the starting point for your visitors experience with you and your company. Do you see how this changes how you craft each page you add to your site?

We want to incorporate the design and layout ideas we have previously discussed in all our pages.

This is a powerful marketing method that I strongly recommend you do!

Landing pages also allow you to target specific niches of your audience and speak to their specific needs and challenges. They also allow you to purposely direct your visitors, through advertising, to a landing page that focuses on the precise benefit or challenge they were researching when they found you online.

How cool is that?

Now we can work on converting your visitor into a customer - right on that page because we know what they want and need. But if need be, we can send them deeper into the site as well…

Next - tracking visitors!

Ok. Here is what we have done so far in the last 11 posts or so.

We talked about the reasons for a website, how to find those reasons and how to address them. We covered responsibilities, elements, design as to layout, graphics, content and progression and last post was look and feel.

Now let's talk about another absolutely crucial element often overlooked. Call to action!

Call to action is a concise,compelling invitation for your visitor to take specific action, typically to sign up for something, or read information designed to take then through the buying process - or even buy something!

Three types of calls to action:
1. Primary call to action.
2. Secondary call to action.
3. Established, site wide calls to action.

Primary call to action is the featured action on your homepage and elsewhere. It is what you ultimately want your visitor to do. This could be an optin for email, in trade for something like a report or free report, or course.

The secondary call to action is something your visitor might do if they don't want to provide an email address - get them deeper into your site and commit just a little to start the trust factor.

And the site wide is featured on every page and can be the primary call to action or different actions for each page. Your call to action might be a big arrow that says 'next step'.

Related info or related/featured products are call to action buttons as well. Calls to action can be greatly enhanced with powerful text. "Buy now. Cancel Anytime'.

Use calls to action as a powerful tool to communicate to your visitor exactly what you want them to do.

After all we all appreciate being told what to do!

Next - landing pages

This is normally the area most companies concentrate on - and is the one they get wrong the most!

Pretty does not sell. (Not for websites anyway!)

Graphic design should support your written content.

Some points to remember are:

1. Design your colors, look and feel to match your visitor (already defined remember?)

2. Make sure all your graphics and content focus on your visitor and his/her needs and NOT on your company and what you offer!

3. Talk about your services, offerings, features and benefits by focusing on what you have previously defined as visitor needs, wants, desires, questions and objections.

4. Write directly to an individual and not the whole world.

Follow these steps as you review or plan your site and you will be far ahead of the majority of website owners!

Next: Call to Action!

Once you know who your visitor is, and you know what their questions, fears, concerns and needs are - then you can begin to assemble a site.

We want to create a site that walks a visitor through a natural progression of fulfilling everything you know about that visitor.

If you accomplish this - the sale will be easy to make.

Some considerations:

1. Have your main site menu link to core pages (services, contact, results, products etc).

2. Have a primary call to action on every page. (Free trial, free consultation, get started, free book etc)

3. Write each page with the next step in mind. What is the biggest question in your visitors mind about your company/service/product? Address it early in the process. Next question? That is your next copy. And so on.

4. Include secondary call to actions to solve major questions and concerns on particular pages that address those concerns. Question about reputation? Provide link to testimonial videos.

Make sense? If not leave a comment. Does this help? Please send a friend to read it, twitter, stumble or delicious it!

Next - Website look and feel!

So we are designing (or redesigning) our site, and looking at it through the eyes of our visitors. Which means our site is not about us or our company!

Get clear who your visitor is!

Do you have different sets of visitors? Customers, prospects, investors, the press? One way to figure this out is to survey your existing customers - find out who would visit and why. You could look at existing website statistics. (If you are not aware of this Google analytics is free and tells you more than you could possibly want to know about your traffic!)

Now map out the psychological process each group would go through that would result in a sale or lead.

For instance, write down all the questions and concerns they would have, the objections they might bring up, the information they need. Then sort this into a logical progression.

The idea is to consider all this before you write your content and before you decide on your navigation through your site. The key is not to leave this up to chance - but to lead your customer from one step to the next as the process unfolds.

Makes sense - yes?

Tomorrow - specifics!