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Web Analytics World’s 2011 and looking ahead to 2012

December 30, 2011 By 1 Comment

Last year’s top ten included stories based on the total visits so this year we thought we’d do something different and look at the top stories from visits, comments, and then Facebook, Twitter and Google +1 before looking at what we’ve got in store for the beginning of 2012.

Most viewed in 2011
It appears that internet speeds remain one of the most popular topics and we’ve linked our most recent update based on Akamai’s reporting tool.  Second position goes to one of our posts including a video guide on Digital Marketing Strategy also from the summer. Other popular posts include those relating to analytics, privacy & the law and salary information on Marketing Roles.

Most commented on in 2011
This is split joint between the fastest internet speeds post and David Fothergill’s post regarding tools to assist in conversion optimisation. Second position is also shared between Andy Havard’s three video email shortcuts and David’s how to “excel” at search marketing.

Facebook Reach
Facebook only changed their insights a few months ago so I had thought this would be a harder category, the clear leader when you looked at the new Reach stats was our post looking at online marketing salaries and how the averages are trending. Second position was Irene Bodle’s post looking at the Public Sector Websites failure to comply with the new Cookie Rules. 

Tweeted
Top positions in terms of volume of Tweets were with our guest bloggers; first was Melanie Durango with her post on flexible internet marketing and second went to Daniel Elroy who posted about targeted internet marketing.

Google +1′d
A new category along with Facebook Reach but some of our posts have received a clear positive reaction in the number of +1′s received, the first one of these is our post on how to make money from your website and the second is from Chris Elvery, providing you with 10 considerations when building a website.

What else was Trending?
Looking away from Web Analytics World topics, this infograph from AddThis let’s you see 2011′s sharing trends.

What’s in store for 2012?
Just now, our posts in the New Year will include:

  • Updates from Irene Bodle – ECPA applying to data stored in the US, a proposed change in the UK regarding defamatory comments online
  • Lukas Oldenburg will be helping us understand how to get our tracking code working in Google
  • David Fothergill has a second instalment in his excel how-to
  • Chris Elvery will take us through his 101 on e-commerce
  • David Geddes will be providing updates on salary trends for marketing roles
  • Hot topics in technology look to continue with social networking, social advertising, mobile technology and the increasing functionality available through tablets and smart phones and of course analytics will continue to develop to help users work through the data to ensure campaigns are optimised for the best results.

In the new year we’ll start doing more with our WAW Google + page; adding the +1 badge to Web Analytics World’s website so you can add us to your circles.


At present we’re thinking that we’ll use this to share non-Web Analytics World stories, so if you have anything you think is worthwhile sharing just get in touch with us!

Thank you to all our followers, commenters and new subscribers – if you’ve only recently found us, why not use the links above to take a stroll through some of our posts this year.

I guess all that remains is for me to wish you all, on behalf of all of us at Web Analytics World, a very Happy New Year or as occasionally said in Scotland…

A guid New Year and mony may ye see!

Filed Under: Blogging

How does Education use the Internet? (Infographic)

December 22, 2011 By 2 Comments

When I was at school it was in the day of chalk, and spirit duplicators with the occasional photocopied page. At college, sure the photocopies increased, but visual aids were more often than not a textbook page or diagram printed onto a transparency slide for the overhead projector. When working on assignments the key information for your work was most likely to be found in that book…you may know the one…there’s 4 copies, no one’s looked at them for months but every year when that assignment question comes round they’re suddenly all borrowed out from the library.

The library was the font of all knowledge during college and when I graduated my learning was work related and via colleagues or at night class; which was still textbooks, photocopies and overhead projectors – you wanted to learn something you bought a book. Then I got internet access at home…

These days, the majority of my learning is via colleagues and the internet, if I want to learn about or check something, an on-line search is the first port of call. I’m seeing younger family members use the internet for school, last week we were searching on-line for information about meteors to present back to the class. In fact, a recent infographic from SEO.com flagged that over 90% of students will go online to search rather than use the library, 83% go online because the library is closed (the internet can cater for those unsociable all nighters typing/writing up assignments). 

Of course students will need to learn how to verify the information gained and most folks would have guessed that Wikipedia would be the most used resource. That may be why 1 out of 3 academic leaders consider the internet inferior to face to face instruction! While I don’t believe it can beat a good educator in a face to face lesson, it can be an excellent tool for many tasks – the logistics of administration, engagement in class with a challenge or interaction during an assignment.  Take a look… I’ve embedded SEO.com’s infographic at the end of the post so you can see some of the numbers and how the internet is used by different colleges and universities.

Final Thoughts

The internet has changed education and I think it has changed for the better and will continue to grow in use. Some 8 out of 10 faculty report using video for class, you can see an excellent example in this TedTalk about using multimedia in math class. In a Nov blog post, TED advised that 2012 will see the launch of a new initiative called TED-Ed for students and educators; a library of videos organised in categories and playlists to provide an “immersive insight into a learning concept”. 

More than six million students are taking an on-line course - I don’t see myself going back to night class in 2012, but I will be taking an online course or two. How about you, do you use the internet for your studies? Or are you a full time educator either teaching about or using the internet as part of your lessons? 

How Has The Internet Changed Education?

 


Thanks to Killer Infographics for the idea for the article – Killer Infographics creates
infographic design and promotions for clients around the globe

Filed Under: Infographics, information technology

Passwords, authorised accounts and back ups – keeping safe

December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Given the time of year we’re wrapping up warm in the UK, enjoying(?) Christmas shopping and looking forward to a few days off work. You may also have been wondering about some of the less positive things associated with this time of year; burst pipes at home or in unattended offices and security when shopping online.

Passwords – the basics

The past couple of years have seen high profile stories relating to databases being hacked and personal details including passwords being compromised. In the autumn the Good to Know campaign started appearing in print and online adverts. This collaboration between Google and the UK Citizen’s Advice Bureau provides a set of resources for those wanting to learn more about internet security and how to stay safe on-line. Best practice for passwords include:

  • Avoid the obvious passwords, like Password or 123456, the majority of us are guilty at some point of using what can  be termed risky passwords, that is proper words with little or no numbers or special characters
  • Make sure your password is at the very least 8 characters long – ideally it should be 10
  • Use a mixture of upper/lower case letters, numbers and special characters, this makes it much harder to work out your password and it opens up millions and millions of possible variations.
  • Don’t use the same password across your important accounts like your blog, google, social media sites or affiliate accounts. I fell foul of this one years ago when my password was gained from a less secure account and then used in my paypal account. It’s that simple, once your oh-so-hard-to-guess password has been identified then all your accounts where you use it are at risk.

For more information regarding passwords a good place to start is the Google’s “Good to Know” set of resources.

Screenshot of how secure is my password

 

Even more fun is looking at http://howsecureismypassword.net/ and while you may not wish to enter an actual password you use, it gives you an idea of how even simply adding a number and special character can increase the time it may take to crack…try it with sauages, then add a number somewhere in the word, and finally add a special character. Sometimes a good password is a nonesense phrase or statement and then just mix it up with different cases, numbers and characters – just don’t go choosing sprinklecoateddoughnuts if you’re known for having a fondness for them!

Passwords – authorised accounts

The ongoing conflict between convenience and security! Many of us authorise widgets, applications, external services to connect with our key on-line entities e.g. a Facebook widget that Tweets your status updates, a widget that notifies you when you have a new story. What happens when you change your password on your main account, should you have to reauthorise all those add ons? What if your account had been compromised and a couple of new applications had been authorised that would allow the unauthorised person to still access your account and post or tweet as you?

Thanks to Adrian Kingsley-Hughes for flagging this one in relation to twitter but it’s worth taking note and periodically checking out the applications that you’ve authorised to interact with any of your blogs, or social media accounts. 

Burst pipes – Lost Passwords – Back up plans!

So what if the worst happens and your password is compromised, or you’re on holiday over Christmas and spill eggnog over your laptop, wrecking your hard drive? The best way to think about backups is – what would happen/how would I feel if everything got lost? 

  1. Make sure you’ve populated answers and emails in your password recovery settings. If you have populated this information, do you still have access to the recovery email address? Yes I’ve fallen into this trap, not updating my recovery email address when I changed jobs.
     
  2. Back ups for PCs, emails and online applications. We hate doing back ups, they take time that we could really be using somewhere else  Of course if you have a hosted blog then excellent, your provider will look after the back ups…but is that covered in your contract, are they daily or weekly backups? Perhaps you have an IT team who run back ups on the network, but what about those files you’ve not copied across to the network folder? Sometimes it may be best going for a “belt and braces” option and running your own back up on your important content or files. 
There are automatic back up programmes, password managers and many articles which can help you to work this out, but it’s worthwhile at the least looking at what your password security and back up current status is and then deciding if you want or need to take action. As you spotted I’m far from perfect when it comes to passwords, but I’ve learned from my mistakes and the regular back up activities at Web Analytics World gives me a calming feeling of “it’s okay” for a little while every week!
Filed Under: Blogging, internet security, Tips Tagged With: , ,

Google launches Think Insights: Resource Hub for Marketers

November 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As well as Google + Pages for Businesses being released last week, Google graduated Think Insights out of beta. Described as an “information and resource hub for marketers”, this hub is packed full of real-time data, industry research, case studies, tools and puts itself forward as a one-stop shop for marketers. 

Screenshot of Google's Think Insights Page

The site is split into 5 key areas: 

  1. Latest Insights 
    The first section features content on the popular topics of the day, just now you can learn about the five stages of travel from dreaming to sharing post travel. Included are key stats and listed underneath you can see related studies, articles, videos, tools and infographics.   
     
  2. Research Library
    This multi-media library is split into four areas; industry, media platform, audience and, marketing objective with each area further organised into sub categories. The research is from Google, their partners and thought leaders, so when I select “Social” as the media platform I can see a study from Google, a video from Chris Mann of 1-800 Flowers. The items are ordered into related studies, articles, videos and infographics and at the top I am able to filter the items on type, geographical region or year.
    Screenshot of filters in the Research Library
  3. Planning Tools
    If you are short on time, Google recommends you go to this page and try out the real-time insights finder; an interactive tool allowing you to identify search trends and on-line activity. Split across five questions you can look at what people are searching for, how they are searching, where they are clicking, what they are saying on and watching. The other tools on this page are mobile, search tools and benchmark tools where you can compare your campaign’s performance against others in the same industry, region or even by creative size.  
     
  4. Facts & Stats
    Split across industry, media platform, audience and marketing objective this area provides stats and charts for marketers to use in presentations and business cases. For example, did you know that every minute more than 500 tweets contain YouTube Links? The stats are sourced from other sources as well as Google.
     
  5. Thinking Ahead
    This area will share emerging digital trends that Google are keeping their eye on. Just now there’s only one article featured, but as with the other areas, you will have access to related studies, articles, and videos. 

Think Insights has gained enhancements following the initial user feedback, but Google are keen to continue the conversation and encourage us to join their Google + page and stay up to date with industry highlights, digital best practices and forecasts for the future.

We’ve embedded the Real-time Insights Finder below, why not give it a go? 

Filed Under: Google, Google News, Google Trends

Build it and they will come – five steps to reduce forum spam

November 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Since joining the Web Analytics World team I’ve had the opportunity to work on a number of different websites, from existing ones getting a revamp to brand new start ups and websites with forums attached. I’ve been a member of forums in the past but this year has seen me join the admin team on a forum and it’s been a steep but most excellent and enjoyable learning curve.

Forums, or any online community or message board, allows like-minded, or even opposing, individuals who have a shared interest to: discuss and share information related to that interest, gain solutions to problems from those with differing experiences, alert each other to breaking news and join in on off-topic chat.

As we looked at in last month’s post on comment spam, if you allow web visitors to enter information that can be seen by others or indexed by search engines, you will unfortunately gain your share of spammers. Forums provide more than the opportunity to post just a single comment:

  • forum members have profile fields (signatures, home pages)
  • members can post multiple times
  • members can create image albums, groups
  • members are able to send private messages to other members.

The spammer or spambot will register as a new forum member and may then:

  1. never complete the registration – you’ll see them as “users awaiting email confirmation”
  2. leave the account dormant
  3. not include any spam links and in fact start to post non-spammy content
  4. include a hyperlink or links in one of the profile fields and perhaps post spammy or non spammy content. 

Image of banning reasons on a forum, all spamDormant accounts can be left as they are for months with no spam links and then, perhaps when it’s anticipated that the forum moderators and admin’s attentions will have moved onto newer members, the account is edited to include links. 

Spammers posting non spammy content can, once they’ve built up their posts, then edit their profile to include spam links in the signature (which is then displayed against each of their posts).

This is just a few examples of spam activity but the aim is the same as with comment spam; to increase the linked site’s search engine rank or gain visitors by enticing the forum’s members to click on the links provided.

Don’t waste your time and don’t take it personally

No one wants a perfectly spam free forum if it means that you as the admin or moderator have to spend all your time reviewing every post or new member. Perhaps it may be feasible if you have a small forum, but what about one with over 5,000 members, 20,000 threads and 600, 000 posts? The good news is that there are steps you can take to reduce the level of spammers that post spam, or include profile spam, without spending hours on reviewing profiles and posts.

The majority of the time the spammers are hitting your forum because the member page is in essence a form – a place where they can enter spam. I’ve seen very specialised communities get hit with spammers and bots, who then become non-completes or non active members as they can’t easily post or include spam links on their membership fields.

Where to spend your time

  1. Settings – use your forum’s admin settings against spam 
    • Check out how you are getting users to register as new members. Make full use of captcha and questions designed to catch out spam bots, recently I’ve seen CAPTCHAs where the user has to turn a picture the correct way up, or click and drag the image of a cat out of four random images into a circle. Remember to think to about accessibility if you are using CAPTCHA and provide an alternative interface for users who cannot see the screen.
    • Look at the user permissions e.g. not allowing new members to have access to their signature field or putting new users first posts into auto moderation until they have achieved a set number that have passed and been published
  2. User search – this is so simple, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought about it earlier! Rather than keeping a manual list of potential spammers, I just run a weekly check on active accounts, sorted in ascended order by number of posts and can scan it quickly for those accounts now featuring signature and home page spam links.
  3. Plug-ins – I have seen a huge reduction in my admin time by the use of StopForumSpam and GlowHost’s Spam-O-Matic. As the first line of defence they make for excellent gatekeepers and the StopForumSpam forum provides first rate advice and support. As a new forum admin it is understandable that I am all sparkly-eyed and enthusiastic about new shiny helpful tools but even our Technical expert/legend has been impressed at their effectiveness.
  4. The Community – your members are against spam too, so encourage users to flag posts that are spammy or alert you if they are receiving spam private messages from other forum members.
  5. Moderators – Use your Forum Moderators to act on reports of spam by members and to take action when they spot spammer activity themselves.

Final thoughts

My tactics have improved as I’ve got more knowledgeable about forum spam and I’m sure they will have evolved/changed by this time next year but there are two valuable lessons which I don’t see changing:

  1. Trust my instinct – I’ve spent all my life working with people, and even though I’m just reading posts…the user behaviour which doesn’t sit right, results in a spammer identification over 90% of the time.
  2. I’m human – I won’t ever get the forum 100% free from spam and I will make a very occasional mistake. It’s not a disaster if I ban someone who shouldn’t be – bans can be lifted. So I just have to ensure that members have another route to reach our admin team e.g. via contact form.

We may alter our tactics in the future but so far we’re happy with how it’s working. How about you? – We’re keen to hear about your experience with forum spam and any hints or tips that you can share with our readers.

Filed Under: Blogging, Spam

Google Reader – the shunned social community

November 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Unlike my usual “where’s the catch” outlook when faced with Google+ or Facebook changes, my initial reaction was positive when the news came out that Google Reader was getting updated. Reader was getting a new design and being brought closer together with Google+, sounds good.

Image of Tweet relating to Google Reader Changes

Image of Welcome to new Google Reader

However I’m not an expert Reader user; yes I’ll visit it regularly during the week and I couldn’t manage to scan read or store the amount of information that I do using another tool. It is the easiest way I know to scan read and store lots of information from many blogs and feeds, my on line library of all manner of articles from arts & craft through to anti-spam measures.

My initial, “ah that makes sense getting to integrate Google+ for sharing”, gave way to “doh! there’s the catch” and then “oh darn it, that sucks” when I realised that:

  • the sharing activities like friending, following and sharing were going to be “retired”
  • there was a whole world of communities sharing news and stories via Google Reader 
  • for countries like where social networks are banned, Reader was essentially a news feed and social network

So basically, as described by Google Operating System

Image of blog post describing Google Reader changes

Having now read more articles about Google Reader, I understand the value that users gained from Reader and appreciate why so many are upset at these changes. Thanks goes to Sarah Perez from TechCrunch, it was your article that got me reading more about the reaction to the planned changes. 

What is harder to understand is why Google is forcing sharing through Google+. Yes Google wants to focus on fewer areas but how does shutting down sharing help that, or is this the first step in “retiring” the Reader? It’s worth noting at this point that I’m not even going to talk about the new design, (it’s going to take some getting used to, and I miss the colours), so I’m including this link to a review by Brian Shih, ex-PM on Google Reader. Check out the updated and comments at the end of the article to see how to share via Google+ without publicly +1-ing everything.

Google made it clear from the first announcement that they expected losses as some may not want to continue with the Product and flagged that they would be extending the Reader’s export feature; allowing users to take their data with them. But I’ve realised that Google has missed the point: these users have years of experience invested in using Google Reader and the sharing networks/communities that they have helped grow…and more importantly, these users don’t want to go and are taking action.

Some are marching to occupy Google Reader, some are looking at other readers, Francis Cleary is creating HiveMined (an RSS feed with some social bits) and the rest of us are are looking at the best ways to share both via and avoiding Google+.

I’ve also joined the 14,000+ who’ve signed the Save Google Reader Petition.

 

**If you are trying to work out how to find your previously shared items – check out Alex Chitu’s post**

Filed Under: Google, Google+, RSS

Full circle: public figures update their audiences through personal profiles

October 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

September 2011 and what Facebook called the “most significant changes to the Facebook Platform since its launch in 2007″.

Image of Facebook Allow Subscribers buttonIncluded in these changes is the Subscribe Button, an opt in choice that allows you to not only vary the level of updates you receive from friends but more importantly to gain updates from individuals you don’t know but want to follow (spot the Google+ term), like a politician or perhaps an author. Which may bring some full circle back to using profiles.

Initially it was all about the profile and group, as Web Analytics World advised “…Organizations and bloggers should create Facebook Groups to further promote brand presence…”. Then in November 2007, Facebook launched Pages and with them, the main tool for businesses, public figures, organisations and causes to interact with individuals.

Profiles, Groups or Pages?

Despite this, there were still Facebookers using personal profiles and groups to communicate with their audiences, some had started before Pages existed and there was no way to easily migrate all their followers and activity between the three entities. Newcomers to Facebook weren’t always sure which was the best option (personal profile, group or page?) and on occasion created and used their personal profile for business without realising that this goes against Facebook T&Cs.

In October 2010, Facebook launched a tool to help users migrate the most important part of their profiles, their friends, over to a new Page. That same month, Facebook redesigned groups with the focus on making them suitable for more personally connected and smaller groupings. There was no migration tool to help groups move over to a new Page. Instead this summer Facebook started a process of migrating old style groups, either into the new style of group or into the archive and oblivion. 

Should I delete my Page and Subscribe?

Fast forward to September 2011 and the Subscribe button, so if I’m a public figure should I be closing down my Page now?

Not necessarily, although Facebook does say that you can use either or both routes to interact with your audience.Screenshot of Mark Zuckerberg Subscriptions Whether you’re new to Facebook or established and comfortable with using a Page, take this opportunity to review your short, mid and long term goals for using Facebook and if you are already using it, your progress so far towards achieving these goals. Even if you are not a public figure, it is always worthwhile to invest some time in reviewing your Facebook activities and goals.

If you are interested in the Subscription route, take a look at the differences in functionality between Profiles with Subscriptions and Pages. While both allow an unlimited number of fans/subscribers, at this early stage, Pages hold far more functionality:

  • allowing more than one admin (obviously!)
  • targeted updates (language and location)
  • custom tabs and applications
  • adverts
  • links 
  • insights for your page and website

Last night, Facebook Pages released a set of best practice guides for public figures to ensure that you get the most out of your page activity. It’s also worth noting that although the subscription button allows you to gain a wider audience with your public updates, the T&Cs still state that you are not to use your personal profile for your own commercial gain. 

So while it may be a good option to allow subscribers I wouldn’t recommend deleting your page just yet!

Filed Under: Facebook