10 things you should be monitoring on your website
By David Leonhardt

Every business needs to know how it is doing. That’s the idea behind exit surveys, customer feedback forms, suggestion boxes and other devices. Without feedback from the customer, monitoring inventory, expenses, revenue and other benchmarks, a business can take a quick slide down a slippery slope, without the owner ever seeing it coming – or being able to stop the slide.

Webmasters also have things they should be monitoring on their websites. Most of these can be classified as traffic related or server performance related. Here is my top ten list.

Monitoring website traffic

Traffic totals. You want to know how much traffic you are generating. If the line on the graph is heading down, you know you have to find out why.

Referrers. It’s not enough just to know how many visitors you are getting. You need to know where they are coming from. I discovered I was getting a lot of visitors from a Thanksgiving site. They were all being funneled into my Thanksgiving Happiness article. Suddenly I knew I should get more links from other Thanksgiving sites. Valuable information.

Searches. Much to my surprise, my happiness site started getting a ridiculous number of hits from the search for “hairdressers”. It just so happens I wrote a humor column on a hairdresser experience. I was surprised to see it getting so much traffic for such a generic, competitive search term. If that had been a term of a little more relevance for me, this information would have lead me to properly optimize the page and get even more traffic.

Pages viewed per visit. If people visit only one page per visit, you have some work to convince them to visit more pages, like those that make you money.

Pages visited. So you threw up on your site something cool as an add-on. How were you to know that other webmasters would link to it and send a whole bunch of traffic your way? Well, now you know, so add some copy to the page to pull visitors into the rest of your site.

Monitoring website performance

Forms. Are they all functioning? A good website monitoring service can keep tabs on them for you. The last thing you want is to have lost hundreds or thousands of subscribers because a sign-up form stopped functioning

Shopping carts. Slow and complicated shopping carts are responsible for an estimated $25 billion in lost sales. Make sure yours is functioning properly. A good website monitoring service can watch this for you, too.

Download speed. Clear your cache and test your pages. Hmm. Maybe those images are a bit large. Time to compress them, or even remove some. Remember that some people are on a much slower connection than you are. I use a satellite connection sometimes, but when I don’t, my connection speed is 28K.

Server speed. re there problems with server speed? Maybe not where you are, but on the other side of the world. Global website monitoring can alert you to a transatlantic connection problem, so you can take it up with your web hosting service.

Server accessibility. All the web hosts promise 99% accessibility. But is that for real? Who monitors them? By one estimate, 75% of inaccessibility is not on the hosting server, but rather on the Internet’s backbone network and in global routing. A global website monitoring service can help identify the problem, so that you can work with your web hosting company to resolve it before too many sales are lost.

Fun. If you are not having fun, audition for that drummer position in the local band. There is no point spending your life doing something that bores you. Webmastering should be fun.

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If you are a business owner, or are contemplating starting your own business, if you don’t have a strategic plan, you are destined to fail. The creation of a effecient and effective business plan can mean the difference between having the need to work 70+ hours a week all year long – only to find out that your business is only just breaking even, or even worse, losing money.. Or being successful.

On the other end of the scale, many successful business owners and entrepreneurs who have created and implemented a business strategy generally work for less hours, and produce a more sizeable income and profit margins. You will also find, that in general, those who are successful with their own business, attribute their success to having a strategic plan.

Ok, we’ve discussed that having a good business strategy plan is essential, but what really is “strategic business management”? In its most basic form, its the process in which the goals and objectives for your business are defined, and an action plan is then created so you may reach your goals and objectives.

You now know what it is. So how do you go about creating a strategic plan for your business?

1) Any business owner should know, and be able to describe in detail, the vision for his or her business. Whats the image that you want your business to have?

2) Any operating business should have clear and concise company values and guiding principles. For instance, what are the reasons you are in business? Serve and protect? Provide quality soap? And how do you do business? Do you treat your customers like trash; or another form of royalty?

3) It would also be a good idea to create a 3 year and 5 year plan. Any business should implement a long-term plan in which the basis is on broad objectives that will assist you in getting your business from where it is today, to where you want your business to be.

4) Thinking not only long-term, but also short-term, will also greatly help your business develop. Each year, you should create, define, and plan specific objectives that when accomplished, will help you on the road to achieving your long-term goals. It is also worth noting, then when setting and planning your annual goals, is pays to be “SMART”. Make sure your planning incorporates the following points:

- Be very specific
- Show measure
- Make the goals realistic and attainable
- Make sure they are time-oriented

Include a list of obstacles and barriers which could holter your success from achieving your goals. In any case, getting to where you want your business to be, you’ll need resources. Create and define a list of resources you’ve already got, and the other resources which you will need to achieve your goals. At this point, you should also create a concise action plan that clearly defines how you will actually achieve the necessary goals. If your business has any employees, it is of great importance to involve them with this part of the business planning process.

5) In your business plan, you should create simple and concise milestones or benchmarks, that will define when you have actually reached a goal or objective. This is an essential part of the planning, as it will enable you to measure your progress as a business.

6) After you have created your strategic business plan, it is of paramount importance that it is shared with anyone who will be involved in the process. Your annual business plan is the roadmap which will lead your business and those involved, to the goals which need to be achieved — but to be effective, everyone must end up at the same goals and objectives, the “destination”, if you will. And to do so, everyone requires the same map.

7) Its no use having a well thought-out and planned strategic business plan, if you don’t put it into action. You now have a means to begin your business journey; its time to start it.

Be sure to regularly check and compare the progess of your business, to the benchmarks defined in your business plan.

If something should go wrong with your business, the sooner you figure out what went wrong, or what is -happening- wrong, the sooner you can fix the problem, make the necessary adjustments and get your business back on track.

9) And finally, ensure that each year you follow the exact same cycle to create your strategic business plan. Dream, Plan, Act, Check. Thats all there is to it.

As a final comment, I’ll leave you with this. Creating a business strategy and ensuring that you follow it, is not just about achieving specific goals and objectives. Its purpose is to also make sure that the journey taken to these goals, is a safe and enjoyable journey.

Having a safe trip is just as important as reaching your final destination.

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There is a ton of money wrapped up in affiliate marketing. It is a growing market with a broad range of affiliates striving to urge ahead. What do the wealthy affiliate have that sets them higher than the remainder? They need many traits in common that build them rise to the top of their business to form cash online.

Know What You’re Selling
Whether you are promoting a service or a product, you have got to be sold on it before you’ll effectively sell it to someone else. You’ll be able to not target an audience if you are doing not understand what they want and need. Become personally familiar with the product, service, and business you are prompting the client to take up. Not only can you be higher at your job, however you will sleep better at night.

Communicate Openly and Listen Fastidiously
By getting to know the business owner who you’ll be operating with, you will gain a larger understanding of what makes them and their products or services special. You never apprehend when you may pick up a morsel of information that you can use. Stay in bit with the folks involved with the location and products therefore that you’re responsive to their strengths and selling points.

Do Not Keep All of Your Eggs in One Basket
Use totally different promoting methods. There are way more than one search engine and completely different techniques will provide a better match for each web based business. Enable yourself the liberty to be artistic and to brainstorm concerning the simplest solutions for the situation. Just as a result of a set of methods worked well for the last 3 projects does not mean that it can be the simplest fit for the next one.

Or you’ll be able to use the Google Snatch ways to be successful otherwise. It is based mostly on the free click formula and it works regardless which market you go after.

Measure, Analyze, and Accommodate
You promoting methods must be monitored for impact. Live your success by observing internet traffic and measuring the activity on the sites. Once you’ve got this data, you’ll analyze the results of your efforts and create accommodations as necessary.

For instance, if you’ve got a giant range of folks leaving immediately from the positioning, you will want to vary your landing page. On the opposite hand, you will would like to reconsider your target audience. You must adjust to suit things at hand.

Content is Key
Regardless of how a lot of work goes into driving the right people to a site, the positioning itself should keep them there and prompt them to action. Good, solid content is crucial to the success of a marketing endeavor. The types of content that can sell embody helpful reviews, testimonials, product or service tips and recommendations, and interesting articles. Participating content isn’t optional, it is necessary.

It has been estimated that a small percentage of affiliates procure a giant share of the industry’s business. Whereas some affiliates struggle to get by, others soar to the prime of the group. By embracing the merchandise, taking the time to communicate well, implementing multiple marketing methods, monitoring and adjusting your strategies, and adhering to the rule that content ought to never be a mere filler, you too can become a brilliant affiliate marketer.

Seeing as there are already tons of folks getting into partner promoting, it is no surprise that the competition is getting stiff. The challenge is to strive and outdo other affiliates and suppose of ways in which internet marketing consultant to be able to realize this.There are also many tips and techniques being taught to these affiliate so as to best arrange their strategy for his or her program to work effectively therefore that more earnings will be achieved.

What higher manner search engine optimisation services to wow your prospects and customers than to record and publish prime notch, full motion and streaming screen-captured videos. Nothing like feeling your onerous work getting paid by having your customers jumping up excitedly in nice anticipation to shop for your product right there and then.

This is Screen Capture Software pay per click management in action. It is a incontrovertible fact; giving your customers one thing they can actually see will explode your online sales instantly.

You do not want to own trainings and education to be ready to understand how this system will work for your partner program. Anyone can produce beautiful videos, from multimedia tutorials and step-by-step shows obtainable online. The method is like having your customers seated next to you and looking at your desktop, as you show them the things they need to determine and hear. All this done step by step.

For those who does not know it yet, how will Screen Capture Software works?

1. It can record your desktop activity in a single click. No need to have to save lots of and compile all of your files as a result of it is recorded right there and then.

2. Can easily convert your videos into internet pages. Once converted you’ll be able to have your customers visiting that certain page. Videos are easier to perceive and take in not like reading texts which oftentimes could be a trying factor to do.

3. Upload your pages. Publish them through blogs, RSS feed and podcasts. You will wish your Camtasis videos to induce around and reach out to different people that may be potential customers within the future. Nothing like being visible in several sites and pages to advertise yourself and find your message through.

There are more things you can do with your partner program using Camtasia. You’ll…

Create gorgeous multimedia shows that are proven to extend sales because all the senses are engaged. This additionally has the tendency to reduce skepticism among arduous-to-please customers.Reduce refunds and alternative client issues by demonstrating visually a way to use your product and how to try and do it properly. Complaints will additionally be minimized as a result of all the facts and the presentation are there for the shoppers to just see and listen to about.

By using drop-shipping firms to handle your orders, you could route all your ecommerce site’s orders to wholesalers, and they will drop shipped your order directly to customers. And you as the online retailer can eliminate the expense of carrying inventory and the risk of being stuck with the goods if these goods didn’t sell.

Before you get started, consider these seven steps involved in starting a drop-ship e-business:

Step 1: Decide to sell your products with or without your own website

You can start your drop-shipping e-business either with or without having your own website. If you decide to sell with your own domain name, then you need to get your ecommerce site up. If you do not want the hassle of getting your own ecommerce site, then you could build your online store at eBay. eBay e-store site builder allow you to build your online store easily.

Step 2: Decide products to sell

Then, you need to decide what types of products to sell at your online store. You could identify a group of products such as electronic products, household electrical appliances, cell phones & etc. It is advisable to identify similar products or products under the same category to sell instead of totally different category products such as shoes and CD player. Because, by selecting products within the same category, you can give your customers more choice to choose from, and you can group two or more products in a bundle for promotion or marketing activities and you get more sales on each transaction.

Step 3: Locate suppliers who will drop-ship for you

After identify your products to sell, you need to look for your drop-shipping suppliers. On time delivery is important to ensure the satisfaction of your customers; hence, be sure you check for the drop-shipper performance record before you sign-up an account with them. Discussion forum, message board and blogs are sources for you to find some hints or comment for the drop-shippers. Or you just simply key-in the drop-shipper name on the Google or Yahoo search box; you should get some information of your selected drop-shipper.

Step 4: Set up an account with the drop-shipper

Once you select a drop-shipping company, you need to set up a reseller account with the company. This can often be done online or by phone, but some companies will require that you complete and return a reseller application to open an account. Some may also require a tax ID and a business license. Most drop-shipping company will charge some fee to open their reseller account.

Step 5: Advertise the product for sale online

Many online retailers failed in their drop-shipping e-business because they could drive traffic or visitor to their website and convert these visitors to the actual paying customers. To get traffic to your product page (either your website or your eBay e-store), you need to advertise your products so that your products get exposure on internet and attract targeted traffic to your product page.

There are many ways to advertise your products. You could advertise on eBay, use pay-per-click (PPC) advertisement service such as Google Adword or Yahoo PPC. Or you could go for the cheapest but equally efficient way in driving traffic to your e-store: Article Marketing. You could write a review on your products in an article and put your e-store URL at the end of article or at the author resource box and submit them many article directories for maximum exposure. Many internet visitors will drop-by to your e-store via your URL link at the end of your article if they are interested to know more.

Step 6: The Product Sold & Place Order To Drop-Shipper

Once your have product sold, your customer will pay you on your selling price via your online payment system such as PayPal. And you place the order with your drop-shipper and pay them via their payment system at the agreed price, which is lower than your selling price, so that you could earn the profit.

Step 7: After Sale Follow Up

Many e-business entrepreneurs will miss out after sale follow up portion. Just because your customer has paid you and you have placed the order with the drop-shipper, it does not mean that this is end of the loop. Because if there are problem occur, you are the one who need to responsible in the eyes of your customers. Hence, you should follow up with your drop-shipper either via phone or email to ensure that ship out your order to your customer.

You should proactively follow up with your customer to ensure they have received their order and satisfy with it. Offer yourself as the personal contact for any issues that may arise. This is also a great way to sell customers more products because if your customers are satisfied with your service, they may give you repeat orders.

In Summary

By integrate drop-shipper into your e-business, you can forget about inventory handling issues and find a shipping partner to fulfill orders for you; all will be done by your drop-shipping partners. By following correct steps to set up your drop-shipping e-business, you can save your time and efforts in getting your business started faster.

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