Analytics
Hello all. In my frenzy to figure out what's going on with my site, I added Google Analytics a few weeks ago. Why would I do this when I have a perfectly good analysis tool included in my hosting package? Well, it's a nice feature but I just wanted a little more information about visitors, keywords and such. And... let's not forget cart abandonment. I've wondered about that too. Is anyone putting anything in a cart... ever? Has anyone made it to the checkout page and then left for some weird reason? With my free analysis tool, I didn't get that information. Now I do.
So, what have I learned with this new and cool addition? First, the number of real visitors to my site is not even close to what my other analysis told me. This makes me feel somewhat better that I'm not getting orders. If no one is there, how can you sell them anything?
Secondly, I learned that most of my visitors are our very loyal local customers (who we love dearly) to our brick and mortar store. How do I know this? Google Analytics shows me what keywords they are using to find our site. The majority are using our store name. I don't think they are there to shop. Why do I think this? Google Analytics shows me what pages are being hit. The index page and class pages are most popular. This is where we talk about what's new and what classes are available. I'm happy the site is being used but I think we have lots of room for more visitors.
How do I get these visitors? I'm still scratching my head on this one. Maybe if I turned a little advertising money loose, it would pay off. Why haven't I/we? Pay per click is very scary to me. We can't afford too much clicking and who knows if those clicks are real? What keywords can I target to get the right kind of visitor?
I may have stumbled onto something this week. It's a site in, what I like to call, the knitting underworld. It's that silly social marketing thing everyone is yammering about. I've been setting aside a little time to just be social. I set up a username for our store and just peruse and see what's going on. It's great! I get to talk about what I'm working on. I don't know if anyone reads it but it's fun just the same. Who knew?!
What did I find there? Well, it's a new site and a very cool one at that. They have tens of thousands of users in my target audience. They've introduced a PPC advertising program! I emailed for the info and when I feel our site is ready, I believe we will take the plunge and see what happens. You can add your link to a page that has specific product you carry. They have a little "Buy this yarn here...." column off to the right hand side of the page with a few links to online stores. The stores that are listed have linked straight to the specific product page. Genius! And why haven't I done it yet? I want to be sure I have everything in place for these seasoned online shoppers. Also, I need to see if there is a way to limit the dollar amount once it reaches a certain level. I'm a chicken. Also, I'm curious how it 's billed and how it's measured and.. and... and... I have questions.
In the meantime, I've been working at getting more product out there to buy. Can't buy it if you can't see it, right? The yarn reps are stumbling through again so I've been busy ordering for spring and summer. Yes, yarn is seasonal. And our new web assistant has been busy coming up with lots of new and exciting ideas. She's checking out a new look for the site. I'm open to that. She really is in touch with what folks want, knitting folks in particular. I can't wait to see what she dreams up. I know it will be good. She has really inspired me to think from a different perspective. Till next time,
Sandy
