Analytics App for iPhone and iPod Touch

(This was posted 6 months, 3 days, 17 hours, 34 minutes's ago.)

I found a new application on ITunes that I really like and think every small business owner (with an iPhone) should definitely look at.

It’s simple really, it’s your Google Analytics reports live on your iPhone.

The Analytics App gives you access to your Google Analytics data whenever you have a spare minute. Google Analytics will email reports to you and it is extreamly easy to use anyway; but this puts it in your hand – at your finger tips whenever you want it.

You can get it from ITunes or read more about it by visiting the Analytics for iPhone website: www.analyticsapp.com.

Web Users and the Future

(This was posted 6 months, 6 days, 17 hours, 46 minutes's ago.)

It’s an interesting to think ‘what is coming next’, for me I can’t see a time where Google didn’t dominate the internet but now I’m starting to think again...

In the Past

Typically we have Google or MSN or Yahoo (or the like) as our home page. The internet was filled with HTML sites that offered us the ability to book holidays, buy clothes, find out about the world we live in and get expert opinions.

This is still the case but there may be a change on the horizon...

In the Future

How do past browsing trends comparing to current browsing trends? How could social networking have affected the way people use the internet?

For me it is interesting to think that more and more we are using Facebook, Twitter or Youtube. So more and more we are possibly not using Google, Yahoo and MSN...

Could this change the way companies get their message to us? Who gets to benefit from the social networking revolution?

I’m a big fan of Facebook (and many are). I use it to keep in contact with large groups of friends that are not always connected by a common theme. I got to the gym so there are people I like to keep up to date with from there, I also do Karate, talk with old school friends that are no longer in my area and much, much more.

Twitter allows me to follow the thoughts of people and organisations I like – I don’t need to search for news anymore; it is delivered to me in 140 character snippets.

When I want to find out how to do something I am more inclined to use YouTube to see if somebody has uploaded a video demo rather than search through reams of text based articles on how to do it!

So how is this or could this effect you? Those with big budgets are always going to be able to take advantage of new marketing opportunities, but I think the biggest opportunity is actually for local organisations.

Is the Big Bang Contracting?

The internet boom made the world our market place for everything we need, I can see a trend that suggests people will start to look in their local area for what they need – and to me there is the opportunity.

I have a rule of trying not to go over a single A4 page for my posts (knowing that I can procrastinate) so I’m going to leave it there. The next couple of entries I make will explore my thoughts on the internet and what to think about next!

Track Emails with Google Analytics

(This was posted 6 months, 1 week, 15 hours, 28 minutes's ago.)

Here is a thought, if you use Google Analytics do you know the number of people that click on a website link from places like your email signature?

Chances are you can’t or rather don’t.

Let’s think about your emails... How many do you send? In a given week how many emails are sent to existing clients, to prospects or to service providers?

Wouldn’t it be nice if the link to your website in your email signature could identify where it came from?

I like to think that the better I understand how and where the visitors to my website have come from the better placed I am to understand my website.

So here is what I do...

My email signature contains a link to the Thinking Virtually website. When somebody follows that link I know that it came from my email signature as Google Analytics records the Source, Media and Campaign.

Here are the things you need to decide on:

Name for Source – for me that is ‘davidemailsig’

Type of Media – in this case we identify it as ‘email

Name of Campaign – we kind of cheat here as we simply call is ‘davidemailsig’

So my signature shows www.thinkingvirtually.co.uk but when you click on it you are sent to www.thinkingvirtually.co.uk/?utm_source=davidemailsig&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=davidemailsig.

Right, so now do one for yourself.

Source: ?utm_source=your-source

&utm_medium=your-media

&utm_campaign=your-campaign

To make life even easier Google have provided a page that will create the link! Click here to get started.

What if I don’t do this?

Then nothing will change. However Google Analytics records email click though vists as ‘Direct Traffic’ (unless clicked on through Google Mail).

Suppose 90% of your direct traffic is from your email signature, would this make you think differently about your email signature? Would you consider what is said and the possibility of adding offers there as well?

If you don’t do it you won’t lose as you’ll never know. Spend 10 mins and do it and you’ll start capturing data and you will know – even better is now you can start playing with it!

I know if somebody has visited my site because of links in my emails – do you?