That’s what Google Alerts can do for you. It’s a little known feature from a company that’s full of great offerings, and it’s one that can become invaluable as your business grows. Using it is a snap, and you can set it to update you instantly, or as little as once a week if you have a great deal of new links coming in to your site.

To set up an alert, start by navigating here: http://www.google.com/alerts

Then enter your search terms. These can be your web site (http://www.dynamixwd.com for example), your company or personal name, or anything else that is important to you. Select “Comprehensive” as the Type and decide how often you would like to be contacted. Personally, I have some items come in “as they happen,” and others that I have come in once a day. Last but not least, enter your e-mail address and press “Create Alert.”

Now you’re all set to reap the benefits of knowing who is talking about you online almost as instantly as they do!

1. Problem: Lack of new content.

Say your company has completed a new product or project, and interested potential customers are searching for more information on that product in Google. If you have not taken the time to add information about this new item on your web site, they may not find your site at all. Worse still, they may very well find a competitors web site, someone who understood the importance of the product or service that you are offering and decided to discuss that on their web site.

Solution: Create a schedule.

No matter how full your life is, the chances are high that you can spare an hour or two a week to keep up with the web site. Schedule this at a time when you can expect minimal interruptions, so that you can ensure that all of the time you set aside is effective. If you only have two hours to spare a week, try starting out on Monday with an implementation plan. Review your newest products, projects or services, and decide what should go on the web site this week. If you need to write or find images, now is the time to do so. Later in the week, ideally only a day or two so that the content is still fresh in your mind, do a quick review and then implement this new content on your web site. If anything time sensitive comes up after this point, you can take additional time later in the week, otherwise, you have at least covered the necessities.

2. Problem: Outdated content.

This may sound similar to problem number one, but we are referring specifically to content that is already on the web site which is in need of care or revision. Outdated content is usually very easy for site visitors to spot, and can make your site seem old or dated even if it isn’t. Often, the easiest ones to spot refer to “upcoming” events that have long since passed, or pages that show “this page was created/updated on…” This can also refer to items that are clearly no longer new releases still being designated as so, or products that are no longer available being offered on your web site.

Solution: Make a list.

There are a few ways to combat this, depending on the type of outdated content your site contains. For one, if you have dates automatically attached to each page of the web site (and this is unnecessary for your business), ask your web site designer to remove that feature for you. Secondly, create a list of your time-sensitive pages or articles, so that you can keep an eye on those pages on a weekly or monthly basis. If you happen to have a web site created by us, you can also take advantage of our new page publishing module, which will automatically turn on and off time-sensitive, specified pages after a configurable amount of time.

3. Problem: Just plain lack of time.

Realistically, we know that there are some days, or even weeks where there’s just no time to spare. There’s no way to manufacture time, and especially if you are on the road a lot, access to the internet may be sparse as well. During these times, your quality of work may suffer even if you do find a free moment, which can hurt your companies’ credibility (think spelling, grammar errors and disjointed sentences) on the web.

Solution: Delegation.

In these circumstances, it pays to have somebody, preferably in the office, who can help carry the load for you. This could be as simple as uploading content that you have written and adding product images, all the way to writing the actual content for you. The point is, if you just don’t have the time to get it done, you can probably delegate your duties to someone who does. If you are the owner or a senior member of your company, chances are you would be better served delegating these duties anyway.

Taking it further.

Did you like this article? Stand by, our newest Making Life Easier article entitled “The top 7 ways to speed up your SE experience” is coming soon!

First, let’s cover what Google Analytics is.

Google Analytics is a website statistics program, created by Google that allows you to track (with roughly a one day delay) customer visits to your web site. Specifically, the system keeps track of what keywords visitors use to find your web site in search engines, as well as what sites they used to find you (say you have an account with Atlanta local directory Kudzu.com, Google analytics would track who found your web site by clicking on your web address from the Kudzu.com web site). In addition (and one of our favorite mini-features), the dashboard features a small pie graph including the percentage of traffic that was direct (from typing your link directly in a web browser) from search engines and from referring web sites. If you are looking to expand your presence on search engines, this pie graph is an effective way to see how your search engine presence is growing.

Okay, so how does Google Analytics help me and my business?

The analytics system is great for discovering what your customers are typing into Google to find you, and what web sites are most valuable to you from an advertising perspective. Say you have two different web sites that you are paying to advertise your company. The first costs $200 a month, and the second just $10. If you see in Google analytics that the site you are paying $10 a month for in advertising is bringing you more traffic than the $200/month site, it may be a red flag for you to re-evaluate where your advertising dollars are best spent. The keyword aspect of Google is maybe the most important, as it can give you insight into how your visitors think and how they are finding your web site in search engines. It is often difficult for a company to think like a customer who may not have a lot of experience in the product you are selling, and these keywords will help you to refine and expand your web site text. Getting the most out of Google Analytics can be hard work and will take some hours of frustration to fully get the hang of, but over time that hard work will pay off with more web site traffic and more business.

Customer locations, targeting zones and tracking advertising campaigns.

A neat feature of Google Analytics is the ability to visually represent where your customers are visiting your web site from. For instance, if you are a national (or international) company that sells products online, you can track what states or countries are bringing in the most business, and adjust your advertising budgets accordingly. This works just as well for local businesses, too. The map system can track all the way to the city level in any given state, meaning that an automotive repair shop in Marietta, Georgia could track how many visitors come to the web site from Kennesaw or Acworth.

Discovering popular products or services.

Tracking is a great way to discover trends in the marketplace you may not otherwise have captured. Say, for instance you have a web site that utilizes our SE Content Management System, and you have a section that features your custom projects. With analytics installed, you can see that one of your custom projects may be bringing in three times more traffic than your other project pages, and bringing you twice the customer e-mails. By knowing this, you can expand this project to include more information and pictures, thereby increasing the amount and quality of information your potential customer receives when visiting your web site, as well as the chance that you will get an e-mail or phone call from this potential customer. Conversely, if you see a section of your site that receives little or no attention from site visitors, it may be a sign that you should dedicate your efforts elsewhere.

Tracking Adwords or other advertising efforts.

Google Analytics has built in integration between adwords, meaning that as customers come in, you’ll know how and where they found you through the Adwords system. In addition, utilizing the Goal Conversions section you can track how many customers who enter the site by various means end up e-mailing you, what page they e-mailed from (if you have a contact form on multiple pages), how long they browsed your web site before e-mailing you, and much more.

Taking it further.

Did you like this article? Stand by, our newest Analytics article entitled “An expanded look: Setting up Goal Conversions with Google Analytics” is coming soon!