Archive for October 2011
Some Owners are reluctant to create their own website for lack of technical ability or cost if they choose to use a web designer. I’ve previously written here about the importance of your own website, and here and here on how using WordPress and the thousand’s of free or premium templates available allows non-techie Owners to create a low-cost site – and to be in simple point-and-click control of editing it.
But if you still aren’t convinced here’s another alternative, and it’s Facebook: don’t think Facebook friends, think Facebook pages. Facebook has a huge audience, and according to industry data has now almost reached the popularity of Google in the number of searches being made on it by web users.
And designing a website is a big deal, even if WordPress’s simplicity puts creation in the hands of non-techies. It takes time – it’s hard to get something up and running in, say, just 2 weeks Facebook pages saves that time.
If you want a site that can engage people by letting them discuss the property, post pictures and video, and take contests then Facebook does it very cheaply – websites can do all this too, but it comes at a price. The biggest challenge to a website is the most important: you need to get people to visit it. Yes, you can put Facebook or Twitter social buttons on your site on it, and then blog the hell out of it, or write articles for it, but the building of traffic is still a black art and dirty work almost akin to one-armed wrestling.
With a Facebook fan page you get:
It’s instant gratification (and I’m all for that).
You get 25 friends, a Facebook username (a unique-to-you-URL such as facebook.com/tuscanyvilla), and hey presto, you’re in business. It’s still easier to get a Facebook URL than a good domain name.
Functionality is Built-In.
The social networking functionality you want on a website is already built into Facebook: there’s commentary, discussion, visitor posting of photos and videos, and reviews. This means you don’t have to figure out how to add this functionality to a website or pay someone to add it for you.
Limited flexibility.
Facebook fan pages don’t provide the total flexibility of a website, but that is an advantage for some Owners – it stops them from going nuts with features and design. Basically, there are tabs and sub-tabs to play with. A side benefit is that people don’t expect a unique/cool/whatever website because they see that all Facebook fan pages have a similar look and feel.
Flexibility.
Within the limited flexibility of Facebook, however, there is substantial flexibility. You can choose from hundreds of Facebook apps to add functionality.
Controlled environment.
Facebook is a more controlled environment than the wide-open world wide web. People have to join Facebook, and most people do care about their identities and reputation. You can also block troublemakers and complain to Facebook about them. On the web it’s hard to get rid of people who send trashy comments, spam you, try and upload horrible photos and so on.
Size and Spread.
The best part of Facebook is that depending on what source you read and who you believe there are about 400 million members. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world-behind China and India but ahead of the US. Every time people do something on your fan page, they spread the word about it to their social contacts. This is the holy grail of marketing: unconscious word-of-mouth advertising! There’s power to this – much more so than hoping a visitor will click on a “Like” or “Tweet” button on a website or forward a website’s URL in an email to a friend
Free.
It’s hard to argue with free. You pay nothing to Facebook. Though they do drop ad placements on your page to make ad revenue
What are the pro’s and con’s of a Facebook fan page strategy vis-a-vis your own website? There are some:
Some say you are supporting Facebook’s climb to achieving worldwide domination. Do you care? You probably already use Windows. (Something I don’t do.) You’ve probably thought of buying an iAnything from Apple. (Something I often do, but then I’m a shallow person.) I’m also selfish – and think if Facebook helps my bookings and business succeed, let it have worldwide domination, I don’t care. What I do I care about is whether Facebook helps my business. It’s not personal. It’s just business.
You’re putting all your bets on Facebook. This is true. If Facebook falls, so will your page (Facebook URL). It’s more likely your property will have fallen down in decay before that happens. In other words, don’t worry about it for a few decades.
Experts will tell you that won’t get the SEO ‘juice’, brand awareness or inbound links, of a website and it’s true. But then again you won’t get much from just your website either. I doubt that failure of getting bookings to your holiday home will be using Facebook instead of a website.
With so many different online gambling websites out there today, it can be very difficult to find a site that is well trusted and safe, along with providing one of the best gambling experiences possible. The following paragraphs will help give you an idea of what to look for from a gambling website and how you can make sure you find the best ones without too much trouble.
The first thing that you are going to want to make sure of is that the website that you choose is a well trusted and reputable name among the industry. Just because an online casino has great graphics doesn’t necessarily mean that they will provide you with the safety and security that you are looking for. hen gambling with your own money, you always want to be sure that you and your finances are well taken care of and you won’t have to worry about where it is.
The next thing that we would recommend taking a look at is the gambling website’s bonus offers. Many of the well established and top sites have the best bonus offers because they can afford to offer them to their customers. Websites like Bodog and Sportsbook.com offer unlimited bonus offers, while others offer excellent bonuses of as much as a $1000. It is important that you find a casino that gives you money back just for playing at their website.
The last thing that we are going to mention when searching for the best option is to look at their graphics and software. No one wants to have the casino experience online without having the graphics to bring them to life. In order to really enjoy your online experience, it is important that you are drawn to the games because of good graphics, rather than being bored by them. Many of the best gambling websites have the technology and software to bring these games to life and all you need to do is find them.
So all in all it is important to look at these three areas when determining which website to start gambling online with. Things like safety, bonus offers and graphics are just the main things we would suggest looking at. When you are further along in your search you can start looking at more of the specifics that pertain to your own wants and needs.
Google Analytics has a good thing going: they have permeated the market with a powerful and free tool. They have little to no competition and they have huge brand name recognition. If you are interested in understanding patterns in how people are using your website, then read this article!
Do You Want to Know Personal Information on Your Visitors?
A lot of data can be gleaned from a statistical analysis package.
If you want to know personal information about the visitors to your site, then you’ll be disappointed. Google Analytics does not tell you the name and physical address of the person or people who visit your website.
So, What’s in it for Me?
Once you sign up, you will receive a unique code, which will need to be embedded in each page of your website. It’s that simple. Once the web crawler indexes the unique code in your website, the data will automatically begin to accumulate in your account.
Google Analytics is a system which provides up to about 140 reports. There is a lot it can do. On the most basic reporting level, information is provided about the number of people who visit your site, the time they spend on each page, how they found you in the first place, and the page where they decided to exit your website.
When you log in to your account, you view the reports, and you begin to get a more clear picture of how your website is performing.
Your Website Performance
Getting a website live is not the most difficult thing to do. Understanding performance takes a little more thought. It is the understanding of the performance of your website that will directly impact your future actions and decisions, and, in turn, your future website traffic and overall success.
This statistical analysis system delivers numbers to you. When you collect and review the numbers over a period of 3-5 months, patterns begin to emerge. It is the review of these patterns that is important.
Propelling your website forward and achieving more traffic will require a long term commitment some kind of system of data analysis. Google Analytics is one very popular platform that ordinary folks can begin to leverage to understand the performance of their website.