Archive for the ‘Web’ Category

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Is your website an expense or a revenue producer?

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

smart phoneWebsites that use current development standards to incorporate the proper features and functionality will always be a step ahead of their competition. Keeping your online presence updated creates better experiences for the users and ultimately provides a higher return on investment for your online marketing budget.

Here are the Top 6 Signs your website needs an overhaul.

1. Your Website Isn’t Mobile Friendly!
Mobile is already 30% of web browsing, estimated to reach 50% or more in 2 years. Can you be seen?

2. Your Website Isn’t Social!
Social media will help build your brand and bring users to your website. Integration of these networks is an important element to a well rounded website.

3. Your Website Cannot Be Found!
Achieved through content optimization & proper code structure, website optimization is critical to the ongoing success of your website.

4. You Cannot Update Your Own Content!
Professional websites put the control of day to day updates in your hands, through simple to use custom Content Management Systems (CMS).

5. It Doesn’t Generate Leads or Sales!
Modern websites work for your company by utilizing data collection forms, providing registration touch points & building brand awareness.

6. It Simply Looks Outdated!
Web 2.0 site designs take advantage of larger monitor sizes, have a clean & easy-to-understand user interface & take advantage of the power of social media.

So, if your website shows any of these signs, it’s probably time for an overhaul.
Choosing the right team to help with this challenge will make a big difference in your ROI. Corporate Communications, Inc. is an award winning development team, winning 11 Best of the Web Awards from the Rochester Business Journal in the last 6 years. That’s more than any other firm. Let our expertise help you make your website an award winner and start generating revenue for your business.

It’s time to stop making excuses or complaining about the fact that your current website isn’t producing the results you want.

Give us a call at 585-262-3430 or email us info@corp-com.com to learn how we can help.

Posted in Design, Interactive, Web, Website Development | No Comments »

Website Statistics – Unique Visitors

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

Wouldn’t it be nice to know if the visits to your site are merely repeat visits from the same small group of users (who for example have your home page set as their web browser home page?!) or a broad growing base of users? This is where the Unique Visitors statistic comes into play.

Unique visitors are uniquely identified users who have made web server request (log analysis) or viewed pages (page tagging) within a specified period of time (commonly looked at on a monthly basis). A unique visitor can make multiple visits to a site but are still only counted once within the period.

Commonly the identification method is based off of the IP address assigned to the computer used to access the site or cookie found on the computer.

Truly determining unique visitors can be problematic for a number of reasons including:

  • Shifting dynamically assigned IP addresses – A specific computer may be reassigned an IP address within the period making it look like an additional unique user when in fact it is the same user
  • NAT IP address assignments – In this case many users may be hiding behind one IP address and will appear as one unique visitor within many return visits (WIFI hot spots for example)
  • Shared Computers or devices – In the case of a computer that is shared between many people (families, libraries, etc.) multiple visits to the same site by different people will be recorded as multiple visits by the same unique user
  • Same User / Multiple devices – This scenario has a bit of a twist. Let’s say a user accesses a website from home, the office and on the road via smart phone. These will all be recorded as unique visitors even though it is the same person.
  • Cookies Crumbles – Users can not accept or delete tracing cookies which can further complicate the situation

This statistic can be one of the most important numbers to follow if you are interested in gauging website growth and content penetration.

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Posted in Interactive, Statistics / Analytics, Web | No Comments »

Website Statistics – Visit Duration

Friday, April 29th, 2011

Website Visit DurationVisit duration or time on site is based upon user activity on a website. Basically it aims to report the duration of each visit to the website. Unfortunately each tracking method can collect this data differently and thus return different results.

For log based reporting a true picture of activity is not provided – here is why. The only way a time duration can be determined is when more than one page is requested. The time of the initial request is subtracted from the time of the last recorded request resulting in the logging of a visit duration.

Hosted solutions can work this a little differently. Google Analytics for example drops cookies on a users system to log specific requests. These cookies will mark the end of a visit when:

  • The user closes the browser – navigates away from the site
  • 30 minutes of time lapses between requests
  • End of day occurs (initial request @ 12:56PM followed by second request @ 1:03AM will be logged as two visits

If users delete the cookies or don’t permit them then the data will not be collected.

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Posted in Statistics / Analytics, Web, Web Hosting | No Comments »

To Online Marketing … and Beyond!

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

7 Great Ways Your Website Can Take On Business Functionality

Taking your website beyond a websiteA professional design and driving traffic to your website are key ingredients in building an effective web presence, but it doesn’t end there. Thinking beyond the standard website design requires a more in depth look at the overall workflow of your business operation and how you can offer a better experience for your new prospects and loyal customers. Developing better ways to interact with your customers or internal departments with custom online applications, will enhance the efficiency of your business, increase profitability, and put you ahead of the competition.

Whether you are just getting started or you’ve had your website online for a while now, rethinking your approach to website functionality will yield a better return of this investment. Companies that invest their web strategy budget in smart online features and functionality turn their website into an asset instead of an expense. Here are 7 great ideas to introduce business functions into your website.

1. Blogs / Forums / Community Building - Implement a method for your customers to provide valuable input and feedback to help guide the improvement and growth of your business. A blog is also one of the better ways to improve your Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

2. Careers / Job Application Manager - Integrate ways to streamline the process of receiving, tracking and communicating with potential job applicants and candidates. This will help you cast a larger net for better candidates.

3. Client Access - Create an custom online environment that gives your clients the necessary tools to efficiently interact with your business for common tasks and requests for your products and/or services.

4. Online Presentations / Tutorials – Today’s customers tend to avoid the sales process. To get under their radar, incorporate videos or presentations into your website. It allows you to highlight the key features and benefits of your services, introduce new products, provide how-tos, etc.

5. Online Demos / Product Tours – Provide ways for your visitors to ‘kick the tires’ of your products and/or services when they are doing research for their purchasing decisions. Anytime access let’s them explore on their time, at their convenience.

6. Interactive Calculators / Comparison tools - Tools like these create repeat visits, and you’ll also be recognized as a resource location by including methods for users to ‘do their homework’ and produce case evidence for decision makers to build the confidence needed for converting them.

7. Intranet - Develop an internal website / system customized to your business for posting resources, company policy, streamlining internal processes, enhancing productivity and improving the way your business communicates. Centralized, simple, world-wide accessibility makes this a much more lucrative method for delivering and distributing company information.

Features such as these make your web presence and overall web strategy a more valuable tool and will help give you an edge over competitors who don’t offer these options. Not only will these enhancements move you in the right direction toward successfully converting more prospects, they can also improve your bottom line by creating better efficiencies for the way you manage your business.

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Posted in Design, Interactive, Web | No Comments »

Visitors – Web page visits explained

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

Website VisitorsThey’re coming!!! No not the scary green men from outer-space – Website visitors,  also referred to as ‘visits’ represent a series of page requests made by a single user during a period. As long as the user continues to make page requests without exceeding a given timeout period the requests all fall under the same visit. (When initially configuring a web server the administrator can configure a “visit timeout” period, which is normally set at 30 minutes.) If the same user makes a request after the time out period the request will initiate a new visit.

For example – the most recent request from ‘user X’ occurs @ 12:25 PM. If ‘user X’ makes another request to the same website sometime before 12:55 PM the visit continues, the countdown timer is reset. If the user waits until 12:56 PM to make their next request the webserver registers a new visitor.  (This action will be seamless to the user.)

There are some inherent problems with ‘counting’ visitors with this method.

  • Let’s say a user begins a visit and then they get up and walk away to take a break. They come back and continue their research but because their next request is past the 30 minute mark they get assigned a new visit.
  • Let’s say there is a page on a site that is rather lengthy and in depth. If it takes the user longer than the default 30 minutes to make another request because they are carefully reviewing the content, their one visit will be counted as more than one.
  • Tabbed browsing, it makes it so easy to quickly open multiple pages and then refer between the tabs comparing and researching the various content. The problem with this is a user may open a half dozen tabs and read through them all before making another request from one of the sites – if the user exceeds the default timeout period a new visit is recorded and one visit becomes multiple visits.
  • It is standard for off site links to generate a new window, preserving the referring site for future reference. This can obviously become an issue if you site is still open in the background while the user surfs a different site.

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Posted in Statistics / Analytics, Web | No Comments »

What are Pageviews? (really, what are they!?)

Friday, March 18th, 2011

pageViewsThe next basic statistic people often throw around in conversation is pageviews (sometimes also referred to as page impressions.)

The statistic pageview indicates the total number of times any HTML page or non-HTML  requested ‘page’ (.pdf file for example) was requested on the site. This statistic definitely carries more value than the previous ‘hits’ statistic but can also provide a clouded view of what is happening on your website.

The statistic can be referred to in two ways. First from a overall site standpoint and secondly at an individual page level.

When considering pageviews alone from an overall site standpoint you are forced to take an average and apply it to each visit to the site. The reason is one user could come to your site and request a single page and then leave, while the next visitor could come to your site and make 40 page requests. From this number all you can tell is the total number of requests for the site for the period.

At an individual page level it becomes a little more relevant. Simply, the pageviews of an individual page represent the number of times that page was requested. Again you can experience similar issues as previously noted but you can also draw a conclusion that the content found on the specific page may be very important to your website visitors if the pageviews for that specific page increase.

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Posted in Statistics / Analytics, Web | No Comments »

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