These Websites Deliver the Goods
With America’s baseball all-star game coming up on Tuesday, let me present an all-star lineup of websites that I’ve come across lately—with previews of the information they present.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS FOR SOCIAL: Funny to start in the U.K. after my American introduction, but since SIPA will be in London next week with our 17th Annual Congress, check out Ian Thomas, a digital designer in Leeds. His blog post on Sunday showed how you can now track social engagement. “While it has been possible to track social interactions using Events, there is now a dedicated section that makes analysing Social actions even easier. This post shows you how to set up social media tracking for Facebook and Twitter and gives you all you need to go on and set up social interaction tracking on your website.” How’s that for a clearly written intro? At the end, he also gives a demo page to help with your set-up.
WEBSITE VISITS DOWN: Back in the U.S., but still on Google Analytics, Allyson Kapin reports on frogloop—care2’s nonprofit marketing blog—that new data shows people are spending less time on websites. “Compared to a year ago, websites have seen reduced page visits and average time spent on sites,” she writes. “The average user spends about 5.23 minutes on a website. In 2009, users spent 5.49 minutes on a website.” On the plus side, bounce rates are slightly down. “CPC (Cost Per Click search) generated the most web pages viewed with an average of 5.6 page views per web visit. Interestingly Direct Traffic only generated 4 page views per web visit. Referrals generated 5 page views per visit and organic search generated 4.9 page views per visit.”
TWITTER TIPS: My colleague Julie really likes Katya’s Non-Profit Marketing Blog. Yesterday Katya recommended a new ebook by Fenton Communications on the best uses of Twitter for communications professionals—yes another site to register on, but with a check box for not getting future email. Here’s a clip from a preview of the book: “You can not only receive information [on Twitter], you’ll also perceive where information comes from, where it’s going, and where it might go tomorrow. This perception will help inform all sorts of communications activities: writing subject lines for constituent emails, pitching reporters, creating content that will reach your audiences, identifying new potential donors or customers, sounding really smart in meetings, etc.”
MIXING BUSINESS AND PERSONAL: In the U.K again, Jemima Kiss on the Guardian website seems well worth following for reasons beyond a great name. I found a June 22 post very thought-provoking, concerning a BBC TV personality’s move to ITV and how she’s handling her “social” business. “Setting up an account that blends professional and personal is a risky move,” Kiss writes. “Though it may help for identification and promotion to use the BBC’s name, for example, it implies some kind of ownership and control…While a reporter works for a specific brand, they will direct traffic and influence to their own news stories, and when they move on, they take that with them. That transfer works to and from organisations, and is far cleaner for the public and for the brand.” Kiss adds that while the Guardian and The New York Times have loose social media guidelines for reporters—so they can explore what might work best—the Toronto Star has a strict Twitter policy in place. Interesting topic that we’ll explore more in the future.
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Upcoming SIPA Events
July 13-14, 2011
SIPA UK’s 17th Annual Conference and Exhibition
July 13, 2011, 7:30 PM EST
Washington, D.C. Chapter Publishers Dinner
July 19, 2011, 5:30 PM EST
Washington, D.C. Chapter Happy Hour
Bring your worst marketing mistake and best SEO tip to share.
October 4, 2011
2011 Fall Publishers Conference
October 5, 2011
E-Learning Workshop
December 7-9, 2011
SIPA’s 28th Annual Marketing Conference
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