Google Opens Up Its Universal Analytics Beta To All Google Analytics Users

Nowadays, people use a number of platforms to surf the web, and this variation in platform use make it a challenge for businesses and website owners to keep track of their site’s performance and interact with consumers. In an effort to make things more manageable, Google recently opened up its Universal Analytics to all Google Analytics Users.

Simply put, the public beta of Universal Analytics aims to help website owners better track their website performance across multiple platforms. This is believed to be more accurate than the original Google Analytics since it covers different channels that consumers use to access the Internet when they search for information, products and services, utilize social media, and interact with other users.

What Makes Universal Analytics Distinct from Google Analytics

According to Google, Universal Analytics make use of a data collection method that is
different from the one Google Analytics used. As such, businesses need to set up a new code snippet called analytics.js on their websites to be able to take advantage of the new system and use it to better understand how their target market interact with their websites using different platforms. Google added that the new JavaScript code snippet is more flexible, giving its users the ability to better customize their data. Aside from incorporating the new code snippet, businesses also have to create a new web property on their Analytics account to use the full features of Universal Analytics.

Unlike Google Analytics that uses cookies, this new tracking system uses universal tracking IDs. Businesses can utilize this to follow their customers’ activities from the first time they visit the website to the point they make their first purchase and beyond. Also, as Universal Analytics makes use of a new Measurement Protocol, Analytics users can sync their customers’ data coming from various platforms, such as phones, laptops, tablets and other Internet-enabled devices.

How Universal Analytics Can Help Your Business

Whether you are a business owner, a website manager or an SEO expert, Universal Analytics is a viable tool that will help you get a true picture of how effective your efforts are when it comes to marketing, sales, support, product usage as well as costumer retention.

As trends are continuously shifting and with more and more consumers using a wide variety of platforms to access websites, Universal Analytics will not only enable you to keep up with those trends but will also let you analyze the activities of your target market and use the data you have collected to make effective decisions. That is, you can create specific marketing campaigns and use them on channels that deliver the best results. This, in turn, will help improve your site’s search rankings, generate more traffic, improve conversion rates and boost business profits.

Basically, Universal Analytics provides you a number of opportunities to improve the way you market your products and services online and for you to better engage with your target market. However, if you are currently using Google Analytics and you would like to switch to Universal Analytics to get ahead of the game, you will have to wait a little longer as Google noted that they are yet to release a migration guide to make the transition easier. If you cannot wait, though, Google recommends that you make a new property in your Google Analytics account following the analytics.js development guide they have provided.

original: SociablWeb

6 Awesome Tips For Split Testing

In marketing and web development, split testing is a web design experimental approach aiming to find web page changes that maximize outcomes. You basically compare versions of your website pages; for example, you can compare two versions of your web pages or website like comparing of versions A and B such as A being the live version and B being a modification of that version. Usually, websites that are great candidates for testing A/B are e-commerce websites. Testing and making modifications based on your results will help increase your sales.

This process of alternating 2 or more website design alterations to test interactions between users is called split testing. Landing pages and other web pages with goals that
are specific benefit from considerations of design that force users to take actions which are appropriate. Split tests let designers utilize metrics that are relevant.

Most companies use the approach of designed experiments to make decisions about marketing. This is a practice that is increasingly common as the expertise and tools grow in these areas. There are a few case studies that used split testing, revealing that testing is a practice that is getting more and more popular with medium and small sized businesses. For instance, the pioneer of split testing use in the space of ecommerce was done by Amazon.com. Here are 6 awesome tips for you to help you with split testing.

1. Testing Elements

When split testing, the various elements that need to be tested include the colors, images, layouts and copy test. You will see which results are generated by which elements. Keep in the elements that reveal good results and tweak or make significant improvements on those that do not.

2. Adjust Text

In split testing, adjusting images and text content tends to create maximum audience impact. Text shortening such as only including the brand or product gist seems to increase the engagement of the audience and stir the motivation for making a purchase.

3. Adjust Images

In the same way, test your images to find which product photos on the landing pages increased visitors click through and if it increased the checkout rate. Compare these results to those of pages with no photos of the products.

4. Don’t Split Test Everything

When it comes to split testing, there is no need to prioritize navigation tools design as well as menu bar designing. As long as these are found in all the correct places, the style doesn’t matter usually.

5. Adjust Color

Even if many webmasters assume that color adjustments are not a priority, these are actually quite significant. This is due to the fact that visuals tend to lure guests into actions. Websites with blue backgrounds that are not quite noticeable are not able to get as much attention as much as bright colors can such as orange.

6. Test All the Landing Pages that Matter

To do this open your browser on the Web and navigate to the home page of Google. Create a new general account or sign in to your Google webmasters tool account. Navigate to the Website Optimizer of Google. In the window where it says Getting Started, create a new experiment and from the 2 choices listed for the experiments, click A/B Experiment and click the button “create.” In the provided field, enter the name of the Experiment and add the original URL page you want to test and make sure that it is not log-in or password protected but rather, is quite accessible to Google. Name as many landing pages you want to test in the additional fields below.

Split testing is a great method to find out what modifications you need to do on your website to increase your sales. Follow these tips and start split testing so that you can grow your business.

original: SociablWeb

SEO Tactics For The Post-Penguin/Panda Internet

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a field of internet marketing that’s constantly in a state of flux thanks to Google’s massive influence over the entire Internet. On more than one occasion, Google has rolled out algorithm updates that punish SEO practices that were once widely accepted. In the aftermath, webmasters are left with seriously reduced page rankings, web traffic and revenues.

Google Penguin

That’s exactly what happened last spring when Google rolled out their notorious Penguin update. From Google’s perspective, Penguin addressed a major problem caused by websites who linked to dozens, even hundreds, of other sites in hope of raising their rankings on search results. This created major headaches for end users, who wound up having to sort through dozens of low quality results in order to find something of value.

For webmasters, Penguin created headaches of a different sort. They suddenly found that
the link networks they’d spent years, and sometimes thousands of dollars, developing were now rendered useless. These same folks also had to spend countless hours identifying and removing low quality links going to and from their sites.

Given the challenges of actually contacting a person at  most sites , this proved to be a very difficult task. But since Google demanded that both inbound and outbound links be of high quality, they didn’t have much choice.

Developing Penguin Friendly Links

Google’s main complaint against the old system of paid links and link exchanges is that it wasn’t, “organic.” The company decided that one of the best standards for measuring the legitimacy of links and their associated content was whether it was attached to a site that featured relevant, related content.

SEOs and webmasters quickly adapted their content strategies to account for Google’s new emphasis on organic links and began putting their own emphasis on a practice known as, “guest blogging.” Guest bloggers are simply writer from one blog who guest post on another, related blog in exchange for a link to their site.

Guest Blogging

While guest blogging is a great method for building organic link networks, it can be very time consuming. After all, you’ve still got to contact each individual blog, make arrangements to post, and then write the post. For some webmasters and blogger, this is more work than they’re able to do on their own.

Oftentimes, these time strapped bloggers will hire out a guest posting service like the one run by 4th Media in Denver, Colorado. These services not only write the guest posts, they find relevant sites to actually post them on. It’s a big job and, if you’ve been hit hard by Penguin, they’re well worth the money.

Finally

It’s a whole new world out there for SEO practitioners and webmasters. Simply keeping up with the ever-changing whims of Google executives, and the latest SEO best practices, can be very time consuming. Nonetheless, staying ahead of the SEO curve and keeping your traffic generating strategies in good shape isn’t something you can easily ignore.

Understanding how links work and how to utilize them to maximum SEO effect is one of the bet things you can do for your site.

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How To Use The Twitter Vine Video App For Your Online Business

This is probably one of the most overused-but-true sayings in the realm of marketing, whether it is within social media circles or any other kind, is the fact that “words tell but tales sell”.  I am sure that you’ve all heard that expression on a number of occasions.  However the reason any kind of saying like this becomes a cliche like that’s it’s true.  People interact with people due to things that unite us, things that we share.  And exactly how we uncover deep connections with other people is most frequently with the
energy of the story and how it is told.

In the earlier days of Twitter.com, people wondered how exactly a tale might be told in 140 figures or less. So Twitter was wiped off by many people as just a teenager’s play-thing.  The general concensus was that anybody who is really serious about communicating in 140 figures probably isn’t that bright.  I mean after all, they would need to use abbreviations, symbols, and customize the English language to an almost non-sensical degree.

But, that’s not really been the case has it?  Because people began to make use of the service, it became very clear there could be some real energy in individuals using just 140 figures to stir feelings, to share ideas, and also to connect.  And along the way, tales were told – see where I am going with this?

For this reason alone I am looking forward to the brand new stand alone video application that Twitter just launched known as Vine. Just in case you had not heard, recently Twitter introduced a micro video blogging application known as Vine. Customers can make and upload 6-second video loops (as well as splice short clips together) to then share with their buddies.

Vine does not import any connections out of your other platforms (like Twitter).  This means that as with every other platform, it will take you a while to hook up with other Vine users, as well as making yourself attractive by putting some thought into creating your profile.

But How Can a 6 Second Video Help Your Business?

1 – Product Demonstrations

To date, this is among the most obvious way in which brands and companies may use the energy of 6-second videos.  Is there be something which is easy to show to your clients rather than explaining with words? If so, then transform it into a 6-second video (or a series of different ones).

2 – Contests & Competitions

Contests are among the most widely used social networking tools in almost any brand manager’s toolbox, right?  So make use of this to your benefit!  Do some crowd-sourcing and request your fans to produce their very own favorite how-to video or advertisement on Vine.

3 – Showcase Your Team

As I have pointed out for other picture and video platforms, this is often a fantastic spot to show some “behind the curtain” footage out of your company. Have a quick video within the worker break room or snap a fast video of the cat having fun with a laser pointer before you go for your forthcoming presentation. Show a before, happening, after of the next trade-show set-up. The options for letting your clients get to see the “behind the curtain” of the company and your employees working hard are endless.

Info: An alternative to Vine, is of course YouTube.  It’s unlikely that Vine will ever beat the volume of viewers that you can gain via Youtube, but it should still serve its purpose.  Check out this video to see how a popular coupon code company is using videos to engage their customers.

original: SociablWeb

Five Things You Need To Know About The Google Webspam Team

1. They won’t penalize you over one tiny thing

With all the technical expertise that goes into creating and maintaining it, it’s tempting to view Google as an unfeeling, unthinking robot – one that responds to certain stimuli in certain ways and can’t be bargained with. In reality, Google is built and used by humans – just like the rest of the internet.

For that reason, the Google Webspam team aren’t going to penalize your site just because one well-meaning webmaster created a site-wide link to your domain without realizing that’s not best practice in the world of search engine optimization.

If you’re taking a responsible approach to link building and SEO you don’t need to worry about attracting a less than ideal link here and there. The Webspam team are here to save us from spam, not make the web a flawless place.

So stop fretting over the occasional bad link and instead channel your efforts into getting
more links from quality domains by producing quality content.

2. They won’t swing by your website just to see if you’re doing anything spammy

Sure, the Webspam team is staffed by fine men and women, not anonymous robots, but you can’t expect them to spend their days manually visiting every website on the net just to check if someone is up to no good. Reports to the spam team still play a big part in tracking down sites that warrant further investigation, while advances in search technology have made it even easy to find domains which may be engaging in dubious SEO practices.

The fact is, if someone from the Webspam team has cause to manually review your site, the chances are you’ve been up to no good. They know it, you know it – anyone who has looked at your domain in Open Site Explorer knows it. All those links with exact match anchor text just scream spam and there’s no point pretending otherwise.

By and large, if you are engaged in any kind of SEO spam and it’s “working” for you, it will only be a matter of time before you’re found out and when that happens, you’ll wish you’d stuck to the guidelines from the get go, because…

3. When they hit you, they will hit you hard

Once they’ve caught and punished you, you’re going to have to pull out the stops in order to get back into their good books. There’s no point in removing a handful of links and then submitting a reconsideration request. That’s just going to make them even angrier. You have to work on the assumption that the Webspam team know about every single black hat thing you’ve done, because the fact is they almost certainly will. Don’t think you can sneak a few high value paid links past them. Get the bad links removed or disavowed. All of them.

Once you’ve finished that, you might want to think about where you’d be ranking in Google if you’d spent all the time you wasted on black hat techniques and the subsequent clean-up on high quality link building and outreach.

4. They won’t hit you with an algorithm penalty

“What?!” I hear you cry. “That’s exactly what they do! They penalized my site when they introduced Panda and again when Penguin came along!“

However, a ranking drop because of an algorithm change isn’t the same as a penalty. A manual penalty will see you completely delisted from Google, while a hit from an algorithm change will only lead to a drop. (Of course if you’d been good, you might have seen an increase.) In practical terms, the results of an outright ban and a large ranking drop are likely to be much the same, but the difference is still worth noting.

If you have been hit by an algorithm change you don’t have to worry about applying to get the penalty removed and, as such, regaining your rankings should be easier. If you have a large backlink profile with some strong, naturally obtained connections then it is worth weeding out the weaker, spammy links through manual removal or the disavow tool. If your link profile is small, or mainly spammy, focus your efforts on building quality links, then start to ditch the ones you know you shouldn’t have.

An algorithm change is about removing the benefit from techniques which are against Google’s Webmaster guidelines but still provide a rankings boost. Such changes don’t look to penalize individuals, but instead ensure it pays to stick to the rules. Take it as a warning that what you’re doing isn’t best practice and make amends before it’s too late.

5. They won’t tell you exactly what you should be doing

The Google Webspam aren’t there for your benefit, they’re there for the benefit of Google’s users. Clearly what’s good for users is good for your site, but don’t expect @Matt Cutts to take you by the hand and lead you to the promised land of top ranking for all your keywords. Google are there to lay down the guidelines, you then need to make sure you stick to them while carrying out SEO in an innovative way. Obviously, that’s easier said than done, but it is what will get you the big wins in the long run.

At the very least, you need to pay attention to everything Google says and does, but in reality you’re going to have to keep abreast of best practice across the board – from on-page SEO to the latest developments in outreach. Sticking to the rules may seem like hard work, but consistently doing so will build up long-term benefits, ones that won’t disappear when the Webspam team catches you out.

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Symptoms of Facebook Addiction Disorder

You may think that your need to check Facebook first thing in the morning is normal, but it’s possible that it’s a sign that you have Facebook Addiction Disorder.

Facebook Addiction Disorder, also known as FAD, is a real disease that affects many people. What starts as a small desire to keep in touch with friends and families becomes a major distraction that impacts every aspect of a person’s life.

If you possess any of the following symptoms, you may be suffering from Facebook Addiction Disorder.

1. Increased Usage

If you are spending more time on Facebook than ever before, it’s possible that you’re
suffering from FAD. Those with an addiction feel compelled to be on the social network as often as possible. If you’re logged in first thing in the morning and are still using the site after you are laying in bed for the night, you may want to seek help.

2. Fake Relationships

Those suffering from FAD have a need to constantly build their number of friends. This is usually the result of low self esteem, and they fill this void by making more virtual friends than real friends. If you don’t know who the majority of your Facebook friends are, it’s a sign you have FAD.

3. Withdrawal

If you ever feel symptoms of withdrawal when you cannot be on Facebook, it’s a major sign of FAD. If you feel anxious when you cannot be on the social network, you need to receive help.

4. Topic of Communication

If you are constantly talking about Facebook, it’s a sign that you have FAD. The majority of your conversations should not revolve around Facebook, what you saw on Facebook or what you did on Facebook.

5. Notification Excitement

If you receive email or mobile notifications every time activity happens on your wall, and you receive a euphoric feeling every time a notification appears, you need to seek help. While it is nice to be communicated with, it should not be the most exciting thing that happens throughout your day.

6. Oversharing

Those who are addicted to Facebook also tend to overshare. If you find that you are changing your status update or profile picture at least once every hour, it means that you are spending too much time on the site. Plus, oversharing can lead to harm. There is no need to tell all of your Facebook friends every single detail about your life, as some of them may use this information against them.

7. Lost Relationships

If you have lost real relationships—or worse, jobs—due to Facebook, you’ll want to seek treatment. The use of Facebook should never replace family, friends and careers. If you are not spending time with your family, if you no longer attend Girls Night Out because you’d rather sit on Facebook, and if you have been fired because of Facebook (or at least been reprimanded for your use during company time) you have FAD.

Facebook Addiction Disorder is a serious illness, and if you don’t seek treatment, it can spiral completely out of control. The best thing to do if you believe that you are suffering from FAD is to meet with a psychologist, as they’ll be able to address your situation and help you work through it.

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How To Build Free Links To Your Blog

Here is a few ways that you can get free links to your blog without resorting to black hat SEO. Some of them are a little underhand, but you have to remember that even if YOU are not using those methods–there are hundreds of people out there who are.

Link bait

If you do not know how to create link bait then you are going to need to Google it and learn. It is not going to get you hundreds of links, in fact you will be lucky to get one, but if you do it twice per week then you are bound to get a few free links every now and then.

Quality content

If your website is good and useful then you will get organic links. All you need to do is make sure that you content is of a high quality, or make sure that your blog is useful in some way.

Hack other people’s sites

You are no saint. Hack someone else’s site and add a link to yourself. The WordPress
users quite often fail to change their username from the default name. Find the blogger on Facebook, friend them, and look through their hobbies, interests and friends for their partners name, their kids, names, favorite pets names, even their favorite instrument.
Find twenty blogs, make twenty friends and I guarantee you that you will find someone like Benjamin Couldwell who has his blog password as bassoon. The same instrument it says he plays on his Facebook profile. This technique involves a bit of luck, but once you figure out a password or two you can add a few links to your site into their old posts every now and then, and they will never know.

Ask people nicely

If you are unwilling to accept the harsh realities of life, and believe that human kindness will get you further than hacking, you should try asking nicely. This works better if your find some sort of common ground first. However, if you are going to take the high road – be warned that if you ask too many people, you may be marked as a spammer. Your email account will probably be frozen as a result.

Ask the spammers

You will kick yourself for not thinking of this, but you know all of those spam emails you get. Instead of emailing them viruses and changing their client list from innocent Americans to the email addresses of the staff at your local CIA headquarters (try it…the spam soon stops). Anyway, instead of doing that–you should ask the spammers to link to you.

So long as you are asking the other merchants, and not the scammers (you know, the “please check your account people”), you may actually get a link or two out of it. Even if you don’t, you still get the satisfaction of knowing you spammed a spammer.

Set up lots of social media profiles and link from them

Is this a black-hat method if you set up a profile for all the imaginary friends living in your house? If you do not do too many at once you should be okay. It works a little better if you add some stuff to each profile every now and again, to make them look a little more real.

Create an Amazon profile and link to yourself

If you already have an Amazon selling account then where is the harm in setting up a bio and linking it to your blog?

Add an article to an article site

The Google Panda update vowed to get rid of all the content farms–they haven’t! You can add your article to somewhere nice such as Ezine or Squidoo and link to yourself. You can actually make very strong links on Squidoo if you pass their high publication standard. They let you publish anything, but if it is really good then your page will rank highly.

Even if your page ranks number 217,000 it will be “search-indexed” and your one link (keep it to one) from your article will be a good one. They have lots (probably in the millions) of article on Squidoo. It is well worth trying to have two or three rank highly. Do not add an article to an untraceable content farm that is impossible to “whois”, because they are the worst kind of content farm (that Panda has done nothing to shift).

There are certain sexy internet warriors who are taking aggressive action to damage those sites, because they are sick of having their articles copied onto them!