All your base are belong to us

For many internet marketing projects it is often necessary to share the information that is contained in Google Analytics. Luckily making this happen is a snap.

1. Head over to Google Webmaster Tools
2. Locate your website in the list and over to the right you will see a button that reads Manage site.
3. When you click on this button you will have a few options, you should choose to Add or remove owners.
4. On this next screen, towards the bottom, you will see a button that says Add an owner…
5. This will open up a small box where you will need to enter the email address of the new owner. This will need to be a Google account in order for this to work.
6. Then press the continue button.. and… you’re done!

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

This is the logo you will see on the top left if you are using the Beta version

Very recently (2 days ago) I wrote a post about how to add an administrator to your Google Analytics account.  Well, since then most users have had their default view switched to the “new” analytics (11/16/2011). So, while you can still use the old version, I don’t expect that it will be there forever so let’s outline the instructions for the new (beta) Analytics.

1. Log into Analytics: http://www.google.com/analytics/
2. Click the big blue Access Analytics button.
3. You should now be on the Account Home page.  Beneath the title on the left hand column you should see your website. Click on the small + button and then click on your domain name (www.website.com)
4. 

   Click it!

   This will take you to your analytics. You will see your graphs and other data. Over on the top right hand side of the screen, in the orange area, you will see a little white “gear”.  I’ve included an image of it over on the right there.. Click on the gear.

5. OK, now look for the word in the second row of buttons that says Users. Click it.
6. Click on the big button that says + New User
7. Enter the email address of the person you’re adding
8. Next select the Role.  In the case of adding your SEO, be sure to select Administrator.
9. Finally click Create User.
10. That’s it!

LinkedIn

Let’s face it, maintaining a professional social network presence is not easy work and on top of our already busy schedules doing it alone is often out of the question.  From this arises the need to allow multiple trusted individuals to represent the company.

Thankfully, LinkedIn has made this really easy.  Just follow these steps:

1. Sign into LinkedIn
2. Hover your mouse over the Companies link at the top of the page
3. From the drop down menu, click on your company’s name.
4. This will take you to your company’s profile page. Towards the top right portion of the body of the page you will see a blue button titled Admin tools. Here is an image of where to find the admin tools button.
5. When you click on this button you will get a few options. Select Edit.
6. This is where you can add new users and you have two options
1. Allow all employees with a valid email registered to the company domain (your call) I don’t like that option… OR
2. Designated users only (that’s my pick)… and the one I’d like for my clients to select.
7. Once you’ve selected the Designated users only option, right below it you will see a space where you can type the names of the individuals you want as admins.  You should only need to enter the first few letters of their name to have them pop up as an option. If you don’t see them in your list, remember, that you must be connected to someone before you can make them an admin.
8. Once you’ve added your team to the Admin panel just click the Publish button located at the upper right hand side of the screen.
9. That’s it!

Comparison of the Top Three Search Engines: Bing+Yahoo > Google? [INFOGRAPHIC]

About Web Walker Solutions:
So many amazing websites have something in common… no one vistist them. Web Walker Solutions can help your business set and meet it’s online goals through Search Engine Optimization, results driven web design and video marketing. If you’re looking for a Marietta SEO Company, give us a call today to see what we can do for you.

Lightening fast domain search

I originally got my start in internet marketing launching niche websites.  The process would begin with deep keyword research, finding a small market with good search traffic that was underrepresented, (or had weak competition) buying a domain, installing wordpress and then building a keyword rich website with the best content I could manage. It worked well and still works really well to this date.  Here is an example of the first site I made, it was for people looking for a clawfoot tub shower curtain or clawfoot tub shower.

But in that process there were a number of painful steps and among the ones I dreaded the most was domain research.  Finding out what was available could be a long drawn out process, the suggestions offered by most domain search engines were really terrible and as everyone in the world realized the importance of keyword rich domains, the process became even more drawn out and terrible.  Something had to give…

And it did.  Enter Domize.com

Domize is dead simple in it’s interface, ease of use and implementation. As soon as you begin typing in the search box it begins feeding you results…. instantly.. no waiting, no guessing.

It will provide results for .com, .net, .ord, .biz and .us domains by default.  If you’d like to extend your results beyond this then choose the advanced options off to the right of the search box.  You will find most of the other top level domains as options in here but be aware that it will slow your searching down significantly.

Color Coding
If your domain is available it will show the domain extension in blue.  Red means that it is unavailable but you can hover over the red to see when the domain was registered as well as when it expires.  Green means that the domain is available for sale from buydomains.com.  Even with domaining market being somewhat cool compared to what it once was a few years ago, you should still expect to pay more than $100 for any of the domains you find here.

Starring
One of the features that I didn’t pick up on at first was the Starred domains.  If you find a domain you like, just click on the word and it will put a star next to it.  As you session continues and you star more items it will keep them stored in your star tab which can be handy if you get on an ocd domain searching binge.

Finding your address on the web just got easier…

About Web Walker Solutions:
So many amazing websites have something in common… no one vistist them.  Web Walker Solutions can help your business set and meet it’s online goals through Search Engine Optimization, results driven web design and video marketing.  Get in touch with us today to see what we can do for you.

It slices, it dices and has these other notable qualities.

• It’s free! Though you should contribute some $$ or at least a high quality link to these guys as this is a high quality product that others charge quite a bit for.
• You can set a schedule of daily, weekly, monthly OR you can just run it manually when you’d like.
• It backs up to AS3 – Amazon’s Simple Storage Service. This is great because many of the other solutions just backup the files to the same server that the website lives on so if there is a loss of the server then… boom, you’re backup is gone along with it. AS3 is really inexpensive and reasonably easy to use. The Automatic WordPress Backup guys give you full instructions on how to do the whole thing at this video.
• It backs up EVERYTHING that matters. All of the words, all of the images, all of the plugins, themes and uploads. It’s got you covered from end to end… and it’s easy.

So all of that being there are still a few things to consider.

Web hosting compatibility can be an issue. They’ve done a great job testing it on the major hosting companies and have a list right here. I’m using BlueHost and have installed it on about 5 sites so far and it works really well.. Installed in my mind means, installing the plugin, performing a backup, wiping the site out and doing a a full restore from the backup. So yeah, they list it’s in Beta for bluehost as of 7/5/2011 but I didn’t have any problems with it.

Now, all of this being said I still think it’s worth YOU going through the test process yourself of backup up a site and restoring it before you start counting on this as your main solution. I did run into one or two instances where I had to bounce between daily and weekly backup options in order to get the manual backups to work but it DID work.

I will post another update here in the next week or two to let you guys know how this is working on a regular basis.

7/6/2011

Just a quick update, I have been having trouble getting the backups to work on my root site ONLY. All of the others (you can host unlimited domains on Blue Host) seem to be working fine. I’m going to send the guys an email and see if they can help me with it and make any updates on this post.

But, after you’ve delivered that first bit of information to your prospect, do you send him any further information?

If you are like most businesses, you don’t.

When you don’t follow that initial message with additional information later on, you let a valuable prospect slip from your grasp! This is a potential customer who may have been very interested in your products, but who lost your contact information, or was too busy to make a purchase when your first message reached him.

Often, a prospect will purposely put off making a purchase, to see if you find him important enough to follow up with later. When he doesn’t receive a follow up message from you, he will take his business elsewhere.

Are you losing profits due to inconsistent and ineffective follow up?

Following up with leads is more than just a process – it’s an art. In order to be effective, you need to design a follow up system, and stick to it, EVERY DAY! If you don’t follow up with your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow up process.

Consistent follow up gets results!

When I first started marketing and following up with prospects, I used a follow up method that I now call the “List Technique.” I had a large database containing the names and e-mail addresses of people who had specifically requested information about my products and services. These prospects had already received my first letter by the time they requested more information, so I used the company’s latest news as a follow up piece.

I would write follow up newsletters every now and then, and send them, in one mass mailing, to everyone who had previously requested information from me. While this probably did help me win a few additional orders, it wasn’t a very good follow up method. Why isn’t the “List Technique” very effective?

• The List Technique isn’t consistent. Proponents of the List Technique tend to only send out follow up messages when their companies have “big news”.
• List Technique messages don’t give the potential customer any additional information about the product or service in question. He can’t make a more informed buying decision after receiving a newsletter! If someone is wondering whether your company sells the best knick-knacks, what does he care that you’ve just moved your headquarters?
• List Technique messages convey a “big list” mentality to your potential customers. When I used to write follow up messages using the List Technique, I was writing news bulletins to everyone I knew! I should have been sending a personal message to each individual who wanted to know more about my products.

What follow up method really works?

Following up with each lead individually, multiple times, but at set intervals, and with pre-written messages, will dramatically increase sales! Others who use this same technique confirm that they have all at least doubled the sales of various products! In order to set this system up, though, you need to do some planning.

First, you’ll need to develop your follow up messages. If you’ve been marketing on the Internet for any length of time, then you should already have a first informative letter. Your second letter marks the beginning of the follow up process, and should go into more detail than the first letter. Fill this letter with details that you didn’t have the space to add to the first letter. Stress the BENEFITS of your products or services!

Your next 2-3 follow up messages should be rather short. Include lists of the benefits and potential uses of your products and services. Write each letter so that your prospects can skim the contents, and still see the full force of your message.

The next couple of follow up messages should create a sense of urgency in your prospect’s mind. Make a special offer, giving him a reason to order NOW instead of waiting any longer. After reading these follow up messages, your prospect should want to order immediately!

Phrase each of your final 1 or 2 follow up messages in the form of a question. Ask your prospect why he hasn’t yet placed an order? Try to get him to actually respond. Ask if the price is to high, the product isn’t the right color or doesn’t have the right features, or if he is looking for something else entirely. (By this time, it’s unlikely that this person will order from you. However, his feedback can help you modify your follow up letters or products, so that other prospects will order from you.)

The timing of your follow up letters is just as important as their content. You don’t want one prospect to receive a follow up the day after he gets your initial informative letter, while another prospect waits weeks for a follow up!

Always send an initial, informative letter as soon as it is requested, and send the first follow up 24 hours afterwards. You want your hot prospects to have information quickly, so that they can make informed buying decisions!

Send the next 2-3 follow up messages between 1 and 3 days apart. Your prospect is still hot, and is probably still shopping around! Tell him about the benefits of your products and services, as opposed to your competitors’. You will make the sale!

Send the final follow up messages later on. You certainly don’t want to annoy your prospect! Make sure that these last letters are at least 4 days apart.

Following up effectively seems complicated, but it doesn’t have to be! So many potential customers are lost because of poor follow up – don’t you want to be one of the few to get it right?