Piwik as your web analytics software!
I know, you would probably argue with me on Google Analytics being the best of them all, but what’s the harm in knowing about this new web analytics tool on the block? Piwik, as its website claims, is an open source alternative to Google Analytics.
Piwik is a PHP-MySql based program. In order to get started, you have to first download this software from their website and get it installed on your own web server. It just takes as less as 5 minutes to set things up and get going. At the end of the set up process, the software generates a javascript code. You just need to copy and paste this code onto the web pages that you would want to track. There is also a plugin that would automate this process for you! Simple?
Okay, you would still probably argue that Google analytics is the most popular amongst all and that Piwik is just no big deal. However, let me mention here that alternative open source web analytics solutions have their own advantages:
Our Sitecore Services
You all know how much we like Sitecore. Finally after becoming a Sitecore Partner, we launch Sitecore Development services and Sitecore Hosting services. This blog’s page rank increased yet again to PR3. Thanks to all our regular readers. We rebuilt our website www.webdatamation.com in Sitecore. You can find more information about our Sitecore services using ...
Generating Leads in a Web 2.0 World
Marketing is going through a revolution online, thanks to the continual adoption of the Web 2.0 concepts originally defined by Tim O'Reilly and Dale Dougherty.
If you want to see some excellent graphics and analysis explaining Web 2.0, subscribe to Ross Dawson's blog, Trends in the Living Networks.
A New Conversation
Social networking has removed many of the obstacles that got in the way of better understanding prospects and customers, and serving them.
Linked, Tagged, Tweeted, and Feeded – Three Real Time Link Trackers
As link builders, one challenge we all have is showing our clients evidence that our work is having the effect we said it would. What would make this part of the process easier is if there was one single universal tool that could identify every single instance when a site is mentioned, linked, tagged, tweeted, or feeded. The sheer size of the web and the volume of new content every day make such a tool impossible, but a few weeks ago Delicious unveiled a relaunch, and what was once really a pain is now a breeze.
Delicious will show the which users are linking to (bookmarking) which URLs, sorted by most recently bookmarked. Go here:
http://delicious.com/url/
Enter your company URL, or whatever URL you want. Click the arrow to get your results.
Here’s where it gets fun. Delicious feedifies that results page, so you can subscribe to a feed for any URL, and by doing so, whenever someone bookmarks your site at delicious, your feed will have that new link at the top of your feed.
Five tips for a Web 2.0 start-up
I've talked to a lot of Web 2.0 companies in the past month, some big and some small. A few themes have developed in how to make a successful Web 2.0 company - here's a few ideas.
1. Build a real team. There are so many Web 2.0 companies that are either run in a virtual environment or with just a few people in a basement somewhere. It's not a good strategy because any ideas that could germinate with a larger team - and I mean about 5-8 people or so -- will be stagnated with just one or two employees. If you can't afford a real team that includes a developers and designers, folks in marketing and accounting, and a sales agent or two, you might just have an idea, not a company. It reminds me of my experience this week with a rental car company staffed by just a couple of people. (Yes, I was trying to save a buck.) One of the employees was out sick, so that left one person to transport people to and from the airport, do the paperwork, and deal with frustrations. In the same way, one person can write a blog, but it takes a company to make a real Web 2.0 product that actually does something.
Shockweb aggregator Fark.com feeds our link lust
A friend of mine asked me to write about Fark.com, the famously shocking news aggregator that has even more loyal followers now that they don't include porn links. I usually avoid the site, not because of the shock value, but because I don't want to burn up an hour learning about the so-called Obama race war, violent crime rates in Detroit, and the abysmal US economy. And those are the more serious links. Usually, headlines are more like "Ike survivors may have to wait weeks for baths. France shrugs" which is just cheeky enough to get you to click on it, even though the actual report has nothing to do with France (a pet topic for the site owner). It's what I call a force-pull headline, one that you just can't help clicking on.
How Social Media Can Help Your PR Efforts
The emergence of social media has been a game-changer for newspapers and magazines. On the one hand, they have seen their print numbers continue to drop as more and more people turn to the internet to get their news and information. On the other hand, they (the smart ones) have seen that by embracing social media and leveraging the different opportunities it offers, they can drive more traffic to their sites, engage in open dialogues and react quicker. So what does this mean for you? More opportunities than ever for you to build relationships and get publicity. Here are a few things to keep in mind when trying to leverage social media for PR purposes -- and that's PR as in public relations, not PageRank!
Start Small
Many times when people think about getting publicity for their business, their wishlist goes something like this:
