How to Exclude Internal Visits/Visitors from Google Analytics Reports Using Asynchronous Code

Aug 16, 2011

As a Goolge Analytics Consultant, McBuzz helps clients learn about traffic on their website so they can improve visitors’ experience and generate more leads and sales. If you have a website, you should be using Google Analytics to track visitors on your site. But you don’t need to track your own visits to the site, nor do you want to track visits made by other people in your company, or by your clients if you are a webmaster or online marketing consultant.

EXCLUDING INTERNAL TRAFFIC FROM GOOGLE ANALYTICS REPORTS

All these visits are called “internal traffic”: visits made by you or by people who work for the company that owns the website. Data from these visits will skew the results that you really want to see. You want to track visits made by customers and potential customers.

There are a number of ways to exclude internal traffic from Google Analytics reports. Continued… [ read more ]

Is Search Engine Optimization a Science? Yes. Here’s Proof that SEO is a Science, Not a Dark Art

Jun 3, 2011

Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) an art or a science? Or is it neither? Although it’s as old as the Internet itself, SEO is still misunderstood by many folks, even those who know a lot about the Internet and Online Communications. [...] [ read more ]

Search Engine Optimization 101 – How to Choose Keywords: A Lesson from the Bayer Aspirin Marketing Team

Feb 10, 2011

Successful online marketers understand the need to talk about their products in terms customers recognize and respond to.

Choosing good keywords is hard – no matter what size your business is. Sometimes it’s a challenge to get my clients to see the importance of using language in their marketing materials – including their website – that they themselves wouldn’t necessarily use to talk about their products or services.

Sometimes C-level executives don’t like using words they feel have [ read more ]

WordPress Q&A: More Answers to WordPress Questions

Oct 4, 2010

Questions about WordPress websites or blogs? They may already have been answered. Check the earlier posts “Questions About WordPress? Ask Them Here!” and “More WordPress Questions?” There are over 160 comments, questions and replies there.

Otherwise, just post your WordPress question in the comments below, and we will respond. The cost? FREE!

P.S. If you’re into WordPress, follow Mark McLaren on Twitter for free tips and howto’s. And if you are in Seattle, check out the Seattle WordPress Meetup on Meetup.com.

Please note that McBuzz Communications, the McBuzz.com website and Mark McLaren are not affiliated with Automattic (parent company of WordPress) or WordPress.com.

More Great Home Pages that Drive You to Take Action

Aug 9, 2010

Following up on Friday’s post, Search Marketing 101: Home Pages that Drive You to Take Action, here are more home pages that do a great job of telling you what the business does and how to take action.

Birchbox

• Nice slogan: “Delivering Beauty Better”
• Bullet points to tell you exactly what the slogan means
• Prominent call to action button: Join Now

Text follows below for those who want more info. And it looks like a new site is on the way, presumably with more about things like membership benefits. Right now these aren’t visible until you click the “Join Now” button. Not everyone will click the button, so this is a bit of a barrier to further exploration. Links to About Us and FAQs are hidden at the bottom of the page.

Note the active voice of the bullets – instead of “Hand-picked samples are delivered to your door…”, for example. Standard graphic design rules say use 3 or 5 bullet points instead of 2 or 4. How about:

• Get hand-picked samples delivered to your door monthly
• Discover what you love
• Buy with confidence

I’m guessing Twitter and Facebook buttons are on the way, too.

5 Tips for Better Search Engine Optimization with WordPress

Jun 21, 2010

On June 12, I had the great pleasure of presenting at WordCamp Vancouver. Duane Storey and the rest of the organizers did an awesome job. The conference was a big hit. If you get the chance, definitely check it out next year.

My presentation was called “Get Found Easier and Grow Your Business: 5 Tips for Better Search Engine Optimization with WordPress”. Thirty minutes is just about enough time to get through the essentials of SEO for WordPress, although I’m sure it could be a two-hour presentation without too much trouble.

Half of the time does not involve using WordPress! I do a quick overview of what a keyword is, how to pick a good keyword, how to check your initial search ranking, and, after optimizing, how to see if your optimization efforts had any effect!

Understanding keywords is absolutely critical to search optimization, but it’s not often talked about in a way that most people can get. This is going to have to change as more businesses use WordPress and other CMS solutions for websites and then decide that they need to do their own SEO.

The 5 Tips for Better SEO are spelled out in the presentation slide deck below. They are also available in PDF form here (right click and select “Save Target As…” or “Save Link As…” to download).

5 Tips for Better Search Engine Optimization with WordPress (PDF)

At the end of the slides and the PDF, there are links to SEO Plugins, Tools and Resources. If you would like the .pptx file of  the presentation – including the Notes – contact me.

Here are the 5 Tips for Better Search Engine Optimization with WordPress in case you want a quick overview:

Tip #1: Use keywords in your HTML page title

Tip #2: Write a page description that makes people want to read more (include keywords)

Tip #3: Customize permalinks

Tip #4: Use keywords in the visible page

Tip #4 continued: Make content “sticky”, useful, a resource

Tip #5: Links

More WordPress Questions? Ask Them Here!

May 3, 2010

If you’ve got more questions about WordPress websites or blogs, Seattle’s McBuzz Communications has answers!

This page is so long that the comments no longer work. (Old theme. I’m working on it! “Cobbler’s son has no shoes.” You know, that kind of thing.)

Come on over to the latest WordPress questions page: WordPress Q&A: More Answers to WordPress Questions and post your question in the comments. I’ll answer ASAP. The cost? Free!

WordPress Problem with Atahualpa Theme and Bullets

Apr 21, 2010

A reader was having trouble adding bullets to text in the Atahualpa theme for WordPress. I did a test install of Atahualpa and the bullets are working for me. Be sure to note the order of the steps. You can click on the blue text below to see a screen shot of each step.

1. Enter your text. (Put a hard return after each line you want to make into a bullet.)
2. Highlight the text you want to make into a list of bullets – either numbered or unnumbered (ordered or unordered).
3. Click the bullet/list button – either numbered or unnumbered. (Be sure click Publish or Update.)
4. Done.

WordPress Tutorial – How to Upload and Insert an Image Using WordPress

Mar 17, 2010

WordPress Websites Tutorial by Mark McLaren – How to Upload and Insert an Image

This video tutorial replaces my earlier “How to Insert an Image” tutorial for WordPress that was done using screen captures, text descriptions and WordPress version 2.1 or so, which is a bit outdated today.

Some people prefer text tutorials with screen captures. My “How to Make a Text Link” WordPress Tutorial is still a straight-forward explanation of the process, which hasn’t changed.

Questions About WordPress? Ask Them Here!

Mar 17, 2010

If you’ve got questions about WordPress websites or blogs, Seattle’s McBuzz Communications has answers!

This page is now so long that the comments no longer work. (Old theme. I’m working on it! “Cobbler’s son has no shoes.” You know, that kind of thing.) Come on over to the latest WordPress questions page: WordPress Q&A: More Answers to WordPress Questions and post your question in the comments there. I’ll answer ASAP. The cost? Free!

P.S. If you’re into WordPress, follow Mark McLaren on Twitter for free tips and howto’s.
And if you are in Seattle, check out the Seattle WordPress Meetup on Meetup.com.