Title grab you did it?  That’s a common thing I am hearing from my customers coming off the holiday shopping season.  Well maybe not in those exact words, but here is what I am hearing starting off this new year…

“My traffic is way down on my site, what is going on?”  or “You are not doing what you said you’d do in marketing my web site.”

First of all… acknowledging that site traffic is down in December is only part of the picture.  The common misconception in using Google Analytics that I encounter with my clients is that they look at small snapshots of data without any reference to past trends and make major assumptions about their website’s overall performance.  In some circumstances that may be correct, however people tend to panic when perhaps they see a drop in traffic without looking at the big picture.

To many, this topic is seemingly adolescent – this being basic knowledge of using Analytics – but I write this for the small business guy who gets worried at the slightest change in traffic who maybe has a bit of tunnel vision.

So when you say to me – you suck – I say to you – chill out and consider this.

Yes – for sure your traffic was down in December of 2009 from November of 2009 – BUT your traffic is up 30% in December 2009 compared to your traffic in December of 2008.  Additionally, your site may have less traffic than last month, but of that less traffic, you converted more of it than you did last year.  Are you following me?   Here are a few graphs to demonstrate:

Comparing Traffic Trends Year Over Year

The green line above is showing site visits in 2008, and the blue shows site traffic in 2009.  This specific business typically has cycles of higher traffic and the traffic trends for the two years compared are almost identical, the only difference:  the average increase for each month compared to the previous year is up an average of 30%.  So while the traffic was down in December of 2009, it was still up from this time last year.

Next – take a look at your goal conversions:

Goal Conversion Comparison Year Over Year

Again – green is 2008 – so for this period of time, there was clearly an increase in site traffic conversions (completed goals) over the previous year.  This is a great measure of success for a site if the goals are meaningful and can be associated with revenue.

You can check the year over year comparisons (or even month over month) on a variety of data points using Google Analytics like Bounce Rate, Exit Rate, Page Views and more.  Simply select the “Compare to Past” option (shown here) when selecting your date range.  By default it will prefill the past date range to the previous period of time just before the current date range selected (so if I’ve selected a 30 day period it will default to the previous 30 days).

Usually by this time, the customer has calmed down and understands that their site has common trends when you compare specific time ranges over previous years.  Furthermore, when they see the increase in conversions they feel better.  One would think they’d be more aware of the conversions and revenue generated by their website – but in reality – many small business are a ‘one man shop’ and their method of tracking revenue is generally somewhat antiquated.

So I encourage you – the small business owner to have all the information before making any assumptions, and if you have a dedicated Internet Marketing Strategist – be sure to ask the right questions.

BTW if you are not yet using Google Analytics on your website – you should be.  There is so much to learn if you only listen to what your web site has to say.

As I’ve posted in the past, I get daily notifications of my “Daily Challenge” – little snippets, sayings, quotes, ideas that keep me grounded and remind me that it’s not all about me.  Sometimes these little challenges strike a personal note, and sometimes they hit me professionally.  Today’s challenge can apply both personally and professionally.

“Choose to re-frame disappointments as challenges to help you grow.”

We would not be who we are without disappointment and growth, so this is a great reminder or push to learn from our mistakes, both personally and professionally.

If I apply this professionally, it is to take a web site that does not perform well, or has experiences failures in the ways of online sales and/or traffic and turn that around.  The disappointments in online performance are the things that push to dig deeper and find out what is not working and make it better.

I have one particular account that puzzles me – the site traffic grows month over month, the overall site bounce rate is low, the pricing on products is competitive and they are experiencing nice positioning in Google.  They are following all the steps in our marketing plan, yet the site does not perform as well as I’d expect it to.  It is rather disappointing.  BUT, this is now a challenge – to test the waters and look for ways to make it work.  We’ve just rolled out some changes that I hope will be effective, but again we continue to monitor using tools like Google Analytics to watch our changes take hold.

If not, I will continue to push to find the right solution as I attempt to do in all areas of my life.  My passion for my client’s success is what keeps me motivated.  At the end of the day, if their site is performing well and I am helping their business grow, then I’ve overcome just one more challenge.

As Joel Osteen once said  “Every setback is a setup for a great comeback…”

I continue to view failures and disappointments as opportunities for growth in all areas of my life.  It is those things that make us stronger both personally and professionally.

I must confess it’s been too long since my last post – but work is work and there’s much to be done.  Today I’m working with a customer on writing product descriptions for their site, and what I am reminded up is often times when we work with our customers, we tell them to do this and that to help sell their products online, but we don’t always explain the logic behind what we are telling them.

I had to take a breath to and explain the why’s of all the what’s I was requesting of them – and in hind sight it’s a practice I will introduce with all clients to give a clear picture of how to write effective product descriptions for your small busines web site (or really any web site content).  The basic concept to remember is this:

If we write FOR Google, the web site content is RIGHT for Google.

What I mean by this… There are several key elements of content related to your product.  Consider your users and how they will search for your products.  Know your search competition and keyterms that you will target and work those into all the key areas on your product page.

If we are talking about a database driven eCommerce site – then there are probably some standards in place on how your products are organized.  You may not realize it but each component of your product related data in your database can affect how your products get indexed and/or ranked.

Start with your web site’s product categories:  If you have many products and they are broken into categories – name your categories in such a way that Google can sort them out, and your users can find products easily on your site.   I’ve seen product categories that make absolutely no sense that not a living soul would search on.  Know your search terms and think about them when writing your product categories logically.

Name your products accordingly in your database:   I’ve seen many cases where a customer provides product data for upload into their web site’s product database and the product title is merely a SKU number that means nothing to nobody.  Generally speaking I don’t recommend using a SKU in your product title.   Your product name – again – should include the terminolgy that your users will find your products under.  Consider also – if you are uploading your products into Google Base (Google’s shopping engine), product names need to be carefully considered.    

I should note that in some circumstances it is necessary to use the SKU.  You may have a site that sells replacement parts for machinery where people WILL search by a part number or SKU.  In that situation you absolutely want that SKU in the product name.  

Next consider your product images:  If your product images are named product.jpg or abc123.jpg what the heck is Google going to do with that?  If your product images are names using search terms that relate to your product title, then Google is more likely to pick them up in Google Images also.  Your Alt-Tags should also be written in such a way to compliment your image title and product name – using variations of the same keyterms that you are looking to get ranking on.  In watching traffic for your website, using tools like Google Analytics, you may find yourself suprised by how much traffic comes from Google Images.

Adding product documentation helps:  If you have supporting documentation for whatever product you are selling, be sure to include a download link for that documentation.  Consider also, when naming your documenation that you don’t name it sales_presentation.pdf or something generic – AGAIN – use your web site’s relevent keyterms based on your keyword research.  I’ve had great luck in getting documentation indexed in Google, driving traffic to some of the small business websites I market.

Write a GOOD product description:    Your product description needs to be written in a such a way that Google can determine what that specific product page is all about, in order to get it indexed.  If there is no product description, it doesn’t say much about your product (literally).  Sometimes it can be challenging to write a good product description because frankly there isn’t always a lot to say, but you can work in related product you recommend, look for ways to use multiple variations of your keyterms for that product, and write for Google.  Most people know what they are looking for before they hit your product page, and chances are they are not reading the description.  Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t write it.  You definitely need to write it.

In short (ok maybe not so short) – these are tips for writing effective product content for your eCommerce website or small business website.  They’ve proven effective for me, and I’ve been fortunate to gain ranking on highly competitive keyterms using these techniques.

Keep in mind, there is a whole internet marketing plan in place for any given small business website I market, and each unique to their needs.  These plans also include things like online press releases, email marketing campaigns, social media activities, linking strategies and so much more than one can list in a short paragraph.  

You want Google to see your site like it’s looking at it through 3-D glasses.  It needs to stand out, and Google needs to know that the content you provide is relevant, and your products are important enough to gain that organic ranking we all work for.   Work all the steps of your marketing plan to make your site jump off the page at Google – and your users or potential customers will have a much better chance of finding you.

Write FOR Google = RIGHT for Google… Remember that. Everybody will tell you differently, I tell you this is what works for me and for the small business websites I market.

As I am Twittering around this morning a thread formed around building trust with clients & showing them the value of internet marketing. This is something I get VERY passionate about because I see the tangible results of internet marketing each any every day and how that relates to my customer – the small business guy who makes a living selling his widget. There are a few parts to this thought so bear with me…

This post was originally written December 4, 2009 – but it was my introductory post to my first blog.

To blog or not to blog has been my question for a while now… Until I could figure out what I had to share with the world it made no sense, but I now realize it is my passion for everything that I want to share – and how that passion continues to evolve in all that I do and all that I am personally and professionally.