How to Develop a Successful ROI for Your Website
Are You Really Measuring for Return on Investment (ROI) with
Search Engine Optimization?
Puzzling studies and reports suggest that businesses are missing
out when it comes to ROI, including a whole host of metrics that
should confirm or shape search engine marketing strategies.
You can’t accomplish much if you’re not even implementing SEO
the right way. We’ve seen web site after web site that includes
scores of individual keywords in the META keyword set (that many
search engines ignore anyway). The SEO team not only used the
wrong individual keywords (search phrases are better), but they
didn’t bother to include keywords in the page title or
description. And, of course, they didn’t think it was worth
their time to focus on multiple pages- not just the homepage.
Hint: If you’re selling dinnerware, “laundry” probably shouldn’t
be one of your keywords.
A WebTrends report cited in an eMarketer in 2004 showed the
following ROI:
Using Complete ROI analysis35.4% Click-through rates only24.2%
Conversion metrics18.7% Don’t measure21.7%
Barely one third figured a thorough ROI analysis was worth the
effort.
More than 80% of companies surveyed are dissatisfied with their
“ability to benchmark their marketing programs,” according to
“Measures + Metrics: Assessing Marketing Value + Impact,” a
stunning report based on a 2004 survey by the CMO Council, a
Palo Alto, California-based organization. The CMO Council
represents senior marketing and brand decision-makers in the
global technology industry.
“Less than 20% have developed any meaningful and comprehensive
measures and metrics for their marketing organizations,” the
report said.
It’s possible, Fathom SEO believes, that companies just settle
for what’s easiest. If getting high rankings offers enough
satisfaction, that’s where the measurement ends. Or, maybe a
business will look at total traffic (maybe even unique visitor
trends). With PPC, they’re apt to take up Google’s offer and
post an ad within 15 minutes, cranking out the common reports
Google offers. Businesses have a whole host of metrics that can
serve them as long as the data doesn’t fly over their heads.
Aligning SEM with Corporate Marketing Strategies You
should start by knowing how your SEM goals relate to your
corporate marketing strategy. Which of the following (or more)
do you want to accomplish? •Generate leads •Sell online •Build
brands •Grab more market share
Conversions You absolutely must track pages that allow
visitors to take some kind of action, including:
•Requesting a quote •Filling out a contact form •Placing an
order •Registering for a newsletter •Ordering a catalog
Establishing Your Metrics Determine which of the
following will be the metrics that will mean the most to you:
•Online sales (broken down by category) •Repeat visits •Profits
on sales •Customer satisfaction •Length of visits •Cost per
click (CPC) •Click-through rate (CTR) •Cost per conversion (CPC).
Get plugged into online consumers’ behavior patterns.
For example, studies show that consumers start researching
products online several weeks (12 weeks in some business-to
business scenarios) before they make a purchase – often offline.
Enquiro, based in Kelowna, BC, Canada, in 2004 found that 68.3%
of those surveyed used search engines for “consideration or
research.” The results are detailed in Enquiro’s “Inside the
Mind of a Searcher” research report that looks at issues
including four distinct types of searchers and the frequency
with which people search during the buying process.
ROI should be an integral part of any search engine optimization
strategy, not something that sounds foreign. Make it work for
your business.
Survivor Considers Heading to Canada for a Bikini-less Winter Show?
Survivor has mapped various spot all over the world, from the island of Borneo, to the land down under, to Africa and to the mountainous Fiji among others. What’s noticeable among these locations is the relatively similar weather environment, which allows the contestants, specifically the female contestants, to bare their physique in bikinis.
But with the future seasons of Survivor, the producers are now reportedly considering taking the competitive reality series to a different plane, probably one that does not involved two-pieces. According to Jeff Probst, host of Survivor, producers are contemplating on setting the show in Northern Canada.
With this consideration, another thing comes into mind. What will be the viewers’ reception of this change of direction? Over the years, Survivor has attained more and more fame and popularity whether because of its complicated challenges, its distinct realism or its diverse contestants.
However, it’s undeniable to say that baring some skin on the show has made the show much appealing and more interesting to watch.
When you think about it, shifting Survivor in a colder climate is also quite interesting to watch, though it does have its share of advantages and drawbacks. The challenges will definitely be more difficult because of the tolerance of the body to the cold weather. And bikinis would certainly be more alluring than parkas, hats and boots. On the other hand, it would be nice to see contenders actually survive a more complex environment.
As of the moment, there are no other details regarding the considered location. But one thing is sure, only American contestants can participate on the popular game show produced by Mark Burnett.
Survivor, a reality game show set in an isolated outdoor location, which features at least 16 contestants aiming to become the ultimate survivor, the winner of $1,000,000. But in order to be hailed the winner of the competition, participants must bare the drastic living conditions and vie with the hard challenges, as well as avoid getting eliminated by fellow contestants.
For more resources about Survivor and especially about Survivor considers heading to Canada for a bikini-less winter show? please reivew this website http://www.buddytv.com
Canada Pulls the Plug on Big Air
Certain ski resorts in Canada plan to make their slopes more family friendly by removing all of their man-made snow jumps. This is good news to some, especially if your father is bunny hill material, yet he still pretends to be a stuntman from a James Bond film.
The Canadian resorts stretch from Quebec to British Columbia. They include Lake Louise, Fernie, Kimberley, Nakiska, Mont-Sainte-Anne, and Stoneham. The resorts want to put safety first and they believe that other major resorts will soon follow suit. Matt Mosteller, Senior Director of Business Development for Resorts of the Canadian Rockies states, ‘We are undertaking an industry-leading initiative. We have found that one of the main issues that increase the likelihood of serious injury on our mountains is big air. When we are making decisions about safety at our resorts, the big jumps in the terrain parks always come into the equation. We decided to make a change.’
Amateurs might be saved some serious injuries, but what about thrill seekers that actually know what they are getting into when they try to get big air?
Mosteller addresses this concern, stating, ‘We are committed to providing our guests with a safe experience at our mountains. We realize that this change may disappoint some guests who regularly use these man-made jump features. However, we believe we have a strong moral obligation not to compromise the safety of our guests.’ There will, of course, still be other resorts that cater to the more talented and adventurous.
But for people that think the idea of leaving the ground while on skis sounds like a worst-case scenario, this change of policy means the resorts will have more money to invest on other perks the average skier is more likely to appreciate. For instance, the same announcement mentioned that new rails and features for existing terrain parks are planned in Lake Louise, Fernie and Nakiska. The parks are also implementing new “family-friendly” terrain parks. These new parks feature small rails, boxes and rollers that help children get started on the slopes.
According to the RCR website, the company is aiming at ‘encouraging learning, safety and fun in a non-intimidating environment.’ This seems to be in line with the corporate vision of RCR, which states that the resorts should be “the ideal place to visit when you want to re-connect with your family, friends and nature.” The company, which has owned and operated the parks for the past five years, wants the parks to be family-oriented destinations.
Skiing in general is one of the more dangerous sports. Clearly, bowling might be a bit safer than flying down a hill on two sticks at very fast speeds. But the resorts no longer want the added liability of “kickers,” as skiers often call such jumps.
The Resorts of the Canadian Rockies also announced its plan to host a Rail Jam series that will take place at Lake Louise Mountain Resort, Fernie Alpine Resort and Nakiska in the same press release,. “Features used in the Rail Jam series will be suitable for a high level of competition, while also adhering to safe practices,” according to the RCR. So, expert skiers that are not particularly concerned with family fun will have some new features to look forward to at the RCR parks.
The removal of RCR’s “kickers” is the subject of quite a bit of online controversy, but it appears that the RCR is unlikely to reverse its decision in the near future. Perhaps this isn’t a bad thing for families, since daredevils will now feel a little less compelled to imitate the pros. This initiative will certainly save at least a few broken bones across Canada this winter.
Wildlife Biologist Kim Poole On The Impact Of Diamond Mining In Canada
FJ: Let’s start with your experience studying the impact of diamond mining in Canada. What exactly was the scope of your work around the diamond mines and who employed you?
KP: I have been involved in environmental monitoring and assessment of diamond mines in the NWT for about 5 years, designing, assessing and reviewing wildlife programs.
I have come at this from the perspective of an independent consultant designing and reviewing monitoring wildlife programs, and more recently as a member of the Independent Environmental Monitoring Agency, a public watchdog for environmental monitoring of BHP Billiton’s Ekati diamond mine.
FJ: Who owns the land that the mines are on and how are these mines impacting the environment and wildlife?
KP: I am not certain, but I believe most of the mines are Crown land owned by the Federal government. Mines of this nature have an impact on the environment and wildlife at some scale.
The Ekati mine, for example, currently has a 20 km2 footprint. This leads to local displacement of small mammals and birds and impacts to the vegetation.
At a larger scale these NWT diamond mines have made great efforts to minimize and mitigate potential impacts to the environment.
Some changes to the aquatic and terrestrial systems have occurred, but these are minimized and contained to the greatest degree possible.
Thus, while there are still potential impacts that are currently being addressed and uncertainties in the system that require further monitoring, on the whole these mines operate in an environmentally sound manner.
FJ: Can you have a sense of how this economic development is affecting the Native communities, for better or worse?
KP: Socio-economic impacts are not my specialty, but these mines appear to have produced well-paying, long-term training and employment for Aboriginal peoples in communities scattered across the north.
In areas where opportunities for economic advancement are limited, I believe this has tended to smooth the boom and bust cycle of resource development that has occurred in the past in some areas.
This obviously has had an impact on the traditional Aboriginal lifestyle practiced by most Northerners until recently.
FJ: I’ve heard from others that Yellowknife is a boomtown which brings on a whole set of problems. Any sense of this?
KP: I lived in Yellowknife for 15 years in the 1980s and 1990s, leaving just as the Ekati mine, Canada’s first diamond mine, was being constructed.
Situated where it is, and depending heavily on resource extraction (the town was built on two gold mines),
Yellowknife has always had a frontier/boomtown flavor. The diamond mines have definitely intensified this milieu.
FJ: Diamond mining is expanding in the region. What do you view as the critical, ongoing environmental risks as mining expends?
KP: The main risk is to ensure that the cumulative impacts of all human activity do not adversely affect the environment, specifically wildlife.
Any one mine on its own may produce relatively minor, localized impacts, but in concert with all other activity, all these sources of development (mining developments, communities, camps, lodges, etc.) may exceed some threshold that could cause negative impacts.
Some wildlife in the north have huge annual ranges that have the potential to interact with sources of disturbance across a broad area.
FJ: In your opinion, are all mines the same in terms of impact on the environment, or are some better managed than others? What I’m trying to understand is whether or not a particular site has a more onerous reputation than other sites.
KP: In this day and age, I suggest all mines in the North have environmental standards that are far superior to those which occurred in the past. There are a multitude of regulatory requirements, licenses, and permits that are required to construct and operate a mine, and a host of regulatory agencies that monitor this process.
That said, each company has a subtly different approach to the process, which means that some are indeed easier to work with and better managed than other.
FJ: Would you recommend a Canadian diamond to your environmentally activists friends?
KP: If a diamond is in someone’s plans, yes, without hesitation.
FJ: Anything else that you’d like to ad?
KP: Readers may wish to visit the IEMA website for updates on our review of the environmental program at Ekati.
Similar websites are available for the other 2 operations diamond mines in the NWT.
Cheap Web Hosting for the Penny Pincher in All of Us
If there’s one thing I know, it’s the Internet. I’ve been online for many years and I have numerous websites. Each site is hosted by; you guessed it, a web hosting company.
When I began online with my first website I signed up for an account with a company and received 50 MB of space and 200 MB of bandwidth for $29.99 a month. Back then this was considered an amazing deal and this company blew the competition out of the water.
Today however, you would be crazy to pay $29.99 for such little storage space and bandwidth. I’ve been with numerous hosting companies in the past and what is more important to me than price and features is the quality of their customer service. I need to know that if I have a problem or if my site goes down, I won’t be left in the dark.
In 2001 I had several sites hosted with a company that went down because of a server crash. I received hundreds of e-mails from angry customers asking when my sites would return. I called my hosting company and they expected the problem to be fixed within 48 hours. 48 hours?! WHAT?!
I quickly signed up at another web host and changed my DNS details on all of the domains. I was up and running again within a few hours. Even though I was paid up in full for a few more months with the previous company, you can’t put a price on your reputation and customer satisfaction. Besides, I would have lost more money than I spent if I had waited 48 hours for my sites to come back up.
Many hosts tend to oversell their plans, and that’s something I’m not a fan of. Here’s an offer I just saw last week:500 GB of space3,400 GB of bandwidth
All of this for only $9.99/month. C’mon now… unless your site is MySpace, do you really need that much space and bandwidth?! My experience with these crazy offers is this… most hosts cap you at 10% CPU resources. Sure you can have all the bandwidth in the world, but you won’t reach your limit before they cut you off for using too many resources on their server. To the beginner website maker, this offer may look very appealing and almost too good to be true. Don’t fall for it.
The best offers from web hosts I’ve seen give you a reasonable amount of space, I said REASONABLE amount of space. Don’t buy more than you need.
I’m presently with a host that I absolutely love. It’s fairly new company out of Canada, but they’ve proven themselves early in the hosting game to be a major player. Their support desk is there whenever I need it, and I have all the features I need to run my sites.
If you’re looking for a cheap host that does not skimp on customer service and friendliness, I highly recommend TribuneHosting.com.
Web Hosting Basics
Web hosting can be a bit overwhelming for beginners. Most people think that you have to hire an expensive company to handle their web hosting services. However, the simple truth is that if you have an internet connection and a computer, you can easily handle your own web site with very few problems. Any good website has three main ingredients: the actual website pages, the domain name (which if you have a business, works best with your own domain, not some existing inexpensive domain), and a place for your site to reside (a web server – basically a computer attached permanently to the internet).
Your first challenge is, obviously, to design your website pages. There are a few ways you can do this. You could hire someone else to design them for you. In the end, though, that can get rather expensive. You could try to design them yourself using HTML, which doesn’t take long to learn, but for those who are not so technically savvy, this can be a difficult process that may simply be not worth the hassle. One of the best ways to design your website pages if you aren’t as good with computers is to choose a hosting company that offers you templates, or web page design software built in to the system. This way you just fill in the details – company name, description, contact details, etc, and the software creates the website for you. Many web hosting companies will do this, such as [web host name], which actually goes the extra step by offering you a free hour of web programming every month – all you need to do is call them and tell them what you need, and if it takes an hour or less, they’ll do it for free. That’s like having a hundred dollars worth of web design every month – not a bad deal!
Once you’ve designed your pages, you need enough storage space and bandwidth to make sure you can deal with the ensuing traffic. For that you need a web server. If you intend to host your own site, you need to have a computer dedicated to being online and you need to run server software. For most people, that’s just not worth the effort. If you choose to instead go with a web hosting service, you need to find a company that offers you as much uptime as possible. In fact, you might want a company that guarantees at least 99% of uptime.
If you do choose to go with a host service, there are thousands of companies to sort through. Some offer free services, some offer free software and features that can improve your site, and some offer slightly more expensive services that give you more space and more bandwidth. One of the biggest problems with free services is that your customers will have to enter a very long name before they ever get to your site name, such as http://www.freewebsitesandstuff.com/clients/yourcompanyname.
You could, though, go with another type of free host service. With these, you purchase your domain name, and they host your site for free, provided you allow them to run their advertisements on your page. Most people prefer to spend a couple of bucks a month to avoid this, however, since you should be making money from your own ads, rather than sending your traffic away.
There are other, more expensive web hosting companies, and in order to choose the right one for you, you should consider their package deals carefully. The best option, as far as we’re concerned, if to find a web hosting company that will actually answer the phone and talk to you, and to that end, the offer of an hour of free web consultation from [web host name] above indicates a pretty good starting point. In the end, however, read a few reviews of a host before you jump in, and you’ll do just fine.
Lagoon Host , Setting New Standards in Web Hosting
Web hosting is nowadays the most essential and demanding need of internet because every website needs a host . With internet and websites growing rate web hosting companies deman also increases to great extinct however there are many small and expensive companies in the business as well but now lagoon host is going to change all that , an revolution in web hosting and domain names registration world.
Lagoon Host has its basic data centers located in waterloo canada , standing on a very strong and a huge capital base lagoon host is providing its customers all that they need with latest cPanel,Fantastico deluxe , PHP 5.2.1 , Zend optimizer 3 , Ion cube technologies, Gd library are the few reflects of its great servers and modern approach towards business.
Lagoon Host also offers the most affordable web hosting packages , every package includes 1 life time free domain , Unlimited Bandwidth , Unlimited Database, Unlimited email accounts and much much more .. check all the features of lagoon host web hosting packages at http://www.lagoonhost.com .
Lagoon Host also provides one of the most innovative domain names registration system where you can also register your domains in bulk check the website for more details. http://www.lagoonhost.com
For all the webmasters and other websites lagoon host is also offering an industry leading affiliate system that compromises of 60 $ per refferal and there is no sign up fee to be an affiliate so join today and be the part of the most growing web hosting family ever. Lagoon Host, Web hosting at its best.
Understanding Web-hosting: Selecting an Ideal Server
Web Hosting is a process of providing customers with servers that are connected to the Internet, enabling them to display their websites pertaining to their private or professional businesses. With the growing age of the Internet, it has become vitally important for individuals, to expand their network online. But choosing a Web Host is certainly not an easy task; mainly because of the availability of the many and the varied services offered by each web hosting provider. Thus it becomes imperative to match your essential requirements with the amenities provided by your Web-Host.
The foremost factors that one must keep in mind pertain to the web-host’s reliability and technical efficiency. Differently put, services such as security, disk storage capacity and maintenance facilities should be ensured. Whether your Web Hosting provider is laced with an online SSL security certification and a powerful Spam Filter or not, must be made certain of. It is essential in order to safeguard your data from viruses and hackers. A satisfactory level of bandwidth (a tool that manages the internet traffic rate) must also be obtained to guarantee the fast speed of the website. You should also make sure that your service provider also offers sufficient data storage capacity, as per your pre-requisite; along with a 24/7 live email service with technical maintenance. Other services that one must look for include, scripting support (ability to run scripts on the server), uptime and backup services in case of accidental deletion.
Any Web Hosting service can broadly be characterized into two categories, namely Shared Hosting and Dedicated Hosting. The former refers to the involvement of one server with many other websites. Its basic advantage is its low cost, but at the cost of speed and efficiency. As many websites share a single server, it tends to slow down. However, shared hosting is advisable for the sites with expected low traffic. The latter, on the other hand, refers to an exclusive server for the website, which is best suited for the sites that expect high traffic.
Further, when it comes to web hosting, Australia, Europe, Canada, US and such developed countries distinctly enjoy a niche technological advantage over their third world counterparts for obvious reasons. However, much technological advancements have already taken place in this area across the globe, rendering the entire gamut of web hosting services significantly affordable in any part of the world. In fact, the extensive popularity gained by Internet in the recent few years bears enough testimony to the fact.
Things To Keep In Mind When Choosing a Web Hosting Company
As a business, your website can make you or break you. As a result, you need to choose a strong company to handle your web hosting.
When you are ready to start your journey into the web, you don’t necessarily need the most expensive web hosting account you can find. A basic account should meet most of your start up needs. As you learn the kinds of things that you need, you will most likely be able to upgrade your account as necessary. If however, you have an e-commerce site, you may need slightly more complicated web hosting services. You need a company that can handle SSL technology and Payment Gateway Integration, for example. Moreover, if you choose a different service to handle your Payment Gateway Integration than you choose to handle your web hosting, you must ensure that both services can work cooperatively to take care of your business. Remember, the key to all of this is to make you money, so you want things that work well for your customers, and the best way to do that is for everything to work together seamlessly. To that end, the ideal web host has to have all the options right there.
Traditionally, the first thing you looked for was reliability, but over time, most hosting providers have managed to get their act together on that front to the point where anything less than 99% uptime is a disaster. The new first step in web hosting is choosing the kinds of things you need to keep your website running smoothly, such as what kind of server operating system that host uses, how much room to grow they give you with your hosting package, and what software they offer you to help your website do things.
Some web hosts offer tools such as an HTML/Scripting Editor, so you can design your website on the actual site, rather than having to get a designer to do it. These work with an extensive web editor that allows you to build and enhance your website right on the host server. Other tools might include something like Task Plus, a scheduling application that reminds you when you have a task due. You might also find your host offering you information resources, such as e-books, or perhaps a series of templates to use on your site, or even scripts that allow you to set up email forms and databases and testimonial rotators. For example, Flizard.com offers these, a total value of US$276, as part of their standard package.
Of course they, like most web hosts (but not all – you should check first), also offer our full customer service and support, but in this company’s case they also offer 1 hour of free website programming consulting every month, so you can call them up and tell them what you’d like your website to do, and they’ll tell you how it can be done. That’s pretty handy, especially if you’re a little new at the whole website game – in fact, it’s pretty darn rare.
At an absolute minimum, you need a company that gives you a number of basic things. First, you need unlimited FTP access. Second, you need web support that is available to you all of the time. Finally, you need some guarantee on your satisfaction. Some companies have a money back offer, others will work with you until you are happy. There are some additional features you might be able to find, such as a very low or free set-up fee, but while those can be tantalizing bait, what happens down the road when the honeymoon deal runs out and your costs suddenly spike?
Some offer web mail services. Some even offer web-based site administration capabilities. There are e-mail auto responding services with some companies. There are even virus protection policies with some companies, but ultimately we recommend using a company that will answer the phone when you have a question, because that’s the kind of personal one-on-one service that really turns into benefits for you down the road. That’s what makes the free web consulting offer mentioned above so special – it indicates a company that actually wants to talk to you, and that’s rare indeed.
Starting your journey to choosing the right web hosting company can seem a bit overwhelming, but making the right decision will make you very happy with your web site.
Vancouver BC based company VN Web Solutions provide Canadian domain name registration in Canada. We serve clients from Vancouver BC, Victoria BC, Calgary Alberta, Edmonton Alberta and Toronto Ontario.
For last few years statistics has shown that .ca domain names become more popular and attractive than ever. It is proven that Canadians prefer .ca websites for online shopping and services. Over 60,000 Canadian domain names register in Canada every year. You should choose a .com domain registration if you do not have presence in Canada.
You can own domain name in Canada from only $6.99 a year! If you planning on development website, or transfer a web site hosting, you will have free new domain registration for one year with one of our website packages. We provide domain name registration and free domain parking!
VN Web Solutions is your kind of Domain Canada Registration Company if you are looking for reliable and fast service. Choose VN Web Solutions for your domain name registration. We providing domain name registration and Canada web hosting service and support our clients 24/7. We will help you register new domain name, and set up or transfer web site hosting. You will safe up to 70% on domain name and web site hosting if you buy website package. If you signup for a website package, we will register your domain name for free for one year.
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VN Web Solutions provides fast, reliable Website Hosting services in Vancouver BC, Victoria BC, Calgary Alberta, Edmonton Alberta and Toronto Ontario.
From personal web sites to large corporations, we can provide the hosting for your website. Our services offer flexible features, precise performance, remarkable reliability, and superior support. You can choose the perfect web hosting plan for your business, with our plans that give you everything you need at one convenient price.
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