Tag Archives: keyword optimization
How do you figure out the worth of a company website? Does it depend on the look of the site, the functionality of the navigation, or the usefulness of the information? In a roundabout way, yes. But if you really want to get to the bottom of your website’s potential and discover the cold hard numbers associated with your online worth you’re going to need to get analytical. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling software on your website, or advertising your personal cleaning service, installing web analytics on your website is an absolute must if you plan to attract new customers to your Chatham-Kent business.
What Are Analytics?
Web analytics is the measurement, collection, and analysis of website traffic data for the purpose of understanding and optimizing a web presence. That’s sort of a complicated definition so let’s break it down. Web analytics is a third-party application that is installed on a website, usually through a snippet of code which contains a tracking mechanism. Once properly installed, this application monitors your website, tracking how many people visit your site, what pages they navigate to, and how long they review your site content. But that’s not all. Analytics programs can also track where your visitors are coming from (e it search engines or an affiliated link), the search term they used to find your site, and which page they exited your site from.
Why This Information is Important to Your Chatham-Kent Business
The data from web analytics programs is absolutely crucial to any small business website. This data shows you just how many visitors are able to find your site, what they do when on your site, and where they lose interest. Web analytics provide you with an inside look at how your customer behaves, and more importantly, what you need to do to improve the functionality of your website. Do people keep leaving your site when they get to the check out page? Perhaps a cart redesign is in order. Is the search terms “Chatham-Kent Marketing” sending thousands of visitors to your site or only a handful? Maybe it’s time to be more aggressive with your keyword optimization. The more you know about your website, the better, so what are you waiting for – install web analytics on your Chatham-Kent website today.
Three Free Web Analytic Applications
1) Piwik
This open source web analytics software is great for small business owners because it provides detailed reports on a wide variety of topics. From search engines and keywords to popular pages and visitor loyalty, Pwiki provides you with tons of realtime data. The user interface is also totally customizable – simply drag and drop the widgets that you want to view more often onto your dashboard.
2) Fire Stats
If you’re looking for robust data and are running a WordPress based site, Fire Stats should be your analytic package of choice. Along with real time statistics and referrer information, Fire Stats also monitors RSS subscribers and provides you with the option of excluding hits from certain ISP addresses (helps to filter out your personal browsing for clearer visitor’s stats).
3) Google Analytics
This web analytic program is probably the most well known, and for good reason. Google’s easy-to-use interface is great for small business owners, and the information is presented in a streamline manner. The Google Analytics program also lets you set goals for your site, providing small business owners with a convenient place to track their progress.
Want to improve the worth of your Chatham-Kent company website? Let CIK Marketing help you rise to the top of the rankings with search engine optimization services.
If you think Internet marketing is only for multi-national businesses, think again. There are dozens of Internet marketing tools out there that small businesses can use to connect and engage local customers. Whether you’re looking to reach customers down the street, across town, or within your region, an online local marketing plan can help ensure you are doing everything in your power to attract valuable local visitors to your Chatham, Ontario company website.
Local marketing checklist for small businesses
1) Focus on geographic-specific keywords.
The vast majority of shoppers rely on search engines when trying to find information about products and services. Optimizing your site for geographic-specific keywords will help ensure that local searchers can find your company in these results. To do this, make sure that you pay special attention to the title of your page, the construction of your URL address, and the subtitles in your published content. If you’re a Chatham, Ontario company specializing in automotive repair, use keyword phrases like “Chatham-Kent car repair” and “Chatham Ontario auto shop” to ensure that local searchers can find your content. Just remember – if you have multiple pages for each town or city you service, make sure your content is unique. Search engines tag duplicate content and will penalize you for black hat optimizing practices.
2) Sign-up for accounts on free review sites.
Once you’ve optimized your site for local search, it’s time to take advantage of free search tool accounts. These tools provide ratings and review for various services, and allow customers to comment on the quality of your business. Two major sites worth checking out include Google Places (formerly Google Local) and Yelp.
- Google Places requires you register your business online, then verifies that you are the owner of the company by either calling you or mailing a confirmation code to your place of business. Once you’ve completed the registration process, you have the option of adding additional features, like photos, hours of operation, and product features to your business profile. Google Places listings appear when a geographical search, such as “Chatham, Ontario plumber” is executed in Google’s search engine. Google announced a slew of new features to this program just last week, including new advertising tags and service areas.
- Yelp has quickly emerged as the leading consumer review site on the Internet; not only does it receive high priority in search engine results, but consumers really trust the user-submitted reviews. In order to create a listing with Yelp, simply visit the site and search for your business. Chances are, you’re already listed! To claim your listing, fill in a short registration form and Yelp will call you to verify your account. Chatham, Ontario businesses are able to include special promotions on their profile, as well as announce in-store events. You’re also able to message reviewers on the site – don’t forget to take advantage of this feature. Engaging customers is one of the top objectives in social media, and one of the fastest ways to ensure repeat business from a satisfied client.
3) Reach out to local Chatham, Ontario websites and bloggers.
If you’re looking to connect with local customers online make sure you have a strong presence on popular local websites. Not sure where to look in Chatham, Ontario? Well, why not start with the bloggers section of CKSeek? This useful resource lists a handful of the area’s most proficient bloggers and includes links to their websites. If you have some room in your budget for advertising, consider purchasing some banner space on local sites like the Chatham Kent Daily Post or the CKTimes. Better yet, why not submit a press release to both news sites? Your story could be posted on the front page for the entire community to see!
In a recent interview with WebProNews, Google Maps, Earth and Local VP John Hanke noted that “one out of five searches on Google are related to location.” Make sure your Chatham, Ontario online marketing strategy is helping ensure your business is being found by local searchers. Drop us a line here at CIK and we’ll provide you with all of the tools you need to get started.
