Hamster-Wheel Analytics From Part 1, setting goals is the first and only place to start when developing an analytics strategy. Otherwise, the analyst or the website marketing manager will spend the majority of their time developing reports with numbers on them. The rest of their month will then be spent justifying why those numbers are higher or lower than the previous month. Without goals, there is simply no direction.
Large numbers become the goal, and people become enamored with large numbers, even though everyone knows that more visitors is not necessarily the goal. Qualified visitors are the goal . This is hamster-wheel analytics. The endless cycle of doing the same thing and going nowhere.
Why Do You Have a Website?
Clearly stated goals are the first place to start. I find that the best answers are the clearest and simplest. Points are awarded for brevity. Two word answers are clear, and everyone involved in the website should have these printed out and displayed clearly, as they are your new measuring stick – The measurement upon which every decision about the website should and must be based.
No guesswork, measurement.
1. What is the purpose of the website?
2. What is the company goal for the website?
3. What do we want visitors to do?
One of the best goal statements I heard from a company was the simplest. Make Money, Sell Shoes. Simple, to the point and a clear measuring stick from which to base every decision. From design, analytics, social media strategy and continued development, the questions are simple – “Does it make us money? Does it sell shoes? From that, a successful website marketing strategy is born.
Into Action
How these are answered provide the framework for building measurement outcomes for the website. By now, I am hoping that the numbers developed for typical reports would start to seem like foreign concepts. How can you measure company goals and visitor expectations by unique visitors and page views? Hint: you can’t.
Clearly, we need to think differently about our concept of analytics.
This concept was made clear when I read Iconoclast. The book features examples of those individuals who went against common thinking and the wisdom of crowds. Gregory Berns, a neuroscience attempts to explain how iconoclasts think differently, respond differently and can even learn things differently.
Pursue Ambiguity
In one of the sections he discusses the concept of Bayesian updating. Most people learn by entering a subject with a preconceived idea of what they need or want and then find the information that develops and reinforces those ideas.
People tend to avoid ambiguity – as ambiguity is traced to a fear of the unknown. People desire some semblance of structure, which is why it is easy to cling to the concepts of unique visitors, hits, page views, time on site, etc. However, when the goal is to increase sales and get to the “why” of analytics, it requires foraging into the unknown and making guesses. Some of those forages may not yield substantial information; most will reward the analyst with a gold mine of information.
The most important trait is the ability to learn and respond as new information is found.
Bayesian updating is important to an analyst as it is the process of using new information to update probability. As Berns writes, “The key reappraisal for ambiguous circumstances is to view ambiguity as an opportunity for gaining knowledge.”
Once the goals have been established and the analyst has been freed from the shackles of mundane reporting, the process can be viewed as a blank slate. Start from the company goals to determine how the website is doing.
The very first report I would recommend building is an acquisition report based on motivation. Who came to the website and why? Segmentation is the principle that answers motivation.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
Hearing the questions from so many that come to my seminars, one would think that analytics was difficult or hard to grasp. Seriously, it has caused great wonder as to why the concept of analytics would prove such a perplexing and daunting task to so many people. Unlearn Analytics
At the heart of the matter, I believe, is that many people have been incorrectly “trained” based on their thinking and practice of analytics. Those that have been online for many years know that the earliest analytics packages were simply traffic counters, hardly “analytics” as we call them today, but more “stats,” as they became more widely known. The basic stats packages still exist today: FunnelWeb, AWstats , just to name a few.
The History of Bad Stats
Because the early stats program provided just that: statistics. Mainly, the statistics were based on numbers that webmasters needed to estimate bandwidth and hosting requirements. People assumed that the numbers provided in these reports were important. Granted, for many businesses, a goal of increasing visitors was able to be reported, but that’s about as far as one could go. Because of the limited amount of information provided in these reports, marketers simply added them into web reports and they essentially became part of doing business online. It was (and still is) assumed that if these were the numbers provided by the stats, then these must be important and necessary - the measuring stick with which we are provided.
Your Measuring Stick is Wrong
And that is my theory. We were given a measuring stick at the beginning of the internet age, and many people have not yet realized that the measuring stick is wrong. Thus, the words “hits” is so engrained into the vocabulary of many business people, not realizing exactly what hits are, nor how they affect the website, or even much larger, the business.
So, we need to trade in our old measuring stick for a new one. One that is based not on off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-none numbers, but one based on the company’s website marketing goals.
Goals?
Goals are the starting point for any analytics endeavor. “Analytics works best when measurement expectations are clearly defined in advance,” wrote Eric Peterson in Web Analytics Demystified “not after the fact or on an ad-hoc basis.” Smart words.
Most marketers attempting web analytics are missing this piece of the puzzle. What are the measurement expectations? Does management simply want to know the number of visitors to the website and why that number is lower than the previous month? If so, then I pity your job. Justifying visitor numbers within in a vacuum without any context has nothing to do with improving the company website.
Every analyst needs to demand clear goals in order to create the correct measuring stick. Without these goals, there is no point in tracking anything.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
This has been stewing for a while. Just brimming under the surface. An brewing anger towards companies that do not understand accessibility, nor the commitment that is required to be accessible, but will give it a light treatment simply as a sales tactic.
Basically, I’ve had it. I’m mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore.
I’ve worked with too many projects where a vendor has sold a program, content management system or software application as a part of the overall project, and claimed that it was “technically compliant”. “Sure it is 508 compliant,” they say. Not understanding the implications of such a statement.
Invariably, the application is exposed for what it really is. A basic treatment of accessibility veiled in sales gibberish. The charade lasts until it is actually placed under scrutiny of those will be needing accessibility features. When asked to produce evidence of 508 compliance or some sort of accessibility certification, there is rarely any documentation, other than a simple automated test.
So, what is “technically compliant”?
I would describe “technical compliance” as a label company’s use when they go through the motions of compliance, without truly understanding the reasoning and methods of accessibility. Simply running a page or an application through an automated accessibility checker is NOT an approval for the “accessible” label.
Accessibility is much more than the “strict” side of the technical checklist. Accessibility is about much more than screen readers. Accessibility is about understanding the people that use a website and that making a website accessible actually makes it easier to use for everyone, not just a single, small group of people that need these features.
To better understand the “technically accessible” label that people like to use, I like to examine some of the elements of the Web Accessibility Checklist, version 1, developed by the W3C. These are elements that cannot be tested by automated software, only by actual human testing.
Where Automation Fails MultiMedia
Checkpoint 1.3 Until user agents can automatically read aloud the text equivalent of a visual track, provide an auditory description of the important information of the visual track of a multimedia presentation.
This just makes sense. Search engines can’t read images, video, podcasts or other multimedia. Instead they rely on tags, descriptions and transcripts. For accessibility, this also provides information to anybody; regardless of access device, technology, browser, or assistive technology.
Color Contrast
Checkpoint 2.1 Ensure that all information conveyed by color is also available without color.
Checkpoint 2.2 Ensure that foreground and background color combinations provide sufficient contrast when viewed by someone having color deficits or when viewed on a black and white screen.
There are numerous contrast tools available online, some are much better than others at identifying contrast issues on a web page. I prefer aDesigner from IBM, as it highlights specific areas on the page and identifies them as problem areas. The main issue is that running a website code through a validation test does NOT identify problem contrast areas. This is a visual test, and must be tested by humans in order to find the problems.
Contrast is also a key element in design. By using contrast designers can influence the path of the eye as it follows the information and is attracted to specific calls to action. High contrast areas on a page get much more attention and are easier to see. Misusing or misunderstanding contrast results in a very poor user experience
Markup
Checkpoint 3.1 When an appropriate markup language exists, use markup rather than images to convey information.
Checkpoint 4.2 Specify the expansion of each abbreviation or acronym in a document where it first occurs.
Another validation test that an automated procedure will miss is the ability to spot when an image is not clear and mark-up would do a better job of conveying information. IN addition, there are many times when another graphic might even be more explicit. Again, only human testing will show these issues and no amount of automated testing will provide correction.
Abbreviations and acronyms are to be defined in the markeup, which enables users to simple see purpose of the letters. It provides clear context to the abbreviations or the confusing world of acronyms. This is especially helpful when the acronym is also a word, which can be confusing.
Issues related to this area are the surging popularity of tag clouds, where large numbers of words are rendered on the page and their popularity is shown based on text size. For users accessing the site through a reader, there is no method of understanding the difference in size of these tags. The tags are simply read aloud with no context, order or understanding of their purpose.
Programming
Checkpoint 7.3 Until user agents allow users to freeze moving content, avoid movement in pages.
Checkpoint 6.1 Organize documents so they may be read without style sheets.
Checkpoint 9.4 Create a logical tab order through links, form controls, and objects.
Movement on pages is just like the aggravation of watching cable news networks. The news ticker that tries to compete with our attention as we watch the talking head and listen to the news and look at the news video – too many things compete visually for your attention. When the same principle is applied to a web page, the same result applies. When there are too many competing elements for the viewer’s attention (movement) there is no clear place for the user to focus their attention. It lessens the ability of the page to communicate a specific idea or purpose.
Tab order is especially critical, especially in administrative screens, ecommerce sites, interactive technologies and other form-intensive applications. This can take place in everything from a content management system to setting up a YouTube account. Tab order allows keyboard-only users to tab through forms and options. If the order is not logical, the cursor focus can easily be lost.
Tab order is not something that can be tested with automated software or web validation. It requires strict human testing and intervention, especially on different operating systems, browsers, computers and assistive technology. The combinations of all of these technologies create issues and different combinations may produce very different results. Human testing is the only way to find this issue.
Readability
Checkpoint 12.3 Divide large blocks of information into more manageable groups where natural and appropriate.
Checkpoint 12.4 Associate labels explicitly with their controls.
Checkpoint 13.8 Place distinguishing information at the beginning of headings, paragraphs, lists, etc.
Checkpoint 14.1 Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for the site’s content.
Checkpoint 14.3 Create a style of presentation that is consistent across pages.
None of these points are able to be tested in any type of automated environment. One of the most difficult problems online for websites is readability. Beyond readability, it is estimated that 40% of the population has lower literacy skills. Add to that low-vision, senior citizens and new adopters of the internet, and there is a significant learning and learning curve that keep people from easily accessing the information that they need.
Clear and simple language, consistent presentation, making text readable by arrangement, mark-up and headings – all of these are techniques that make content more accessible. They also rely on testing with target audiences rather than an automated button-push.
Navigation
Checkpoint 13.1 Clearly identify the target of each link.
Checkpoint 13.4 Use navigation mechanisms in a consistent manner.
Checkpoint 13.5 Provide navigation bars to highlight and give access to the navigation mechanism.
Users need to have a sense of location when they are on a page – Where do I go if this is not the right page? Where is there related information? How do I get there? These are all questions that can be answered quickly and easily by a good navigational structure with visual indicators, highlights and clear labels and targets.
In a sense, users need a sense of location, clear content relation, common sense navigation and a call to a specific destination in order to reduce their frustration. Deny any of these mechanisms, and your site is a whole lot harder to use. Automated tests, again, fail to properly identify issues of clarity, purpose, consistency, readability and understandability.
Automated Testing Fails True Accessibility
These are issues that no amount of automated testing will grasp. When a company claims “technical accessibility” it is because they have not actually tested their software or content management system with people, much less tested with those that rely on assistive technology. Simply choosing which checkpoints are more important than others and adhering to those are a dangerous precedent to establish. In doing so, adhering to strict technical issues, but not the grammatical, layout, contrast, navigation or readability issues ignores a significantly large portion of the population that can benefit from these improvements.
No amount of automated testing will explain to you that your instructions are unclear and visually hard to find. Only testing performed by people that are familiar with assistive technology, accessibility and the multitudes of combinations of these issues can ensure that a site is truly certified as accessible.
Developing a new website?
If you are a project manager or web manager, and you are tasked with purchasing or building a specification for a website, application or content management system, I recommend that you demand a third-party verification of accessibility. Relying on the manufacturer’s word and getting the “technically accessible” line can come back on you when a user discovers the truth.
As an example, a well-known software manufacturer claimed that their software was “technically accessible” that they met 508 requirements. Interestingly, the reports the software generated were accessible, but the methods necessary to generate those reports were not even close to being accessible.
Do the Work, Reap the Rewards
In their haste to be technically correct, programmers and development companies have forgotten (if they ever even knew) that the readability of the content, and the clarity of instructions, and calls to action are just as critical to accessibility as alternate navigation, alt attributes and graceful degradation.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
Multi-channel merchants suffer from a self-fulfilling prophesy, and it is completely understood. On the surface, it makes perfect sense. For those that slept through Psychology 101, Self-fulfilling prophesy is when you tell yourself that you are no good at math, you keep telling yourself this and as a result, don’t study as much, give up easily, so that when you finally take the test, you score low, and you mark it up to the reason: “I’m not good at math”.
Multi-Channel marketers tend to overstate the reach of catalog sales, they see that catalog makes up 90% of sales, and the website makes up 10% of sales. So, they reason, the catalog will continue to have most of the marketing resources, and website will have a small amount of resources, because it doesn’t perform as well as the catalog.
Obviously, I have a number of responses to that proposition.
Is there a sales tracking mechanism in place that covers each channel?
Many catalog retailers that I’ve talked with don’t have sales tracking on the website. It is an assumption based on a number of factors, but mainly their gut instinct and initial sales numbers, which can easily reinforce that thinking.
It’s not a wrong assumption at its face value, but it must be explored more in depth. Each channel must have a sales tracking mechanism in place in order to know for sure which channel accounts for a percentage of sales.
Have the basics of search engine optimization been implemented on your online catalog?
If not, then of course, your printed catalog will perform better than the website. If search engine optimization has not been performed on your website, then the average amount of search traffic is about 20% of total visits, and 80% of that 20% is most likely branded searches for the company.
Search Engine Optimization reverses the traffic sources from your website. It takes general product searches that result in visitors and increases it to 60%-80% of your traffic. The branded searches and other means of accessing the website actually slightly increase their levels, but get dwarfed by the incoming search traffic very quickly.
Because of the increase of search traffic, sales from the website will increase, as should sales from every channel; call centers, catalog requests, and the catalog itself. This is where tracking is critical. Knowing the source of growth and action is vital to continuing marketing efforts.
The Internet is not a single channel.
The internet is a broad term covering significant channels and it has changed the very definition of multi-channel to include: Organic Search, Paid Search, Shopping Search Engines, Email, Banner/Networks, Social Media, Online Public Relations, Link Building, Blogging, and more every day . . . .
Tracking is vital again in order to understand the value of each channel. While some channels are more effective in providing a direct response for sales, others are just as vital in providing an accurate story of your company and product. Others are important simply for visibility, others for buzz.
The channel determines the motivation, expectation and the qualification level of the visitor.
Segmenting the channel is important because the source determines the motivation and the behavior of the visitor. To treat all visitors to your website the same, regardless of HOW they got there is to ignore the individuality of the consumer and the method of which you acquired them.
Expectations of the visitor are everything; understand what they expect and tuning the message to them is vital to convert them into a long-term customer. I am surprised by the amount of companies that do not start with the simplest of segmentation analytics just by channel. There is an immense amount of intelligence to be gathered, but just starting with the basics will provide a significant reward.
To quote a famous stand-up philosopher, the website gets no respect.
I remember talking with one multi-channel manager, who took the website to an amazing 70% of sales revenue for the company. But as he asked me – “Do you think I can get even 50% of the marketing budget for the best performing channel in company history?” Here is the case where the tracking, search optimization, and marketing were all in place and humming along, but the majority of the budget still goes to print. Maybe because “it’s the way it has always been done”? I’m not sure, but history will have to answer that one.
My guess? Print is tangible, and it wins awards, but the web will win sales.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
I’ve read two books in the past few weeks, and have been amazed at the difference they make in my understanding of two subjects: Grammar and Algebra. I wish I have had access to these two books while in school, as I know they would have made an impact on my learning and understanding of the subject matter.
I hate x
I used to be really good in Math, until I met Algebra. Then I learned to hate x with a passion. I never understood why endless equations were so important, or how it would affect my life – why are we learning all of this? If I want to find out how many cans of paint are necessary to paint a room, I’ll buy four cans and return one if I don’t use it. That’s what Home Depot is for.
Traditionally, algebra classes are simply about performing harder and more complex equations, and I remember my teachers getting frustrated with me, as I simply did not understand algebra. I think the main reason is that I didn’t understand “why.” Why are we doing this – what does it prove? What am I learning?
Learning the “Why”
Enter a friend’s recommendation of a book, “Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea.” And now I have to ask myself – why don’t we start math classes with history lessons? Why do we not learn about why these equations were done in the first place and what they were meant to prove? This book showed the history of zero as mathematicians, philosophers and scientists either embraced or refused it.
More than Math
The author showed how zero challenged all areas of life; mathematics, theology, science, philosophy – all affected by the principle of zero. And so was my conception of algebra. By learning the history and context of this amazing subject, and its influence throughout history in so many disciplines, I learned to appreciate what I once hated, the infamous x.
Language
The second book was a fascinating romp into the formation of the English language – Bill Bryson’s “The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way.” Now, I love English and language studies to begin with, as that has aligned perfectly with understanding search marketing and semantics algorithms, but this book (again) showed the historical; changes and influences upon our modern language.
I learned to never split an infinitive.
I wish I had been armed with some of this knowledge as I defended my papers from the dreaded grammar errors that seemed to dominate my purpose. Knowing that the “rule” to never split infinitive was the result of an 18th century bishop who decided that English should be like Latin. Never mind that English is not a product of Latin, as are Spanish, French or Italian, and is it impossible to split an infinitive in Latin because the verb and infinitive are hopelessly joined together in the same word. (to speak = hablar. You can’t split the Spanish word “hablar” because the construction of the verb and infinitive are one and the same)
Yet, somehow, the romance of making the English language reflect the Latin language because of the love affair with the enlightened Greeks and Romans stuck, and now fourth graders have to beaten into submission to comply with random phrasing that is nothing like our normal verbal patterns of speech.
If you need an example, try rephrasing the heading of this section, “I learned to never split an infinitive.” In a way that sounds natural. You can’t do it without sounding like a pretentious grammar stickler.
If I had known these things in my youth, I could have argued up another letter grade – or at least befuddled the teacher to an extent that she may question the roots of grammar for the reminder of her life. At the very least I would have been satisfied to be an irritating pest to the teachers that constantly reinforced ancient writing rules that aren’t reflected in our natural speech patterns.
Bringing it together: Context Builds Understanding
In all areas, knowing the historical accomplishments and milestones always promotes understanding. Our modern educational system is not based on presenting this context. I would think that all classes should start with a history lesson of the factors that have shaped the modern understanding – how we got here. I do this in my marketing classes. It provides context as to why there is such crappy advice about search engine optimization on the internet.
Context determines everything. The same content can be presented on two different websites. However, the context of how that content is presented will cause two very distinct reactions. The readability and accessibility of one will usually trump the other, simply based on the context in which it was presented.
Understanding how information works online and how it is viewed by both humans and machines helps to create an understanding of the online marketing world. Understanding the history of online communications can help a marketer realize that social media will last much longer than any campaign, and that he had better be ready for the long-term investment, rather than a short term campaign.
Simply focusing on one part of marketing, say search engine optimization, (or in other words, the equations), without including other factors of usability, analytics, design, marketing and customer testing is neglecting a serious part of a successful campaign. Everything must be done in context in order to fully reach a targeted audience effectively and build a long-term association.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
Cultural critics and wordsmiths gather around for this outstanding foray into verbal investigation.
Have we lost our way when declaring ideas?
Why has the declarative been exchanged for the inquisitive?
Have we lost our ability, or our nerve, to declare our thoughts with confidence?
Highlights include:
“We’re the most aggressively inarticulate generation to come along since, you know . . , a long time ago.”
“It is not enough these days to question authority, you’ve got to speak with it too.”
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
Next month, I will be traveling to the Googleplex to be a presenter for their “MarketingTalks@Google” series. This is an awesome invitation, spawned from the “Analytics According to Captain Kirk” segment in my analytics training and presentations. I’ve known the staff at Google Analytics since their Urchin days, so it’s always nice to see their success and adoption into Google.
I’ll be in San Jose for Search Engine Strategies that week, presenting at two sessions; Analytics 2.0 with Analytics heavyweights Jim Sterne, Erik Peterson, and Marshall Sponder, and then a fun panel on IT for Marketers, where we de-mystify the dark secrets of IT web-speak language for Marketers. I’ll also get to moderate a panel which has the potential for a lot of fun - Black Hat v White Hat tactics with Greg Boser, Jill Whalen, Todd Freisen, Bruce Clay and Dave Naylor. I’ll wrap up the week by presenting a 4-hour training class on Analytics on Friday.
So, it made sense to schedule a time while I was in town, and I’ll speaking at Google on Tuesday the 19th, at the Mountain View location, and then conduct a small round-table discussion later in the day. Both sessions will be taped and made available on the AtGoogle Talks channel on YouTube.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
Velleity is a word that has dropped out of the general vocabulary, unfortunately. I am attempting to bring it back, as it has more relevance now than ever.
Velleity is a desire to see something done, but not enough desire to make it happen. Wow!
Reporting v Analyzing
In my analytics training classes I ask the attendees about their analytics reporting routine. Sometimes I make fun of the in-house analyst that has to report numbers like unique visitors, hits and sessions. Then, they spend the rest of the month justifying why that number was higher or lower than the prior month. Unfortunately, as I make that statement I see too many heads nodding in agreement. I feel for those people who are locked in a never ending cycle of velleity. Companies that understand that analytics can be valuable, but not enough to change their culture, provide the analyst with the tools they need, or provide them with the freedom to make changes that will improve the profits of the company itself.
These are what I call “Caveman Analytics.”
Unfortunately, too many businesses are trapped into thinking that big numbers are impressive. Big numbers = big business, right? But what do you do with those numbers? How does that affect your strategy?
Questioning the Strategy
As soon as someone starts asking questions, the house of straw blows away. Simply reporting numbers is not an analytics strategy, and it certainly will not lead to any amount of website improvement. And yes, I do know of some companies that include “Hits” in their monthly reporting. (If that is you, reporting hits, stop. Hits are not a count of any relevance for your marketing. It’s just a big number.)
Questioning As a Strategy
Questions are the foundation for our learning. They expose motivations and require explanations. Many corporations and businesses are famous for encouraging the heads-down, lock-step agreement survival tactics. Asking questions is not popular, nor is it encouraged. Asking questions is perceived as rebellion, rather than progress. In the 60’s the radicals told us to question authority. Now that they are in authority, the last thing they want is to be questioned.
Neil Postman speaks about the importance of questioning, saying “question-asking is the most significant tool human beings have.” Even more important that software, servers and summaries, questions are an analysts’ primary tool. Postman even suggested that the reason why we don’t teach the ability to question in schools, is because eventually the students will question the teacher. Questions are subversive, but they result in people finding answers.
Questions - The Cure for Velleity
Velleity is what keeps companies locked in this mindset of reporting useless numbers. Desiring, even expecting to someday have an epiphany of change, but not willing to change the mindset or the culture of locked-in reporting to achieve it. Nor are they willing to ask the hard questions in order to uncover what must be done.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
Changes in the Industry like no other
It can be argued that no other profession has been so affected by the internet as Real Estate. I count myself lucky to have been in the industry right when it “crossed over” into the Internet age. When I got into Real Estate the agents were the true gatekeepers of information. Every two weeks, a book of listings within your county was published, and every Realtor received one. Buyers were primarily reliant upon their agent to communicate new listings to them in a timely and efficient manner. The only other source of Real Estate information was the circular in the local newspaper, published once a week.
Enter the internet, which enabled forward-thinking brokers to start placing listings online. As early as 1996, buyers were using the internet to find homes, especially if they were relocating to new areas. The advent of the internet was amazing, as it transformed the industry in a few short years. I saw amazing results from advertising properties online, and it didn’t take much for me to make the decision to pursue a career in online marketing rather than Real Estate. Stagnation?
Unfortunately, while the accessibility of property listings has increased, the level of knowledge and online marketing has not grown with the times. In fact, from shopping for homes the past few months, I am convinced that the learning curve for online marketing among many Realtors has stagnated. When Realtor.com came on the scene in 1997, they sold to Realtors, using ploys such as: “the average listing on Realtor.com receives “x” views.” I felt like the lone ranger trying to explain to my fellow Realtors that a lot of the sales lines were bad data improperly applied. It showed me a lot about the lack of understanding of technology in that industry. Some have only recently accepted that the Internet is here to stay.
Here is my recent experience from the past few months of searching for a home. They say that doctors are the worst patients. It may also be true that former Realtors who are now online marketing veterans may be the worst sellers or buyers.
Bad Photos – are you kidding me?
In this day and age of inexpensive, high quality digital cameras, you post low resolution photos that are pixilated and hard to see? Worse yet, you show laziness buy simply uploading everything you took a picture of?
If I had my house on the market, I would be going ballistic on my Realtor, as there are no excuses for :
Low res, pixilated photos
Blurry pictures
Pictures of toilets and mirrors
Less than 3 pictures uploaded for any listing
Cameras held at an angle, making everything look like it’s on a slope
pictures of beds, which I am not buying
No pictures of the items listed in the description. If there is a workshop – take a picture!
Each one of these things is something that can easily turn off a buyer. Not taking the extra time to take a good picture, not considering presentation, and not labeling photos will negatively affect the buyer’s decision as they shop online. Not enough information is one of the worst problems an online listing can have.
Realtors and Responsibility
Pictures are meant to present the sellers home in the best light. Can a little thought be made about the selection and the quality of pictures that are used? The responsibility of the listing Realtor is to represent the seller. This includes the responsibility of the online listing. EVERY part of that online listing should be attractive, explanatory, and sensible. Anything less is a disservice to the seller, who pays your commission. I am very surprised that more sellers do not get online to check their listings. I think more Realtors would be fired if sellers checked their listings.
Expectations
If the listing description highlights certain areas of the home, such as an in-law suite, over-sized garage, pond or other feature that can be a potential selling point – please, add a picture. There are so many homes that had excellent descriptions, but then no photos of any if the items described in the listing. The description is the first area we read, and it sets up the expectations, but then the lack of pictures is more than disappointing, it lessens the property.
When there are an almost unlimited number of pictures that can be uploaded, only loading two to three outdoor shots is inexcusable. If there is an in-ground pool, please add the picture. Someone may want to see it. If you have green or lavender bathroom toilets, you may want to go ahead and add it as well, just to keep expectations in line.
Anything less than 10 photos is a crime against the seller. For newer homes with more than 2000 square feet, 20 photos. Three or less is negligence. Negligence not only towards your seller, but to any buyer who is comparing properties.
Real Estate 2.0? When?
I am waiting for more social aspects of marketing to be implemented. While real estate was one of the earliest adopters of the internet (not without resistance) it has not grown out of a 90’s mentality of online marketing. The only things I can do are email the realtor, email the listing to a friend, or make a printable brochure. Some sites allow me to create lists of the properties I like with registration, which I liked, but I was still disappointed with the lack of flexibility in ranking, saving, excluding, and comparing properties.
I for one am waiting for the ability to add comments to listings. I would love nothing more than adding what I liked or didn’t like about homes, and I am sure that it would help to make some homes more attractive. I am also sure that the comments would also shock some sellers into reality when buyers can be directly honest about the home and the outrageous prices that some are asking for what they are offering.
Some comments I would have left:
The house photo is at a weird angle because of the mobile homes and cars on blocks in the neighbor’s yard.
This home advertises 2 full baths. The second bath is in the basement and has no walls.
The separate 3 car garage and workshop makes this house well worth the asking price.
The pool and the outdoor chimney are amazing, but the yard was too small for us.
URL Addresses
At my previous company, we went to extraordinary lengths to create search friendly URL’s in order to have the database of homes spidered by the search engines. Ultimately, each property had its own short, unique URL, based on the MLS number. We celebrated. Simply searching by using the MLS code in Google would result in the property page showing up in the rankings. Unfortunately, the client had no idea how great an accomplishment this was, nor the implications. Now, the average URL that I cut and past from real estate websites are well over 50 characters . . . Check this out (if you can):
These tend to break. I send these URLs by email, Instant Messaging, and SMS. My wife and I share URL’s incessantly, as it seems we change criteria every week. Sometimes, our friends help out, but rarely does anyone use the “Send to a Friend” option. Could it be that they are not visible or too cumbersome? My opinion is that people do not use these forms because the policy is not clear about using email addresses gleaned from the website. Every send to a friend form that I viewed had no clear policy or explanation of how the emails would be kept, used, or maintained.
Final Thoughts
Having been in the real estate industry and cutting my teeth on real estate websites in the 90’, it frustrated me beyond belief to see the lackluster attempts at online marketing. I would dare say that the majority of buyers are looking online before they ever contact a Realtor. How a Realtor sells a property, the pictures they use, and the description they provide, are all keys to how well they will do their job. It’s a business card. It’s an opportunity for the Realtor and their seller to shine, yet most do not seem to take the time to learn the tools or create effective presentations.
Sellers Need to Demand More
Maybe it’s the area where I live, that many Realtors seem to uncomfortable with a digital camera and creating well-crafted, marketable property descriptions. I am sure that there are Realtors out there who take the time to build an amazing online profile of the houses they list. As a seller, I would demand nothing less than a professional listing with clear, hi-res pictures that present my home in the best possible light. Anything less would be unacceptable.
A friend pointed me to a Realtor’s blog where he has created the Bad MLS Photo of the Day. I like his style, and I am sure that he will have a never-ending source of content.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
Anyone who has worked for or run a small business knows how hard it can be to get good marketing advice. Everyone from the high priced consultant to the guy you buy your laptop from has advice on how to get ahead online. Most of them are wrong. It can leave a small business owner so desperate for advice, they’ll take it from anyone. Even the guy sitting next to them on the plane…
This week, I happened to be “that guy.”
On a late night flight to Cleveland, I found myself sitting next to a woman and her young daughter. We were having a nice conversation when she mentioned she had started her own business but was frustrated with her website. Of course my ears perked up and my attention was captured. I’ve heard my fair share of stories of bad advice, but this woman’s story was right up there.
She spun a long tale of woe, recounting bits of advice she’d endured during her short career with this website. I sat amazed as she shared with me the advice she’d been given and the thing she’d been told to do.
I realized that many people offering advice about website marketing read an article or two and feel as though they have it all together. Others seem to be coming from plain ignorance. And the person who pays for the bad advice? The business owner, who is usually on a shoestring budget and just wants to run her business.She doesn’t have time for unfounded, groundless advice that could potentially destroy her business.
Unfortunately, I cannot educate those who feel that they know everything already. People who are well don’t need a doctor. But I can do everything in my power to be sure that small business owners have the information they need to correctly build and market their website. All they want are straight answers in a language they can understand.
Moving to GoDaddy
One consultant told her she needed to move her website to GoDaddy’s platform. She transferred the domain registration, her email accounts…everything. Unfortunately it took a few weeks of frustration before GoDaddy support realized she was Mac-based. GoDaddy’s sitebuilder program is incompatible with Mac OS. GoDaddy’s advice? Buy a PC. Needless to say, it took just as long to get everything off Godaddy and back to her original registrar as it did to transfer things over in the first place. The result? Countless hours and dollars wasted from really bad advice.
Search Engine Submission
The next thing she was told was to pay for a submission service to search engines. This is where I had to bite my lip to keep from exploding. No one has had to submit a site to the search engines since the year 2000. Search engines have programs called “spiders” that will find your website and download a copy of your site to their servers. Submitting your site to search engines is a thing of the past. It’s not necessary and usually a rip-off offer. $29.95 to submit your website to 100 search engines? Name six of them.
Search engines will naturally find your website. Read the Google guidelines. In fact, anyone who has anything to do with creating, programming, developing, and marketing a website should be made to read those guidelines. Search engines want your website, and they work hard to get it. Just by picking up a few links to your website, you can ensure that the search engines will find your pages.
Domain Registration
Amazingly, all of the advice to this point was enough to make me scream out in frustration, but that wasn’t the best part. Her Mac guy, who helps her computer run smoothly, tells her that the “trick” to getting into Google . . . . wait for it . . . . is to register her domain for 10 years.
[blink]
Seriously.
No wonder the internet is such a mystery, and business owners make what they think are good decisions based on advice, only to have zero results. With this kind of advice, zero result would be preferable to the lost hours and ill-spent money.
Registering your domain for a few years; whatever you think will make sense is the best advice I can give. There is an element of the algorithm that is debated about the length of time that it is registered. Anecdotal evidence suggests that domains registered for a year are not as reliable as domains registered for 10 years – based on the ideas that the owner has made a commitment to the domain.
I can understand that – it makes sense. However, this item alone is not the primary part of the algorithm! It is a very minor part, and there are so many other intricacies that are much more important than the years of domain registration that you purchase. Logically, if everyone went out and re-registered their domain for 10 years, what then? Who is most relevant?
Straight talk.
The basis of website visibility in the search engines is your architecture, content, and incoming links. Those are the fundamental principles of building a website marketing strategy. Everything else supports these principles. The rest is details. For a small business owner, here are the basics:
Build a site that is focused on your goal.
Provide a clear goal for the visitor; contact form, phone number, clear directions.
Write keyword-focused summaries about each page in the Page Title and Meta Description.
Get website links from business associates, directories, local memberships.
. . . and then read the Google Webmaster Guidelines. I am surprised how many people have not seen this document. It is a true road map for any business owner who has questions about how your website should be built.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
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From Part 1, setting goals is the first and only place to start when developing an analytics strategy. Otherwise, the analyst or the website marketing manager will spend the majority of their time developing reports with numbers on them. The rest of their month will then be spent justifying why those numbers are higher or lower than the previous month. Without goals, there is simply no direction. 
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
