More about the seminar

I wrote out my notes from the Internet Marketing Seminar (email me for a copy) with little commentary. I've saved my comments for this blog.

Case study of EZ websites by Thomas Register
This segment didn't delve into TR's online strategy, but instead related John Gennaro's experience in rolling out AdWords advertising and EZ websites, which is why I title this a 'case study'. One could be disappionted by this, as while he has been successful and had the resources to do so, he didn't make the case or try to explain how this should be integrated with an attendee's web marketing.

The only thing he did say in this regard is that 'small/med. businesses have the advantage in pulling traffic for people searching with 4 or more keywords.' He then went on to show how TR can dominate these searches too, by combining content from multiple suppliers listed on their site.

How to make your website a success
The second segment was by web consultant Aaron Kahlow that focused on what makes a site successful--traffic. I think it was a very well tuned presentation.

Generating traffic:
No real news in what he said here. Content is king, same as John said. The more content the more likely you are to have the right keywords and the more valuable your visitors will find it.

Converting traffic
This is the part I liked the best. It was actually the biggest eye-opener for the audience. His basic point that '80% of the problems with your website is your home page' is right on. And he helped show how to fix your home page, too. Your home page should be considered a navigation page, he said, to lead your visitor into the site.

Measuring traffic
This was the eye-opener for me. I've been happy using FastStats for years, but with my site redesign, the data is less useful because of the addition of multiple navigation pages. He recommended 'client side' tracking that measured actual user activity by including a small javascript on each page. This eliminates problems with cached pages not being logged, as well as forcing you to focus on the user experience, and not just numbers. I'll let you know when I pick a tool to do this.