Linking and Analytics

This week I learned about the importance of links to my website.

Links not only bring visitors who follow them into the website; they also improve the site's relevance for search engines. Search engines like Google analyze how many ''backlinks'' connect to the site giving it credibility and relevance so it shows higher in search results.  Quality is also important since Google knows tricks people use and punishes bad linking practices. It is important that the links are relevant. Links coming from famous and highly visited websites benefit much more.

Useful resources:

Intro to linking

Linking strategies

More linking strategies

I have also been using Google Analytics and exploring it almost every day for the last few weeks. 

It is really a great tool that that now I can't imagine living without. In order to install it you have to place the analytics java script code on the site, or in the case of Drupal users, install the Drupal Analytics module that places the code automatically in all pages.

Analytics allows website owners to track visits, trends and how their goals (conversions) are being met. This data is more useful when used to determine trends. This way I have been able to determine what actions and changes have worked on my site, which campaigns are being more successful and how visitors interact with my site in general.

Useful resources:

Introduction to Google Analytics

Guide to the Analytics interface

Interpreting reports

Social Media - Continued

Essential to any marketing effort for a product, company or website today is a Social Media Strategy, especially if it is looking to market to young people.

There are many social media courses, articles and tutorials out there that explain the technical side of it. Here are some of the lessons I recently learned about the generals points for social media:

Be different. It is important to stand out from the crowd. The average person today is constantly bombarded with advertisement. It is not enough just to show your product anymore; you have to make them understand why it is different and cause an impression that won’t be overlooked.

Be authentic. Customers are not easily deceived anymore. They look for multiple sources and know when a company is just ”trying to sell them something”. Answer their comments, interact, be a person and engage your customers and visitors so they recommend you to their friends through their comments and interactions.

Be creative. This goes hand in hand with being different. Don’t just do what you learn about social media but look for ways to innovate, to create new things.

Have a strategy. It doesn’t help to spend money and time on this if you don’t have a goal or purpose for it.

Use your tools. Take advantage of Google Analytics and use metrics to measure your social media ROI so you can learn what works and refine your strategy.

Useful Resources:

12 Awesome Social Media Tutorials

SEO

Here we come to the mystical world of SEO. 

I have to admit that I had heard about ''SEO'' for a long time but I never knew what it meant until a couple months ago when I started learning more about Search Engine Optimization, or how easily can search engines find your website.

There are a few factors that can affect your website's SEO:

Keywords: Include Keywords that people are looking for but are also relevant to your website. It is important to focus on quality rather than spamming the website with the desired keywords.

Back-links: How many links lead to your site? This is a very important point too, and these links must be high quality links too, not just spam.

Site optimization: How long does it take to load? Is it easy to see in all screen sizes? What about mobile devices? All of this affects visitor experience in your site and how likely they are to return.

Be unique: Not only create original content; make that content so unique that your site stands out from the crowd.

Make it shareable: If you were a visitor, would you share what you found on Facebook or another social network? Make your content interesting, and make sure your URL's are simple and reflect what your content is about.

There are much more ideas to be applied on a site for SEO.

I recommend this guide.

And if you use Drupal you might want to take a look at the SEO Checklist Module

I still have a long way to go for my site. I'm learning and applying these things by trying and making mistakes.
My site (In Spanish): www.saliradentro.com