This is so high school.
I thought I was at a stage in my life when I could stop worrying about being popular. But it sometimes feels like high school all over again when I spend time pouring over my webstats and Google Analytics and weave plans on how to get more traffic to my website.
So do you think this is better or worse than paying to advertise in a publication and hope the phone rings?
I think it’s better in that
- it’s certainly cheaper than advertising
- it’s interactive so you can get immediate feedback from your audience, allowing you to tweak your message
It’s not better in that
- It can take more time than you like
- It can be harder than it looks to craft a message that gets any response at all
- Audience feedback can sometimes look like the Palin sisters’ flamewar on Facebook . (I’m so glad Facebook wasn’t around in the 70’s when I was at my zenith of geeky-ness.)
Anyhow, let’s channel our inner desire to be one of the cool kids into the cold, hard, reality of NEEDING TO GET YOUR MESSAGE OUT SO YOU CAN SELL YOUR STUFF. Here are some cool tools to measure your progress:
1. How good is your website? Are people finding it, then leaving it right away? What do they look at and where do they go from there? Google Analytics and Sitemeter both offer free website statistics. Google Analytics also allows you to set sales goals to see if your site is converting visitors to buyers.
2. Website Grader from Hubspot gives you a quick overview of just how your site is doing with search engines and social media. How many sites have linked to yours? What’s the grade level of your deathless prose on your blog? Does it match your target demographic or are your writing above or below that?
If your blog needs a boost, check out ProBlogger’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog and The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers. I endorse both of these ebooks because I own them and I use them. (Full disclosure, I’m also an affiliate.) Affiliates can give a 25% discount for these books in November. Just order through the link below and use november25 for the coupon code at check out.
