Compete.com - Not So Competitive?

Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)

Just recently, I've had at least three people come to me about a web site that tracks your web site visits, called compete.com.  They called because of what is being reported by Compete.com's analysis of their web site - either in a panic because it looked like they were getting no traffic, or crowing because it said they had a bajillion visitors.

Compete.com - what do they claim?

Compete.com claims to show "competitive metrics on every site on the web, powered by the largest pool of online consumer behavior data in the industry".  Essentially:  "show me my competitor's traffic!"

They even have a funny tagline:  "Track your rivals.  Then eat their lunch."

(That's funny:  I thought it was "eat them FOR lunch."  Why would I want to eat their lunch?  Gross!)

Anyway, they get their data from numerous sources.  Their biggest source is apparently the two million people who have downloaded their search toolbar.  They take the data from each person's history, and use that to guess how much traffic any web site gets.   On the surface, it's a really cool tool.  And it does work...kinda.

Should you be concerned?

One of those who seemed concerned initially was WNYT.com - Albany's local NBC TV affiliate.  They said that another local TV outlet was going around town with printouts of the compete.com web site statistics.  Of course, those statistics in hand indicated that the "other guy" was getting much more traffic to their web site recently.*  They came in saying: "Quick! Please buy from me today while we're ahead!!" 

It sounded funny.. in both ways.

Funny Ha-Ha

Funny because the 'other guys' (in this case the local CBS outlet) get spanked regularly in regular TV news ratings by WNYT.  I mean, every Neilsen rating, without fail, in almost every age group and demographic.  It's been going on for so long that the other news outlets have a fixation on who can just be number 2 .  One such CBS guy was heard to say:  "Hey, sure they beat us in the 35-50 demo... but we kill in the 90+ demo between 11-12 a.m. during early bird lunch specials at the diner!"

(OK, not really.  They don't 'kill' there either.  But trust me, that's very close to what they say.)

Smell Test Funny

It also seemed funny because the web site traffic comparisons seemed off.

It doesn't make sense that the web site of the TV market's "first place leader" would rank behind the web site of the TV market's  "first place loser" .  If you watch news on one TV station regularly, it seems that you'd follow that one on the web, too.  Think about that:  If you buy at Wal-Mart, do you think of Target.com first on the web?

So I asked WNYT to supply their monthly traffic from LiveStats, their highly regarded on-site statistics program.

Our own little Fact Checking

I took a look at what WNYT provided from their actual web site statistics.  Wow.   For February 09:

Actual Statistics show:  168,717 unique visitors.
Compete.com statistics indicated:  59,569 unique visitors.

That's pretty bad.  But I gave compete.com the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe they just didn't get one month right.  So I kept checking, going backwards.

January:  Actual 261,683; Compete claimed 300,000
December:  Actual 272,602; Compete claimed 250,000
November: Actual 272,602; Compete claimed 90,000
October:  Actual 148,335; Compete claimed 100,000

Holy cow.  Those are some big differences.  Don't trust compete.com alone with your daughter.

Keep Looking.

And, being one of the area's largest web design firms with 500+ web sites, I took a look at some of our own actual Google Analytics statistics from a bunch of the web sites we manage.  Google Analytics is installed right there on the site - and it tracks completely accurately, and privately.

Here's a graph of what Compete.com said:

[caption id="attachment_73" align="aligncenter" width="547" caption="Wild and Crazy Swings!"][/caption]

 According to Compete.com - their best month was under 10,000 visitors.  their worst month was 1,800.

Will the real statistics please stand up?

That's right...their worst month ever was just under 10,000.  Who is running compete.com..are they working for an Albany politician, too?

Nothing to see here.  Move along.

So you see, both fact checks seem to bear witness:  Compete.com is cool for water cooler talk.  That's it.

And if you use it for water cooler talk, you need to find a better hobby.  Really.

* Oh - one more thing.  What were the results of the Pepsi Challenge?

You may not have noticed the asterisk above in the first few paragraphs.  Those other guys from CBS, showing the "great" results vs. WNYT?  Did they get too much of Liz Bishop's hairspray in their eyes? Here's what compete.com said:

[caption id="attachment_77" align="aligncenter" width="544" caption="WRGB - we're #2!"][/caption]

Check it out for yourself. 

It shows that WRGB.com has about 1/2 of the traffic that WNYT.com does.    But we know compete.com is way off... maybe CBS' web site does get a lot of traffic.  The question is:  how off are they?

I invite CBS to send me their data, and let's settle this the real way - with real statistics from your actual web site statistics.   I'll post your results too and then you can have a news team rumble.

Otherwise, I've got to assume that WNYT remains the true leader.

Playing by Google's Rules

Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
According to a recent figure, 81.57% of all searches conducted over the internet go through Google. Next in line is Yahoo!, holding a meager 10.07% of the remaining search traffic.

That staggering number means that in the SEO game, Google gets to make the rules. And if you want to get a high page ranking on the worlds most popular search engine, you better play by them.

What are these rules?

It's impossible to come up with an exhaustive list of what Google likes to see. Their preferences are deployed through search algorithms; mathematical formulas that give different weight to various characteristics of a web site, and then sort the results based on how well they match the terms entered by the searcher. The mathematical nature of these preferences makes them hard to fully describe with words.

But there are some things we know for sure.

1. Google has a heavy bias towards informational resources. Search for just about any broad topic (like "money" or "France") and you'll get a Wikipedia reference near the top of the page. That's because Wikipedia is absolutely loaded with well-researched, well-written information. Google can tell, and rewards Wikipedia handsomely.

2. Google likes to see high-quality incoming and outgoing links. This means that if something on your page links to, say, a related article on CNN.com, Google gives you a thumbs up. If you have a link that goes to a web page that has no relevant content and no sensible reason to be attached to your page, you get the Google thumbs down.

3. Google is smart. It's able to look at the content on a web page and determine if you're actually writing an informational piece of text, or if it's simply a long list of the same keywords over and over again. Tactics like this worked for a while, but Google caught on, and has a tendency of punishing pages that employ them.

So how do you make Google happy? It's  relatively simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy.

To get a good ranking with Google, you should focus on two things: adding valuable content, and getting involved with good people.

On the Internet, you add valuable content by writing informational articles and putting them on your web site. Often. The more you update your site with good content, the better you look to Google. Over time, they begin to see your site as an information repository, not just an online sales floor.

The way you get involved with good people is through high quality links. If you're a realtor, you want to make sure you've got links on your page to resources that help homebuyers. If your company makes cookies, have links to things like the FDA's web page, or a well-respected nutrition web site.

With Google, the emphasis is on quality over quantity, so with every update you make to your site, make sure you're giving your visitors something valuable.

If you need a bit more guidance, don't be afraid to drop us a line.

-Dave Borland

(Relevant) Content is King

Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
We've developed over 500 web sites in the last eight years, for all kinds of businesses and organizations.  Big companies, little companies, florists, lawyers, politicians, tattoo parlors, retailers... you name it - a real eclectic mix.  There's a real common thread between them - they all think they can write.

Some of them are right - they really CAN write.

And some of them really CANNOT.

They also have another thing in common - each client has spent a lot of time with us on the design.   We'll go over usability, navigation, colors, pictures, 'calls to action' buttons, you name it.  They get that.

But when it comes to adding content to the design, a typical response is:  "My friend, I've been writing since elementary school.   I'll write it."  Or, "we'll just throw in a few bullet points and be done with it.  Or my favorite:  "we'll just 'borrow ideas' from another site"  (you guessed it - that was a politician.  Not an original bone in their creative minds).

Get this - relevant content on your site is king.  Don't relegate it to court jester status.

What exactly is relevant content?

Your web site’s content is basically all the “stuff” on the site. All the words,  images and audio.  Everything that your viewers see, read, hear and experience is content and it’s extremely important to your site.

Good content rules.

The whole idea of the web is to make lots of information easily accessible to the world. The best way to make it work for you, is to fill your website with great content. The more relevant and interesting your web site’s content is to your target audience, the more it will resonate with them as potential customers.

To Google... and Beyond!

The better and original the content is, the better it will do with search engines, too. Search engines use special formulas called algorithms to comb through a web site's content, looking for pages that match the search criteria. The more clear and relevant a pages’ content is to that search phrase, the higher up in the search engines’ results it should appear. And that’s money in the bank for you.  As your web site climbs higher on a search results page, the chances of it being clicked increase exponentially.

Here are a few guidelines to use when creating content for your site:

1. The information you post on your site needs to be useful, educational, informative, valuable or just plain entertaining.
2. Update your content regularly to gain an edge on your competition.
3. Know your target audience and what they want to read, hear, see or know.
4. If content is king, spelling and grammar are his crown and robe (ooh, that's a good one!).
5. Paragraphs and sentences need to be brief. Blocks of text are intimidating to the reader.
6. Use lists, bullets and numbers (like these!) to better outline text; just don't use it exclusively!
7. Make sure all of the content is relevant to your company’s identity.

This list should help you weed out the useless and inappropriate info that is clogging your site and holding it back from reaching its full potential. Because with too much of the wrong information, search engines will never find your site and customers will never want to visit it.

Just remember, when it comes to your web site – lots of content is great, but relevant always rules.  With an iron fist.

Until next week,

-Dave Borland

So You Have a Web Site. Now What?

Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)

Last week we laid out 12 questions you can use to gauge your web site’s effectiveness. Question #9 talked about making regular updates to your site, and I wanted to talk about that in a bit more detail.

Often a new web site owner thinks, “Okay, I took the plunge and got a web site for my business. Now I can get back to my daily routine and let my website sit out there on the web and do its thing.” You can do that if you like, but it’s not going to bring you much value.

Your web site must be dynamic.

We’ve said previously that your web site has to be like a well-designed retail store: user friendly and inviting. And like all successful stores, to keep customers interested and coming back for more you have to give them more.

You have to update your web site with interesting and relevant information often. It’s an easy and inexpensive way to hold your customers attention.

A great way to do this is by creating a blog for your site, like this one, that offers regular viewers helpful hints and industry updates. Another way is to include a calendar of upcoming events or sales. Anything that will give you the opportunity to have an ongoing conversation with your customers can work double duty as a web site update.

If your customers become bored or disinterested in your site, they will find one that piques their interest more. Don’t let that happen to your web site. Update it frequently and your customers will find it worthy of repeat trips.

Until next week.

-Dave Borland

12 Questions You Can Use To Evaluate Your Website

Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Last week I promised to help you self-discover how well your web site is serving your needs. Answer these 12 questions as a way to concretely analyze how well a web site does it's job.

1. Is the first impression "Wow!" or "Whoa..." ?
We all know how important first impressions are, and your web site has to make a good one. When someone visits your site for the first time, are they immediately impressed? You want a site that looks professional, fits your other branded materials, and communicates powerful reasons to buy from you.

2. Is your web site usable and easy to navigate?
The web is built on information. How easily can someone find it on your web site? If there isn't an easy way to access every page of your web site within two or three clicks (your browser's 'back' button doesn't count), you're testing your visitors' patience.

3. Does it load fast?
By some estimates, you've only got five seconds to load your web site before your visitors get annoyed. Does your web site make the cut?

4. Do all the parts work?
I see this happen all the time - a business has a decent looking web site, but when you click the links they go to pages that don't exist or are 'under construction'. If you've been saying "I'll get that fixed eventually" consider this - every person that clicks those broken links has a disappointing experience on your web site.

5. Does your web site quickly communicate a reason to buy from you?
The core question that your visitors want an answer to is "Why should I buy from you?" Your web site needs to answer that question quickly. The more time you let that question simmer in your visitors' mind, the more likely they are to look for an answer somewhere else.

6. Does your web site ask for the sale?
Your web site needs to have calls-to-action in the right spots. You need buttons that say "Buy Now!" or "Get a Free Quote!", and you need to put them in the right spots.

7. Does it read well?
The way your web site is written will have a significant effect on your visitors' experience. The text on your site should strategically guide your guest from casual visitor to engaged buyer. The writing should target your audience, have an inviting tone, and highlight important talking points about your business.

8. Does it encourage visitors to come back?
Some visitors won't be ready to buy from you on the first visit to your site. You need to give these people reasons to come back. Updated content, free services and discounts on overstocked inventory are good ways to encourage a return visit.

9. Is your web site updated?
Your web site needs to be updated regularly to make sure that it stays relevant to your visitors and your business. The web is constantly changing, and if you're not updating your web site at least once a month, it can quickly become obsolete.

10. Is it ranked on search engines?
Statistically, most visitors come to a web site via search engines - so this could be the most important question. If no one can find your web site through generic keyword phrases, it doesn't matter how good the site is.

11. Does the site reflect the current state of your business?
Has your business gone through changes since your web site was designed? If so, it's time to update. Part of what makes the web so powerful is that it is up-to-the-minute. You web site needs to be, too.

12. Does it help you accomplish your goals?
Your web site should have some concrete goals. Is the goal to sell, either directly or through contact inquiries?  Is the goal to cut support hours? Or maybe to generate positive PR? Ask yourself how well it meets these goals.

Your web site is a complex tool.  Are you using it to its full potential?