SEO for Webmasters

Google Analytics 101: How to Track Your Conversions (Step-by-Step)

2021-03-18T23:34:00.001-07:00

Want to track your conversions using Google Analytics, but not sure where to start? Google Analytics can be intimidating if you are new to it, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. All you need to get started are the basics. In this post, we’ll share how to track your conversions in Google Analytics, step-by-step.

“Analytics.” That can be a scary-sounding word. Many people assume that analytics are only something that technology gurus with multiple degrees can interpret. However, we’re here to tell you that analyzing your website data doesn’t have to be scary or confusing.

In fact, thanks to some free and premium tools (such as Google Analytics + MonsterInsights or OptinMonster), gaining relevant insights into what’s working and what’s not is actually quite effortless.

In just a few simple steps, you can set up your Google Analytics account and create conversion goals so that you can track your email list signups and understand what’s driving your success, or holding you back.

Let’s dig in!

Setting Up Your Google Analytics Account

Let’s begin with your Google Analytics account. If you don’t have an account, then this is the first place to start. If you already have an account, just skip over the first two steps below and start at Step 3.

Here are some simple steps to follow to get up and running with Google Analytics…

Step 1: Create a Google Account

In order to use Google Analytics, you need to have a Google account. If you already have a primary Google account such as Gmail, YouTube, or Google Drive, then you’ll want to set up your Google Analytics account under the same name. Otherwise, you’ll need to create a new one.

Step 2: Sign Up for Google Analytics

Once you have a Google account, you’ll need to sign up for Google Analytics.

Click the Sign In link in the upper right-hand corner and you’ll see a dropdown menu. Select Analytics. You’ll be redirected to a page where you can choose the Google account you want to use.

Click Sign Up, then, on the next page, select Website and fill in your details, including Account Name, Website Name, URL, Industry, and your Time Zone.

Check the boxes next to all the recommended options, and then hit the blue Get Tracking ID button.

You will then be asked to accept the Terms of Service.

After you hit the I Accept button, you will be redirected to your Google Analytics account.

Step 3. Start Tracking Your Website

Inside your new Google Analytics account, you will see your Tracking ID and your Analytics tracking code. You can also find this at any time by going to Admin » Property » Tracking Info. There are several different methods of setting up your website with Google Analytics, some of which use one of these codes.

If you don’t have a WordPress site, you can copy and paste the website tracking code into every web page that you want to track. If you are unsure of how to do this, you may want to have your web developer do this step for you.

You can use Google Analytics with WordPress, too. There are a few ways to add it but the easiest way is to install the MonsterInsights plugin and activate it.

Next, navigate to the Insights tab in your admin menu and select Settings.

Then click on the Authenticate with your Google account button.

You’ll see a dialog box pop up that looks like this, so you can select the Google account you want to use:

Click on the blue Allow button so MonsterInsights can access your Google Analytics data.

Choose the Google Analytics website profile you want to authenticate with MonsterInsights.

Complete the authentication process by clicking I’m not a robot. You’re all set.

How to Set Up Conversion Goals

Now that you’ve successfully installed Google Analytics on your website, you may be feeling a little (or a lot!) overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of it. Well, you are in good company. That’s why so many people insert a tracking code onto their websites and then call it quits.

Why is Google Analytics so complex? Well, it’s pretty powerful stuff.

“The problem is that an ‘out of the box’ Google Analytics implementation will only get you so far,” SEO expert Glenn Gabe explains. “Sure, you’ll get the basics, but that won’t necessarily help you glean insights that can boost ROI.”

So the bottom line is, you’re going to have to do a bit of your own setup. However, once you do, you will be able to gather some golden insights.

While there are plenty of aspects of Google Analytics that you don’t need to learn or master at this point, you absolutely must familiarize yourself with conversion goals.

You can do a variety of things with conversion goals, but because so many of you have asked us about how to track marketing campaigns – and because list building is so crucial to the success of any business online – we are going to focus on tracking email list signups.

Don’t worry – it’s actually pretty simple once you know how to do it. Let’s take a look…

Step 1: Create a New Goal

First, select the Admin tab at the top of the page. This will take you to a page with three columns: Account, Property, and View.

Under the View column, you’ll see the heading Goals (third down from the top). Go ahead and click on this last heading.

Once you’re on the Goals page, click the red + New Goal button.

Step 2: Choose Goal Setup

Next, under Goal setup, select the Custom radio button at the very bottom of all the options and click Continue.

Step 3: Enter Goal Description

You’ll be prompted to create a name for your goal and choose the type. Enter any name that will help you to remember the conversion you are tracking and select Destination as the type. Then hit the Continue button.

Step 4: Enter Goal Details

Next, you’ll need to enter the URL for your thank you page: this is the page that a new subscriber sees just after they opt in. Type it into the Destination field.

Optionally, you can also toggle Value on to enter a monetary value to the conversion. Do this if you know how much each email lead is worth to you. (For instance, if you know that the average lifetime value of a customer is $1,000, and your average customer acquisition rate is 1%, then each lead would be worth $10.)

The Funnel option is usually more useful if you are tracking a conversion that happens further down your funnel (such as a sale), so we are going to skip that for now.

Then, hit Save.

Step 5: Start Recording

As soon as a goal is created, Google Analytics will begin recording data. Now all you have to do is wait.

(You can always pause a goal by changing the recording status to off.)

Step 6: View Your Data

Because you’ve only just started tracking your website, there won’t be any data to show. However, you can view your data by going to Acquisition » Overview and selecting your new goal under the Conversion dropdown menu.

This will allow you to see your top channels which are your top sources of traffic. You will also be able to see a graph of your sessions, which is how many times someone has visited your site (each session can include multiple page views).

What you’ll want to look at is your conversion rate in the third section of columns on the right-hand side:

This will allow you to see which channels are giving you the highest conversion rates. And, if you’ve specified a monetary value to your leads, you will be able to see that total number in the rightmost column.

You can use all of this information to determine which channels you should focus your attention on.

You can also change the dates in the upper right-hand corner to view the specific window of time that you are interested in.

The only downside to conversion goals is that, if you have multiple marketing campaigns, you’ll have to create a separate conversion goal to track each one. You’ll also have to make sure that each campaign has its own separate thank you page, otherwise, you won’t be able to differentiate your conversion goals.

However, if you have OptinMonster, there is a much easier way to use Google Analytics to track conversion rates on each of your individual marketing campaigns. (More on that in the next section.)

Using Google Analytics + OptinMonster

If you’re using OptinMonster, tracking conversions on your campaigns is super easy. You don’t have to create any conversion goals inside Google Analytics, and you don’t even have to use a thank you page if you don’t want to.

To start using OptinMonster and Google Analytics together, go to the Analytics tab from your edit screen in OptinMonster:

You’ll see Google Analytics listed under Non-Active Connections. Click the Connect button to connect.

In the screen that comes up, click the green Generate Authentication Code button.

A new browser tab will open up to ask you if you will allow OptinMonster to view your Google Analytics data. Click the blue Allow button.

Next, it will give you a code. Copy this code, and then go back to the browser tab with your OptinMonster edit screen.

Paste the code into the Authentication Code field. Then, give your Google Analytics account a name in the Account Label (just pick a name that will help you remember which account you are connecting to). Hit the green Next button.

Now you will be able to collect data from Google Analytics and view your conversion rate right from within your OptinMonster account by clicking on the analytics icon next to your optin form

After acquiring a bit of data, you will be able to view a report for each of your optin forms that looks something like this:

That’s it! We hope this article has helped you to learn how to use Google Analytics to track your conversions.

Wrapping Up

Google Analytics can seem intimidating at first due to all the options available, but it’s actually pretty simple once you know what data to focus on.

Creating conversion goals allows you to view the data that’s really important: your email list conversion rates. Or, you can simply integrate OptinMonster with your Google Analytics account in a few clicks and start gathering conversion data on each of your optin forms right away.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also want to find out how to get actionable insights with a custom Google Analytics dashboard, and how to get lead magnet ideas with Google Analytics.

Want to know how people behave on your website when they see or interact with your OptinMonster campaigns, as compared to other visitors? It’s easier than you might think! Check out our tutorial on How to Analyze the Effects of OptinMonster Campaigns on User Behavior.

Source: https://optinmonster.com/google-analytics-101-how-to-track-your-conversions-step-by-step

The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Google Analytics

2021-03-11T22:32:00.001-08:00

If you don't know what Google Analytics is, haven't installed it on your website, or have installed it but never look at your data, then this post is for you. While it's hard for many to believe, there are still websites that are not using Google Analytics (or any analytics, for that matter) to measure their traffic. In this post, we're going to look at Google Analytics from the absolute beginner's point of view. Why you need it, how to get it, how to use it, and workarounds to common problems.

Why you need Google Analytics

Do you have a blog? Do you have a static website? If the answer is yes, whether they are for personal or business use, then you need Google Analytics. Here are just a few of the many questions about your website that you can answer using Google Analytics.

How many people visit my website?
Where do my visitors live?
Do I need a mobile-friendly website?
What websites send traffic to my website?
What marketing tactics drive the most traffic to my website?
Which pages on my website are the most popular?
How many visitors have I converted into leads or customers?
Where did my converting visitors come from and go on my website?
How can I improve my website's speed?
What blog content do my visitors like the most?

There are many, many additional questions that Google Analytics can answer, but these are the ones that are most important for most website owners. Now let's look at how you can get Google Analytics on your website.

How to install Google Analytics

First, you need a Google Analytics account. If you have a primary Google account that you use for other services like Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Google+, or YouTube, then you should set up your Google Analytics using that Google account. Or you will need to create a new one.

This should be a Google account you plan to keep forever and that only you have access to. You can always grant access to your Google Analytics to other people down the road, but you don't want someone else to have full control over it.

Big tip: don't let your anyone (your web designer, web developer, web host, SEO person, etc.) create your website's Google Analytics account under their own Google account so they can "manage" it for you. If you and this person part ways, they will take your Google Analytics data with them, and you will have to start all over.

1. Set up your account and property

Once you have a Google account, you can go to Google Analytics and click the Sign into Google Analytics button. You will then be greeted with the three steps you must take to set up Google Analytics.

After you click the Sign Up button, you will fill out information for your website.

Google Analytics offers hierarchies to organize your account. You can have up to 100 Google Analytics accounts under one Google account. You can have up to 50 website properties under one Google Analytics account. You can have up to 25 views under one website property.

Here are a few scenarios.

SCENARIO 1: If you have one website, you only need one Google Analytics account with one website property.
SCENARIO 2: If you have two websites, such as one for your business and one for your personal use, you might want to create two accounts, naming one "123Business" and one "Personal". Then you will set up your business website under the 123Business account and your personal website under your Personal account.
SCENARIO 3: If you have several businesses, but less than 50, and each of them has one website, you might want to put them all under a Business account. Then have a Personal account for your personal websites.
SCENARIO 4: If you have several businesses and each of them has dozens of websites, for a total of more than 50 websites, you might want to put each business under its own account, such as 123Business account, 124Business account, and so on.

There are no right or wrong ways to set up your Google Analytics account—it's just a matter of how you want to organize your sites. You can always rename your accounts or properties down the road. Note that you can't move a property (website) from one Google Analytics account to another—you would have to set up a new property under the new account and lose the historical data you collected from the original property.

For the absolute beginner's guide, we're going to assume you have one website and only need one view (the default, all data view. The setup would look something like this.

Beneath this, you will have the option to configure where your Google Analytics data can be shared.

2. Install your tracking code

Once you are finished, you will click the Get Tracking ID button. You will get a popup of the Google Analytics terms and conditions, which you have to agree to. Then you will get your Google Analytics code.

This must be installed on every page on your website. The installation will depend on what type of website you have. For example, I have a WordPress website on my own domain using the Genesis Framework. This framework has a specific area to add header and footer scripts to my website.

Alternatively, if you have a WordPress on your own domain, you can use the Google Analytics by Yoast plugin to install your code easily no matter what theme or framework you are using.

If you have a website built with HTML files, you will add the tracking code before the </head> tag on each of your pages. You can do this by using a text editor program (such as TextEdit for Mac or Notepad for Windows) and then uploading the file to your web host using an FTP program (such as FileZilla).

If you have a Shopify e-commerce store, you will go to your Online Store settings and paste in your tracking code where specified.

If you have a blog on Tumblr, you will go to your blog, click the Edit Theme button at the top right of your blog, and then enter just the Google Analytics ID in your settings.

As you can see, the installation of Google Analytics varies based on the platform you use (content management system, website builder, e-commerce software, etc.), the theme you use, and the plugins you use. You should be able to find easy instructions to install Google Analytics on any website by doing a web search for your platform + how to install Google Analytics.

Set up goals

After you install your tracking code on your website, you will want to configure a small (but very useful) setting in your website's profile on Google Analytics. This is your Goals setting. You can find it by clicking on the Admin link at the top of your Google Analytics and then clicking on Goals under your website's View column.

Goals will tell Google Analytics when something important has happened on your website. For example, if you have a website where you generate leads through a contact form, you will want to find (or create) a thank you page that visitors end upon once they have submitted their contact information. Or, if you have a website where you sell products, you will want to find (or create) a final thank you or confirmation page for visitors to land upon once they have completed a purchase.

That URL will likely look something like this.

In Google Analytics, you will click on the New Goal button.

You will choose the Custom option (unless one of the other options are more applicable to your website) and click the Next Step button.

You will name your goal something you will remember, select Destination, and then click the Next Step button.

You will enter your thank you or confirmation page's URL after the .com of your website in the Destination field and change the drop-down to "Begins with".

You will then toggle the value and enter a specific dollar value for that conversion (if applicable) and click Create Goal to complete the setup.

If you have other similar goals / conversions you would like to track on your website, you can follow these steps again. You can create up to 20 goals on your website. Be sure that the ones you create are highly important to your business. These goals (for most businesses) include lead form submissions, email list sign ups, and purchase completions. Depending on your website and its purpose, your goals may vary.

Note that this is the simplest of all conversion tracking in Google Analytics. You can review the documentation in Google Analytics support to learn more about setting up goal tracking.

3. Set up site search

Another thing you can set up really quickly that will give you valuable data down the road is Site Search. This is for any website with a search box on it, like the search box at the top of the Moz Blog.

First, run a search on your website. Then keep the tab open. You will need the URL momentarily.

Go to your Google Analytics Admin menu again, and in the View column, click on View Settings.

Scroll down until you see Site Settings and toggle it to On.

Look back at your URL for your search results. Enter the query parameter (usually s or q) and click Save. On Moz, for example, the query parameter is q.

This will allow Google Analytics to track any searches made on your website so you can learn more about what your visitors are looking for on specific pages.

4. Add additional accounts and properties

If you want to add a new Google Analytics account, you can do so by going to your Admin menu, clicking on the drop-down under the Account column, and clicking the Create New Account link.

Likewise, if you want to add a new website under your Google Analytics account, you can do so by going to your Admin menu, clicking on the drop-down under the Property column, and clicking the Create New Property link.

Then you will continue through all of the above-mentioned steps.

Once you've installed Google Analytics on your website(s), set up your goals, and set up site search(es), you should wait about 24 hours for it to start getting data. Then you will be able to start viewing your data.

5. View Google Analytics data

Once you start getting in Google Analytics data, you can start learning about your website traffic. Each time you log in to Google Analytics, you will be taken to your Audience Overview report. Alternatively, if you have more than one website, you will be taken to your list of websites to choose from, and then taken to the Audience Overview report for that website. This is the first of over 50 reports that are available to you in Google Analytics. You can also access these reports by clicking on the Reporting link at the top.

6. Standard report features

Most of the standard reports within Google Analytics will look similar to this. At the top right, you can click on the drop-down arrow next to your website to switch to different websites within all of your Google Analytics accounts. Or you can click the Home link at the top.

In the report at the top right, you can click on the dates to change the date range of the data you are viewing. You can also check the Compare box to compare your data from one date range (such as this month) to a previous date range (such as last month) to view your data.

You can hover over a variety of areas on your Google Analytics reports to get more information. For example, in the Audience Overview, hovering over the line on the graph will give you the number of sessions for a particular day. Hovering over the metrics beneath the graph will tell you what each one means.

Beneath the main metrics, you will see reports that you can switch through to see the top ten languages, countries, cities, browsers, operating systems, services providers, and screen resolutions of your visitors.

You can click the full report link on each to see the full reports. Or you can click on any of the top ten links to see more details. For example, clicking on the United States in Countries will take you to the full Location report, focused in on visitors from states within the US.

In this view, you can hover over each state to see the number of visitors from that state. You can scroll down to the table and hover over each column name to learn more about each metric.

You can also click on the name of each state to see visitors from cities within the state. Effectively, any time you see a clickable link or a ? next to something, you can click on it or hover over it to learn more. The deeper you dive into your analytics, the more interesting information you will find.

7. Types of Google Analytics reports

Speaking of reports, here is quick summary of what you will find in each of the standard Google Analytics reporting sections, accessible in the left sidebar.

Everything in (parenthesis) is a specific report or set of reports within the following sections that you can refer to.

Audience reports

These reports tell you everything you want to know about your visitors. In them, you will find detailed reports for your visitors' age and gender (Demographics), what their general interests are (Interests), where they come from (Geo > Location) and what language they speak (Geo > Language), how often they visit your website (Behavior), and the technology they use to view your website (Technology and Mobile).

Acquisition reports

These reports will tell you everything you want to know about what drove visitors to your website (All Traffic). You will see your traffic broken down by main categories (All Traffic > Channels) and specific sources (All Traffic > Source/Medium).

You can learn everything about traffic from social networks (Social). You can also connect Google Analytics to AdWords to learn more about PPC campaigns and to Google Webmaster Tools / Search Console to learn more about search traffic (Search Engine Optimization)

Behavior reports

These reports will tell you everything you want to know about your content. Particularly, the top pages on your website (Site Content > All Pages), the top entry pages on your website (Site Content > Landing Pages), and the top exit pages on your website (Site Content > Exit Pages).

If you set up Site Search, you will be able to see what terms are searched for (Site Search > Search Terms) and the pages they are searched upon (Site Search > Pages).

You can also learn how fast your website loads (Site Speed) as well as find specific suggestions from Google on how to make your website faster (Site Speed > Speed Suggestions).

8. Conversions

If you set up Goals within your Google Analytics, you can see how many conversions your website has received (Goals > Overview) and what URLs they happened upon (Goals > Goal URLs). You can also see the path that visitors took to complete the conversion (Goals > Reverse Goal Path).

Speaking of goals and conversions, most of the tables within Google Analytics standard reports will tie specific data to your conversions. For example, you can see the number of conversions made by visitors from California in the Audience > Geo > Location report. You can see the number of conversions made by visitors from Facebook in the Acquisitions > All Traffic > Source/Medium report. You can see the number of conversions made by visitors who landed on specific pages in the Behavior > Site Content > Landing Pages report.

If you have multiple goals, you can use the dropdown at the top of that section of data to switch to the goal you want to view or all of your goals if you prefer.

9. Shortcuts and emails

While you won't need every report within Google Analytics, you should explore them all to see what they have to offer. When you find some that you want to visit again and again, use the Shortcut link at the top of the report to add them to the Shortcuts in your left sidebar for faster access.

Or, use the email button to have them emailed to you (or others on your team) on a regular basis.

If you choose to send emails to someone outside of your organization, be sure to regularly check your emails by going to your Admin menu and clicking on the Scheduled Emails box under the View column to ensure only people working with your company are getting your data.

FAQs about Google Analytics

Got a few questions? Here are some of the common ones that come up with Google Analytics.

1. How do I share my Google Analytics data with someone?

You don't have to give your Google account information over to someone who needs access to your Google Analytics data. You just need to go to your Admin menu and under the Account, Property (website) or View you want someone to see, click the User Management menu.

From there, you can add the email address of anyone you would like to view your Google Analytics data and choose the permissions you would like them to have.

2. I don't like viewing the reports in Google Analytics. Can someone just summarize the data for me?

Yes! Quill Engage is a service that will take your Google Analytics data and summarize it in an easy-to-read report for you. Best of all, it's free for up to ten profiles (websites).

3. I have a dozen websites, and I don't want to check each of their Google Analytics on a daily basis. What do I do?

You have two options in this scenario. You start by going to the Home screen of Google Analytics. There, you will find a listing of all your websites and an overview of the top metrics—sessions, average session duration, bounce rate, and conversion rate.

You can also try business dashboard solutions like Cyfe. For $19 a month, you can create unlimited dashboards with unlimited widgets, including a large selection of data from Google Analytics, alongside data from your social media networks, keyword rankings, Moz stats, and more.

This solution significantly cuts down on the time spent looking at analytics across the board for your entire business.

4. Google Analytics says that 90%+ of my organic keywords are (not provided). Where can I find that information?

(not provided) is Google's way of protecting search engine user's privacy by hiding the keywords they use to discover your website in search results. Tools like Google Webmaster Tools (now Search Console, free), Authority Lab's Now Provided Reports (paid), and Hittail (paid) can all help you uncover some of those keywords.

They won't be linked to your conversions or other Google Analytics data, but at least you will have some clue what keywords searchers are using to find your website.

5. How do I use Custom Reports, Dashboards, and Segments?

If you're ready to move to the next level in Google Analytics, Custom Reports, Dashboards, and Segments are the way to go.

Custom Reports (under the Customization menu at the top) allow you to create reports that look similar to the standard Google Analytics reports with the metrics you want to view.

Dashboards allow you to view your Google Analytics data in a dashboard format. You can access them at the top of the left sidebar.

Segments allow you to view all of your Google Analytics data based on a specific dimension, such as all of your Google Analytics data based on visitors from the United States. You can also use them to compare up to four segments of data, such as United States versus United Kingdom traffic, search versus social traffic, mobile versus desktop traffic, and more. You can access Segments in each of your reports.

The nice part about these is that you don't have to create them from scratch. You can start by using pre-defined Custom Reports, Dashboards, and Segments from the Google Solutions Gallery.

There, you will find lots of Custom Reports, Dashboards, Segments, and other solutions that you can import into your Google Analytics and edit to fit your needs. Edit Custom Reports with the Edit button at the top.

Edit Dashboards using the Add Widget or Customize Dashboard buttons at the top.

Edit Segments by clicking the Action button inside the Segments selector box and choosing Edit.

Or, when you have applied Segments to your reports, use the drop-down arrow at the top right to find the Edit option.

As you get used to editing Custom Reports, Dashboards, and Segments, you will get more familiar with the way each works so you can create new ones on your own.

Source: https://moz.com/blog/absolute-beginners-guide-to-google-analytics

Blockchain explained

2021-03-04T22:30:00.001-08:00

If you have been following banking, investing, or cryptocurrency over the last ten years, you may have heard the term “blockchain,” the record-keeping technology behind the Bitcoin network.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Blockchain is a specific type of database.
It differs from a typical database in the way it stores information; blockchains store data in blocks that are then chained together.
As new data comes in it is entered into a fresh block. Once the block is filled with data it is chained onto the previous block, which makes the data chained together in chronological order.
Different types of information can be stored on a blockchain but the most common use so far has been as a ledger for transactions.
In Bitcoin’s case, blockchain is used in a decentralized way so that no single person or group has control—rather, all users collectively retain control.
Decentralized blockchains are immutable, which means that the data entered is irreversible. For Bitcoin, this means that transactions are permanently recorded and viewable to anyone.

What is Blockchain?

Blockchain seems complicated, and it definitely can be, but its core concept is really quite simple. A blockchain is a type of database. To be able to understand blockchain, it helps to first understand what a database actually is.

A database is a collection of information that is stored electronically on a computer system. Information, or data, in databases is typically structured in table format to allow for easier searching and filtering for specific information. What is the difference between someone using a spreadsheet to store information rather than a database?

Spreadsheets are designed for one person, or a small group of people, to store and access limited amounts of information. In contrast, a database is designed to house significantly larger amounts of information that can be accessed, filtered, and manipulated quickly and easily by any number of users at once.

Large databases achieve this by housing data on servers that are made of powerful computers. These servers can sometimes be built using hundreds or thousands of computers in order to have the computational power and storage capacity necessary for many users to access the database simultaneously. While a spreadsheet or database may be accessible to any number of people, it is often owned by a business and managed by an appointed individual that has complete control over how it works and the data within it.

So how does a blockchain differ from a database?

Storage Structure

One key difference between a typical database and a blockchain is the way the data is structured. A blockchain collects information together in groups, also known as blocks, that hold sets of information. Blocks have certain storage capacities and, when filled, are chained onto the previously filled block, forming a chain of data known as the “blockchain.” All new information that follows that freshly added block is compiled into a newly formed block that will then also be added to the chain once filled.

A database structures its data into tables whereas a blockchain, like its name implies, structures its data into chunks (blocks) that are chained together. This makes it so that all blockchains are databases but not all databases are blockchains. This system also inherently makes an irreversible timeline of data when implemented in a decentralized nature. When a block is filled it is set in stone and becomes a part of this timeline. Each block in the chain is given an exact timestamp when it is added to the chain.

Transaction Process

Attributes of Cryptocurrency

Decentralization

For the purpose of understanding blockchain, it is instructive to view it in the context of how it has been implemented by Bitcoin. Like a database, Bitcoin needs a collection of computers to store its blockchain. For Bitcoin, this blockchain is just a specific type of database that stores every Bitcoin transaction ever made. In Bitcoin’s case, and unlike most databases, these computers are not all under one roof, and each computer or group of computers is operated by a unique individual or group of individuals.

Imagine that a company owns a server comprised of 10,000 computers with a database holding all of its client's account information. This company has a warehouse containing all of these computers under one roof and has full control of each of these computers and all the information contained within them. Similarly, Bitcoin consists of thousands of computers, but each computer or group of computers that hold its blockchain is in a different geographic location and they are all operated by separate individuals or groups of people. These computers that makeup Bitcoin’s network are called nodes.

In this model, Bitcoin’s blockchain is used in a decentralized way. However, private, centralized blockchains, where the computers that make up its network are owned and operated by a single entity, do exist.

In a blockchain, each node has a full record of the data that has been stored on the blockchain since its inception. For Bitcoin, the data is the entire history of all Bitcoin transactions. If one node has an error in its data it can use the thousands of other nodes as a reference point to correct itself. This way, no one node within the network can alter information held within it. Because of this, the history of transactions in each block that make up Bitcoin’s blockchain is irreversible.

If one user tampers with Bitcoin’s record of transactions, all other nodes would cross-reference each other and easily pinpoint the node with the incorrect information. This system helps to establish an exact and transparent order of events. For Bitcoin, this information is a list of transactions, but it also is possible for a blockchain to hold a variety of information like legal contracts, state identifications, or a company’s product inventory.

In order to change how that system works, or the information stored within it, a majority of the decentralized network’s computing power would need to agree on said changes. This ensures that whatever changes do occur are in the best interests of the majority.

Transparency

Because of the decentralized nature of Bitcoin’s blockchain, all transactions can be transparently viewed by either having a personal node or by using blockchain explorers that allow anyone to see transactions occurring live. Each node has its own copy of the chain that gets updated as fresh blocks are confirmed and added. This means that if you wanted to, you could track Bitcoin wherever it goes.

For example, exchanges have been hacked in the past where those who held Bitcoin on the exchange lost everything. While the hacker may be entirely anonymous, the Bitcoins that they extracted are easily traceable. If the Bitcoins that were stolen in some of these hacks were to be moved or spent somewhere, it would be known.

Is Blockchain Secure?

Blockchain technology accounts for the issues of security and trust in several ways. First, new blocks are always stored linearly and chronologically. That is, they are always added to the “end” of the blockchain. If you take a look at Bitcoin’s blockchain, you’ll see that each block has a position on the chain, called a “height.” As of November 2020, the block’s height had reached 656,197 blocks so far.

After a block has been added to the end of the blockchain, it is very difficult to go back and alter the contents of the block unless the majority reached a consensus to do so. That’s because each block contains its own hash, along with the hash of the block before it, as well as the previously mentioned time stamp. Hash codes are created by a math function that turns digital information into a string of numbers and letters. If that information is edited in any way, the hash code changes as well.

Here’s why that’s important to security. Let’s say a hacker wants to alter the blockchain and steal Bitcoin from everyone else. If they were to alter their own single copy, it would no longer align with everyone else's copy. When everyone else cross-references their copies against each other, they would see this one copy stand out and that hacker's version of the chain would be cast away as illegitimate.

Succeeding with such a hack would require that the hacker simultaneously control and alter 51% of the copies of the blockchain so that their new copy becomes the majority copy and thus, the agreed-upon chain. Such an attack would also require an immense amount of money and resources as they would need to redo all of the blocks because they would now have different timestamps and hash codes.

Due to the size of Bitcoin’s network and how fast it is growing, the cost to pull off such a feat would probably be insurmountable. Not only would this be extremely expensive, but it would also likely be fruitless. Doing such a thing would not go unnoticed, as network members would see such drastic alterations to the blockchain. The network members would then fork off to a new version of the chain that has not been affected.

This would cause the attacked version of Bitcoin to plummet in value, making the attack ultimately pointless as the bad actor has control of a worthless asset. The same would occur if the bad actor were to attack the new fork of Bitcoin. It is built this way so that taking part in the network is far more economically incentivized than attacking it.

Bitcoin vs. Blockchain

The goal of blockchain is to allow digital information to be recorded and distributed, but not edited. Blockchain technology was first outlined in 1991 by Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta, two researchers who wanted to implement a system where document timestamps could not be tampered with. But it wasn’t until almost two decades later, with the launch of Bitcoin in January 2009, that blockchain had its first real-world application.

The Bitcoin protocol is built on a blockchain. In a research paper introducing the digital currency, Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, referred to it as “a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party.”

The key thing to understand here is that Bitcoin merely uses blockchain as a means to transparently record a ledger of payments, but blockchain can, in theory, be used to immutably record any number of data points. As discussed above, this could be in the form of transactions, votes in an election, product inventories, state identifications, deeds to homes, and much more.

Currently, there is a vast variety of blockchain-based projects looking to implement blockchain in ways to help society other than just recording transactions. One good example is that of blockchain being used as a way to vote in democratic elections. The nature of blockchain’s immutability means that fraudulent voting would become far more difficult to occur.

For example, a voting system could work such that each citizen of a country would be issued a single cryptocurrency or token. Each candidate would then be given a specific wallet address, and the voters would send their token or crypto to whichever candidate's address they wish to vote for. The transparent and traceable nature of blockchain would eliminate the need for human vote counting as well as the ability of bad actors to tamper with physical ballots.

Blockchain vs. Banks

Banks and decentralized blockchains are vastly different. To see how a bank differs from blockchain, let’s compare the banking system to Bitcoin’s implementation of blockchain.

How is Blockchain Used?

As we now know, blocks on Bitcoin’s blockchain store data about monetary transactions. But it turns out that blockchain is actually a reliable way of storing data about other types of transactions, as well.

Some companies that have already incorporated blockchain include Walmart, Pfizer, AIG, Siemens, Unilever, and a host of others. For example, IBM has created its Food Trust blockchain1 to trace the journey that food products take to get to its locations.

Why do this? The food industry has seen countless outbreaks of e Coli, salmonella, listeria, as well as hazardous materials being accidentally introduced to foods. In the past, it has taken weeks to find the source of these outbreaks or the cause of sickness from what people are eating.

Using blockchain gives brands the ability to track a food product’s route from its origin, through each stop it makes, and finally its delivery. If a food is found to be contaminated then it can be traced all the way back through each stop to its origin. Not only that, but these companies can also now see everything else it may have come in contact with, allowing the identification of the problem to occur far sooner, potentially saving lives. This is one example of blockchains in practice, but there are many other forms of blockchain implementation.

Banking and Finance

Perhaps no industry stands to benefit from integrating blockchain into its business operations more than banking. Financial institutions only operate during business hours, five days a week. That means if you try to deposit a check on Friday at 6 p.m., you will likely have to wait until Monday morning to see that money hit your account. Even if you do make your deposit during business hours, the transaction can still take one to three days to verify due to the sheer volume of transactions that banks need to settle. Blockchain, on the other hand, never sleeps.

By integrating blockchain into banks, consumers can see their transactions processed in as little as 10 minutes,2 basically the time it takes to add a block to the blockchain, regardless of holidays or the time of day or week. With blockchain, banks also have the opportunity to exchange funds between institutions more quickly and securely. In the stock trading business, for example, the settlement and clearing process can take up to three days (or longer, if trading internationally), meaning that the money and shares are frozen for that period of time.

Given the size of the sums involved, even the few days that the money is in transit can carry significant costs and risks for banks. European bank Santander and its research partners put the potential savings at $15 billion to $20 billion a year.3 Capgemini, a French consultancy, estimates that consumers could save up to $16 billion in banking and insurance fees each year4 through blockchain-based applications.

Currency

Blockchain forms the bedrock for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The U.S. dollar is controlled by the Federal Reserve. Under this central authority system, a user’s data and currency are technically at the whim of their bank or government. If a user’s bank is hacked, the client’s private information is at risk. If the client’s bank collapses or they live in a country with an unstable government, the value of their currency may be at risk. In 2008, some of the banks that ran out of money were bailed out partially using taxpayer money. These are the worries out of which Bitcoin was first conceived and developed.

By spreading its operations across a network of computers, blockchain allows Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to operate without the need for a central authority. This not only reduces risk but also eliminates many of the processing and transaction fees. It can also give those in countries with unstable currencies or financial infrastructures a more stable currency with more applications and a wider network of individuals and institutions they can do business with, both domestically and internationally.

Using cryptocurrency wallets for savings accounts or as a means of payment is especially profound for those who have no state identification. Some countries may be war-torn or have governments that lack any real infrastructure to provide identification. Citizens of such countries may not have access to savings or brokerage accounts and therefore, no way to safely store wealth.

Healthcare

Health care providers can leverage blockchain to securely store their patients’ medical records. When a medical record is generated and signed, it can be written into the blockchain, which provides patients with the proof and confidence that the record cannot be changed. These personal health records could be encoded and stored on the blockchain with a private key, so that they are only accessible by certain individuals, thereby ensuring privacy.

Records of Property

If you have ever spent time in your local Recorder’s Office, you will know that the process of recording property rights is both burdensome and inefficient. Today, a physical deed must be delivered to a government employee at the local recording office, where it is manually entered into the county’s central database and public index. In the case of a property dispute, claims to the property must be reconciled with the public index.

This process is not just costly and time-consuming—it is also riddled with human error, where each inaccuracy makes tracking property ownership less efficient. Blockchain has the potential to eliminate the need for scanning documents and tracking down physical files in a local recording office. If property ownership is stored and verified on the blockchain, owners can trust that their deed is accurate and permanently recorded.

In war-torn countries or areas that have little to no government or financial infrastructure, and certainly no “Recorder’s Office,” it can be nearly impossible to prove ownership of a property. If a group of people living in such an area is able to leverage blockchain, transparent and clear timelines of property ownership could be established.

Smart Contracts

A smart contract is a computer code that can be built into the blockchain to facilitate, verify, or negotiate a contract agreement. Smart contracts operate under a set of conditions that users agree to. When those conditions are met, the terms of the agreement are automatically carried out.

Say, for example, a potential tenant would like to lease an apartment using a smart contract. The landlord agrees to give the tenant the door code to the apartment as soon as the tenant pays the security deposit. Both the tenant and the landlord would send their respective portions of the deal to the smart contract, which would hold onto and automatically exchange the door code for the security deposit on the date the lease begins. If the landlord doesn’t supply the door code by the lease date, the smart contract refunds the security deposit. This would eliminate the fees and processes typically associated with the use of a notary, third-party mediator, or attornies.

Supply Chains

As in the IBM Food Trust example, suppliers can use blockchain to record the origins of materials that they have purchased. This would allow companies to verify the authenticity of their products, along with such common labels as “Organic,” “Local,” and “Fair Trade.”

As reported by Forbes, the food industry is increasingly adopting the use of blockchain to track the path and safety of food throughout the farm-to-user journey.

Voting

As mentioned, blockchain could be used to facilitate a modern voting system. Voting with blockchain carries the potential to eliminate election fraud and boost voter turnout, as was tested in the November 2018 midterm elections in West Virginia.Using blockchain in this way would make votes nearly impossible to tamper with. The blockchain protocol would also maintain transparency in the electoral process, reducing the personnel needed to conduct an election and providing officials with nearly instant results. This would eliminate the need for recounts or any real concern that fraud might threaten the election.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Blockchain

For all of its complexity, blockchain’s potential as a decentralized form of record-keeping is almost without limit. From greater user privacy and heightened security to lower processing fees and fewer errors, blockchain technology may very well see applications beyond those outlined above. But there are also some disadvantages.

Pros

Improved accuracy by removing human involvement in verification
Cost reductions by eliminating third-party verification
Decentralization makes it harder to tamper with
Transactions are secure, private, and efficient
Transparent technology
Provides a banking alternative and way to secure personal information for citizens of countries with unstable or underdeveloped governments

Cons

Significant technology cost associated with mining bitcoin
Low transactions per second
History of use in illicit activities
Regulation

Here are the selling points of blockchain for businesses on the market today in more detail.

Advantages of Blockchain

Accuracy of the Chain

Transactions on the blockchain network are approved by a network of thousands of computers. This removes almost all human involvement in the verification process, resulting in less human error and an accurate record of information. Even if a computer on the network were to make a computational mistake, the error would only be made to one copy of the blockchain. In order for that error to spread to the rest of the blockchain, it would need to be made by at least 51% of the network’s computers—a near impossibility for a large and growing network the size of Bitcoin’s.

Cost Reductions

Typically, consumers pay a bank to verify a transaction, a notary to sign a document, or a minister to perform a marriage. Blockchain eliminates the need for third-party verification and, with it, their associated costs. Business owners incur a small fee whenever they accept payments using credit cards, for example, because banks and payment processing companies have to process those transactions. Bitcoin, on the other hand, does not have a central authority and has limited transaction fees.

Decentralization

Blockchain does not store any of its information in a central location. Instead, the blockchain is copied and spread across a network of computers. Whenever a new block is added to the blockchain, every computer on the network updates its blockchain to reflect the change. By spreading that information across a network, rather than storing it in one central database, blockchain becomes more difficult to tamper with. If a copy of the blockchain fell into the hands of a hacker, only a single copy of the information, rather than the entire network, would be compromised.

Efficient Transactions

Transactions placed through a central authority can take up to a few days to settle. If you attempt to deposit a check on Friday evening, for example, you may not actually see funds in your account until Monday morning. Whereas financial institutions operate during business hours, five days a week, blockchain is working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. Transactions can be completed in as little as ten minutes and can be considered secure after just a few hours. This is particularly useful for cross-border trades, which usually take much longer because of time-zone issues and the fact that all parties must confirm payment processing.

Private Transactions

Many blockchain networks operate as public databases, meaning that anyone with an internet connection can view a list of the network’s transaction history. Although users can access details about transactions, they cannot access identifying information about the users making those transactions. It is a common misperception that blockchain networks like bitcoin are anonymous, when in fact they are only confidential.

That is, when a user makes public transactions, their unique code called a public key, is recorded on the blockchain, rather than their personal information. If a person has made a Bitcoin purchase on an exchange that requires identification then the person’s identity is still linked to their blockchain address, but a transaction, even when tied to a person’s name, does not reveal any personal information.

Secure Transactions

Once a transaction is recorded, its authenticity must be verified by the blockchain network. Thousands of computers on the blockchain rush to confirm that the details of the purchase are correct. After a computer has validated the transaction, it is added to the blockchain block. Each block on the blockchain contains its own unique hash, along with the unique hash of the block before it. When the information on a block is edited in any way, that block’s hashcode changes—however, the hash code on the block after it would not. This discrepancy makes it extremely difficult for information on the blockchain to be changed without notice.

Transparency

Most blockchains are entirely open-source software. This means that anyone and everyone can view its code. This gives auditors the ability to review cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for security. This also means that there is no real authority on who controls Bitcoin’s code or how it is edited. Because of this, anyone can suggest changes or upgrades to the system. If a majority of the network users agree that the new version of the code with the upgrade is sound and worthwhile then Bitcoin can be updated.

Banking the Unbanked

Perhaps the most profound facet of blockchain and Bitcoin is the ability for anyone, regardless of ethnicity, gender, or cultural background, to use it. According to the world bank there are nearly 2 billion adults that do not have bank accounts or any means of storing their money or wealth.5 Nearly all of these individuals live in developing countries where the economy is in its infancy and entirely dependent on cash.

These people often earn little money that is paid in physical cash. They then need to store this physical cash in hidden locations in their homes or places of living leaving them subject to robbery or unnecessary violence. Keys to a bitcoin wallet can be stored on a piece of paper, a cheap cell phone, or even memorized if necessary. For most people, it is likely that these options are more easily hidden than a small pile of cash under a mattress.

Blockchains of the future are also looking for solutions to not only be a unit of account for wealth storage, but also to store medical records, property rights, and a variety of other legal contracts.

Disadvantages of Blockchain

While there are significant upsides to the blockchain, there are also significant challenges to its adoption. The roadblocks to the application of blockchain technology today are not just technical. The real challenges are political and regulatory, for the most part, to say nothing of the thousands of hours (read: money) of custom software design and back-end programming required to integrate blockchain to current business networks. Here are some of the challenges standing in the way of widespread blockchain adoption.

Technology Cost

Although blockchain can save users money on transaction fees, the technology is far from free. The “proof of work” system that bitcoin uses to validate transactions, for example, consumes vast amounts of computational power. In the real world, the power from the millions of computers on the bitcoin network is close to what Denmark consumes annually. Assuming electricity costs of $0.03~$0.05 per kilowatt-hour, mining costs exclusive of hardware expenses are about $5,000~$7,000 per coin.10

Despite the costs of mining bitcoin, users continue to drive up their electricity bills in order to validate transactions on the blockchain. That’s because when miners add a block to the bitcoin blockchain, they are rewarded with enough bitcoin to make their time and energy worthwhile. When it comes to blockchains that do not use cryptocurrency, however, miners will need to be paid or otherwise incentivized to validate transactions.

Some solutions to these issues are beginning to arise. For example, bitcoin mining farms have been set up to use solar power, excess natural gas from fracking sites, or power from wind farms.

Speed Inefficiency

Bitcoin is a perfect case study for the possible inefficiencies of blockchain. Bitcoin’s “proof of work” system takes about ten minutes to add a new block to the blockchain. At that rate, it’s estimated that the blockchain network can only manage about seven transactions per second (TPS). Although other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum perform better than bitcoin, they are still limited by blockchain. Legacy brand Visa, for context, can process 24,000 TPS.

Solutions to this issue have been in development for years. There are currently blockchains that are boasting over 30,000 transactions per second.

Illegal Activity

While confidentiality on the blockchain network protects users from hacks and preserves privacy, it also allows for illegal trading and activity on the blockchain network. The most cited example of blockchain being used for illicit transactions is probably the Silk Road, an online “dark web” drug marketplace operating from February 2011 until October 2013 when it was shut down by the FBI.6

The website allowed users to browse the website without being tracked using the Tor browser and make illegal purchases in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. Current U.S. regulations require financial service providers to obtain information about their customers when they open an account, verify the identity of each customer, and confirm that customers do not appear on any list of known or suspected terrorist organizations. This system can be seen as both a pro and a con. It gives anyone access to financial accounts but also allows criminals to more easily transact. Many have argued that the good uses of crypto, like banking the unbanked world, outweigh the bad uses of cryptocurrency, especially when most illegal activity is still accomplished through untraceable cash.

Regulation

Many in the crypto space have expressed concerns about government regulation over cryptocurrencies. While it is getting increasingly difficult and near impossible to end something like Bitcoin as its decentralized network grows, governments could theoretically make it illegal to own cryptocurrencies or participate in their networks.

Over time this concern has grown smaller as large companies like PayPal begin to allow the ownership and use of cryptocurrencies on its platform.

What's Next for Blockchain?

First proposed as a research project in 1991,7 blockchain is comfortably settling into its late twenties. Like most millennials its age, blockchain has seen its fair share of public scrutiny over the last two decades, with businesses around the world speculating about what the technology is capable of and where it’s headed in the years to come.

With many practical applications for the technology already being implemented and explored, blockchain is finally making a name for itself at age twenty-seven, in no small part because of bitcoin and cryptocurrency. As a buzzword on the tongue of every investor in the nation, blockchain stands to make business and government operations more accurate, efficient, secure, and cheap with fewer middlemen.

As we prepare to head into the third decade of blockchain, it’s no longer a question of "if" legacy companies will catch on to the technology—it's a question of "when."

sources: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp

Google Analytics 101: 3 Key Things You Can Learn

2021-02-25T22:27:00.001-08:00

Designing your new website, creating compelling content, and building out your social platforms is (sigh) the fun part. The sometimes not so fun—but just as important—part? Analytics!

After all, if you don’t know how people are interacting with your brand, you won’t know how to make it better. And while analytics can feel like a whole lot of overwhelming numbers, understanding that data is essential to better engaging your audience, improving your content, and building metrics of success around your PR, marketing, and advertising campaigns.

So, where to begin? If you’re looking for a comprehensive—but free!—analytics tool, Google Analytics is your best bet. But analytics newbies beware: For a free service, Google Analytics packs a punch. Here, we outline three high-level, useful insights you can learn from Google Analytics and what you can do with them.

1. Who is Visiting and When?

Once you’ve installed Google Analytics on your website, you’ll have access to a Google Analytics dashboard. On the left hand navigation, there will be several tabs, including “Audience.” Clicking on “Audience” and then “Overview” will give you a snapshot of useful pieces of data, like the number of people who visited your site in a specific time period, the countries those people are visiting from, and the days of the week and times of day people are spending time on your site.

In addition to being really interesting, these stats can help you make business decisions moving forward. For example, if you are a U.S.-based company but notice that a great deal of traffic is coming from the U.K., it may be the next market you consider expanding into. Or, if you’re updating your blog on Wednesdays but notice that your traffic spikes on Fridays, you may want to re-work your calendar so you’re posting your best content when there are the most people there to see it.

2. Are They New or Coming Back For More? How Long Are They Staying?

Now that you know that (let’s say) 50,000 people are accessing your site each month, how long are those 50,000 visitors staying? Three seconds? Five minutes? Clicking on “Behavior” in the “Overview” tab and looking at “Engagement” will give you a comprehensive breakdown of the amount of time visitors are spending with you.

Remember: The longer, the better! If you find that people are jumping off quickly, it’s likely that they’re not finding what they need. Dig into the look and functionality of your site: Is it easy to navigate? Is it aesthetically pleasing? Are you updating your content consistently? Remember that your website often serves as people’s first impression of your brand, so you want to make it as appealing and intuitive as you can.

Next, taking a look at “New vs. Returning” will tell you how many of those 50,000 people are new to your site compared to how many have visited before—and are coming back for more! It’s important to keep an eye on returning visitors, especially if you’re an e-commerce site, because it means that people value what you offer and want more of it.

Once you start tracking this metric, make a note of when it goes up or down. What did you post that day? When did you post it? If you can identify patterns, you can start to replicate the content and timing that yields the biggest increase in returning visitors.

3. How Did They Find Me?

Google Analytics offers an extremely valuable analytic called “Traffic Sources,” which explains how your visitors ended up on your site. Did they see you on another website and click through? Did they type your name directly into Google?

Google Analytics organize traffic sources in four buckets. If you’re new to the lingo, here’s what they mean:

Search Traffic: These are visitors that have landed on your website after clicking on a search result. If someone Googles “yoga pants” and finds your fitness apparel website through the search results, that’s considered search traffic.

Referral Traffic: This tracks the pages that have led people to your website. If you’ve just launched a Facebook page, people who visited your Facebook page and then clicked on your site through Facebook are referral traffic. Or, if you’ve just landed a big New York Times story, clicking on “Referrals” under “Sources” will show you how many people clicked on you from the New York Times.

Direct Traffic: These are people typing your web address directly into their browser.

Campaigns: This tracks how many people are coming to you through your advertising campaigns, including Google’s AdWords. If you’ve just launched an online advertising campaign, you’ll be able to see how many visitors came from the sites where your ad is running by clicking on “Campaigns.”

Once you know where your traffic is coming from, you can adjust your marketing, PR, and business strategies based on what you’ve learned. For example, if you’ve invested more in building out your Facebook and Tumblr platforms but find that most social media visitors are accessing your website through Twitter, you’ll want to make Twitter a priority. If you take a look at your direct traffic and find the majority of people visiting your site have bookmarked your video pages, you’ll want to make sure that your video content is front and center on your site.

Looking at the insights around your search traffic can help you understand what people are actually searching when they look for you, which can inform your branding and SEO strategy. And if you’ve recently launched an online advertising campaign, tracking how many people visit your website from the sites where your ad is running can determine how successful the ad buy was and whether it’s something you should consider doing again.

While this may seem like a great deal of info, we’ve only just scratched the surface on the insights Google Analytics can offer. Other data points to keep an eye on? The number of pageviews you’re receiving on top performing pages of your website (“Content”), how many people are on your website this second and which parts of your website they’re looking at (“Real-Time”) and whether your website is being accessed from a desktop, tablet, or mobile device (“Mobile”). For a full tutorial on all of the analytics available and how to search, sort, and track them, check out Google’s (very helpful!) Help Section.

source: https://www.themuse.com/advice/google-analytics-101-3-key-things-you-can-learn

Google Analytics 101: How to Track Your Website Traffic

2021-02-18T22:23:00.001-08:00

Do you have a website? Do you have a blog? If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, you should be using Google Analytics to monitor your website traffic. Google Analytics answers just about every question you could possibly think of when it comes to web traffic, including how many people visited within a certain time frame, where they came from, which marketing tactics are working, how many sales you received this month and more. The best part about this tool: It’s free, so you really have no excuse not to give it a try.

Business leaders should keep in mind these three questions vital to website traffic:

Who are your website visitors?
How they are interacting with your content?
Are visitors converting into customers?

Find Out Who is Visiting Your Website

Once you log into Google Analytics, you’ll be taken to the Audience Overview dashboard to get a quick look at the most important metrics regarding your website:

Sessions: The total number of website visits within a given date range.

Users: Users who have had at least one session on the website within the selected date range. This metric includes both new and returning users.

Page Views: The total number of pages viewed. Repeated views of a single page are counted.

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Pages Per Session: The average number of pages viewed during a session. Repeated views of a single page are counted.

Average Session Duration: The average length of a session.

Bounce Rate: The percentage of single-page visits (i.e. visits in which the person left your site from the entrance page without interacting with the page).

Percentage of New Sessions: Percentage of first-time visits.

You can hover over the points in the line graph to view more information about website activity on any particular day. You can also choose to compare traffic to the previous period, month, year or a custom range you choose.

There are several reports Google Analytics generates to provide valuable insight about the visitors coming to your website. These reports are the breeding ground for information you need to make decisions regarding your business and marketing strategies.

For example, the Audience Report tells you everything you want to know about website visitors including demographics, interests, locations, languages they speak, the specific technology they are using, how they got to the website and how often they visit. If the types of people visiting your website are not who you are trying to reach, it may be time to reconsider your messaging and content.

Understand How Visitors Are Interacting With Your Content

Which channels drive the most traffic to your website? The Acquisition Report tells you where your visitors are coming from. Traffic is broken down into six main categories:

Organic Search: Visitors who arrive at your website as the result of a keyword search.

Direct Traffic: When a user enters a URL into the search bar to arrive at your website.

Referral: When someone navigates to your website by clicking on its URL listed on another website.

Social Traffic: Users arriving to your site via social media channels.

Paid Search: Users arriving to your site from a pay-per-click advertisement.

Other: Traffic from unidentified channels that do not allow third-party cookies, or the surfers were in anonymous/private mode.

Do you want to learn about the keyword searches users have completed to arrive at your website? By digging into the Organic Search traffic, you can determine the most popular keyword phrases users are associating with your website.

Do you want to know how many people are on your website right now? Visit the Real-time Report section. This dashboard allows you to “watch” your visitors in real-time. If you notice many users leaving the website after navigating to a page without making a conversion, you may consider adjusting the page’s content.

In the Behavior Report, you’ll learn about your top pages, how many page views occurred in any given time frame, the average time spent on each page, the bounce rate and the exit percentage. If you’re adding a piece of content to the website and you’re unsure of where to place it, the top pages section will show you which pages experience the highest amount of traffic.

Learn If Website Visitors are Converting

If you have set up goals in your account to track sales, downloads or any other action on your website, the Conversion Report will be one of the most useful sections in Google Analytics. You’ll be able to track how many website visitors made a conversion in any given period.

Did they convert from an organic search or social media? Did they come to your site on two separate occasions through two different channels? The Conversion Report will answer these questions.

Google Analytics provides you with the data you need to make smarter, more informed business decisions based on factual information. Without analytics, you’ll have no way of knowing what’s working and what’s not. If you haven’t installed Google Analytics, find instructions on how to install the tracking code here.

Happy analyzing!

source: https://sspr.com/seo/google-analytics-101/

SEO 101: The Basics of Search Engine Optimization

2021-02-11T22:21:00.001-08:00

The world of SEO can be a little overwhelming to say the least. At first glance it sounds like a simple concept, but as you start to dig deeper it’s easy to find yourself tangled up in jargon - “SERP? Search Intent? What do you mean they’re crawling my store?”. No one gets the hang of it right away, and we all have to start somewhere - that’s where we come in. We’ve developed a series of four blogs designed to give you a solid foundation from which you can confidently dive further into the complexities of Search Engine Optimization.

For Part 1, we’re going right back to basics and giving a brief overview of three basic SEO concepts, followed by a quick “jargon dictionary” looking at some of the terms that will pop up over and over again on your SEO development journey. Each subsequent blog in this series will explore the concepts in this article in greater detail, so if you’re eager to learn more then stay tuned.

What is SEO, and why is it important?

Before we start getting into concepts, let’s take a look at what SEO actually is and why it should be part of your overall marketing strategy.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing the quantity of traffic coming to your store through non-paid (Organic) search results. However it isn’t so much about the quantity, but the quality; SEO aims to bring more people to your store who will actually be interested and engage with your content. You’re looking to understand your customers and target audiences better through what content they already engage with, what words they use, the questions they ask, etc. which will ultimately help you to know what you need to do to bring them to your store. In short, you’re making your store easy to find for your target audience.

But why is this important? If you’re all over social media advertising, using paid search engine ads, and engaging in other marketing tactics, why bother with SEO? The simple answer is most of your store’s traffic is driven by Organic Search; on average, 43% of ecommerce traffic comes from Organic Search. If it’s your biggest source of traffic then you want to make sure you’re making the most of it, right? Plus it pays off over a longer period of time; developing good SEO driven content and optimizing your store now will continue to build trust with search engines and users and therefore bring more and more traffic to your store.

Concept #1 - How Search Engines Work

The first step in getting to grips with SEO is understanding how search engines function in relation to your store. There are three basic functions to know about first and foremost - crawlers, indexing, and ranking.

Crawlers

Crawling is the process by which search engines discover content on websites. Crawlers are essentially programs that visit sites and look over all the content on each page and then stores that information. The content might be written copy, images, videos etc., all of which is discovered via links. This leads us onto...

Indexing

This is where all that information and content is stored. It’s how search engines organize all that content they crawled to enable a fast, accurate response to search queries. The links we mentioned earlier all get stored in a databank ready to be retrieved when a user searches for something that the search engine reckons will be a good match.

Ranking

In short, ranking is how a search engine determines the order of the list of sites that comes up as a result of a search query. When a user searches for a specific term, Google will dig through their index to find relevant content that matches the query. The higher a site is listed on a search results page, the more relevant it has been deemed by the search engine. There are a number of different factors that go into a site’s ranking, but in the simplest terms a site needs to be relevant, trustworthy, and user friendly.

Concept #2 - Keywords and Search Intent

The vital component in any good SEO strategy - keywords. These refer to what terms the user is actually inputting into a search engine. So as part of your strategy development you want to do keyword research, find the terms your target audiences are using, and include them as part of your site’s content. Keywords are the battleground on which you’re vying for valuable traffic against your competitors - use the right ones strategically, and you’ll be able to improve your ranking for those terms.

Search intent is another important concept that goes hand-in-hand with keywords. It’s one thing to know what words your audience is using but it’s another to understand why they’re searching those keywords. Are they looking for a definition of a word? To buy something? To know more about a product? There are three broad types of search intent:

Transactional - the user is looking to make a purchase e.g. “fleece lined sweatpants buy online”.

Navigational - the user is looking to navigate to a specific type of content e.g. “Nike Instagram”.

Informational - the user is looking for specific information on a subject e.g. “best coffee New York”

Once you understand the user’s search intent, you can fine-tune your keyword strategy so that your store is offering a solution to the specific reasons for a search.

Concept #3 - User Experience

This refers to what it’s like for a user to actually navigate and browse your store. User experience is a big part of SEO strategy - if your site is tricky to navigate, slow to load, or difficult for finding relevant information, then search engines won’t rank your site highly. The better an experience you provide users, the more trustworthy Google and other search engines will determine your store to be. For your user experience you’ll want:

Fast page load speeds
Easy navigational structure
Clear calls-to-action
Relevant keywords
Focussed and optimized content

By making it as easy as possible for the user to get what they want from a page, you can build trust with search engines and therefore improve your store’s ranking.

SEO Dictionary: 10 Words to Know

There are a lot of different terms and phrases used in the world of SEO. Some are simple, whilst others are a bit tricky to grasp right away. In order to help you navigate your way through the jargon jungle, here are ten words you'll see appear in articles and guides regularly.

Artificial intelligence (AI) - The smart learning programs a search engine uses to understand and interpret a user’s search term to deliver the most relevant results.

Backlinks - Links from other sites which point to your store. Also known as inbound links.

Black Hat SEO - This term refers to tactics which violate guidelines used in order to artificially “trick” search engines into ranking pages favorably. For example, keyword stuffing.

Conversion - This refers to when a user performs a specific desired action e.g. making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter etc.

Featured Snippet - A block which Google displays for certain search queries, usually informational.

Internal Links - Links on your store which point to other pages on your store.

Keyword Stuffing - The practice of trying to cram as many keywords onto a page possible, even if they’re not relevant to the content.

Longform Search Term - Instead of a keyword or a couple of keywords, a longform search term is when a user is searching for something more specific. For example a question such as “Best gifts for amateur photographers this year” or “how to care for a calathea plant”.

SERP - Search Engine Results Page. Exactly as it sounds, but it’s almost always abbreviated. This is the page that comes up when you put a query into a search engine.

UX - User Experience. Refers to how users interact with your store through content, navigation etc.

sources: https://venntov.com/blogs/blog/seo-101-the-basics-of-search-engine-optimization

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

2021-02-05T09:30:00.001-08:00

What is Extensible Markup Language (XML)?

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a flexible markup language for structured electronic documents. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a programming language commonly used by data-exchange services (like blog feeds) to send information between otherwise incompatible systems. It is readable by both humans and computers and is based on SGML (standard generalized markup language), an international standard for electronic documents. Many other languages, such as RSS and XHTML, are based on XML.

Understanding Extensible Markup Language (XML)

Unlike HTML, XML allows users to define their own markup. Using XML, one user could choose to denote a footnote with the tag <footnote>, while another user could opt for <fn>. Using HTML, only one pre-determined tag can be used to denote a specific type of information. XML documents are meant to be easy to read since they contain user-defined tags and since the documents only consist of markup and content. Markup is the text that appears between two pointed brackets (e.g., <footnote>), and content is everything else.

sources: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/x/extensible-markup-language-xml.asp

SEO Writing 101 Guide

2021-01-28T21:48:00.001-08:00

“SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results” per Moz, which is the very first company that started an online-based subscription service for the SEO community. 

Google and other search engines have millions of factors to determine which webpage is suitable for your query; however, the most important aspect of SEO writing is that you create content for your audience, and search engines make algorithm updates to provide the best search engine result pages (SERPs) to users. Do you see the keyword here? SEO is all about people. You do not want to create content for search engines.

At DZone, we embrace our community and its members. Let’s dig into more details about SEO writing.

Keyword Research

We recommend conducting keyword research to generate new ideas for your topics. SEO keyword research will give you clear insights, such as:

Monthly Search Volume: How many people search for the topic you are thinking of?
Keyword Difficulty: How difficult or competitive is it?
Types of Content: What kind of content format works best? Written content, video, or infographics?
Know Your Audience: Who will be your primary targeted audience? What do they want to know?
Trend Analysis: Is the topic trendy? Do more people search for it compared to last year? Is it an evergreen or seasonal topic?

There are many things you need to know before you start creating a piece of content. 

On-Page SEO

As this guide is specifically for our DZone contributors, we would like to show some tips for on-page SEO techniques.

Content Length

How long a content piece should be is depending on your type of content, but there is a big trend that long content wins in SEO. The ideal content length is 1,000-2,000 words. This length will also maximize opportunities for social share and Google is now able to index passages from a webpage called passage-based indexing, meaning Google can pick up a block or part of content for SERPs to satisfy each query.

Understanding Headings

If you are using a content management system (CMS), you most likely have an option for headings, and the headings are the place you can drop your primary keywords to attract visitors. Consider each heading:

H1: An H1 is a book title. Use one H1 on each webpage.
H2: H2s are chapters. Guide what you talk about for each part of your content
H3: H3s are sub-chapters. If you need more details under an H2, this heading is your option.

SEO Titles and Meta Descriptions

SEO Titles: Search engines display around the first 50-60 characters, including site name. Make sure you include the primary keywords in a title tag and attract visitors such as "SEO Writing 101 for DZone Community - DZone Writers" (51 characters) for this article. If your title tag is too long, the title will end with '...' which doesn't provide good information to users.

You might be confused between an SEO title and H1, but an SEO title will show up on SERPs and an H1 will show up on an actual webpage. In many cases, you can use your H1 as your SEO title, but keep in mind that an SEO title has much potential to increase CTRs from search engines.

Here are some great examples from our contributors:

"Being VP Of Engineering Is Harder Than Being CEO - DZone Agile"

"How to Convert HTML Tables into Beautiful PDFs - DZone Web Dev"

Meta descriptions: Search engines display around the first 150 characters. A recent SEO study shows that a meta description has more potential to increase CTR than a title tag. Again, make sure you add your primary keywords to attract users to click your webpage through SERPs.

For this article, the meta description reads, "Whether you are thinking to join the DZone community or you are already a DZone Core member, this guide will help you create an SEO-friendly article."

Understanding Search Intent

One of Backlinko’s articles states, “Search Intent (also known as “User Intent”) is the main goal a user has when typing a query into a search engine. Common types of Search Intent include informational, commercial, navigational and transactional.”

The primary search intent for DZone is informational and navigational:

Informational:

Users who are looking for information will be categorized into this group. Our community members are looking for new ways to improve their programming skills, new applications or technical decisions. “How to” or “Tips of” are good words to use when you provide information that satisfies informational intent.

Navigational:

As we provide great resources to our community, we see people search for ‘xyz dzone’ on Google. This means users have specific questions about certain topics and they want to get the information from the DZone community. Understanding navigational intent will give you a new idea such as what kind of topics we are missing, and if there are any missing topics, it is a great opportunity to contribute your article to DZone.

How to Contribute Content to DZone

At DZone, we are passionate about helping the DZone community and sustain DZone members’ growth. If you are motivated to share your knowledge and expertise with the world, all you need to do is create a free account and click on the “Post” button in the top right of the navigation bar once logged in. If you have any questions about DZone contributors, visit our FAQ article for more details.

Sources: https://dzone.com/articles/seo-writing-101-guide-1

Google Analytics Interface 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding Google Analytics

2021-01-21T22:09:00.001-08:00

If you want your website to be successful, then it is crucial that you use a comprehensive analytics tool like Google Analytics. Analyzing your site’s traffic will help you understand how your audience is interacting with your content and let you see how your site is performing over time. The Google Analytics interface is full of useful data and valuable insights. However, at first glance, the sheer number of tables and charts can seem overwhelming.

To fix that, we will…

Consider some of the most important analytics that you should monitor
Discuss how to analyze this data so you can gain a better understanding of how your audience is engaging with your website
Cover how to use this data to improve your WordPress site and marketing strategies

The Google Analytics interface explained

Google Analytics is a popular free tool, provided by Google. In fact, 66% of all websites using analytics technology are now using Google Analytics.

Google Analytics works by recording a website’s data and then presenting it in in-depth tables, charts, and graphs. Here you can see the Google Analytics homepage interface…

The Reports menu

The Reports menu on the left-hand side of the page lets you access deeper reporting for specific areas:

(A) Real-time – See how your audience is interacting with your website in real-time. Find out where they have come from, what content they are viewing, and much more.
(B) Audience – Learn about your audience. Look at the demographics of your visitors, how they engage with your content, and what devices they use to access your site.
(C) Acquisition – Find out where your traffic is coming from, how people are reaching your site, and how each traffic source is behaving on your website.
(D) Behavior – Learn how people behave and move around on your site. View data on bounce rates, page views, time spent on site, and more.
(E) Conversions – Lets you track specific actions that your visitors take – and how effectively your website gets people to take those actions.

Other important aspects of the Google Analytics interface include…

(F) Search – Use this function to quickly find reports and help documentation.
(G) Customization – Set up your own report dashboard, custom reports, and much more.
(H) Discover – Read up on Google Analytics and its suite of tools.
(I) Admin – Access your Google Analytics account, alter your settings, and more.

Google Analytics homepage reports: A quick look at your site

On your homepage, you’ll see a basic look at some of the deeper data you can find in the various areas of the Reports menu.

In the image above, the graph (J) shows how many users have visited your site in the last 7 days:

Users – the number of unique visitors.
Sessions – how many visits to your site – one user can visit multiple times so this number will always be equal to or higher than Users.
Bounce Rate – how many visitors leave your site without visiting a second page.
Session Duration – how long an average visitor stays on your site.

Traffic report

The Traffic Report gives you an immediate picture of where your traffic has come from.

Audience reports

The three Audience reports can help inform your content strategy. Knowing where the majority of your audience lives will help you localize and personalize your blog articles. And data on when your audience visits your site will help you plan when to post new content.

Behavior report

This Behavior report will show you your top pages and give you a quick idea of what content is performing and which pages aren’t.

Where is your website traffic coming from?

Understanding where your website traffic is coming from will help you grow your audience in the future. Ideally, you want traffic to be arriving at your site from numerous sources, rather than a single traffic stream.

Select Acquisition → Overview from the left-hand menu of the Google Analytics interface. These reports will give you a good insight into whether your marketing strategies are working.

For example, if you’ve been focusing on social media, you should look for a good amount of traffic from Social.

If ‘organic’ traffic is low, then you need to spend time improving your website’s SEO and researching keywords for your content. Or if ‘referral’ traffic is up, then you will know your push on guest posting has paid off.

For more information on where your visitors are coming from and how this traffic from each source is engaging with your site, select Acquisition → All Traffic → Channels.

Which pages are engaging your visitors?

To find out how each individual page on your site is performing select Behavior → Site Content → All Pages from the Google Analytics interface.

Here you can…

Analyze which pages are receiving the highest number of views
Look at average time spent on each page
Study which pages your visitors are joining you and leaving you on

You can then use this data to inform your content management strategy and publish more of the same content that is appealing to your audience.

Bounce rates

If your bounce rates are high then you need to look at the pages that are causing people to immediately leave your site. It could be that the keywords these pages are ranking for are not relevant to the actual content displayed. Or it may also not be clear to the reader where to go next on your site after they have finished an article.

Other reasons for high bounce rates can be technical, like slow loading times, or bad usability on mobile devices. Once you have made changes to your page’s content, layout, or functionality, monitor your bounce rates over time to see if they decrease.

Exit pages

It is equally important to track exit page data. Some pages you will expect to have high exit numbers. For example where a transaction is complete – a ‘thank you’ or ‘transaction completed’ page.

However, other pages may have high exit numbers that you didn’t foresee. Compare these pages to other similar page types that have low exit numbers. This will help you to understand what aspects of these ‘high exit’ pages need changing.

Who is your audience?

Gaining an insight into your audience, where they are from, and how they interact with your website, will help you plan appropriately for their needs. To see what Google Analytics has for you, start by going to Audience → Overview from the main menu.

New vs returning visitors

It is important to understand the mix of new and returning visitors that your WordPress website receives. Returning visitors are your loyal customers. They give you an audience to whom you can promote your content, services, and products. However, to grow your business, you should also be constantly engaging with new people, and driving this new traffic to your site.

If your new visitor numbers are low, look to improve your site’s SEO, to help you rank well in Google. Get busy on social media by sharing your content and reaching a wider audience. And consider advertising to get your business’ name out there.

Low returning visitor numbers means your audience doesn’t like your website enough to return. This could be due to poor design, low-quality content, difficult usability, or something else. Find the problems and fix them, otherwise this could harm your business.

What are your top devices?

Understanding the technology used by your audience to access your content is also vital. Further stats on devices used can be found under Audience → Mobile → Overview.

If mobile usage is down compared to other devices, then you may need to look at improving the functionality of the mobile version of your site.

Final thoughts

As you can see, Google Analytics can be an extremely effective way to track your website’s performance. By becoming familiar with the Google Analytics interface, you can understand what the data is telling you and then use this data to make informed decisions on how to improve your WordPress website.

Google Analytics - Beginners Guide

2021-01-14T22:06:00.001-08:00

Google Analytics is one of the best web analytics tools on the market today.

Any website can use Google Analytics to get a better understanding about what visitors are doing on the site. This free tool makes it easy to track and analyze crucial data.

There are dozens of different reports you can access using GA. Some of these are simple, while others are a bit more complex.

As a beginner, I’ll explain which reports you should be using to get started. This guide will also walk you through the process of installing Google Analytics on your website.

What is Google Analytics? Why Use it at All?

Google Analytics is a free website analytics application that helps webmasters analyze site traffic. It’s one of many tools provided by Google for website metrics.

In short, the platform gives you a complete picture related to your site performance.

GA collects a wide range of data and generates insightful reports. You can use those reports to learn more about your website and its visitors.

Some basic information collected by GA includes how many visitors your site gets, where those visitors come from, how they navigate through your site, how long they spend on each page, and much more. The list goes on and on.

Why do you need Google Analytics?

Your website is the nucleus of your online presence. Whether you operate personal blog, small business website, or international ecommerce company, your website plays a crucial role in your success.

By using Google Analytics, you’ll have a better understanding of how effective your website is as a marketing tool. You’ll learn valuable information, such as which digital campaigns are driving the most traffic to your website.

Tracking traffic patterns and visitor behavior allows you to measure the effectiveness of your website, combined with your overall digital presence.

Where are your website visitors located? Which marketing channels are driving the most traffic to your site? What are the most popular pages on your website?

All of these questions, and more, can be answered with Google Analytics.

The Most Value You’ll Get: Seeing Your Traffic Volume

Everyone who uses Google Analytics loves it. I fall into that category as well. Any time I create a new website, the first thing I do is install GA; it’s become second nature.

While Google Analytics has seemingly endless capabilities, the vast majority of GA users just use it to monitor their traffic volume.

As a beginner, this is the most valuable information that you’ll get from using this tool. Traffic is one of the most critical data points for running a website and business.

Seeing your traffic go up or down by the day, week, or month is extremely beneficial.

Even at a basic level, you can learn a lot about your the performance of website by monitoring the traffic. If traffic is increasing, something is working. Is traffic decreasing? Something is wrong or needs improvement.

For newer websites, seeing your traffic increase is a major validation metric. It helps keep you on track and motivated that you’re doing the right thing.

2 Other Useful Reports

Most of you will install Google Analytics, use it to quickly check your traffic, and then log out. While that’s totally fine, there are a couple of other useful reports you review.

All Pages
All Traffic

Even as a beginner, you’ll want to check these out.

All Pages

The All Pages report is located in the “Site Content” section of the “Behavior” menu on the left side of your GA dashboard.

The report displays all of the pages on your site that people have looked at over a certain time period. It’s helpful in determining what visitors are interested in when they land on your website.

Viewing the All Pages report will tell you which pages need to be updated or improved. Pages with the highest level of interest should be optimized for conversions. If an important page isn’t getting much attention, you can make adjustments accordingly.

All Traffic

The All Traffic reports can be found in the “Acquisition” menu of the GA control panel.

Within the All Traffic section, you’ll find specific reports for:

Channels
Treemaps
Source/Medium
Referrals

All of these reports tell you where your traffic is coming from. In addition to the acquisition analytics (users, new users, sessions), you’ll also benefit from behavior analytics and conversions data in these reports.

Exploring the Rest of Google Analytics

To say that Google Analytics analyzes tons of web analytics would be an understatement. I consider myself to be a GA expert, and I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of its capabilities.

There is so much data; it’s overwhelming. It gets complicated to navigate through these reports, especially as a beginner.

With that said, I encourage you to explore it on your own time if you’re interested. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry—that’s completely normal.

For the vast majority of you, sticking to two or three simple reports is all you need. Check your traffic, view the All Pages report, and check out the All Traffic reports.

The basic reports still deliver 80% of the possible value offered by Google Analytics. So don’t feel pressured to go beyond them.

How to Install Google Analytics

To get started with Google Analytics, you need to sign up and create an account. But that alone won’t be enough. You’ll also need to install Google Analytics directly on your website. That’s how the tool is able to track your data.

The Google Analytics installation process will vary depending on the platform you’re using to power your website.

Regardless of your website platform, you’ll need to generate your Google Analytics tracking code before you can install it. I’ll show you how get to that code first, and then we’ll cover the specific installation instructions for the most popular website types below.

How to Generate Your Google Analytics Tracking Code and Tracking ID

Step #1: Go to your admin menu

I’m assuming by now that you’ve already created a Google Analytics account. If you haven’t, it only takes a minute or two to sign up.

From your GA home screen, navigate to the “Admin” page, which is located on the bottom left corner of the dashboard.

Step #2: Select “Tracking Code” from the “Tracking Info” section

Click “Tracking Info” in the property section of the screen, which will expand the options below it. Then click “Tracking Code” from the expanded list.

Step #3: Copy the code or tracking ID

The tracking ID and tracking code are both located on this page. Depending on the platform you’re using to run your site, you’ll need at least one of these to install Google Analytics.

Now follow the instructions below for your specific website type.

How to Install Google Analytics on Wix

For Wix websites, you won’t need to worry about the Google Analytics code; all you need is the tracking ID.

Step #1: Click “Marketing & SEO”

On the left side of your dashboard, scroll until you see the “Marketing & SEO” menu.

Step #2: Navigate to “Marketing Integrations”

There are three different sections of the “Marketing Home” menu—SEO, Marketing, and Branding.

Scroll until you see the “Marketing” section and select “Marketing Integrations” at the bottom.

Step #3: Connect to Google Analytics

Google Analytics is one of many integrations found on this page.

It should be one of the first ones that appear on the screen. If not, just scroll until you find it. Once located, click the “Connect” button to continue.

Step #4: Add Your Google Analytics Tracking ID

Click the “Connect Google Analytics” button on the top right corner of the screen. A popup will appear that looks like this:

Simply paste the tracking ID that I showed you how to generate earlier.

Make sure there aren’t any spaces before the code. If you select the “IP Anonymization” box, Google won’t save the IP addresses of your website visitors.

You’ll need a premium Wix site with a connected domain in order to complete this final step. So if you’re currently on a free plan or haven’t connected your domain yet, you won’t be able to install Google Analytics until you upgrade.

How to Install Google Analytics on WordPress

There are lots of different ways to install Google Analytics on WordPress. You can install it manually or use a plugin. MonsterInsights, Site Kit by Google, GA Google Analytics are three of the most popular plugins for this.

But for the purposes of this tutorial, I’ll show you how to install the code manually. That way, you won’t have to worry about any third-party plugins.

Step #1: Go to your theme editor

You can get to the theme editor by selecting it from the “Appearance” menu of your dashboard.

It’s important that you install Google Analytics in a child theme. Otherwise, the code will be overwritten every time you update your WordPress theme; you don’t want this to happen.

If the child theme is inheriting template files from the parent theme, then you won’t be able to access the header from here. Click on the name of your parent theme to access the header. In the example screenshot above, the parent theme is “Twenty Twenty.”

Step #2: Navigate to the theme header

You can navigate to the header by scrolling through the files on the right side of the page. Alternatively, you can just scroll and search for the <head> section manually, as I’ve highlighted above.

Step #3: Paste the Google Analytics tracking code

Now just paste the Google Analytics tracking code directly before the theme header.

Remember, this is the “global site tag” that we generated earlier. It’s several lines of code. Do NOT paste the tracking ID (single line starting with UA). Installing the tracking ID here won’t do anything.

How to Install Google Analytics on Shopify

If you’re running an ecommerce store on Shopify, you can easily add Google Analytics to your website in just two quick steps.

Step #1: Navigate to your Shopify preferences

Click the “Online Store” sales channel from the left side of your Shopify dashboard. Then select “Preferences” at the bottom.

Step #2: Paste your Google Analytics tracking code

Scroll down a bit on your preferences screen until you see the Google Analytics section.

Then it’s as simple as pasting your previously generated tracking code into the box and saving your changes. That’s it!

Remember—paste the tracking code, NOT the tracking ID number. You’re pasting several lines of code, NOT the single ID line starting with UA.

How to Install Google Analytics on Squarespace

There are two ways to install Google Analytics on your Squarespace site. One uses the tracking ID, and the other uses the tracking code.

Since the first option is easier, that’s what I’ll show you in this quick three-step tutorial.

Step #1: Go to your Squarespace settings

Click on the “Settings” menu on the left side of your Squarespace dashboard.

Step #2: Click on the “Advanced” settings

The “Advanced” menu is located at the very bottom of your Squarespace settings.

Step #3: Paste your Tracking ID

Locate the “External Services” section of your advanced settings menu. From here, just simply paste your Google Analytics tracking ID.

This is the easiest way to install Google Analytics in Squarespace. However, it’s not the only option. You could also navigate to “Code Injection” from the Advanced Settings menu (instead of External Services). Then you can just copy and paste the Google Analytics code to the header.

Do NOT use both methods to install Google Analytics on Squarespace. Just pick one or the other. The tracking ID method is the easiest, but pasting the code into your header isn’t that difficult. It’s just a matter of personal preference.

Custom Installation for Google Analytics

For those of you using a different platform to run your website, you can still add Google Analytics with a custom installation.

All you need to do is copy and paste the tracking code into the header or footer of the site’s HTML editor. With that said, the header is the recommended option.

Adding the code to your footer may cause accuracy issues, especially if your site is running lots of JavaScripts. That’s because JS snippets get triggered by the order that they’re embedded on your page. So the footer scripts won’t always run, whereas the header scripts will be one of the first things to load.

Once you install the code on your site, you can send test traffic to see if it’s working properly.

This is located in the “Status” section of your GA Tracking Code page.

If you’ve installed the code properly, the active user number will be updated in real-time. It can take up to 30 seconds for this number to update.

Final Thoughts

Every website should be taking advantage of Google Analytics. It’s a free tool, and there’s no better way to get valuable data about your site traffic.

While Google Analytics has plenty of advanced functions, beginners can stick to just a handful of basic reports. Those basic reports are all you really need.

Installing Google Analytics is easy as well. The installation instructions vary slightly, depending on the type of platform you’re using to power your website.

For an in-depth tutorial of installing Google Analytics, simply follow the process that I’ve explained in this guide for your specific website type.

Sources: https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/google-analytics/

Google Analytics 101: How to Track Your Conversions (Step-by-Step)

2021-01-07T22:03:00.001-08:00

Let’s dig in!

Setting Up Your Google Analytics Account

Here are some simple steps to follow to get up and running with Google Analytics…

Step 1: Create a Google Account

Step 2: Sign Up for Google Analytics

Once you have a Google account, you’ll need to sign up for Google Analytics.

Click Sign Up, then, on the next page, select Website and fill in your details, including Account Name, Website Name, URL, Industry, and your Time Zone.

Check the boxes next to all the recommended options, and then hit the blue Get Tracking ID button.

You will then be asked to accept the Terms of Service.

After you hit the I Accept button, you will be redirected to your Google Analytics account.

Step 3. Start Tracking Your Website

You can use Google Analytics with WordPress, too. There are a few ways to add it but the easiest way is to install the MonsterInsights plugin and activate it.

Next, navigate to the Insights tab in your admin menu and select Settings.

Then click on the Authenticate with your Google account button.

You’ll see a dialog box pop up that looks like this, so you can select the Google account you want to use:

Click on the blue Allow button so MonsterInsights can access your Google Analytics data.

Choose the Google Analytics website profile you want to authenticate with MonsterInsights.

Complete the authentication process by clicking I’m not a robot. You’re all set.

How to Set Up Conversion Goals

Why is Google Analytics so complex? Well, it’s pretty powerful stuff.

So the bottom line is, you’re going to have to do a bit of your own setup. However, once you do, you will be able to gather some golden insights.

While there are plenty of aspects of Google Analytics that you don’t need to learn or master at this point, you absolutely must familiarize yourself with conversion goals.

Don’t worry – it’s actually pretty simple once you know how to do it. Let’s take a look…

Step 1: Create a New Goal

First, select the Admin tab at the top of the page. This will take you to a page with three columns: Account, Property, and View.

Under the View column, you’ll see the heading Goals (third down from the top). Go ahead and click on this last heading.

Once you’re on the Goals page, click the red + New Goal button.

Step 2: Choose Goal Setup

Next, under Goal setup, select the Custom radio button at the very bottom of all the options and click Continue.

Step 3: Enter Goal Description

Step 4: Enter Goal Details

Next, you’ll need to enter the URL for your thank you page: this is the page that a new subscriber sees just after they opt in. Type it into the Destination field.

The Funnel option is usually more useful if you are tracking a conversion that happens further down your funnel (such as a sale), so we are going to skip that for now.

Then, hit Save.

Step 5: Start Recording

As soon as a goal is created, Google Analytics will begin recording data. Now all you have to do is wait.

(You can always pause a goal by changing the recording status to off.)

Step 6: View Your Data

What you’ll want to look at is your conversion rate in the third section of columns on the right-hand side:

You can use all of this information to determine which channels you should focus your attention on.

You can also change the dates in the upper right-hand corner to view the specific window of time that you are interested in.

However, if you have OptinMonster, there is a much easier way to use Google Analytics to track conversion rates on each of your individual marketing campaigns. (More on that in the next section.)

Using Google Analytics + OptinMonster

To start using OptinMonster and Google Analytics together, go to the Analytics tab from your edit screen in OptinMonster:

You’ll see Google Analytics listed under Non-Active Connections. Click the Connect button to connect.

In the screen that comes up, click the green Generate Authentication Code button.

A new browser tab will open up to ask you if you will allow OptinMonster to view your Google Analytics data. Click the blue Allow button.

Next, it will give you a code. Copy this code, and then go back to the browser tab with your OptinMonster edit screen.

You should see this success message after clicking Next:

Now you will be able to collect data from Google Analytics and view your conversion rate right from within your OptinMonster account by clicking on the analytics icon next to your optin form:

After acquiring a bit of data, you will be able to view a report for each of your optin forms that looks something like this:

That’s it! We hope this article has helped you to learn how to use Google Analytics to track your conversions.

Wrapping Up

Google Analytics can seem intimidating at first due to all the options available, but it’s actually pretty simple once you know what data to focus on.

sources: https://optinmonster.com/google-analytics-101-how-to-track-your-conversions-step-by-step/

Google Analytics 101

2021-01-01T00:46:00.001-08:00

Google Analytics is a web analytics service, which anyone with a Google account can use for free. It provides statistics and analytical tools for search engine optimization and marketing purposes, among other things.

Let's start from the beginning: People purchase their goods online in stages. The last stage is known as conversions, or when visitors become customers by transacting with a business. Google Analytics can measure this behavior and other user data. It can even track key metrics of what led to purchases through traffic sources, and you and your business can use that data to make informed decisions about how to reach new and existing customers.

Imagine an online store that wants to sell more of a specific product, such as a shirt. Using Google Analytics, the store can collect and analyze data from an online social media advertising campaign to see what was most effective and then expand that effort. The store might look at geographical data to understand how people in a certain place buy shirts, and then it could run additional advertising campaigns in those areas. It can also use Google Analytics to see how online shoppers progress to their shopping carts. If it notices a user has difficulty navigating a certain part of their site before checkout, it can make changes to the site to resolve the problem.

Any type of business -- not just stores -- can use Google Analytics to collect and analyze user data from websites, mobile applications, online point of sale systems, video game consoles, and other internet-connected platforms.

HOW DOES GOOGLE ANALYTICS WORK?

Getting started

The initial Google Analytics setup process involves you: Defining your goals to identify the critical actions users need to take on your site to lead to more conversions; linking your Google Analytics and Google AdWords accounts to you can evaluate your marketing; and finally, viewing the reports to understand the performance of your site. However, to even begin collecting and analyzing such data like Bounce Rate, you need to add a small piece of tracking code to each page on your site. Once you do that, you will see data immediately in the Google Analytics reports.

Add tracking code

To add the tracking code to your site, open the Admin page in Google Analytics. In the property column, open Tracking Info and then click tracking code. Now, copy and paste the code snippet right before the closing head tag on each webpage you want to track. WordPress users can install an easy plugin to do the same thing.

Set up your business goals

Business Goals are also known as important events, like completing a purchase or moving up a level in game or reading five articles. Google Analytics can tell you how many users complete these activities. Open the Admin page in Google Analytics, then click Goals in the View column, and click New Goal. You can use a template goal or create a custom one.

Link your AdWords account

AdWords is a marketing platform you can use to attract new customers or retain existing ones. You need to link your AdWords account to your Google Analytics account to get a clearer picture of AdWords performance. Just open the Admin page, then click AdWords Linking in the Property column, and click New link group so you can choose which accounts to link.

View reports

Now, you can finally use Google Analytics reports to understand how well your business is performing. Use the Goals report to see how often critical actions happen on your site, or use the AdWords report to see if your AdWords campaign is resulting in goal conversions, amount of interactions per visit, exit pages, conversions, and more.

Acquisition Overview details how visitors arrived to your website. It's broken down into ten sun-categories that can help you target your marketing at customers: Overview, Channels, All Traffic, Referrals, Campaigns, Keywords, Cost Analysis, AdWords, Social and Search Engine Optimization.

Social Overview can provide social reports that break down social traffic so you know whether or not your social media marketing is working. Assisted Social Conversions are the conversions that social media helped garner. You can use this tool to tell which social media tool is working better to bring new visitors to your website. Is it Google, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or another social network that is resonating best with your target market?

Bounce Rate is an important topic to understand when it comes to Google Analytics. Bounce Rate is a single-page session on your site. In Analytics, a bounce is calculated as a session that triggers only a single request to the Analytics server, like when a user opens a single page on your site and then exits without triggering any other requests to the Analytics server during that session.

Google encourages Google Analytics users to examine their Bounce Rate:

The Audience Overview report provides the overall bounce rate for your site.
The Channels report provides the bounce rate for each channel grouping.
The All Traffic report provides the bounce rate for each source/medium pair.
The All Pages report provides the bounce rate for individual pages.

Google provides tips on its website to optimize bounce rate. If the bounce rate is high on your website, you can dig deeper to see whether it's uniformly high or whether it's the result of something like one or two channels, source/medium pairs, or just a few pages.

When is a paid account needed?

It doesn't cost anything to sign up for and use Google Analytics, as long as you're using the standard version, which is free and ideal for individuals or small businesses. If you're a larger enterprise, you should use Google Analytics 360, the premium version.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A REGULAR GOOGLE ANALYTICS ACCOUNT AND A 360 ACCOUNT?

Both versions of Google Analytics enable you to collect data and analyze user behavior from websites and apps, but the premium version -- Google Analytics 360 -- offers more features and granular controls, such as:

Native data onboarding integrations (DoubleClick Bid Manager, DoubleClick Campaign Manager, DoubleClick for Publishers, and DoubleClick Search)
More native marking integrations (DoubleClick Bid Manager)
Integration with Google BigQuery
Advanced funnel reporting and data-driven modeling
Cross-property roll-up reporting
Up to 400 views per web property and 200 custom dimensions and metrics
Access to raw data
Implementation services
Enterprise-level support and services.

Go to Google's FAQ page for a comparison chart and help on deciding which is for you.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT WAYS TO CONFIGURE GOOGLE ANALYTICS? HOW SHOULD YOU CONFIGURE ANALYTICS FOR DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES?

First, let's go over the hierarchy of Google Analytics accounts. Click Admin in Google Analytics. There are three columns in Admin: Account, Property, and View. Use the drop-down selector to select one, and then click the links in each column to proceed with configuring them.

An account is the highest level of organization -- and you can have more than one. An account contains one or more properties, which represent a specific website or mobile app. Properties display views, subsets of reporting data for the property. You can configure your Google Analytics account to fine tune access to your data.

For instance, as we mentioned earlier, you can set up goals to identify the actions you want users to take on your site or app, and to give a monetary value to those actions. Aside from that, you can modify your tracking code to collect additional data, like user interactions with links, buttons, video controls, and other elements of your site or app. You can even modify the tracking code to collect ecommerce activity like user engagement with product lists and internal promotions.

Go to Google's FAQ page for more information on how to configure Google Analytics.

WHAT ARE SOME COMMON ISSUES PEOPLE RUN INTO WHEN USING GOOGLE ANALYTICS? HOW DO YOU TROUBLESHOOT THESE ISSUES? WHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE?

Common problems with Google Analytics can range from issues with setup, tracking, discrepancies in goals, transactions, and AdWords conversions, and more. To begin troubleshooting any of these issues, just go to the official Google Analytics Solution Community, where you can connect with other business owners and product experts and get help. You can also take free online courses via the Analytics Academy. The Analytics Help Center even documents all aspects of using Google Analytics including how to get started and best practices.

HOW ACCURATE IS GOOGLE ANALYTICS?

Google Analytics must be accurate enough if it can count Mercedes-Benz, Progressive, TransUnion, American Cancer Society, Airbnb, Buzzfeed, Domino's, Zillow, Orbitz, and dozens of other well-known businesses as its clients to track metrics. Go to Google's Success Stories page for user testimonials.

WHAT ARE SOME ADVANTAGES OR DISADVANTAGES TO USING GOOGLE ANALYTICS?

Advantages: The standard version is free, and you can use it analyze data all in one place in order to get a deeper understanding of your customers' experience.
Disadvantages: The premium version isn't free, and whether you use the standard or premium version, there is a steep learning curve for the average user.

HOW DO YOU BLOCK GOOGLE ANALYTICS TRACKING?

Easy. Use an ad blocker, like AdBlock Plus, as long as it allows you to disable tracking, or you can use a browser extension, like Block Yourself From Analytics in the Chrome Web Store.

HOW CAN YOU TRACK DOWNLOADS IN GOOGLE ANALYTICS?

Clicks on links to downloadable files can be tracked as Events (it counts the clicks as event hits) or virtual pageviews (it tracks clicks on a link as page hits).

To track clicks as Events:

If you use Google Tag Manager to manage your Analytics Tracking, see Analytics Events.
If you have Analytics tracking added to your site, see Event Tracking Web Tracking.

To track clicks as pageviews:

If you use Google Tag Manager to manage your Analytics Tracking, see the Analytics tag.
If you have Analytics tracking added to your site, see Page Tracking Web Tracking.

ARE THEIR CERTIFICATIONS AVAILABLE?

Google has a Analytics Certified Partner program, in which you can become a partner or find companies with expertise in Analytics Solutions. Go to Google's Certification page to learn more about the program.

HOW IS GOOGLE ANALYTICS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER ANALYTICS TOOLS?

Unlike many other analytics tools, Google Analytics is free (the standard version is, anyway) -- and it works with your Google account and integrates with key Google products, such as AdWords, AdSense, and Search Console.

Sources:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-analytics-101-executive-guide-on-measuring-your-business-data/

Webmastering: Semantic Web

2009-08-17T12:06:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia.org Definition: The Semantic Web is an evolving development of the World Wide Web in which the semantics of information and services on the web is defined, making it possible for the web to understand and satisfy the requests of people and machines to use the web content.
SemanticWeb.org wiki definition: The Semantic Web is the extension of the World Wide Web that enables people to share content beyond the boundaries of applications and websites. It has been described in rather different ways: as a utopic vision, as a web of data, or merely as a natural paradigm shift in our daily use of the Web. Most of all, the Semantic Web has inspired and engaged many people to create innovative semantic technologies and applications. semanticweb.org is the common platform for this community.

Semantic web is one of the Web3.0 technologies.

Semantic Vs. Syntax?

Syntax in linguistics: is the study of the principles and rules for constructing sentences in natural languages.

Semantic: is the study of meaning.

How Semantic Web (SW) works?

Although the computers present the data (texts, imges & videos) from any given website well, yet computers doesn't understand the content of the website sent data.

Semnatic web aims to give a computer valid meaning for the data sent through any given website, through applying metadata to any given site, to make these data readable by computers.

Such process will help much the quality of search results dramatically.

The process is simple, suppose that you have a blog where you post essays about technology and gadgets, with different images, videos.

Now you want to improve your rank through search results for semantic web search engines, you are going to mark up your videos with metadata, it is easier for semantic search engines to relate, find and exchange information about the content posted.

Webmastering: Beyond Web 3.0

2009-08-10T04:03:00.000-07:00

Experts of the Web, seem to have no limit for their expectations about the Web.

Next is a part of "Howstuffworks.com: Beyond Web 3.0"

Some Experts opinions About the Web:

According to technology expert and entrepreneur Nova Spivack, the development of the Web moves in 10-year cycles. In the Web's first decade, most of the development focused on the back end, or infrastructure, of the Web. Programmers created the protocols and code languages we use to make Web pages. In the second decade, focus shifted to the front end and the era of Web 2.0 began. Now people use Web pages as platforms for other applications. They also create mashups and experiment with ways to make Web experiences more interactive. We're at the end of the Web 2.0 cycle now. The next cycle will be Web 3.0, and the focus will shift back to the back end. Programmers will refine the Internet's infrastructure to support the advanced capabilities of Web 3.0 browsers. Once that phase ends, we'll enter the era of Web 4.0. Focus will return to the front end, and we'll see thousands of new programs that use Web 3.0 as a foundation [source: Nova Spivack].

The Web will evolve into a three-dimensional environment. Rather than a Web 3.0, we'll see a Web 3D. Combining virtual reality elements with the persistent online worlds of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games (MMORPGs), the Web could become a digital landscape that incorporates the illusion of depth. You'd navigate the Web either from a first-person perspective or through a digital representation of yourself called an avatar.

The Web will build on developments in distributed computing and lead to true artificial intelligence. In distributed computing, several computers tackle a large processing job. Each computer handles a small part of the overall task. Some people believe the Web will be able to think by distributing the workload across thousands of computers and referencing deep ontologies. The Web will become a giant brain capable of analyzing data and extrapolating new ideas based off of that information.

The Web will extend far beyond computers and cell phones. Everything from watches to television sets to clothing will connect to the Internet. Users will have a constant connection to the Web, and vice versa. Each user's software agent will learn more about its respective user by electronically observing his or her activities. This might lead to debates about the balance between individual privacy and the benefit of having a personalized Web browsing experience.

The Web will merge with other forms of entertainment until all distinctions between the forms of media are lost. Radio programs, television shows and feature films will rely on the Web as a delivery system.

it's too early to tell which (if any) of these future versions of the Web will come true. It may be that the real future of the Web is even more extravagant than the most extreme predictions. We can only hope that by the time the future of the Web gets here, we can all agree on what to call it.

As per my comment the Web is still under discovering it's real potential.

SEO: White hat Vs. Black hat SEO Techniques.

2009-08-03T22:45:00.000-07:00

SEO Practices are divided into two types:

White Hat Techniques
Black Hat Techniques

White Hat Techniques:
are the techniques that are recommended by search engines, to enhance the quality of the website traffic by using good practice techniques in design and developmentand to make the website more appealing to visitors.

Usually, in white hat techniques the SEO aspects are involved in every step through the way from analysis to the development passing by designing, hosting, domain name selection and promotion.

SEO Activities:

Review of your site content or structure.
Technical advice on website development: for example, hosting, redirects, error pages.
Content development.
content enhancing.
Management of online business development campaigns.
Keyword research.
SEO training.
Expertise in specific markets and geographies.
organic natural web design and development.
fixing content.

BTW: Abiding to the W3C Design Guidelines is not an answer to your SEO issues, But of course abiding to the W3c standards will not hold back your SEO activities on the contrary it will enhance your site from within.

the most important W3C standard that concern content is the accessibility guidelines.

Black Hat Techniques (spamdexing):

black hat techniques are more concerned with spamming or fooling the search engine indexing algorithms by studying the algorithms' methodology and use these knowledge to cram the black hat site in search engines in a process called spamdexing.

The earliest known reference to the term spamdexing is by Eric Convey in his article "Porn sneaks way back on Web," The Boston Herald, May 22, 1996, where he said:

The problem arises when site operators load their Web pages with hundreds of extraneous terms so search engines will list them among legitimate addresses. The process is called "spamdexing," a combination of spamming — the Internet term for sending users unsolicited information — and "indexing."

Common spamdexing techniques can be classified into two broad classes: content spam (or term spam) and link spam.

Content Spam:

Keyword stuffing: it is the stuffing of keywords deliberately in the pages whether hidden or visible to make the page appear to search engine crawler as legitimate page for the chosen keywords, this technique manipulates the older indexing algorithms which were built for counting the wordings in the page to determine the density of a given web page and upon the counting the rank is determined.
Hidden or invisible for unrelated texts: usually, by tiny texts, background colored texts, off-margin DIV tags, zero-height zero-width DIV tags Or using No script Section, No Frame Section.
Meta tag stuffing: using the meta tags to stuff keywords that are unrelated to the site content.
Gateway Or Doorway pages: Creating low-quality web pages that contain very little content but are instead stuffed with very similar keywords and phrases. They are designed to rank highly within the search results, but serve no purpose to visitors looking for information.
Scraper sites: are websites built using programs that scrape data Or wordings from various websites or search engines and pack these search words together in a website, this type of websites is also called "built for Adsense" as the name suggests the website usually contains Adsense Ads that are integrated within the site content.

Link spam: takes advantage of link-based ranking algorithms, such as Google's PageRank algorithm, which gives a higher ranking to a website the more other highly ranked websites link to it.

Link farms: Creating a close network of links within separated pages.
Hidden links: Putting links where they won't be seen in order to increase link popularity. Highlighted link text can help rank a webpage higher for matching that phrase.
Sybil attack: This is the forging of multiple identities for malicious intent. A spammer may create multiple web sites at different domain names that all link to each other, such as fake blogs known as spam blogs.
Spam blogs: Spam blogs, also known as splogs, are fake blogs created solely for spamming, by redirecting users by links to the main spamdexed site, They are similar in nature to link farms.
page hijacking: This is achieved by creating a rogue copy of a popular website which shows contents similar to the original to a web crawler but redirects web surfers to unrelated or malicious websites, this considered more like phishing than page hijacking as SEO Technique, yet phishing is going further in scamming the visitors in a cyber crime. page hijacking is considered a type of cloaking.
buying expired domains: Some link spammers monitor DNS records for domains that will expire soon, then buy them when they expire and replace the pages with links to their pages. Now Google resets the link data on expired domains, which is somewhat important aspect to take care if you are a fellow webmaster, Rule1: don't let your Domain Name Expire.
Cookie stuffing: This involves placing an affiliate tracking cookie on a website visitor's computer without their knowledge, which will then generate revenue for the person doing the cookie stuffing. This not only generates fraudulent affiliate sales, but also has the potential to overwrite other affiliates' cookies, essentially stealing their legitimately earned commissions, this earnings are realized when a user is registered to the business website.

Using world-writable pages

Spam in blogs: This is the placing or solicitation of links randomly on other sites, usually blog comments, guestbooks and forums.
Comment spam: is a form of link spam that has arisen in web pages that allow dynamic user editing such as wikis, blogs, and guestbooks. and it is similar to the spam in blogs
Wiki spam: Using the open edit-ability of wiki systems to place links from the wiki site to the spam site. The subject of the spam site is often unrelated to the wiki page where the link is added, and this technique is also called Vandalis.
Referrer log spamming: referrer-log spam may be used to increase the search engine rankings of the spammer's sites, by getting the referrer logs of many sites to link to them.By having a robot randomly access many sites enough times, with a message or specific address given as the referrer, that message or Internet address then appears in the referrer log of those sites that have referrer logs.

Other types of spamdexing

Mirror websites: Hosting of multiple websites all with conceptually similar content but using different URLs. Some search engines give a higher rank to results where the keyword searched for appears in the URL.
URL redirecting: Taking the user to another page without his or her intervention, e.g., using META refresh tags, Flash, JavaScript, Java or Server side redirects
Cloaking: Cloaking refers to any of several means to serve a page to the search-engine spider that is different from that seen by human users. It can be an attempt to mislead search engines regarding the content on a particular web site. Cloaking, however, can also be used to ethically increase accessibility of a site to users with disabilities or provide human users with content that search engines aren't able to process or parse. It is also used to deliver content based on a user's location; Google itself uses IP delivery, a form of cloaking, to deliver results. Another form of cloaking is code swapping, i.e., optimizing a page for top ranking and then swapping another page in its place once a top ranking is achieved.

Finally, According to W3 Consortium that site design guides for accessibility will eventually clash with the SEO Good practices, That means that complying with any of the guidelines or practice will conflict with the other's guidelines and good practices.

Webmastering: Web 1.0, Web 2.0, Web 3.0

2009-07-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0: is a terminology coined by Dale Dougherty of O'Reilly Media,to simply notify the tremendous changes in the web as a media.

Web 2.0 Refers to the use of the same technologies yet in different techniques for the site development and execution to allow better user experience through easy sharing, bloging , RSS service, social networking.

web 2.0 refers to websites that:

Give the ability to users to add and change the content of the website (that belongs to Web 2.0 website) such as Amazon.com, Forums.
Give the ability to people tio link to each others in a huge social networks, such as Facebook.com, MySpace.
Give the ability to visitors to easily share content, such as YouTube.com.
Extend the use of the internet to other devices than Personal computer and laptops, many people now extend the use of internet to cellular phones, gaming concoles and in the near future television sets will join the horde or face teh extinction, just like the late VCR.
Also, allowing the users to grab a quick news alerts using RSS (Really Simple Syndicate), wihtout going through a dozen of web sites to get this mission accomplished.

Web 2.0 is intended to be:

The internet is an applications platform (cloud Computing).
Democratizing the web (allowing more people to share and add and change data in the Web 2.0 websites).
Employ more mehtods of information discloser (open information range).

Q: What is Web 1.0?

A: that is a simple question to ask, yet controversal to answer.

Web 1.0: is -as a casual not professional answer- whatever website that doesn't provide any of the Web2.0 services.

Let's think of Web 1.0 as a library, you can useit a source of information but you can't share the onformation nor you can contribute to this library.

in the library example Web 2.0 is a group of friends, while you can recieve information you can share and contribute information within this group of friends.

Web 1.0 Refers to websites that:

aren't Interactive: might contain useful data, but not continiuosly changing and growing data.
are Static, Visitors of these websites aren't able to Add or Change any part of the data.
aren't open source, Web 1.0 depends on proprietary software that is owned by companies and not allowable by public to alter or add any code snippets to it, on contrary is the open source software where poeple, publicly, own the software and its code is opened to be altered or added to.

Q: What is Web 3.0?

Web 3.0 is -in short- personalizing the web to the visitors, it is the upcoming revolution in the web techniques.

Many experts believe that the Web 3.0 browser will act like a personal assistant. As you search the Web, the browser learns what you are interested in. The more you use the Web, the more your browser learns about you and the less specific you'll need to be with your questions.

As I write this blog entry, I know that Google uses Google Account to personalize search results for registered visitors.

Many experts compare Web 3.0 to a giant database, which will use the Internet to make connections with information.

A Web 3.0 search engine could find not only the keywords in your search, but also interpret the context of your request. It would return relevant results and suggest other content related to your search terms.

Experts believe that:

Web 3.0 will provide users with richer and more relevant experiences.
with Web 3.0, every user will have a unique Internet profile based on that user's browsing history.
the foundation for Web 3.0 will be application programming interfaces (APIs). An API is an interface designed to allow developers to create applications that take advantage of a certain set of resources.
Web 3.0 will start fresh. Instead of using HTML as the basic coding language, it will rely on some new -- and unnamed -- language. These experts suggest it might be easier to start from scratch rather than try to change the current Web.

Experts beliefs are more applicable and going into actual steps.

I hope to see more virtual reality to the Web 4.0

SEO: Introduction

2009-07-20T03:48:00.000-07:00

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process to improve the volume (number of visitors) and the Quality (type of visits, duration of each visit, type of information requested or fulfilling a marketing target) of a website from the traffic referred by search engines via natural (organic, Algorithmic) search results for targeted, relevant keywords.

To say an optimized website is to be the first in search engine results for the targeted keywords, by simply having the highest rank for that search subject.

The first site in search engines is the website that has the highest rank in the required keyword.

SEO is also applicable to many other types of data, like images, videos, local searches and industry specific vertical search.

As a matter of fact, search engine algorithms get changing all the time, so instead of trying to fool the algorithms, it is considered a better practice to concentrate on building an Effective SEO strategy targeting the website potential users.

An Effective SEO strategy will typically include:

How search engine algorithms work?
what are your prospect clients looking for regarding your Industry?
What is the subject for your website?
Building a website with a professional content.
Find the prospect visitors to your website.
Spread the word.

In short SEO is increasing a site relevancy to prospect and existing visitors.

SEO is better to be integrated with the early steps of your website developing, since SEO involve:

• site coding

• presentation of the core product

• structure of WebPages in an intuitive way

• Fixing programmatically errors that prevent search engines from getting the website from being crawled and indexed.