Analyzing Your Google Analytics (Part 1)

According to Google’s Chief Business Officer, Nikesh Arora, Google Analytics, a popular tool for monitoring traffic to a website, is installed in over 10 million websites.

Google Analytics is popular by choice, and many of our clients request it to be added to their site. Once it is added, they can view how many users have visited their site, and know whether or not these are returning visitors, or new visitors. They can analyze how users got to their site, whether it was a keyword search in a search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing, or if it was a referral from another website. They can also view which pages were viewed the most and the technical stats such as which browser they were using and if it was on a mobile device.

While all of this information is informative, many might not use this information effectively.

Analyzing your data should be a perpetual means of reanalyzing your own site and customizing it to the interests of your users.


Review your traffic.
How are people getting to your site? Google Analytics is broken into 3 main traffic categories: Search, Referral and Direct. Search refers to the keywords users typed into search engines that resulted in your site. Referral traffic shows how a user got to your site from another domain. This can be important if you are engaged in referral relationships with other websites; you can then see if your relationships are actually generating traffic. Direct traffic is when users directly type in your website, which pages most often appear in auto-completion, or who have it bookmarked.

Put that information to use.
Getting a general idea of why your site generates traffic from certain keywords, referral sites or direct traffic can give you an idea of the most successful pages to your site. You might want to focus campaigns on these particular items users search for, and make sure you keep certain pages that are frequently visited fresh and updated.


What are they looking at?
Take a look at your Content Overview. This outlines the pages that are visited the most on your site and shows you what content users are most engaged in. If you drill down into Overview/Site Content/All Pages, you will have more information about the pages users are looking at. Here you can get an idea of many times a particular page was viewed and for how long it was viewed. Pageviews shows how many times the page was viewed, and includes the amount of repeated views. Unique pageviews shows how many times a page was viewed at least once. Entrances indicates if this particular page was the initial page users gained entrance to your site. Bounce Rate indicates whether or not a user left the particular page without interacting with it. % Exit indicates if this particular page was the last page on your site that was viewed by the user.

Put that information to use.
Content analysis helps you determine on a per page basis the popularity of a page based off of its Pageviews and it’s integrity through Entrances, Bounce Rate and % Exit. If a page comes up frequently as an Entrance page, then you want to make sure the page is updated frequently. If you have an e-commerce site and a particular product’s page is a frequent Entrance page, then you maybe want to offer a special on it to entice your customers. If a page has a high bounce rate, you first need to determine if there are any usability issues such as malfunctioning scripts, or slow loads. If these are not an issue, there could be other factors such as a user needing only the information on that page and/or they have no interest in visiting other pages. Sometimes determining the reason for bounce rates are not very clear.


In this article, we only focused on analyzing your traffic and content analytics. Look out for future articles that discuss other aspects of your analytical reporting. If you have questions about your site’s traffic, feel free to contact us for consulting.

Get Customers to Open Your Email

If you are an email marketer, then a great deal of your time is spent writing emails for your customers and potential clients. These emails not only serve as a means to convey important information, events, discounts, and information on your products, but they also serve as a pathway to your business. While you might dedicate a good amount of your time creating these emails, there is no guarantee that your clients will even open the email. Part of being a successful email marketer is writing read-worthy, and click-worthy emails.

Below are a few pointers in writing successful emails:

1. What would you read? Put yourself in the position of your client. Would you open the email? Think about the emails you decide to open, and the ones you choose to delete. When scripting up your email, write as if you are part of the audience.

2. Make it straight and to the point. When your email is initially opened, what stands out? Let your most important elements that you are trying to convey stick out and use the least amount of words as possible. When an email becomes too lengthy, users might pass up the chance to read your email entirely.

3. Your subject line is your punch line. Make sure your subject line entails what your email is about. Make it interesting, informative, creative, and/or humorous if you have to. It might be the only thing they read from your email, so let it convince them why they should open the email. Many customers will bypass reading an email simply because the subject line does not interest them.

4. Utilize the first few lines correctly. Most email inboxes display the first few lines of an email as a preview to it’s content. After the subject line, this is your next opportunity to grab their attention. Layout your email design correctly; if your email is mainly graphics, make sure to throw in some text at the top so their inboxes pull it in.

5. Customize emails to what the user is interested in. When a user signs up for your mailing list, let them check off what they are interested in. For example, stores can offer emails on the latest coupons, or notifications on new products in a specific department. This idea works great for large businesses that can offer many options.

6. Help people save money. Nothing speaks like “free” or “discount”. If a customer has been contemplating buying a particular product or trying out a new restaurant, a monthly or weekly savings offer could increase the likelihood that they would open your email.

7. Inform Them. People love to learn. When emails offer information relative to a customer’s interest, practice or industry, the chances they would open your email increase. This tactic can even be used when your business is primarily into selling; switch up your content between selling and informing to keep the customer intrigued.

Need some help? Then let Halal Print design an effective email that balances layout, imagery and content to get your information across. Contact us for a quote.

Boost Your Sales at Your Online Store

According to new global estimates by eMarketer, business to consumer e-commerce sales in 2012 grew 21.1% to top $1 trillion for the first time.

E-commerce, or the commerce of trading goods and services online, is a rapidly developing avenue for any business. The convenience online stores provide helps fuel online buyers. But how do you get users to buy instead of browse?

If you are a retailer without a store online, you could possibly be missing out on potential customers. If you have a site online, is it pulling in the traffic you need? Developing content rich sites, user-friendly interfaces, and appealing layouts takes balance.

With a lack of balance, many online stores suffer from frequent shopping cart abandonment, the act of visitors beginning the checkout process but never completing it. This is where analytics can show that a website is pulling in traffic, but not sales. This could be puzzling to ecommerce owners.

Below are a few ideas on increasing your sales with your online store:

Focus on your customer list. The customer list is a valuable tool for any company; these are the people who have already bought from you. The potential to turn a one-time customer into a frequent customer is more likely than it is with turning a potential customer into a one-time customer. On a monthly basis, utilize email campaigns to promote your products and services. Offer discounts and coupons. Through email campaigns to your own customers, you increase your own companies awareness.

Offer bundled products. Combining products into product packages helps take a one-product sale and turn it into a multiple-product sale. This in turn makes it a more profitable transaction. Product bundling works great with items that require accessories, or work in sets.

Offer a range of product prices. Make your ecommerce site appealing to customers of all budgets. If a person with a smaller budget finds your store online and immediately notices the prices are out of their range, you risk to possibility of them leaving your site. By offering low price to high price ranges on your items, you increase the probability that you can net one customer.

Let a cheaper item be the bait. Most customers are enticed by a cheap deal. By offering a cheap, low margin item either through an email campaign or from your home page, then linking other items or “by more items and save” tactics, you increase the possibility that the cheap deal technique reels in a profitable sale.

Free Products. If you don’t offer it cheap, then offer it free. The word “free” rings in anyone’s mind like they are getting a deal. Whether its offering free shipping, or getting another item free when they purchase a certain amount or a certain product, this tactic has helped plenty of businesses increase sales.

Need an online store or need someone to make yours more streamlined and appealing? Then contact us for a free estimate!

Advertise on a Budget

Advertising on a budget? With a bit of money-saving strategies, you can get the word out about your company with minimal costs. Here are 10 ways you can advertise in a budget-friendly way:

1) Get a website. With the majority of people researching and looking online for information on products and services, having a website is a crucial advertising medium. While website design can run expensive depending on the site’s functionality and consumer interaction, having a basic website stating who you are, where you are, what you sell or offer, and how to contact you is worth spending your marketing budget on. Halal Print’s basic website design package can get your company's essential info up and on the web.

2) Get into digital business directories. Statistics show that 61% of global internet users research products online. By adding your business to directories like the Yellow Pages, the Yahoo business directory and Google Places for Business, potential customers can locate you more easily.

3) Give away branded merchandise. People love free stuff. While there are plenty of items to choose from, utilize items that people mostly use such as t-shirts, cups, pens and key rings. Keep with simple layouts and designs to minimize costs, such as using 1 or 2 tone color schemes.

4) Utilize business cards. Even with the advent of digital address books, business cards still uniquely reinforce references and recommendations. To even some business prospects, the business card still stands as a conventional way to maintain contact information. Keep a stash with you on hand so you can hand them out or put them on bulletin boards. Business cards run cheap, just check out Halal Print’s Premium business cards where you can get 500 for only $21.  Want yours to stand out from a stack of business cards from competitors?  Then invest in something that makes your different such as the square business card or silk stock.

5) Sponsor events. Conferences, seminars, television and/or internet programs and special events give advertisers commercial spots, verbal mentions and space in their handout programs to market to target audiences. While sponsorship can get expensive, choosing from lower level sponsorship packages can fit many budgets and still give companies or organizations visibility.

6) Brand your business vehicle. Branding your vehicle gives you advertising on the move; you can easily establish local presence merely while driving around. Vehicles can either utilize full body vehicle wraps that fit over your vehicle’s exterior, or simple car magnets that can be placed on car doors. While vehicle wraps are custom to a model’s design, car magnets can be easily taken off and moved to other vehicles. We offer car magnets starting at $55/per pair.

7) Ask for referrals. Word-of-mouth marketing (WOMM), commonly known as referrals, remain as one of the best advertisements for any business. Why? (1) They’re free! (2) They also serve as an authentic customer review – if a customer is pleased with your services or products, they let others know. When people feel that someone they trust can tell them that this company or organization is reliable and provide good service, they are more inclined to try them out.