Google Analytics is a free and very powerful analytics tool for website
owners that generates highly detailed reports about a website’s
visitors and ecommerce transactions. It is this detail that can be
intimidating to visitors who log on to Google Analytics (https://www.google.com/analytics)
with the idea of “checking it out.” The plethora of charts and graphs
can quickly become overwhelming without a little background
information. We’ve sifted through Google Analytic’s help pages and
found some of the most important and useful features so you don’t have
to. In this article we discuss getting started with a Google Analytics
account and look at three important reports that can be invaluable for
site owners: “Traffic Sources Overview,” “Revenue & Transactions,”
and “Referring Sources.” We’ll also take a look at creating funnels and
goals to help determine when visitors leave your site and when they
reach a predetermined “goal page,” such as a “purchase completed” page.
In 2005, Google purchased the Urchin Corporation, makers of the highly
popular Urchin website analytics tools. Google engineers took Urchin's
high end Urchin On Demand analytics system, which was offered for
several hundred dollars a month, and released it as a free service
called Google Analytics. MightyMerchant offers complete integration
with Google Analytics. Existing customers can connect their sites to
Google Analytics' basic services for no charge. To take advantage of
Advanced Ecommerce tracking, there is a small one-time setup fee to
help you get up and running.
New features and product changes are listed on the Google Analytics
Update page, and announcements and tips from Analytics Specialists are
available on the Official Google Analytics Blog (http://analytics.blogspot.com).
On May 8,2007, Google announced a new, redesigned interface intended to
be simpler to use. The new interface is greatly streamlined and much
easer it to use. If you are familiar and comfortable with the original
Google Analytics, they have allowed users to continue accessing the
previous, non-redesigned interface for about two months.
...read the rest of the article here.
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May 18, 2007
May 13, 2007
Leave the Steering Wheel to Self-Confidence
A hockey coach on “Making the Cut” (a Canadian reality show) this week gave his team a lesson about putting confidence and performance in their respective places. He compared it to a person steering a boat while pulling a water skier. When the driver steers the boat to the left, eventually the water skier will follow to the left too.
Using that illustration, he showed how most young or inexperienced players allow their performance to take the wheel of the boat, thus dictating what direction their confidence takes. This is all fine and good when you’re on top of your game and doing well – the result is your self-confidence increases and you play better. But the danger occurs when your performance takes a turn for the worse – your confidence decreases and you begin to create negative momentum.
Using that illustration, he showed how most young or inexperienced players allow their performance to take the wheel of the boat, thus dictating what direction their confidence takes. This is all fine and good when you’re on top of your game and doing well – the result is your self-confidence increases and you play better. But the danger occurs when your performance takes a turn for the worse – your confidence decreases and you begin to create negative momentum.
