This year, I've heard from quite a few companies and agencies recommending What Users Do for improving their sites and services. I was intrigued by the relatively low cost compared to traditional usability services, so thought it would be useful to share some background on the service.
Smart Insights are independent of companies providing tools to improve digital marketing, but are keen to share ideas of the options available and what people think of them - see for example our post reviewing website user feedback tool options. So, please share your experience on similar usability services. Thanks.
Over now to Lee Duddell of What Users Do. Here are my questions...
1 What is whatusersdo? Which types of sites/pages does it work best for?
whatusersdo makes it easy for website owners to improve User Experience by observing real people using their…
Gaining direct, real-time feedback from customers and site visitors is one of the most exciting areas of digital marketing for me, which really takes advantage of the real-time interactions available online.
A few months back I created a post giving my recommendations on the categories and examples of feedback tools that marketers should review to help them understand their customers' needs better.
Of course, Kampyle, was one of the tools featured since this is commonly used as a tool to gain feedback, so it wasn't a complete surprise, when I got a mail from Eran Savir, the co-founder of Kampyle. He said that he sees the categories of tools slightly differently than me, so I thought it would be useful to setup an interview to understand how he sees the market, in order to help site owners…
In this interview which accompanies my other posts on trends and predictions for 2010, I interview Ian Truscott, Vice-President of Web Content Management at Alterian.
My interview explores trends in content management and practical ideas for improving engagement - I liked Ian's reference to the concept of "Smart content" - much content on corporate sites still doesn't have the context of categories and tags commonly used in blogs.
You can also read Ian's views on trends in engagement through content on the Engaging Times blog where Ian and other Alterian bloggers share their views on emerging trends on content management.
Marketing trends influencing content
Q1. Ian, what do you see as the broader trends in marketing today which affect the needs marketers have for managing content?
[Ian Truscott, Alterian] In the midst of a digital revolution, we are…
This month, my interview is with Dixon Jones, an SEO who has been involved with Internet marketing for as long as me as founder
and director of Search Engine Marketing Agency Receptional which was launched in 1999.
Since I last met Dixon at Search Engine Strategies, London, when I asked him for an interview he has also joined link analysis services company Majestic SEO as director, so it seemed natural to find out why and how we should best use link analysis tools, if we don't already. As well as the discussion about the marketing I recommend Q4 which looks specifically at the stages in link-analysis for SEO.
By the way, if you don't follow his advice and thoughts already, I can also recommend his SEO focused blog or Twitter
Why use a link analysis service?
Q1. Why is a specialist paid…
Google Analytics Search Ranking Filters for New URLsBrian Clifton is well known as the former Head of Web Analytics for Google EMEA and more recently as the author of what many consider the best book on Google Analytics: Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics:
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But Brian also has a strong background in search engine marketer and has consulted widely on SEO. As a fellow SEO, I was very keen to find out Brian's tips for using Google Analytics to get better results from the search engines, particularly using SEO.
You can read his latest tips on Google Analytics on his Advanced Web metrics blog .
Process and KPIs for using Google Analytics to improve SEO
Q1. When you work as a consultant, please could you outline your process for using Google Analytics to improve…
We all know that web copywriting needs to be brief to be effective (although AB testing will sometimes prove otherwise...). But if you are a marketer experienced in writing copy for print or direct mail, in which other ways should you change your style? In this interview, Anne Caborn of digital consultancy CDA takes us through the main issues experienced print copywriters need to consider.
Anne Caborn is co-founder and director of Content Delivery & Analysis, a strategic digital consultancy.
Q1. 1. What are the main differences in successfully writing for web compared with print
[Answer: Anne Caborn, Co-Founder Content Delivery & Analysis]
There are a number of key differences but there are two critical ones when you"€™re talking about web (as opposed to email). The first is you are having a conversation online. It"€™s auditory both…
Online PR should be an essential activity for any marketing campaign today. But what's involved in Online PR and what will make your campaign successful? I pose these questions to specialist Ruth Brecher of Underwired PR.
In this interview I talk to Ruth Brecher, Managing Director of digital agency Underwired a full service digital agency which offers Online PR services.
It's refreshing to see Ruth debunking many of the myths of SEO such as reciprocal links are 100% bad.
Given my interest (and my readers') interest in SEO, in this interview we focus on best practices in Online PR for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) through generating backlinks to a site focusing on a specific theme.
Online PR campaign essentials
Q1. What would you say are the key ingredients…
Many companies are now turning to Multivariate and AB Testing to meet their goals, typically increased conversion rates or revenue per visit.
Use of multivariate and AB testing is certainly going to increase with the Google Website Optimizer recently coming out of beta (see below). To find out more about best practice and future trends in these testing techniques I recently talked to Mark Simpson, Managing Director of Maxymiser, a UK-based supplier of advanced Multivariate testing tools.
So, straight to the interview with Mark, MD of Maxymiser. You can read more from Mark on approaches to structured testing and experiments on the Maxymiser blog.
This month there is also a great case study out of how Lovefilm uses structured testing to improve it's results .
Principles and differences between AB and multivariate…
Avinash Kaushik is well known to web analytics aficionados as Google's analytics evangelist, for his book "Web Analytics An Hour a Day" and his Occam's Razor Blog, but I think his insights can help anyone involved aiming to improve their results from their web business - hence this post 'web business optimisation'.
So I was delighted that he agreed to this interview for "E-marketing Essentials". In a wide-ranging interview we cover everything from trends in analytics to practical tips to measure and improve online customer engagement and retention.
This is a wide-ranging interview covering issues from future trends in web analytics to practical tops such as the best way to measure engagment and retention. There are also some links to useful tools including the new survey tool the "€œwhere to start with test and learn"€ tips are great too. Enjoy!
Background - Avinash…
We have all seen the dramatic improvement in the capabilities of web analytics tools over the last few years, but how should organisations configure their web analytics tools and processes to drive the best insights?
In this E-marketing Essentials interview I talk to Gary Angel, a web analytics consultant with extensive experience of web analytics implementation best practice for many organisations.
Gary Angel is President and CTO of Semphonic, a a US-based consultancy that specialises in improving web analytics implementations to help companies drive results online.
Semphonic's team of analysts provide recommendations on web analytics implementations for the likes of American Express and O'Reilly.
Read Gary's blog for more of his insights on web analytics best practice.
Q1. What are the major challenges in deploying web analytics in 2008 as you…
