Showing posts with label Google Analytics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google Analytics. Show all posts

Monday, September 16, 2013

WordPress DIY Questions

Bolt with WordPress logoThe following is a collection of the most common questions I receive on WordPress, the world's most popular web publishing platform. These answers can be a great help to any DIYer managing their own WordPress websites. You may want to bookmark this page for future reference.

If you manage your own sites and are wondering if you should use WordPress in the first place, this post will answer your question: Why WordPress May Not Be The Answer

Questions



Many of the answers to these questions relate to theme selection. A good theme with a various configuration options and easy to use administration panel will give you a painless method for customizing your site's layout, style, header and footer. Consider paying for a premium theme that has all the features you want and is easy to use.

What's the best photo gallery plugin?


This is impossible to answer since there are so many photo gallery plugins available with various styles and features. But I am going to answer it anyway since I get this question just about every week.

When selecting a gallery plugin first look at any available online demos. Does it have the features you're looking for? Does it fit in with your site's style?

Read the feedback. How is the support? Is it easy to use? Has it been updated recently?

Free Plugins


The advantage of using free gallery plugins is that you can test various galleries on your site to see which one you like best. You'll also discover if any plugins have problems.

NextGEN Gallery is the most popular free gallery plugin available. Because of its popularity (over 7.5 million downloads) it has good theme compatibility and decent support.

Paid Plugins


Paid plugins often have more features than free plugins and good support. When it comes to gallery plugins, some paid plugin have dazzling visual effects and enhanced customization features. There are some amazing gallery plugins at Codecanyon.net.

The risk of a paid gallery plugin is that it may conflict with your theme and you may not be able to use it, thus wasting your money. The gallery may be difficult to position correctly or have script issues because of other plugins or your theme.

The plugin developer may help you if the problem is a bug with the plugin or if they are interested in making the plugin compatible with more themes. If the developer is unresponsive you may need to try a different gallery plugin.

How to switch the side column (sidebar) from the right side to left?


The answer depends on the theme you're using.

In the Twenty-Eleven theme, go to Appearance -> Customize

Under Layout are options to change which side your content appears or you can opt for no sidebars at all.


Some themes, like those developed by StudioPress, allow you to change sidebar layouts for individual posts and pages if you want that level of control:


The entire site has a default layout which can be set in the theme's settings, the post option overrides the default settings. If no layout is selected in the post, the default sidebar layout is used.

How to add a menu item that goes to another site? How do you link Pages in WordPress to the navigation bar?


Easy.

  1. Sign in to the Administration Panel, then go to Appearance -> Menus

  2. Next to Select a menu to edit, choose the menu you want to add a link to in the drop down list (some themes allow for multiple menus), or click the link to create a new menu (refer to your theme's documentation for details on custom menus and where they are positioned on your site).

  3. Click the Links bar to open the options. Add the URL and use Link Text to display the text you want to appear in your menu. Click Add to Menu and your new link will be added to the menu on the right. Drag your new menu up to reposition it if you like.

  4. Click Save Menu.



To add a Page in your menu click Pages instead of Links. Same if you want to have a category in your menu.

You add as many Pages, links and categories to your menu as you like and arrange them as top-level and submenu items. To make any menu item a submenu, simply click and drag the item slightly to the right until you see the dotted outline move. The dotted outline represents the new position of the menu item you selected, where it moves while you drag is where your menu item will be positioned when you let go. Click Save Menu when you are done.

The number of menus you can use and their placement depends on how your theme was designed. Refer to your theme's documentation for details.

How to add YouTube videos in my blog posts?


There are plugins that can insert videos, but they complicate one of the easiest tasks you can do in WordPress.

  • Step 1: Copy the link of the YouTube video you want to insert.

  • Step 2: In Text mode (not Visual), insert the link anywhere into your post.

  • Step 3: Publish or Update your post.


That's it. WordPress recognizes YouTube links and will automatically format the video. No plugins, no embed code. Also works with video links from Vimeo, Viddler, DailyMotion, Blip.tv and other sites.

How do I make my WordPress site mobile friendly?


There are two common ways:

  • Mobile "responsive" theme: a theme designed to work on both large and small screens. Basically, the theme rearranges sidebars under the main content, wraps text and scales images for narrow screens.

  • Redirect plugin: a plugin that will detect visitors on devices with small screens, such as smartphones and tablets, and redirect them to a mobile optimized version of your site. The mobile optimized version may have a completely different theme than the desktop theme, a version of your site designed and dedicated to small screens devices only. You may also have a completely different website with distinct content for mobile visitors that the plugin will redirect visitors to.


Which is better? It depends. Installing a responsive theme is an easy way to make your website instantly mobile friendly. Some companies recognize that visitors on mobile devices may be interested in different information and prefer to use a plugin that shows these visitors mobile targeted content.

How can I put my logo in the header of my theme?


This is a common question, but the answer depends on the theme you're using.

The overall appearance and layout of your site is determined by the theme, which controls what appears in the header area.

If you have a well-designed, user-friendly theme, adding your logo should be a straightforward task. You may find the option to update the logo in your theme settings.

In the WordPress administration panel, go to Appearance -> Header

This may show the theme options you have available to you in customizing your header and adding a logo.

Some themes add an additional item to the standard WordPress themes menu as seen in the following example for the "Flexibility" theme:

Selecting Flexibility Theme Options from the menu will produce a screen with an array of theme options, including Header Settings which allows you to use a custom image that has your logo:

If your theme does not provide any options to customize the header or insert a logo, then your only choice is to edit your theme's PHP header file. If you don't know how to code PHP you should hire a professional to edit the files. If you're not dead set on using a particular theme that lacks header and logo settings, consider changing themes.

Installing a new theme should not affect your content. It's one of the benefits of using WordPress. If a theme doesn't meet your site's needs you have the freedom to use one that does. In the future you may want to new add features to your site, upgrading themes and plugins is a way to enhance your website.

How do I set my site's home page to NOT be a blog page?


By default WordPress is setup to display your posts in reverse chronological order on the home page. This is how most blogs and news sites are organized. However, you may not want to use WordPress as a blog and have your home page setup differently. Here are your options:

Set your home page as a static Page:

  1. Sign in to the WordPress administrator panel. Create the Page you want to show on your home page.

  2. In the left menu, click Settings -> Reading.

  3. At the top are the settings for Front Page Displays. Select A static page.

  4. Select the Page you want on your home page from the drop down list. No need to change Post page.

  5. Click the Save Changes button at the bottom.


You may have a specific look in mind for your home page, with image sliders, post summaries and other widgets. With plugins, you can add some of these elements to a Page you create for your home page, including animated image sliders.

A better method might be to use a theme that has a home page layout and widgets that matches what you envision for your site. These themes have specially coded the home page to be uniquely different from the rest of the site. Finding these types of themes is as easy as visiting theme sites and browsing screenshots and demos for the look you have in mind. Most themes, especially premium themes, will have documentation on how to properly set up the home page.

I don't want to show "Meta" or "Categories" on my sidebar - how do I remove them?


When you install WordPress the first time, you may see links already in your sidebar. This appears by default and can be easily removed.

Sign in to the Administration Panel and go to Appearance -> Widgets

  1. On the right side are the sidebars and other widget areas available in the theme you're using. Click the sidebar area you want to remove items from. It may be labeled 'Main Sidebar' or 'Primary Sidebar'. You may want to refer to your theme's documentation if you're not sure.

  2. Once you've clicked the sidebar area it should expand showing the widget items in that sidebar. If the sidebar contains widgets you don't recognize, or is empty, you have selected the wrong sidebar area. Again, refer to your theme's documentation in this case.

  3. Click on any widget item you want to remove. Clicking will open the item for editing and will display the Delete link. Click Delete to remove the item, your changes will save automatically.


If you want to add any new widget items for your sidebar, just click and drag an item from the left and release it in the sidebar or other widget area you want the item to appear in. Your changes will save automatically.

When you add a new widget item, review it's settings. You may need to edit the widget's settings for it to work properly.

How do I add an email subscription form to my sidebar?


If you use an email service such as MailChimp or AWeber, the two easiest methods are:

  • Creating a form using your email service's tools, and copying the code into a new text widget; or

  • Using a plugin.


Popular email service providers usually have tools to create custom subscription forms which allow you to copy and paste them into your website. If using this method you may have use the tool to adjust your form to fit your site's sidebar. It may take a few iterations of adjusting and pasting into your site before you get it right.

Depending on the email service you use, a plugin may be available. If it's a good plugin it may be easier to add a form to your site than using the cut-and-paste tool. You'll have to search to see if a plugin has been developed for your email service.

A plugin worth mentioning is Gravity Forms. This powerful plugin can create custom forms of any size that can integrate with a number of services that include MailChimp and AWeber ("Business" version). It also has add-ons that can integrate with services like PayPal and Authorize.Net (requires the "Developer" version).

For more information about the Gravity Forms plugin, see Gravityforms.com.

How do I remove the Date from all of my pages and posts?


Some themes allow you to edit or completely remove the date and byline information in your posts. Check your theme settings or documentation to see if it offers this option.

There is also a free plugin called WP Date Remove available from the plugin repository: http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-post-date-remover/. This plugin doesn't have any options; it just removes dates site wide. For more control over dates consider a premium theme that has built in settings for date and byline editing.

How do I change the copyright and credits in the footer of my theme?


Most premium themes have settings built in that allow you to edit the footer credits. Some free themes also offer this option, but most don't because having credits in your site's footer gives the developer free exposure. This is yet another reason to use premium themes where you have control over footer.

If you're using a theme that doesn't have settings to edit the footer, you can edit the PHP file yourself. However, if you're using a free theme you could get into trouble with the developer. As mentioned before, a developer often lets people download and use their themes for free in exchange for having their name or site links in the footer. If you edit the PHP file to remove the developer credits, they may view that has breaking the agreement to use their theme for free.

If you want to edit the PHP footer file to add information but not delete anything, that should be acceptable by the developer. Footer credits are usually found in a theme file called footer.php. If you are not comfortable editing PHP you should hire a professional to help. It's literally a 5 minute job for a professional.

How can I remove the sidebar from selected pages?


WordPress lacks control over context sidebar display. Perhaps they feel it's the job of the theme to determine when and where sidebars are displayed. As a result, to control sidebar display you need to use a theme that has this feature or a special plugin. Some themes and plugins also allow you to create variations of sidebars, so you can have custom sidebars that are used on select pages.

There are several plugins available that will add these features to your site. I prefer using a theme that has these features built in. Some plugins I've used seem to slow down my site, while I've never had the same issue using themes. However, you may have no choice but to use a plugin if you don't want to change themes.

To find a plugin you can search the WordPress plugin repository. Be sure to read the comments. If you are considering a new theme, look for one that has dynamic or custom sidebars in feature list.

How do I put Adsense advertisements on my site?


There are two methods of placing advertisements from Google Adsense on your site. One method simply involves copying and pasting the Adsense code provided by Google into a widget area on your site, or in your site's code if you know how. The other method is by adding an Adsense plugin to your site.

You must always obey Google's terms of services which currently say that you cannot place more than three Adsense ads on any given page. You also have to be careful placing pictures around ads, or using text to draw attention to them.

There are a number of plugins that allow you to add Adsense to your site. The Easy AdSense plugin is a popular choice that has a number of ad placement features. Here's more information: http://wordpress.org/plugins/easy-adsense-lite/

How do I add Google Analytics to my site?


Google Analytics is a tool that allows you to measure and analyze the traffic on your site. It is an excellent tool that's free to use. For more information about Google Analytics, I wrote this fine article that gives you everything you need to get started: Use Google Analytics to Know What's Working on Your Site.

To install the Google Analytics tracking code on your site, your theme may have a box you can paste the code into that will automatically place it on all your site pages. You might find this in your theme's settings in the Administration Panel.

If you're theme doesn't have this feature, there are a few different plugins that will do the trick. Here's a popular one that's free to use: Google Analyticator

How do I put a Google Map on my site?


Google Maps are a great addition to web pages, especially sites for businesses that have physical locations. Maps are ideal for a "contact us" type of page.

On Google Maps, you can create a map of any area and select the embed code to add that map to a website. Here are the steps to create a custom map and copy the embed code: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/72644?hl=en

Once you have copied the embed code, you can place it in any post or page of your site. Make sure you're in Text mode and not Visual mode to ensure the code is saved and rendered properly.

Another option is to use a plugin. This free to use plugin can be used to add several Google maps to your site: WP Google Maps

How can I move my WordPress site to a new host?


Basically, moving a WordPress site to a new host is not really a complex task, but it is one you have to be very careful about doing. A problem could cause a lot of headache! If you don't feel confident doing this on your own, have your hosting company perform this operation or hire a professional.

Keep in mind that a typical WordPress installation really consists of two components: the site files and the database. Both need to be backed up and copied to the new host. Some configuration files and database entries need to be adjusted to reflect the new URL and new database settings.

In a nutshell, the following steps are what you need to do:

  1. Copy the site files to the folder where the new site will reside

  2. Create a new database on the new host and import the old database

  3. Edit wp-config.php to the new database settings. If your domain or URL has changed (you moved the site to a folder, www.example.com/blog, or subdomain, blog.example.com) you'll need to do these two steps:

  4. Add the following lines in wp-config.php, replacing "example.com" with the right domain:

    1. define('WP_SITEURL', 'http://www.example.com');

    2. define('WP_HOME', 'http://www.example.com');



  5. Install the Search and Replace plugin and use it to do a search and replace for your old URL's and change them with your new URL's.


Tips:

  • Delete spam comments and site cache if there are any. This will reduce the size of the database and site files and make the transfer go faster.

  • Update your old site to the latest version of WordPress. Install a new instance of WordPress on the new host that is the same version of your old site. (Most hosts have a "quick install" feature that will install the latest version with just a few clicks.) Copy just the wp-content folder from your old site and replace the same folder in the WordPress files on the new host. Do step #3 above.

  • Use a backup plugin like the fantastic BackupBuddy.


For more detailed instructions, we have a PDF guide that will walk you step-by-step in transferring a WordPress site to a new web host: Transferring a WordPress site

How do I backup my WordPress site?


I'm glad you asked! Backing up your site is a vital task that many people overlook, and that neglect can be disastrous if the site falls victim to a hacker.

As mentioned in the last question, a WordPress site really consists of two components – the files and the database.

You can simply backup your files with your FTP client, just like you would any website. Use your FTP client and connect to your WordPress site, you can then copy the entire site and all of its directories down to your local computer.

The database backup can be done a number of ways; one of the easiest is to perform a WordPress Export.

In the Administrator Panel, go to Tools -> Export. Simply click the Download Export File button and save the file to your local computer. If you ever need to restore the site you can simply perform an "Import".

You can also export the database in SQL format if you prefer. This is my method of choice since I'm familiar with databases and can edit the export file if necessary.

There are also several backup plugins available, some better than others. The best one in my opinion is BackupBuddy.

More WordPress training and resources:


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Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Use Google Analytics to Know What’s Working on Your Site (and What Isn’t)


Google Analytics (or GA) is a software tool that tracks, measures and records visitor activity for websites. Visitor statistics are presented in reports you can view online and download.

These website statistics are the key to understanding exactly how well your content is received on the web.

GA records what visitors do on your site, which pages they read and for how long. What they do after they visit a page, if they go to another page on your site or leave. You get information on the visitor, what city they are in, language they use, even the type of device they used when visiting. You can find out if they've been to your site before, or if it's their first time.

The tool tracks where your visitors came from before they landed on your site. Which search engine they used to find your site, or if they typed the site URL in their web browser. Maybe some visitors clicked a link on another website that brought them to yours. With GA you can see how your visitors found you.

This is a wealth of intelligence you have at your fingertips. If you think it's creepy to track your visitors like this, keep in mind that all this data is anonymous. You may have personal information on your visitors but you still don't know who they are. You don't know their age, their sex, income level and so on. Even with the limited demographics, the data is still invaluable to the success of your site.

The data GA provides can be used in several ways to improve your site and online business.

You'll see which of your pages are more popular than others, which may indicate the topics your visitors are most interested in. This insight can guide you in developing content your visitors want.

If you use social media, you can gauge which of your accounts is sending traffic and which aren't. You can also measure the sites you posted links to your articles from. You can focus your attention on the traffic sources that are sending visitors and spend less time on sources that are less effective. This is immediate action you can take that will make you much more efficient in the time you spend working on your site.

Important to many website owners, you can see how well your site is doing in Google. If most of your traffic comes from sources other than Google, it could mean your site is not ranking well in the search engine. You may want to take a close look at the reasons behind your lack of Google search traffic and explore what can be done about it.

If your site is designed for visitors to make a purchase, or to capture leads, you can measure how effective your site is in leading visitors to the desired call-to-action.

Advanced features allow you to use tracking codes on links that can be used to track email traffic, offline visitors or specific ad campaigns.

All these features and more are accessible via the Google Analytics online dashboard. There is no software to install on your computer, but there is a small piece of tracking code that needs to go on each website you want to track. I'll get into the details how to set up your account and website later.

This valuable software is offered by Google at no cost, with upgrades available for a price. You can have tracking set up for up to 25 domains. The free version provides enough detailed information for most website managers to improve and grow their audience.

It may seem amazing that Google is giving away such a beneficial tool, but don't think for a moment it's out of the kindness of their collective hearts. The data Google collects from sites using this software is priceless; it's a win-win for both parties, with the scale tilted toward Google's end.

If Google having access to data about your site's traffic bothers you, there are alternatives but you're likely to pay for them. Some site tracking services have free plans, but they may be limited in the level of reporting or how many visitors the plan allows.

Most web hosting companies have web server log reports and statistic packages that you may have installed at no cost. I like to use these to compare stats with GA reports. Often, these stat packages lack reporting features, such as custom date ranges, data comparisons, real-time information and others. Look in your web hosting account's admin control panel to see if you have this option available.

I should also mention that many experts believe GA's traffic statics are not 100% accurate. I also feel this way, however, I still use GA to discover site trends and get updates on daily performance.

Another reason to use GA even if the numbers are not precise is that some advertisers and vendors may want to see your analytics reports before doing business with you. Google Analytics has become an authority in web analytics and many businesses only trust their reports.

Setting Up Google Analytics on Your Website


Setting up your Google Analytics account is a straightforward process can be completed in minutes.

The most important part of this process is being able to add the tracking code to every page on your website you want to track.

If you use something like WordPress, you can use a plugin or your theme may have a box you can paste the code into that will automatically place it on all your site pages

If you have a static HTML site, you may need to paste the code on each of your pages and upload them to your web server. If you don't feel comfortable with this, it's an easy job for anyone who knows a little about HTML. Find a friend to help you out or hire someone from Fiverr.com for only $5 to do it.

You need a general Google account or Gmail account. If you don't have a Google account then your first step is to create one.

Once you have a Google account and are signed in, visit the Google Analytics page: http://www.google.com/analytics, click Create an account then the Sign up button on the following page.

On the next page some options are preselected for you. That's fine, go with the defaults.

Lower on the page is where you need to enter some information.


Website Name is just a label that you'll see in the list of sites you have in GA. You can enter the domain name you're setting up.

Web Site URL must be the domain name of the site you are setting up analytics for.

Industry Category is optional.

Select your time zone. This defines the 24 hour period for reporting, so you probably want to use the time zone you're in.

Account Name is another label. This can be the name of your business or other label that represents the all sites you will add to this account.

Data Sharing, I recommend leaving the first option on. It's very useful to integrate your site's analytics with other Google services you may use, like AdWords and AdSense. The others are optional, you can turn them off now and turn them on later if you change your mind.

Click Get Tracking ID then accept the terms of service on the popup.

On the next page page you're presented with the actual tracking code that goes on your site.


Copy this code and paste it in the appropriate location on your site administration panel or directly in your web page HTML code, before </head> tag.

After the code is on your site, refresh the code page in Google Analytics or click Tracking Info in the left menu. You should have a status next to your Tracking ID:


If the status says Tracking Not Installed it probably hasn't been picked up by Google yet. Give it an hour and check again. If after a few hours the status has not changed to Receiving Data you may have a problem. The code may not have been installed correctly or something is blocking it from appearing on your site. You may need to have an expert double-check your site.

If your status is Receiving Data that means GA is collecting statistics from your site. Wait a day and sign in to see full days' worth of visitor stats.

Using Google Analytics


GA has numerous types of reports you may run using various parameters. The types of reports you can generate and display for you will depend on your preferences and what you want to measure.

Reports are organized into four main categories on the left menu:

  • Audience

  • Traffic Sources

  • Content

  • Conversions


Within Audience you can run reports that will give you a sense of who your site visitors are. Important metrics in this section are:

  • Location: Reports where your are visitors coming from and if they represent your target audience. Important in knowing if you're hitting your target market or not.

  • Behavior: Indicates if visitors are returning to your site, or if most people come one time. Shows how long to they stay on your site. This data can reveal weak content if visitors only stay for a few seconds and never return.

  • Technology and Mobile: Shows the type of browser or type of devices visitors use when using your site. These two reports can help discover any rendering problems with your pages. For example, if visitors using Android devices only stay on the site for a few seconds, yet iPad users stay on the site 10 times longer, then perhaps your site has a problem with smaller screens. This information is helpful in targeting users of a particular device. You may place an ad on your site or write an article that relates to Android if you find you have a high percentage of visitors using that type of device.


Traffic Sources shows where your visitors come from: search engines, websites, emails, social media, etc. This section provides insight into how well your site is ranked in search engines, which social media activities are benefiting your site and which websites are "talking" about your site. It's critical information that can guide you in growing your audience and traffic.

Under the Search Engine Optimization section of Traffic Sources you have the option of linking Google Webmaster Tools to your GA account. I highly recommend this so you can view search queries. You'll see examples of what people are typing in Google Search to reach your site.

For instance, if you're site is about caring for pet cats, you may see queries like this:
"how to make two cats get along in the same house"

This is valuable in understanding what people are looking for on the web and how your site relates to search. If you may see repeated questions or topics you can develop content for that addresses these trends.

Unfortunately, you need to link your Webmaster Tools account before you can view this data. If you don't have an account sign up for one, then follow the instructions in GA to link it. I'd explain more about using Webmaster Tools, but it's a topic that deserves its own article. If you need help browse the Google support for Webmaster Tools.

In Traffic Sources you can drill down into any of the sources to get detailed visitor or content data on that source. There is also a Social section that groups traffic from various social sites and lets you drill into each one. This is handy because the Sources report shows traffic by referring URL. The report may show visitors from three sources: facebook.com, fb.me, and m.facebook.com when they are all really the same source.

The Content section shows which pages visitors are spending time on and which parts of your site are not being explored. These reports show the pages that are attracting the most visits and may guide you in developing future content.

The Content section has a few other interesting subsections:

  • Landing Pages: These are the pages that brought people to your site.

  • Exit Pages: Pages that people are leaving the site from. Trends in this section may lead to improvements that can keep people on the site longer.

  • Site Speed: I mention this subsection only because it's not very helpful. It's better to use tools such as PageSpeed or Pingdom to measure page speed.

  • AdSense: This subsection shows which pages are generating AdSense revenue. The data is not completely accurate, I think because AdSense makes subsequent adjustments that aren't reflected in GA. But the information still tells you which are your most valuable pages, and perhaps which pages you should be promoting. This section requires linking to your AdSense account before it reports any data.


The last section, Conversions, is a little advanced and requires some set up to use. Basically, this section can measure lead generation and ecommerce effectiveness. You can specify action goals that GA will track and report conversion rates. Ecommerce tracking can collect data on specific products, providing insight into which activities and products perform better than others.

Since Conversions requires a little work to set up, if you're interested in using this feature you should read more about it.

Getting the Most from Google Analytics


GA's My Dashboard offers a good at-a-glance view of your site's activity. However, you may want to pay close attention to specific objectives that aren't displayed by the default widgets. With the custom and advanced options, you can create reports that meet your personal and business preferences.

The dashboard "widgets" can each be reordered, removed or replaced by other report widgets. Click Customize Dashboard on the right to change the number of columns you want. Click +Add Widget to display different widgets on your dashboard. Advanced Segments can filter all your dashboard widgets, providing a quick drill down.

Perhaps you find having to sign in to GA each day time consuming. There are a number of convenient alternatives available:

  • You can have a daily report emailed to you or have one sent less frequently. Click Email on the dashboard tool bar to set up automatic email reports.

  • If you use WordPress, you can install a plugin that will display GA data within the admin panel of your site.

  • There are GA apps available for Android and iOS devices. Some are from Google and some from 3rd party developers.


Keep in mind some of these options provide basic reports and may not allow you to drill down into data or compare date ranges. Still, for quick glance information these are real time savers.

Next Steps


After you've become comfortable with GA, have figured out how to customize your dashboard and set up your phone to display site reports, it's time to get clear on your objectives and define the parameters.

GA provides lots of data, but some types of information may have priority over others with regard to your goals.

For instance, you may need to track web form conversions, the specific keywords that are generating the most traffic, which pages are earning more than $5 a day in AdSense revenue. These specifics can be tracked independently with custom reports.

As mentioned earlier, you can set up an email reports that send your quick-glance dashboard information. Well, you can also set up email reports on any other custom view, so you can pay close attention to the areas of your site that directly relate to your objectives.

GA provides a wealth of valuable website information, but the real benefit comes from knowing what to look for and how to use the data. This article gave you a quick start into getting set up and using GA. Now you need to think about the most important goals for your website and what data you need to help you reach those goals. With GA setup for your sites you can now find that data and ensure it's always up to date and within quick reach.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Training Google To Crawl Your New Website

How To Series


Getting Google to pick up your posts within 30 minutes is something you have to train Google to perform so it will crawl your site more frequently.

Getting your site to be picked up by search engines is a very important part of the process. There are so many different things which may have an impact as to how much traffic your site might get and it is critical to get anything that you post to show up in Google Search in a reasonable period of time. One might ask what is reasonable and for every person you might ask, you would get a different answer. Much depends on how often you plan on posting things and what you desire. What I want to see is Google showing my searches within 30 minutes of posting them. So, in a very unscientific method, I created a new web site to see what I could do to get Google to show my posts in that time period. This is a WordPress site which was not previously set up and I started this once the site was set up. This testing has nothing to do with traffic to the site, only that Google shows my posts in a reasonable period of time.

Google and Webmaster Tools
Google is the big search engine that everyone focuses on to try and get their sites to show up in the search results on page 1. How you do that is the subject of SEO related articles and you can find that elsewhere. The first thing which you must do to get Google to find your site and have it show up in searches is set things up with Google Webmaster tools. There are other explanations on how to do that and you can find that elsewhere. Once you have been able to set up your site with Webmaster tools and configured what was necessary, you then need to add your sitemap to it. You will need to have a sitemap generated for your site in XML and with WordPress, there are a number of plugins which do this. We often use Google XML Sitemaps. The name of the file is normally sitemap.xml.

Google will crawl your site periodically and that is part of the problem with a new site. It is going to take some time for Google to start to crawl your site on a regular basis. When you first add your sitemap.xml file to the Webmaster tools, Google is going to crawl your site for the first time. It is after that which you want to train Google to crawl your site more frequently. I use the word "train" as you are trying to convince Google and all their algorithms to look at you site on an increasing basis.

You will want to post things at least 3 times a week to start and at various times of the day. Do not post things at the same time as Google will then learn to crawl your site at the same time everyday once it gets to that point. The key is to have Google crawling your site with 30 minutes of posting something. If you are striving for high volume traffic, you want it to pick up posts within a few minutes of them being posted.

The Training Test
Google is always reworking things, but here is what I did for a period of 40 days.

  • Started posting articles everyday and attempted to maintain a minimum of 300 words in the articles.

  • Missed posts on days 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 21, 36 and 37. This indicates that you do not have to post every day, but to establish your site it is probably a good idea.

  • Links to the articles on days 13, 16 and 24. The value of links to your posts is an important item in driving traffic to your site and Google is seeing it as having value.

  • At day 10, Google was crawling articles anywhere from 3 to 7 days. (1 to 10 days)

  • At day 20, Google was crawling articles anywhere from about 3 days. (11 to 20 days)

  • At day 30, Google was crawling articles anywhere from 1 to 3 days (21 to 30 days)

  • After day 30, Google was display articles at the 30 minute mark. This is the goal when this started.

  • At day 40, Google was displaying articles on average at the 10 minute mark



This test was only about getting Google to display a posted article within 30 minutes of it being put up and I was able to attain that value by “training” the crawling of the web site. This was not about driving traffic to the site as the site was getting 3 to 5 page views per day which was probably me looking at the posts, so most of the traffic came from my location, though Google Analytics is showing some traffic from other locations.

So this tells us that you can “train” Google to crawl your site more often to establish the baseline for that period forward. I have to assume that most web sites start out pretty good for the first 10 posts and then drop off which would indicate the improvement in crawling after day 10. .

Your results will vary as this was not a scientific endeavor and not an exact test. Checking for pages to appear in the Google Search was not done in a strict manner and the results may be better than what was recorded. This should give you hope in training Google Search on a brand new web site. If you are doing this on an existing web site, it may take longer to get similar results especially if you already have Webmaster Tools set up on the site because Google has history in place for the site.

Good luck.
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