Using Google Analytics' Top Content Report to Grow Your Blog

As a blogger, it's important to periodically review your greatest successes to understand what made them great. Insights from your top blog posts allow you to create even better content and grow your blog faster. This week's post reviews using the Google Analytics Top Content report to find and learn from your blogging victories.

At this point you are either in one of two groups. Some of you are thinking "Google Analytics? Awesome! I live for these types of posts!" To you folks I just ask for a moment of patience.

For those of you that have a website/blog and don't or rarely use Google Analytics (or an equivalent tool), I promise you that you'll be better off for reading this post. The best thing you can do to better understand Google Analytics is to dive right in. Ok I'm done preaching now. I promise.

The Google Analytics Top Content Report

The Google Analytics Top Content report is one of the best reports in GA. We often worry so much about our home page, but the Top Content report is famous for revealing the true main sources of traffic to your blog/website.

Navigating to the Top Content report is easy.Accessing the Top Content report is easy. Just log into Google Analytics and then select Content -> Top Content from the navigation menu on the left.

You don't want pages from your entire website to show in the Top Content report for this exercise. We only want your blog posts. Use the filter option at the bottom of the report to weed out the content we don't want. To determine what to filter, find the part of your blog posts' URL that is applicable to all blog posts. (e.g., www.YourBlog.com/Blog/June/28/Topic). Set the filter to include only pages with that value and you'll end up with a list of just your blog posts.

Use the filter to report only on your blog posts.

Viewing the Top Content Report

Now we're ready to start looking for insights in our fully-configured Top Content report. As someone who admires others for opening their kimono a bit for the sake of educating the community, I invite you visual learners to take a gander at Big Picture Web's Top Content report:

Big Picture Web's top blog posts.

Gaining Insights From Your Top 10 Blog Posts

The Top Content report revealed my blog's most popular posts. Spending just a few minutes on this activity can lend great insights on what makes posts popular in the first place. Let's look at Big Picture Web's top 10 blog posts for some ideas:

1. Could my review of the Squarespace blogging/web publishing platform be popular because Squarespace itself is growing like crazy? It  makes sense that people want to know what the buzz is about. Thought: Share your experiences in topics that are gaining in popularity to benefit from the conversations supporting trending topics.
2. Squarespace vs. Wordpress: Both Sides of the StoryThis article pits Wordpress vs. Squarespace in a comprehensive blog platform comparison (co-authored with Iowa Wordpress developer, Andy Brudtkuhl). Given that Wordpress is the biggest name in blogging, it makes sense that Squarespace prospects would want to know how the two blog platforms compare. Thought: It shouldn't always be about your personal opinion. It's good to promote an open dialog about a topic, too. Your visitors can read the facts, then decide what's best for themselves.
3. A guide to measuring blog comments with Google Analytics. The popularity of this blog post was due almost entirely in thanks to a solitary tweet from Avinash. Thought: Write posts that the big players in your industry would want to pass along. Get traffic.Avinash sent an army of over 300 people my way with 1 tweet.
4. A calculator I made on estimating the ROI of banner advertising is one of the only resources on the web for figuring our what to charge for banner advertising on your site. Thought: People love simple tools that solve their problems. End of story.
5. An opinion piece I did on Squarespace vs its competitors was popular because, again, people looking for information on blogging platforms like a lot of information that allows them to decide. Lesson: Again, try to be helpful and be honest.
6. Infographics and images generate page views.A post highlighting examples of great web design receives nearly all of its traffic from Google Images, showing the value optimizing your content for more than just the traditional search results. Lesson: Don't forget about vertical search engines. Make sure you use ALT tags on your images. Also, people LOVE infographics.
7. A guide to the best Internet marketing podcasts shows again how your own personal knowledge can go a long way for those that haven't been there nor done that. Lesson: Leverage the heck out of the things you learn. Share it like crazy.
8. This guide on web resources for Squarespace designers shows the value of curating content on the web. Lesson: Spreading the content of others can be just as important as creating it.
9. This post on advanced search tips for Twitter was tweeted by a Twitter tip aggregator with over 200,000 followers. Lesson: There are social influencers other than just experts within your niche. Help them create value for their followers by creating useful content for them to promote.Popular content hubs can spread your blog posts quickly.
10. A post covering the launch of Squarespace's social widgets shows the value of covering trending topics within your niche. Lesson: Sharing your unique insights with a brand's community can help you find like-minded people in your niche.

Now it's your turn. Give it a shot and take a look at your top 10 blog posts. Why was your most popular post so popular? Was it picked up by social media? Are you seeing a lot of search traffic? Crack open your Google Analytics and let me know what you learn from your Top Content report in the comments below.

Online Listener Basics: 10 Tools to Help You "Hear" Online

Are you good online listener? As an online listener, you value knowing the needs of your audience and will strain your digital ears to find them. You embrace strategy, perhaps a process or two and an array of online listening tools to truly hear your niche. Just what kind of tools, you say? Today Big Picture Web has assembled a list of 10 online listening tools to help the noble online listener.

What Makes a Good Online Listener?

What makes a good online listener? I've been thinking about that question a lot lately. It first came up after reading a pair of blog posts from Tim Bursch, a fellow blogger here in the Twin Cities. Tim pointed out the importance of listening/hearing online and then asked his community what online listening tools they used to hear in social media. 

A few weeks later, I saw Brian Solis imply that the moment people stop listening to you is when you stop adding value in this interview.

And most recently, I read SEO expert and MyBlogGuest.com founder Ann Smarty's post about some of her favorite tools for collecting feedback from her "silent" blog followers.

Ok. Listening is important. We get it. So let's take a look at some tools already to make us better online listeners.

10 Tools for Online Listeners

1. Search.Twitter.com - Use Twitter to listen by using the power of search. Feeling confident? Master these 10 advanced Twitter search tips. Feeling dangerous? Master the Twitter listening station.
2. 4Q - Put a simple survey on your blog/website to see why people visited you, whether they accomplished their objective and how satisfied they were with their visit. People will tell you amazing things when it's anonymous.(4Q's Task Completion Trending for Big Picture Web. Yay!)
3. BetterMe - Speaking of anonymity, BetterMe is an excellent way to receive feedback anonymously. Visitors can click on a simple image link on your site and leave their thoughts. These can be very helpful indeed. You can use BetterMe to send a thank-you to your feedback providers without revealing their identity, which is a neat feature to close the loop.
4. Blog Comments - Visitors who leave comments on your blog are some of the best friends you can have. Respond to them and acknowledge their contribution. Mitch Joel recently started responding within his comments a lot more because he sees value in it. Avinash Kaushik receives dozens of comments, yet replies to everyone within his blog's comments and via email. I'm pretty sure Avinash has done the analysis necessary to prove that these are his BFFs. And he treats his commenting visitors as such. (Side note: As a Squarespace developer, I'm so happy their new iPhone app allows for easy comment moderation.)
5. (Click on the "Feedback" tab on the right to see this form.)Get Satisfaction - Another wonderful web tool for gathering feedback, Get Satisfaction is a full-on customer service add-on for your website. See that "Feedback" tab on the right side of this blog? Click it. Fill something out. Then start thinking about how you could use Get Satisfaction on your own blog or website.
6. Google Analytics - You don't need to be a Web Analyst to use a web analytics platform. You don't even have to work in online marketing. Google Analytics (or what-have-you) is for everyone attached to the business. So accept it already and dip your toes in the water. Try Arik Hanson's Google Analytics blogger basics post for starters. Then go to the Analysis Ninja for a thorough education.
7. Clicky Web Analytics - These guys just plain don't get enough credit. Clicky is a super-affordable paid web analytics platform with some really great features Google Analytics just doesn't offer. Their real-time monitoring "Spy" feature is incredible for watching visitors' activity on your site as it happens. Watching content go viral with Clicky is better than seeing a double rainbow.(A portion of Clicky's Spy interface.)
8. Quantcast - Quantcast is an online media tool that allows you to learn more about your audience and show key aggregate website stats to your potential advertisers. Finding out the basic demographics of my visitors was an amazing piece of information. Incidentally, Big Picture Web would like to take this opportunity to say hello to our educated, affluent Asian visitors. Welcome!(Aggregate basic demographics for Big Picture Web visitors.)
9. Google Insights - Find out where the conversations are headed by using Google Insights. Use keyword popularity trends to understand what the next big topic is going to be. Proactive online listeners can often create content that supports a topic from multiple angles just as it becomes really popular by paying attention to rising and breakout terms.
10. iGoogle - One of the best ways to listen online is to read what others are saying. I use iGoogle to keep track of all the blogs I follow. Each week I try to cover as much as I can on what's happening in the areas of Internet marketing, SEO and web analytics. I also like to interact with Twin Cities bloggers to keep up on important regional ideas, news and opportunities. You can use these links to seed your iGoogle page if you're not sure what to read.

What Tools Do You Use?

So, back to the original question... Are you a good online listener? What success have you had with the tools above? Is there an online listening tool that you've used that's not listed here? Leave a comment below to share your experience with the Big Picture Web community. 

You can be sure I'll be listening.

The Squarespace Twitter / Facebook Button Tutorial Post

Most people that have been to Big Picture Web in the past know that I'm a Squarespace blogger. I enjoy their beautiful design interface, thoughtful technical decisions and their ever-growing momentum as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) web publishing platform. This week they announced a series of updates, including the integration of HTML snippets. Today's post shows how easy it is to integrate your online Twitter, Squarespace and Facebook efforts using one of Squarespace's awesome new features.

If Squarespace's big $38.5M VC deal with Index Ventures and Accel Partners somehow failed to grab your attention last month, perhaps features from their one-two combo update this week to their iPhone and blogging platform will persuade you to check them out:

• HTML snippets that allow bloggers to add features to Squarespace like Twitter's Tweet and Facebook's Like buttons to their blogs
• An iPhone update that enables a smoother cross-platform blogging experience. The fluid comment moderation interface alone (with push notifications!) is pretty remarkable.
• Now you can subscribe to comments, facilitating more thorough community engagement between visitors of your blog (Thank you, @Markb and @Squaregirl if you had something to do with this!)
• A stats page redesign that is shiny, but still probably nothing more than eye candy to those with a web analytics tool like Google Analytics

What are HTML Snippets?

Squarespace allows for up to three HTML snippets in your blog header or footer. An HTML snippet is simply a small chunk of (usually) HTML and/or JavaScript that enable enhanced functionality (e.g., the Like button) within a blog or website. Squarespace's new HTML snippets are a way to easily add features like the Twitter Tweet and Facebook Like buttons across all your blog posts from one spot in the in admin interface. Follow the steps listed in the sections below to add the Facebook Like and Twitter Tweet buttons to your Squarespace blog.

(Now, before you decide that a post including HTML is not for you, realize that what follows requires, for the most part, only basic copy/paste skills. And it's pretty harmless. Also, while I describe the specific methods for adding Twitter and Facebook buttons to Squarespace, be sure to check out the Squarespace Manual if you're having any difficulties.)

Add the Twitter Tweet Button to Squarespace

Follow these simple steps to add the Twitter Tweet button to your Squarespace blog:

1. Enter the Structure Editing Layer from the Squarespace administrative interface
2. Select the configure this page option from your blog home page
3. Navigate to the Post Display Configuration section of the Configuration tab
4. Drag one of the new HTML snippets to the header or footer of your blog layout
5. Click on your new snippet to edit. Paste the following code and then select Hide and Save:

<a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="%PERMALINK%" data-count="horizontal" data-via="YOUR TWITTER USERNAME">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>

Toggle the HTML Snippets in the Post Display Configuration interface.

Squarespace HTML Snippet for a Twitter Tweet button

• Note 1: Make sure you make use of Squarespace's "%PERMALINK%" URL substitute in place of any specific URLs on your blog.
• Note 2: Replace "YOUR TWITTER USERNAME" with, you guessed it, your Twitter username. This will include a mention to you when someone tweets your article.
• Note 3: Choose or create your own Twitter Tweet button for Squarespace here (just be sure to use the %PERMALINK% URL plug).

Add a Facebook Like Button to Your Squarespace Blog

Follow these simple steps to add the Facebook button to your Squarespace blog:

1. Enter the Structure Editing Layer from the Squarespace administrative interface
2. Select the configure this page option from your blog home page
3. Navigate to the Post Display Configuration section of the Configuration tab
4. Drag one of the new HTML snippets to the header or footer of your blog layout
5. Click on your new snippet to edit. Paste the following code and select Hide and Save:

 <iframe src="http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=%PERMALINK%&layout=standard&show_faces=true&width=310&action=like&colorscheme=light&height=23" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; overflow:hidden; width:310px; height:23px;"   allowTransparency="true"></iframe>

Squarespace HTML Snippet for a Facebook Like Button

• Note 1: Make sure you make use of Squarespace's "%PERMALINK%" URL substitute in place of any specific URLs on your blog.
• Note 2: You can adjust the size of the Like button's container by adjusting the number of pixels in the width and height properties of the HTML

Displaying Squarespace HTML Snippets Inline

By default, each HTML snippet displays on its own line on the web page. But if you want to display them side-by-side, read Squarespace user Si Lunt' tip on how to display your Squarepace HTML snippets inline on the Squarespace developer forum. As a part-time Squarespace developer, I appreciate people like Si Lunt for sharing knowledge with the community.

What is your opinion of Squarespace? Have you heard of them as a blogging platform? Do resources like the Squarespace Twitter / Facebook Button Tutorial Post make you more likely to want to check them out? What reservations do you have? Leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments below. And check out this information if you're looking for more on Squarespace.

Choose My New Blog Logo

Brands get new logos all the time. Tastes change. Products mature. Companies gain a stronger sense of who they are and how they can serve their community. For Big Picture Web, it was the latter. After over a year with our current blog logo, today we invite you to help choose the new Big Picture Web logo by taking a short word association test.

It's not that I don't like my current logo. It's exactly what I asked for when I had it designed. It's just that I didn't really know where I wanted to take my blog and my personal brand at time. As a result, I get a lot of feedback that my logo doesn't really represent what I talk about (i.e., blogging, SEO, web analytics, etc.). I'm told it reminds people of tourism. Or maybe agriculture. But never Internet marketing. 

New Blog Rough Logo Concepts

That's where John Stucker comes in. John is one of the founding principles at Pollywog, a naming and branding agency here in the Twin Cities. I've had the chance to work with him on a few projects and really admire his work. It baffles me how someone can take an entire brand and distill it down to a basic graphic, some text and maybe a cool font. I will never have that skill, but John has it in spades.

He's whipped up three different rough blog logo concepts to help bring the Big Picture Web brand to the next level. Keep in mind that "rough logo concepts" means:

• The color palette hasn't been set. What you see is placeholder and only demonstrates relative contrasts between the final color palette.
• Several elements may change. John will spend some additional time on a concept to fully develop it once a direction is specified.
• The final version will be shiny, polished and perfect.

And with that little disclaimer aside, let's reveal our three contenders for the new logo of the Big Picture Web blog.

Blog Logo Concept #1:

Blog Logo Concept #2:

Blog Logo Concept #3:

Take the Word Association Test

At this point, unfortunately John and I are completely biased. We've stared at the logos for so long that we can no longer possibly determine how they're perceived by new visitors. We need to get these logos in front of fresh eyes for fresh perspectives. Maybe you'd help us?

A word association test is a form of usability testing that addresses the branding aspects of your visual design. Users are presented with a list of adjectives and asked to select a particular number that best represent the logos or other visuals being tested.

I've created a brief word association test for the new logo concepts for Big Picture Web. Please take a few minutes to select the top four adjectives that best represent each new logo concept. You may assign an adjective to more than one logo concept. Be sure to hit "Submit" when you're done.

Don't Forget the Qualitative Data

Thanks so much if you decided to fill out the word association test. I'm also looking for any qualitative thoughts you might have. What do you think of what you see a particular logo? Do you like one more than the others? Why? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

The best part of a usability test like this is that the community is involved in the creation of the image of the brand. And for that, thank you very much.

The Importance of Blogging Consistently

This week my normal computer is being repaired. And yet here I am pecking away with my thumbs at my iPhone's Squarespace app - which thankfully is pretty decent - to bring you a quality blog post from Big Picture Web. Why not just take a week off and deviate from my normal content schedule? Today's post takes a look at why blogging consistently is probably a lot more important than you think.

Your blog is your microphone to the world. It's your pulpit. Your stage. It's where you put your brochures aside and engage with your customers in an honest conversation about your brand's promise, what it is you do and how you can help people. You can demonstrate your knowledge, solve people's problems and slap a URL on it for the whole Internet to see. The more visible and apparent your skills, the more likely you'll be to gain the trust and respect of your audience.

If you're not posting, how do I know you're striving to learn and improve your product, service or knowledge? How do I know that you're different? Relevent? Worth the investment? For that matter, how do I even know you're still there?

How do I know you're still an expert if you don't take the time to prove it to me on a regular and ongoing basis? What message are you sending your audience with your blogging consistency?