Using Google Analytics to measure online marketing ROI

We are deploying Google Analytics for both the knowledgework blog and website and must report that it is a fascinating free tool for measuring the performance of both sites. For instance, I can tell where visitors to my sites are located geographically, how many visitors have viewed individual pages, how long they stayed on each page and where they exited. Those are just a few of the available features of this impressive tool. To begin tracking your site(s) you simply set up a free account with Google Analytics here , then cut and paste a small amount of code (found at Google Analytics) before the end of the body tag on your site. You will need to sign up for a Google account if you haven't already done so. The instructions on the Google Analytics site are quite intuitive and user-friendly, with many answers to questions and images included to help along the way. Once you have inserted the tracking code on your site, you are on your way to increasing the effectiveness of your online business presence.

The possibilities are enormous for achieving performance outcomes such as targeting specific markets, improving conversion and profits, and measuring advertising ROI. When the www.knowledgework.ca site is updated with a content management site (by mid-July we promise!) I will insert the tracking code again and continue to monitor the same web address. This is simply a great tool for small-to-medium size businesses.

Changes in technical communications

Those of us who have worked in technical communications for any length of time have experienced numerous changes in our profession. Recently these changes have included decreased budgets, faster times to market, increased product complexity and localizing content for a global community. The impact on our ability to meet expectations have been and continue to be challenging to say the least.

There is a link in this article to an interesting paper by the Aberdeen Group that highlights this phenomenon. The future is upon us in technical communications to think "reuse" and "multi-channel publishing" when we author content. This is a new if we have been in the mindset of producing one documentation product independently of another, as has been the case in many technical writing departments. Fortunately, tools such as DITA are allowing this shift to take hold and help our profession provide cost-effective documentation for a competitive global market.

DITA users group

I joined the DITA users group a while ago, but have only recently been able to jump in and explore. The group boasted its 200th member yesterday, which is great news. What I like most about this group is the ability to author content online, have a personal workspace where files are stored and collaborate with other users about DITA. It is difficult to contain my excitement about this service, as it meets the needs of the growing population of people who want to learn and master structured authoring. It also provides the benefit of being able to work remotely in a large documentation team, which appeals especially to consultants like myself who work independently most of the time.

Therefore, I'm proud to make a permanent home for a link to the DITA users group in the right column of this blog. Currently, I am using XMLMind for a DITA project, and I will do some work on the DITA users group also. The benefit of the DITA users group is I have a place to ask questions as well as give and receive feedback on DITA (wow). The goal is to speed and enhance the learning curve.

Also, Information Mapping Inc. offered a webinar on Content Mapper for DITA yesterday -- a new product that allows DITA content to be created in Microsoft Word. It looks very user-friendly as the author does not have to see or deal with DITA tags. However, it would be impossible to advance very far with this software without fully understanding topic-based, structured authoring. It might definitely meet some documentation needs for a few of my clients, so I will keep it in mind when proposing content delivery solutions.

ROI and reusable content

A great deal of focus in my business is spent proving the value reusable, topic-based information will have on a company's bottom line. The emerging changes in online marketing, the current need to appear ubiquitous in the market, and the challenge of simultaneously shipping products to numerous locations (with accompanying documentation) can seem insurmountable.

Fortunately, current advancements in information technology are making content delivery and management affordable for all types of businesses. Ranging from free (open source) to very cost-efficient, the combination of these technologies with 'chunkable' data allow companies to quickly produce and maintain accurate information in their desired output.

Consider the enormous changes TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and advertising have recently experienced with money moving from traditional forms of media to the Web. These marketing channels have always been scrupulously measured to determine their ROI, yet now industry is struggling to determine the performance of web marketing. There are companies who offer tools (Google analytics, Webanlaytics Demystified, Webtrends, etc.) to measure the performance of video, webpages, banner ads, rss feeds and the like, but this is not yet a practice that is clearly understood by most companies. For example, there are not many companies who are able to test the number of pauses, stops or replays on video output and measure that with the number of customers who actually buy a product. RSS feeds and the amount of people who sign up is another performance indicator that needs to be measured. Can you tell how many pdf downloads from your website actually translate into a sale? There are numerous web analytic models to explore. It is inevitable that cross-channel data needs to be measured, but few are there yet.

Delivering information about your product or service in multiple channels is a crucial step to determine the way your customers prefer receiving information about you. How easy is it to manage current and new data at the company? Can changes to content be made to a single source and then delivered across different channels such as websites, pdf output, training guides, and e-Learning scripts? Our goal at knowledgework is to provide information about your product or service that can be rapidly transmitted in your desired output.

Quintura: a new way of searching

A new search tool called Quintura is out (beta version) and after trying it out, you will probably first notice the fact that it requires a different way of thinking to navigate around it. My best description for the difference this search engine holds compared to traditional search engines like Google or Yahoo is akin to the difference between left and right brain thinking.

Worth giving a try at least. I don't know if I'd replace my regular research tools with it, but rather try Quintura as an accompaniment to present methods - sort of a yin/yang thing.

Joined Squidoo and other bits of info

Today I finally got around to creating a lens on Squidoo. For anyone who has not yet heard of this new web 2.0 tool, it is a portal where you can market anything you are passionate about. You can make it an information site, a place to draw traffic to your website or blog, or a place to earn some money. Here's mine. I haven't done much with it, but I would like my squidoo 'lens' to serve two purposes: be a resource for technical communicators and raise awareness about my services.

Also, for technical writers out there, you may find the following article, Technical writers may shape future of American lit, of interest. Two statements I agree with in the article are: "I think in the technical writing world, we are trying to create a one-to-one correspondence to reality," (yep) and "observe, observe, observe with all your senses. And document." Quite succinct about what it is we actually do methinks.

Veotag looks good

Ok, I thought we'd be waiting for this technology to arrive yet, alas, it is here. Veotag, with it's ability to navigate within a podcast or vodcast, is available. It provides a clickable table of contents which I thought, until now, was an impediment inherent in using podcasts or vodcasts for technical content. While I realize the product places an emphasis on its marketing capabilities, I am sure technical writers will undoubtedly see the potential it has for their trade. Have fun browsing the veotag site (I did). Once you sign up as a (free) member, you can scroll through already made veotags or make one of your own.

Veotag holds great potential to the world of technical communications.

XML Master Basic Examination (and other things)

I'm excited to report an online examination from XML Master to obtain certification in - you guessed it - XML. As a proponent of open, free access to knowledge, this is a course I feel compelled to post about. I hope to see more opportunities like this to help people advance their skills, and it is my goal to offer avenues of my own as I become more of an expert in these technologies.

In conjunction with the goal of promoting knowledge, I downloaded DemoStudio today, an open source tool for making screencasts and presentations. There is a link to download it here. The near future will find me busy devouring this technology and creating learning tutorials via screencasts. If you are interested in other open source technology, Sharon Bett made a helpful table, which includes links - it's worth taking a peek.

Something I would like to discover more in depth is a method where content can be stored in XML and translated into powerpoint format, ready to use for a screencast tutorial. I was reading Towards Global Component Architecture for Learning Objects: A Slide Presentation Framework, where they detail how to reuse and repurpose learning object content. Using XML to convert into slide format and then adding audio and appropriate caption boxes would be a powerful way to efficiently and cost-effectively replace traditional, written online help. I think this will improve user support and achieve a goal of creating more knowledgeable, satisfied customers.

Technical communication and web 2.0 tools

A new technique for acquiring the data we need for technical documentation is the use of wikis. They serve as planning sites or brain dumps in the techie world and are a great place for technical communicators to go and sift through information in order to present it to end-users in more palatable forms such as on-line help and tutorials.

Ten interesting ideas for using wikis at work can be found here and here and, not surprisingly, operations guides and technical documentation are two of them. I especially like the idea of a recent trends section to keep track of changes in our profession. I think I'll suggest this to the Montreal STC chapter if it hasn't already been done. Cheers.