Week 12

Everything we are learning is so interesting.  I love it when I discover a new tool to help my current business.  I know that as I utilize each tool I have the opportunity to enhance my current business which will help me in future endeavors.  I love the ah ha moments and the inspiration that comes and guides my business decisions.  I have attached several videos that explain google analytics and I look forward to continue learning all the information that is contained in these reports.  I have already seen things that I can improve and things that are working well.


A Brief Intro to Link Building for Small Business Owners
Stone Reuning
A sample schedule could mean every month you list your site in two good directories, link to interior site pages from a couple relevant posts in your own blog, distribute one press release to news sites, and write one great article that other people may want to link to and then let them know about it. 

See who's linking to your web site
You can see all the links pointing to your site via a couple handy tools online. Go to Google.com to see who Google is crediting with a link to you. Enter in the search box [link:www.yourwebaddress.com] without the brackets. 

Sites that explain information about Google Analytics
http://services.google.com/analytics/breeze/en/interface_navigation/index.html

http://services.google.com/analytics/breeze/en/ga_intro/index.html

http://services.google.com/analytics/breeze/en/interpreting_reports_guidelines/index.html

Week 11

This week we have continued working with our web business and have also read many interesting articles.  I have attached links to videos that I want for future reference.  Social media was nonexistent just a few years ago, when introduced it was a new fade, and yet it is now a daily part of so many peoples lives.  As I have gone through each of my business classes there is an underlining theme for me, life has defiantly changed.  20 years ago when I graduated from high school text books, notebooks and pencils were what we used.  Now cell phones, tablets, and social media are the tools of the day.  I know I am not that old yet there are times I think back to my first years at college when compared to today…its a whole different ball court.  I am grateful the Lord has provided the opportunity for me to finish my degree.  I served a mission, then married and started a family, while supporting my husband through his educational pursuit.  They Lord blessed us with the opportunity for me to stay home with our children as my husband worked and went to school and I would not trade that time for anything.  Now he is allowing me to go to school while our oldest is in her freshman year of high school.  Last night she, myself and my sixth grader where up until 11:30 finishing off assignments, because last night was Young Men/Young Women.  I guess what I am trying to say is now matter how the world changes the Lord will help us keep pace if we allow him to be our partner in this crazy roller coaster called life.  This class and all my class through BYUI have been a great blessing, not only to me but all whom I associate with.  So now I am learning about social media and although I have not signed up for a Facebook or Twitter account yet I know that as I utilize the tools that are available I will continue to learn, grow and be able to help others around me.


16 Rules for Social Media Optimization Revisited
http://www.toprankblog.com/2009/08/social-media-optimization-redux/
1. Increase Your Linkability
2. Make Tagging and Bookmarking Easy
3. Reward Inbound Links
4. Help Your Content Travel
5. Encourage the Mashup
6. Be a User Resource, Even if it Doesn't Help You
7. Reward Helpful and Valuable Users
8. Participate
9. Know How to Target Your Audience
10. Create Content
11. Be Real
12. Don't Forget Your Roots, Be Humble
13. Don't Be Afraid to Try New Things, Stay Fresh
14. Develop a SMO Strategy
15. Choose Your SMO Tactics Wisely
16. Make SMO part of your process and best Practices


Great video about how to see what traffic is coming to site via social media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oVqZvkGc6k&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ2w4Nof0pk webcast about google analytics

Understanding Twitter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGbLWQYJ6iM#t=15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXPmI4YaOpM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5r32fH0onw


Understanding Facebook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f1iZkazGs0

4 steps to Social Media SEO Success 

Lee Odden

“Any good social media marketing effort needs to begin with some kind of Listening program.”

“…social media monitoring program (listening) should be implemented immediately.  Collecting social web data, organizing and managing it is essential for tapping into the conversations, influencers and real-time marketing opportunities…”

“Content is the glue that makes search engines work and content is a critical part of the social sharing experience within social media.”

“create …a Content Marketing Optimization Strategy.  Inventory content assets such as web pages, images, video, audio, rich media and file types such as HTML, PDF, MS Office docs, Structured Data Feeds and RSS to assess what can be promoted via social channels and be ranked in search results…”

“…socializing with other like-minded individuals as a personal experience can fold well with brand interactions…”

Buyer Personas…Research what your customers do on the social web.

Grow Networks…There is no substitute for participation when it comes to growing a network that can have a real effect on your ability to promote content that gets passed on and on and on.

Promote…Plan to develop a cycle of social interaction by reconciling the needs of buyer personas with business goals in your content marketing strategy.

“Measurement justifies objectives and it’s important to identify the right tools for monitoring real time and web analytics.”

“Leveraging monitoring and analytics to inform future content creation, keyword optimization and social promotion is essential for staying ahead of the competition and being effective at meeting customer needs.”

Week 10

This week there was a lot of great information on optimizing my site.  It is so funny, sometimes there is so much information I wonder if I will ever keep it all straight and apply it to its greatest potential?  I know it is the same as with anything in life.  Practice and time will help me arrive at this point but sometimes I wish I was just there.  I have included more information below for future reference.


The Moz Blog

6 Suggestion for Landing Page Optimizations

1. Pre-populated-cursors what this does is when the cursor is in a field it creates a box above that tells the individual what to do in that field.
2. Eye Contact studies show that visitors to your site will look where you graphic is looking.  So have your graphics looking to your ad. (example baby looks to what is writing on the page not at the visitor)
3. Testimonials have customers sign your praise through their personal testimony of what they feel about your site or product.
4. Point of Action Assurances put important trust icons next to your call to action buttons.  People feel more at ease when they see these symbols which equates to more conversions.
5. Match Headline with Intent this means that what you had in the Headline of your ad should be on your handing page.
6. Drive a Single Call to Action less really is more.  Don't have people do several things in your call to action.  One single call to action is more likely to turn into a conversion than 20 items under a call to action.


Content experiments allow us to try different variations of our landing pages to determine which one creates the best conversion rate.  With this tool we can test up to 10 full versions of a single page

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGrujIh2H0I This video teaches how to experiment with different ads and determine which one receives they most conversions.  This allows the develop of the site to use ad that sell the most products, have visits sign up for newsletters or whatever it is the site is trying to accomplish.


Steps for Starting an experiment of landing pages.

Sign in to Analytics and Open Content Experiments

Content Experiments is integrated into Analytics so you can run your experiments and examine a broad set of data in the same environment.

Once you've set up your Google Analytics account, you can access Experiments at any time:

1. Sign in to your Analytics account at http://www.google.com/analytics.
2. Open the relevant view.
3. Click the Reporting tab.
4. In the left menu, click Behavior, then click Experiments.
5. Click Create experiment.
   
   The wizard guides you through setting up your first experiment.To create an experiment from this page, click Create experiment.
   Whether you start from the overview page or from the experiment list, the setup-wizard opens so you can complete four steps:
   1. Choose the objective of your experiment
      
      Select the goal for which you want to improve conversions, or the metric for which you want to improve performance, and the percentage of traffic you want to include.
      
      
      
   2. Identify the original and variation pages
      
      Enter the URLs for your the original page you want to test and for up to 10 variations of that page.
      
      
      
   3. Add the experiment code to your original page
      
      While much of an experiment uses your Google Analytics tracking code, you need to add the experiment code to one page. If you’re not comfortable working with page code and you have someone who can help you, Content Experiments can send an email to request help from that person.
      
      
      
      
      
      When you click Next Step, Experiments checks to make sure your original and variation pages are working properly.
   4. Review and launch your experiment
      At this point, review your configuration, then start your experiment.
      
      
      
   Content Experiments automatically saves all the information you enter during setup so you can stop and resume at any point. To resume setting up an experiment, open the list and click the experiment name.
   
   

Week 9

This week we had the opportunity to have our ads go live and to understand how conversion tracking can help us know if our ads are producing the results we desire.  Due to the fact that I have a blog with multiple pages I have set up ads for each page and will be putting the conversion tracking on each page so as to be able to view how each campaign is doing.  Although I just went live last night I am excited to see what the ads will do in regards to bringing more visitors to the site.  I have enjoyed using the new tools we are learning about on my own personal site.  Each time I am able to complete the addition of the tool to my site I feel more empowered.  Although this site may not continue after this class (I hope it will) I am grateful for the things I have learned and know they will be of benefit to me in the future.



Information below is what I learned about this week.
Evaluate the Cost-effectiveness of your ads (Adwords Article)

1.     Know your goals

Under charts use Campaigns tab to track how many clicks your ad receives

Conversion tracking shows have many clicks lead to sales

Increase ROI by using Google Analytics to see which ads and pages are most profitable

2.     Relationship between cost and quality

Higher the Quality Score the lower the price I pay for each click

Study Click through rate (CTR) and landing page experience

3.     Track ROI

It my bids, not my budget that directly impact my ROI

To determine profitability of a keyword use these tools Conversion Tracking and Google Analytics

Measuring return on investment (ROI)

One way to define ROI is (Revenue - Cost of goods sold) / Cost of goods sold.

Let's say you have a product that costs $100 to produce, and sells for $200. You sell 6 of these products as a result of advertising them on AdWords. Your total sales are $1200, and your AdWords costs are $200. Your ROI is ($1200-($600+$200))/($600+$200), or 50%.

Measuring sales and Conversions

Conversions occur when someone clicks on your ad and performs a behavior on your website that you recognize as valuable.

Information obtained from conversion information

Number of conversions if you give the conversion a value then on your report it will show how much you have earned from that conversion

Conversion Rate shows how many clicks lead to a sale or sign up this show what a customer does after they click on your ad this way you know if your ads are getting customers to do what you want

See interact across devices show if they click on your ad on a phone then purchase on a computer

Destination URLs  this shows which urls are achieving the most conversions

Video about setting up Conversion tracking on web pages

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OraE2UxdYtM

Code for setting up Conversion Tracking (Books) Put this code on the page you wish to track between the <body> code  listed below <body>

<!-- Google Code for books Conversion Page -->

<script type="text/javascript">

/* <![CDATA[ */

var google_conversion_id = 963649922;

var google_conversion_language = "en";

var google_conversion_format = "2";

var google_conversion_color = "ffffff";

var google_conversion_label = "Pv_NCLDB01cQgsPAywM";

var google_conversion_value = 1.00;

var google_conversion_currency = "USD";

var google_remarketing_only = false;

/* ]]> */

</script>

<script type="text/javascript" src="//www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion.js">

</script>

<noscript>

<div style="display:inline;">

<img height="1" width="1" style="border-style:none;" alt="" src="//www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/963649922/?value=1.00&amp;currency_code=USD&amp;label=Pv_NCLDB01cQgsPAywM&amp;guid=ON&amp;script=0"/>

</div>

</noscript>

Week 8

I always find it interesting the tools that we are introduced to each week.  It is interesting how much information that is gathered about individuals as they visit websites.  As I learn the Google Analytics tool it is going to provide beneficial information that will help me create a better site.  For example how long the stay on the site, their gender and age, which page keeps their attention the longest; knowing this information will allow me to enhance my site.

According to the Adword tutorials there are 7 things that will increase the quality score they are: create very specific ad groups, choose your keywords carefully, include keywords in your ad text, create simple enticing ads, use a strong call-to-action, test out multiple ads, and regularly review your campaign performance. For my ads I first have to get them up and running, then it will be important for me to regularly review how they are performing and finally I may have to be more creative and enticing in my ads to get the customers I am seeking.

Week 7

This week we had the opportunity to work on our ads. I was really grateful for the feedback that I received for the ad I put on the discussion board.  I think it is important to write down what others suggest so as to be able to return to it and remind myself of things I need to different.

My Ad 

How I Stay Organized
Checklists Are Key
Tricks I Use to Avoid Chaos
www.myowncreativejuices.com

Classmates suggestions

Tiffany Ray said...The one suggestion I can make on your ad is that it doesn't have a "call to action." I read it and think, "Nice she uses checklists. Perhaps I could look into that." Perhaps should say "Click here to find helpful checklists." Or "Browse through the checklists I use."

Gisabel Horta said…The only suggestion I have is to include an action sentence. How about "Check my tricks to stay organized Or avoid chaos"

Kathy McDaniel said...Vonda, you might want to ask a question in your ad like, "Do you want to avoid chaos?"

Paul Johnson said…For your attention grabbing headline.. my initial reaction was something like.. okay that's nice that you stay organized, but what about me? So I suggest that you may want to switch it up a little and say something like…

Cut clutter and get organized! The other lines could likewise use a little spicing up and gearing toward your visitors... Discover the value of checklists. Learn tricks to avoid chaos

Week 6

This week we worked on our Adword campaigns.  Due to the fact that my business is a blog I love the feature that allows me to have separate campaigns and direct URL's.  I have 5 topics that I want to blog about, with the separate campaign option I can get my ads out to five different potential readers.  They don't have to go to my Home page they can go directly to the page on the blog that they clicked on the ad for.  Someone who is wanting to read what I have written about gardening doesn't want to go to my page about Duolingo.  This option allows me to direct traffic which allows me control over who my ads will be focused on.  I learned from another student that it is suggested to have a daily budget of $10 to $15, I had set mine at $1.  I will do further research to know if I need to bump my budget up or not.  I just didn't want to burn through my credits to quickly. Because this is my first time using Adwords I was taking the conservative approach but that may not be in my best interest.  I am working toward setting up all the affiliates on each blog pages.  Blogs are a running page not static like webpages so I am unsure what that means for my affiliate links I may have to put them at the top or top-side to get visitors to click and purchase.  Just another thing to learn as I continue in this process.

Info Adwords

How keywords Work Reading/Video

1. Words used to match your ads with terms people are searching for.
2. Select high quality relevant keywords

Keywords tips
1. use 2 to 3 words not too specific not to broad
2. use negative keywords (words you don't want your ad to appear)
3. use keyword tools

How to build the best keyword list
1. think of your customers (who are you trying to reach)
2. select more general or specific keywords depending on your goal
3. group similar keywords into themes
4. pick the right # of keywords (Google suggests 5 to 20)

Add Negative Keywords to your Campaign

allows you to
1. prevent your ad from showing to people searching for or visiting websites about things you don't offer
2. show your ads to people who are more likely to click them
3. reduce cost by excluding keywords where you might be spending money but not getting a return.

Week 5

I wanted to keep the websites I discovered as I learned about licensing so as to be able to have access when I need them.  As I talked with the local accountant I was excited for the possibility of working out the logistics for the nursery.  I am always stuck in the dilemma of whether or not the time is right.  I know that being in school is important however with all the other responsibilities I have I am not sure I can take it on right now.  I am always asking myself if I am having cold feet or is the time just not right.  I think the fact that I still get excited about the possibilities help me continue to work at putting everything in order so that when the time is right I will be full committed. Like the Pathway program the Lord knew I wanted to finish my degree and He opened the door for this program to come about in my area.  I know He knows of my business desire so I continue to pray that I will be ready so as to be able to accomplish my business goal just like I am doing with my education goal at this time.

http://licenseinfo.oregon.gov/ still being updated but covered a lot of different industries

http://sos.oregon.gov/business/Pages/business-information-center.aspx This is the Oregon Secretary of State website.  In this site there is an Oregon Business Wizard that helps anyone who is think of starting a business.  After completing the wizard helped, “determine licensing, obtain necessary application forms, identify state resources, and access other valuable business-related information.”

http://sos.oregon.gov/business/Pages/starting-business.aspx Also on the Secretary of state website there is a page that has a step by step guide for starting a new business. Contained in this page are links to information that will help with the established of the business and vital information so as not to miss something in the establishment process.

As I worked through this wizard I was able to determine that there are no licenses or permits that I need to obtain at this point.  However I put a call into a local accountant and with her secretary I discussed my blog that I will be creating the website for as well as a plant nursery that my husband and I hope to be able to open in the near future.  Although the cost of our first visit to her will be between $75-$100, she will be able to help insure that all the necessary permits or licenses are acquired.  Using the wizard I pursued both the blog and the nursery and according to my answers I will not need any permits for the nursery however we feel it is important to check with the accountant.  After speaking with the secretary at the accountants office I started thinking about how using our property for the nursery business was going to affect different aspects of permitting or licensing?  I may have to look into the zoning of our property and even put in a different drive way if it is required.  I have noticed that it seems I just get one questioned answered before another pops up.  Part of our property has christmas trees and our well may not be sufficient for our water needs, so I may have to acquire a permit for another well.

Week 4

This week as we explored using a button for credit cards payments I thought that maybe I will add this to my blog.  I am excited about all I am learning but still feel overwhelmed with certain aspects.  I have listed below some important information on building websites; items that are vital to creating a visual and user friendly site.  I love to create and I am excited to be able to put a little bit of me into the creation on my blog site.

According to Taming the Beast.net the first thing when setting up a commercial website is, “Your sales text must be grammatically sound and spelled correctly.  Poor spelling loses credibility points straight away.”  The second important item to insure your site has is, “..keyword and keyphrase rich text;…phrases that people would enter into search engines when performing a query.”  The third element is to remember that not everyone uses the same web browser so remember to design your site to be, “viewable in at least: Internet Explorer 5.0+ and Firefox 1.0+.”  The fourth item to remember is that most the world doesn’t utilize broadband so downloading of images can be a be factor for you customers.  Make sure to not only use high quality images and not stock images but to use compression wizards to help optimize your images (alt tags,). The final item to consider when construction a commercial site is what pages should be included in the site.  Here are Taming the Beast.net suggestion, “About Us Page (online business is no different to traditional business in that we all like to ‘put a face to the name’), Privacy policy (what are we going to do with my information?), FAQ (Simply list the questions at the beginning of the FAQ, then directly linked to the answer further down the page), Testimonials Page (dollar value can not be placed upon positive client testimonials; this is some of the best promotional copy around).”

Article 8 Tips for Designing a Great Website

1.     Chose a Color Scheme and stay with it on all additional pages

2.     Use Templates (if you can’t find a site to model use a template)

3.     Provide an easy to use navigation system (navigation bar at the top and bottom of each page)

4.     Don’t go overboard on special effects ( one or two special effects to jazz up the site is plenty)

5.     Backgrounds (make sure visitors can read the text on the chosen background, no black text on blue background)

6.     External Links (insure that any external links used in your site open in a new window this will allow your visitors easy returning to your site)

7.     Site Map and Search Feature (if your site has more than 15 pages make sure to have a “Search” feature)

8.     Content is King (ten things to stay away from flash intros, loads of pop ups, auto play music, hit counters especially ones that say “you are the 27^th visitor, date and time stamps, busy backgrounds)

Web Wiz suggests using thumbnails for graphics used in the construction of a website.  This makes for fast downloads and the visitor can decide if they want to wait for a larger downloading image.