How often do you add fresh, unique content to your website? If the answer is ‘not very’ you could be missing out on a lot of potential leads, sales and revenue. Over the past few years, content marketing advice has changed dramatically. These days, quality is much more important than quantity. However, this can be somewhat misleading. ​

Why Online Marketing is a Solid Investment Today

Online marketing, also known as “eMarketing, Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing,” as well as other terms translates into “advertising online or on the web.” 

There’s no disputing that it is a valuable tool when it comes to bringing business owners and consumers together. However, as a business owner, you may be wondering if it is truly worth the investment.
​

There are millions of websites. This is both an opportunity and a challenge. If you’re a website owner, you want to stand out from the crowd. When you achieve website prominence the competition no longer matters. Here’s how to stand out from the crowd:

#1 Easy navigation
 
It sounds so simple, yet many websites are a navigational disaster. When a visitor cannot find what they need quickly and easily, they leave. Ideally your website will be designed to facilitate a visitor’s experience. Not only should they be able to quickly and easily find what they’re looking for, you also want to guide them to achieve your goals. 

For example, if you’re an affiliate marketer you want to guide your prospects to the second and third tier pages where your affiliate links and ads are placed. 

#2 Keyword research

Keyword research supports easy navigation. Your visitors and prospects find your site with keywords. That means those same keywords need to be present on your site and easy to find. They not only need to be part of the content, they should also be part of the navigation. Research your keywords to support your customers and prospects. Include them in the navigation flow. 

Additionally, keyword research helps you provide the most valuable and beneficial content possible. When you know what your customers and prospects are looking for, you can provide it. Providing top quality content will set you apart from the majority of your competition. 

#3 Analytics

Analytics provide valuable inside information. They help you track where your customers go on your website. They also tell you:

* How long people stay on a single web page
* How long they stay on your site
* How they found your website
* What keywords they use to find your website
* How many visitors return to your website

This information is invaluable. Create a practice where you analyze your website analytics regularly. Create content and navigation systems that support your findings. And take the initiative to test and track your results. For example, if you add a new feature on your website like a survey, test and track where on your site it receives the most attention. 

Standing out from the crowd isn’t difficult. However, it does require a solid plan. Know your audience. Research your keywords. Create a navigation structure that supports your customers and your business goals. And pay attention to the data. Your website analytics are the key to helping you achieve website prominence.  

Analytics are a business owner’s best friend. They can help you optimize your strategies and tactics. They help you get a better understanding of what your customer wants and needs. Website analytics can be the most valuable asset you have. However, choosing the right analytic tools can be overwhelming. There are many to choose from. Here’s a brief list of some of the more popular analytic tools, and advice on how to choose the right one for you.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is free. You simply register with Google if you don’t already have an account. Sign up for the analytics tool by providing a bit of information about your website. Then it’s merely a matter of cutting and pasting the code into your website. 

You can choose your settings and the data you track. Google tracks visits, average time on site, page views and the referral source. It also tracks geographic data and can be used to track split testing results. It’s a comprehensive analytics tool that provides just about everything a website owner could need.

Piwik

Piwik is an open source type of analytics. That means it’s free. It’s also open for development. This can be a big advantage if you want your analytics to accomplish something new. Piwik is designed to be the open source alternative to Google analytics so their offerings are similar. With Piwik your analytic data is on your server. You own your data. Additionally, you can customize your interface to suit your needs.

AWStats

AWStats is another popular analytics tool. Again, it provides much of the same data as most other analytics tools. However, it also provides some unique data. For example:

* Visits of robots
* Worm attacks 
* HTTP errors 
* Number of times your site is added to a visitor’s favorites

AWStats doesn’t work with all websites. You’ll need to double check before you install it. It can work with all web hosting providers which allow Perl, CGI and log access.

Site Meter

Site Meter offers two options. They offer a free version. They also offer a paid version that starts at $6.95 for 25,000 page views. The rate increases depending on your page views. Site Meter offers a vast amount of information including page views, bounce rate and time spent on your site. Site Meter also tracks the path your visitor takes when they arrive at your website. This is extremely valuable information. It can help you tighten your website content and copy to achieve a desired result.

Which Analytic Tool Do You Choose?

Decide which data points will be most useful. What do you need to know to optimize your website? Also consider who you trust with your data. If you utilize a service, then they have access to your website data. If you install the software on your server then you’re the only one that has access to your data. Also make sure you can easily read and understand the reports. All of the tools mentioned provide demo data and reporting. 

Once you have a trusted source and the data you need to grow your business, it comes down to price and personal preference. Most analytics tools are free or very inexpensive. Choose your tool, install it and start taking advantage of the information website analytics provide.

Do you have analytics installed on your website? If they are installed, do you look at the data regularly? Analytics can help you learn valuable information about your customers’ behavior. It can tell you how to provide more value and optimize every customer’s experience.

What Analytics Can Tell You

There are varying degrees of analytics. At the most basic level a simple analytics program can tell you:

* How long a customer has been on your website
* How many pages they viewed per visit
* How they arrived at your website
* How long they stayed on your website
* What keywords brought them to your website
* How they were referred to your website. For example, social networking link

Advanced analytics can show you:

* Geographical information – where your visitors come from
* What page they land on when they arrive at your website 
* What page they last visit on your website before they click away
* Shopping cart abandons
* External clicks
* Path taken on your website. What pages they visited along the way

All of this information can help you create a better customer experience and a better business. 

For example, if you study how your visitor arrived at your website, you may notice that a majority of your traffic comes from organic search. You can then modify your traffic generation strategy to support more incoming traffic. If you find that a particular blog owner has been linking to your site, you can seek a potential partnership with them. 

Or if you find that many of your visitors come from a specific region of your country or the world, you can then conduct research to find content keywords and even products or services to cater to this market. 

Of all the analytic information that may be the most beneficial, take a look at the path your customer takes on your website. This is helpful if you have a strategy to lead them from point A to point B. For example, to lead them from a landing page to a third tier affiliate link. If the path isn’t working, you can make adjustments. You can test and track to find the best tactics to achieve your goals. 

Studying customer behavior on your website isn’t a simple and straightforward task. Analytics can help. When you install analytics on your site, use them. Create a system to review the data regularly. Plan and make decisions based on the data you’ve collected. Analytics and customer behavior data can change your business.