Rich Page Ramblings

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Here is this week’s link loving from me - the most interesting blog posts I have read this week. Oh, and if you take a look on the right hand side of this blog, you will see I set up MyBlogLog on here, so you can see the other cool cats who read this blog, and join my community.

Google Analytics 3.0 - My Speculation
Some interesting speculation from Stephane Hamel about whats could to be in the next version of Google Analytics!

Are You #1 in Google? It Doesn’t Matter
I really agree with Darrell Long’s article here - too many marketers simply think that getting to the top spot in Google is all you need. Wrong!

SuggestionBox.com Launched
I think this new web company is destined for great things - just look at the recent success of Starbucks own suggestion/feedback site (mystarbucksidea.com)!

Amazon Ups Custom Review Usability
The pioneers in online retailing take another great step in the right direction! Other online retailers should follow these changes!

The Action Dashboard (An Alternative to Crappy Dashboards)
I couldn’t agree more with Avinash’s viewpoint on creating insightful dashboards - there are way too many ‘reporting squirrels’ out there!

TomCruise.com (crazy self-promoting website of the week ever)
Can You believe Tom Cruise? His new site is one of the most ridiculously self-worshiping websites I have EVER seen. I think I just puked in my mouth. And they say he’s crazy? Never…

Oh, and heres another shameless plug to join my community… getting the hint?

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Imagine being able to walk into a regular store, say what you are looking for, and have everything related to what you are looking for brought to you instantly for you to choose from. That would be pretty amazing right? This is obviously pretty much impossible to do in  real store, but very easy to do at online store. So why do so few websites still not offer site searches, and the ones that do, often fail to provide a good search experience for the visitor - and worse still, fail to analyse the secrets of customer insight that are revealed by offering a site search. So with this latest edition of Win at Web Analytics, I am going to discuss why you need a site search, your options to set one up, and what you should be analysing with the data to get true visitor insight. Oh, and don’t confuse site search with search engine traffic! So lets get started… Continue Reading »

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Okay I lied, creating and using great Excel charts won’t necessarily get you a pay rise, but it can certainly help influence your boss and increase your chances of getting an extra chunk of change in your pocket each year! Especially if you are a web analyst or internet marketeer, as most of the reporting you do will end up in an excel chart - so make them the best you can!

So I got together a great collection of links from across the web, and books to read to help you get that raise. Follow these and pretty soon everyone in your office will come to you as the excel expert too! Continue Reading »

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It seems my feed reader seems to grow by the day - I am constantly finding new great blogs (ReadWriteWeb is my newest find). So here is a list of my favorite recent posts from the world of web analytics and marketing… enjoy! Continue Reading »

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Net neutrality. You may have heard that term mentioned a few times lately on the internet. Sounds way too boring though right? Yep - I too was one of those people. Until I recently stumbled upon a website devoted to this subject. Let me tell you. This could affect every one of you that are using the internet right now. Even me. In a really BAD way… ready for a shocker? Continue Reading »

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For this edition of Website Review & Rate, I thought I would get a little geeky and review probably the biggest tech blog on the internet - TechCrunch.com. I have been reading TechCrunch in my feedreader every day the last few years now, and let me tell you, its addictive. So, I think most people would agree, their content is fantastic, but how good is their actual website? Lets put it this way, it could certainly use a makeover… so lets get started with the review! Continue Reading »

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Okay. Relax, and grab a cup of coffee (or pot) or your favorite beer (or 6 pack) or glass of wine (or bottle). Because you are going to be here for a while!

I have gathered together a pretty big list of all the more interesting web analytics videos I could find on the internet! I have categorized them into different types - the basics, advanced, and general commentary. Hope you get as much use out of them as I have. And yes, Avinash Kaushik is pretty much a movie star - he seems to be in so many of the videos on this list! Anyway, enjoy…. Continue Reading »

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There is a new craze thats beginning to sweep the nation - Chumby! But just what exactly is a Chumby? It’s a rather cool compact consumer wireless internet device. About the size of a coffee cup, and has a 2.5 inch touch screen, you can get all kinds of cool info and widgets on it - MySpace, weather, traffic, news, Facebook, email, Flickr photos etc. Basically you name it, and you can use it for it. I don’t own one yet (subtle hint? hehe), but I thought Chumby.com would be a great candidate for my website Review and Rate series. So here we go - just how good is it for potential buyers and owners? Read on and find out… Continue Reading »

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Google Analytics. Its free. Its great for measuring basic web site performance. Recently however, some small free web analytics tools have appeared, looking to better their offerings. And in one area in particular… engagement. As many of us know, because of the rise in web 2.0 like videos and gagdets built in flash and AJAX, the industry can no longer rely on page views as a metric to indicate site popularity. In fact, in July 2007 Comscore and Nielsen both stopped using pageviews as the primary metric for comparing websites - yet still haven’t replaced it… Continue Reading »

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Starbucks seems to be in trouble lately - a surge in competition from companies like McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts, a faltering economy, and their stocks tumbling from $47 to $17. So what did they do in response? Hire a bunch of overpaid experts (HiPPOs) to figure out what customers want?

 No! They turned to the web for a very ingenious idea… Starbucks recently setup a ‘My Starbucks Idea’ website, as a way to gain customer insight. Think of this as the ultimate online survey tool. Starbucks customers join this site, submit their ideas, other people rate them, and Starbucks LISTENS to the ideas and acts on the most popular ones! Amazing.

And they are already acting on ideas being submitted. And one of the ideas being acted on I am truly shocked they are finally doing - free Starbucks wi-fi! Yep, they are going to be offering 2 hours of free wireless internet in their stores (hopefully per visit)! I have wanted them to offer this for so long - many other ‘local’ coffee shops offer this, and was often the reason I visited them instead of Starbucks.

Now this survey website got me thinking. Why doesn’t every major online business offer a survey site like this? It’s a great way to learn the online customers voice. This is much better than simply guessing at what customers want by using traditional clickstream web analytics tools. Come on Amazon.com and Buy.com… if a brick and mortar can do this successfully, its bound to work even better for online companies. So follow the lead here, and see what your online customers really want… you may be surprised!

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