How important are Website Analytics?

Website analytics are often the most overlooked part of an online marketing strategy, when in actual fact they should be in place as a pre-requisite to any online presence or marketing campaign going live.

If we go back a decade, website analytics were very crude counters that just looked to simplistically keep a tally of the number of ‘hits’ on a webpage or website. The interpretation of the word ‘hit’ was always ambiguous, as most used this stats to base the success , or not, of their web presence. In actual fact most stats counters were nothing more than ‘number of page views’, so one visitor could rack up hundreds of hits on a single page screwing the figures.

We have come a long way since the day of the ‘hits’ and now some of the analytics packages available on the market, for FREE, provide the most ridiculous amount of detail. From Google Analytics and KISSMetrics through to Clicky and Crazy Egg they all have their strengths and weaknesses but are all built to interpret the data you receive from your website or online channels in different and very effective ways, then display this data to you in a way that allows you to act and improve.

So just how important is having website analytics installed? Well the answer to that question, need you ask, is VERY important.

If we were to recommend 3 important elements to you and your business that would ensure you are able to make a success of your online presence, they would be:

1) Website - A good looking Website that is designed to appeal, interest, engage & covert your audience once they land on the relevant landing page.

2) SEO - A solid SEO & optimisation strategy that looks to get your target audience to the site in numbers.

3) Analytics - The necessary Analytics in place to track, measure, report and understand what is happening in order to continually improve and improve the business you convert online.

With the 3 core elements mentioned above in place, you will have a watertight method of attracting the right sort of audience, getting traffic to your website, appealing to the visitor and then measuring and learning what is working and what isn’t in order to improve the conversion rate over time.

If you would like to talk website analytics, then please get in touch with My Hosting Bubble touch with us or visit our site: www.myhostingbubble.com.

Does offline marketing still have a place in today’s online driven society?

 

Has the huge growth of online marketing over past decade left offline marketing redundant?

Well the short answer to that is no, offline marketing should remain a pivotal part of any holistic marketing strategy.

 

Even though online marketing has become the backbone of any good marketing campaign, offline methods do still have their place in helping businesses to generate exposure and achieve their goals too.

 

Offline marketing covers areas such as:

• Exhibitions
• Networking events
• Flyers & Leaflets
• Magazines
• Radio & TV adverts or commercials
• Cold Calls
• Associations & Trade Shows
• Direct Mail 

Even though online marketing methods can sometimes achieve a much higher yield when it comes to leads an enquiries, offline methods if carried out correctly can also provide a business with huge benefits.

 

We do suggest that before you run off and start spending a fortune on your marketing campaign, you need to think carefully about exactly what it is you are trying to achieve from the marketing effort, who you are trying to reach and whether off or online channels are the most effective way to reach out to these audiences.

 

A good mixture of on and offline marketing channels is an extremely good idea, however, do bear in mind that there are differences in the cost vs the return as well as the length of time taken to see results between both of these avenues to market.

 

Offline tends to cost a little more than online methods and can take longer to see results whereas online tends to be easier to set-up and easier to run and track which also lends itself to seeing and measuring the hard benefits that it will deliver.

 

The bottom line is that both on and offline marketing channels and methods should be used in conjunction with each other to create a holistic marketing approach but more importantly the goals need to be set and measured to ensure you are fully aware of what has worked and what hasn’t.

 

If you have any queries or questions on our article then please get in touch with My Hosting Bubble or visit our site: www.myhostingbubble.com.

Getting into your Customers Heads.

When we say getting into your customers heads we mean you need to act, think, breath, sleep and be like your customers in order to understand what would appeal to them when it comes to your brand and online channels.

In order to ensure your business continues to appeal to the correct target markets, you need to fully understand your various customer personas, i.e. the types of ideal customers that would be visiting, interacting and buying from your website.

In order to achieve this you really do need to understand who your target market are and define who these groups of ideal people are.

By tackling these few simple questions you can ensure that not only does your online presence attract and convert the right audience but you will also have a much more focused business in terms of locating and targeting relevant customers.

1) Who are your ideal customers?
2) How would you describe these ideal customer personas?
3) Where do these ‘ideal customers’ hang out? On or Offline.
4) How would you go about locating these ideal customers?
5) What would entice these ideal customers to buy from you?
6) What would you need to put in place to reach out to these customers?
7) What barriers do you need to remove to appeal to these customers?
8) What would put these idea customers off buying from you?
9) What do you need these customers to do once they reach your website?
10) What is the ideal outcome for these customers?

If you look into, and answer these questions honestly by putting yourself in your ‘ideal customers’ shoes then you will have a blueprint that will help you set-up and manage a healthy flow of engagement and conversions.

My Hosting Bubble are experts in online optimisation, conversions and customer journey work so if you have any queries or questions on our article then please get in touch with us or visit our site: www.myhostingbubble.com.