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.

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.