Archive for the ‘Computer and Internet Related’ Category
Sunday, March 9th, 2008
We all know we should be using web analytics to analyse web site visitor behaviour and online marketing channel performance. However what type of web analysis should we use? Should you go for log file analysis or page tagging or a bit of both? First of all let’s define what we mean by these terms.
Page tagging involves placing a piece of code usually externalised JavaScript on each page of your site and is sometimes referred to as client-side data collection. Every time a tagged page is opened by a visitor’s browser the script is processed and visitor information collected. Log file analysis refers to data collected by your web server. What’s the difference from a web analytics point of view?
The bad news is that both strategies have their advantages and disadvantages so here goes.
Page Tagging Advantages
• Because data is collected client side this gets around any proxy and caching problems
• Will give you information on web design parameters such as browser versions, platform versions, screen resolution, connection speed etc
• Track client side events such as JavaScript and flash events
Page Tagging Disadvantages
• Firewalls can prevent or interfere with script processing
• Set up costs associated with insertion of code.
• Insertion of code can lead to errors
• Will not pick up page errors such as 404s
• Because robots ignore scripts can not track search engine spiders
• Unable to directly track non html pages
• Vendor Specific
Logfile Analysis Advantages
• Historical Data can be analysed
• Little set up cost
• No firewall issues
• Easily track page errors
• Can track Search Engine spiders
• Vendor Independent
• Can track non html pages such as pdfs
Logfile Disadvantages
• Proxy/caching inaccuracies. If a page is cached no record is logged on your web server
•No web design parameters
• No event tracking
If you are used to looking at web statistics using Web Trends for instance you may see significant differences in visitor numbers. When moving to logfile analysis visitor numbers may increase by 20-30%. If your site is not using persistent cookies your web analytics programme can not identify unique visitors therefore all visitors are lumped together as total. Typically unique visitors represent about 20 -30% of total web site visits so this metric will be inflated by this amount. Sometimes you’ll see a dramatic reduction in site visits. This is usually because web analytics programmes strip out the loading of graphics which are erroneously counted as visits by other programs.
Other differences in visitor numbers are usually due to how programs define a visit. A visit duration of 30 minutes means that multiple visits from the same IP address with-in this time period will be counted as a single visit. Change this parameter to 15 minutes and these visits could be counted several times and your total visits will increase. Finally, when a web browser loads a PDF file is brings down different parts of the file at different time and some programs can count this as multiple requests for the same file. A good web analytics programme will collapse these multiple downloads into a single.
It is important to understand these differences and manage the expectations of your colleagues as surprise drops in web site metrics can sometimes lead to disenchantment with measuring web site performance altogether.
Posted in Computer and Internet Related | No Comments »
Sunday, March 9th, 2008
Qualified traffic is the lifeblood of any web site today, especially for ecommerce sites that are selling goods or services online. But, many media buyers and/or owners of web sites are paying too much for traffic by relying on top tier PPC (”pay per click”) search engines like Overture or Google’s Ad Words Select programs and others.
There is a new breed of web site traffic brokers emerging in the interactive marketing world that are brokering qualified traffic to the highest bidder on a CPC (”cost per click”) basis. Traffic brokers bypass tried and true business processes by flipping the business proposition 180 degrees. They don’t find clients and then optimize their web site for search engines; they do it the other way around, by developing and optimizing their own domains for top tier search engines and then reselling this traffic by redirecting it to a destination of their choosing in real time.
So, is this process illegal or unethical? It’s hard to say. I don’t believe these processes are more disingenuous than what’s occurring with hidden “sponsorship listings” via top tier search engines, including Yahoo, MSN, LookSmart, Overture, etc. The latter are now starting to take up the lion’s share of the first page on search results — these results are viewed tens of millions of times per day, with many people unaware that the results are “sponsored listings.”
To muddy the digital waters even more, marketing services companies are starting to offer “trusted feed” traffic to companies who want to buy qualified traffic on a CPC (”cost per click”) basis. This process is just starting to take hold in the marketplace and works by a marketing services firm contacting a prospective client and offering them “trusted feed” search engine listings on a top tier web site like MSN or LookSmart on a CPC “cost per click” basis. They (the marketing services firm) then build web site pages for their client that are based on their in-depth knowledge of what the search engines want and then submit these pages to the search engine/directory’s editors who then review the sites, give the “client” a top tier listing site and then share in the CPC trusted feed revenue with the marketing services firm.
It’s getting pretty murky when you start to look closely at what and how traffic originates. I don’t think brokering traffic is bad or unethical as long as the web site that is the final recipient of the traffic is offering goods and services that are identical to the referring web site. And, there is a self-policing component of these types of processes — the traffic brokers want repeat business, so it is in their self interest to make sure the redirected traffic is being sent to a similar web site.
Also, “conversion rates” (the number of people taking a specific action versus the amount of traffic) are rapidly becoming the final determinant of building a sustaining relationship between the traffic brokering firm and the recipient web site. If the traffic coverts then the recipient typically wants to buy more, if not, they will move on to another source — this reinforces the self-policing aspects of the relationship.
So what do you look for if you want to start buying traffic from a web site traffic broker? Price is certainly a large factor in determining what your interest should be; most of us in the traffic brokering business typically offer keyword traffic at about a third or half of what you would pay via a trusted feed setup, or Overture or an Ad Words Select program via Google. Expect to pay more for filtered (”automotive, insurance, telecommunications”) versus unfiltered (”shopping mall type of traffic”) as the former has to be carefully filtered for specific keywords or keywords sets so it can be distributed to a larger number of web sites.
Next, make sure you get a 24/7 reporting capability that enables you to analyze your traffic in real time — this report should show the originating keyword traffic (keywords are always embedded in the search string). And look carefully at your report; proxy traffic (or cached pages) should be filtered out so that there is no more than 5-10% of the total traffic — you can’t get away from having some proxy traffic in this day in age, even AOL is using proxy servers. Finally, look closely at your report. The timelines should have some randomness in the sequences; if you see a traffic report with keyword traffic that is spaced very closely in terms of the timeline, warning bells should go off.
Posted in Computer and Internet Related | No Comments »
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
The internet is a wonderful thing, except for a few small details. When you register your first domain name, you get your introduction to one of them. There’s a lot of information they want. Your name, your email address, your physical address, your phone number. For each of 4 separate categories, and the Registrant, Admin and Technical categories are publicly available (for almost all TLDs - Top Level Domains, with the possible exception of .ws - Western Samoa).
Email addresses, which must be valid, phone numbers and physical addresses which also must be valid. I personally think it’s both absurd and dangerous to make this information so easily available. Once again the right to privacy of law-abiding individuals is being abridged supposedly to help catch lawbreakers. Since this information would be provided under a court order, making it publicly available just invites abuse.
Spammers, scammers, stalkers and the idle whacko can easily get this information. And it’s a nice start on identity theft, too. However, for most people, the most likely result is an increase in the amount of spam you get. But, much worse can and has happened.
So what solutions are there? Basically there two ways to protect your privacy if you are a private individual without access to a legal entity such as a company to own the domain name (note that if it is a company, you must provide accurate information. This only moves the problem to a slightly less personal level).
First you could lie. No, that’s not one of the ways. Unwise and illegal too, and you are a law-abiding type, right? So, first, a proxy registration is one alternative.
Essentially you make a binding legal agreement with a company which will register the domain name as if they owned it and then provide their own information to meet the requirements. For each domain, they will set-up a special email which they will monitor and forward to you, usually after spam filtering, if you want them to.
They, of course, retain your data and will also monitor physical mail. You will be notified of first class mail which appears to or could be legal documents or if registered or couriered mail arrives. They will, for a fee, ship such to you, if you agree and pay. Generally such items would be sent by courier. Phone callers will be directed to use the email or physical address shown in the WhoIs record
Of course, under subpoena or other specified conditions they will provide your details. You will have full rights as owner - as long as you behave and don’t violate the agreement.
The other alternative, usually called “private registration”, is a little different. Here your name would still appear as registrant. You would provide the names of the admin and technical contacts. But the address, email and phone number would be provided and monitored by the organization handling the private registration in essentially the same manner as a proxy registration. Thus with this alternative you remain in full legal control of your domain name since it is registered in your name rather than the name of a proxy.
On the face of it this second alternative sounds better, but your name is hanging out there on view and you may have valid reasons for not wanting that (perhaps the company you work for takes a dim view of moonlighting, or you have had a stalking problem or are doing something perfectly legitimate but don’t want your name linked to it).In that case, a proxy registration is the only real alternative.
In case you’re thinking you can hide out and do whatever sort of bad stuff behind a proxy or private registration, don’t even dream about it. These outfits take it very personally if you misbehave and the legal agreements spell it out.
If you decide to pursue a proxy or private registration, make very sure that you are working with a legitimate company with a track record. A domain name can be a very valuable possession. Both your registrar and, if it’s a separate organization, the entity that does the proxy or private registration must be quality, legitimate outfits. Registrars offering extremely low prices which are way out of line with the going rates - unless it’s a special - just might be after your credit card and identity. Also, this time, actually read the agreement and TOS so you do know what you’re doing and what could happen under what circumstances.
Wondering why I’m writing about this? Well, it’s because I’m getting more and more spam and I started doing some research on possible solutions. And I figured, I wan’t the only one looking to do something about the problem. And then, I discovered that some registrars will provide free proxy or private registration with your domain name purchase. So think about it and do some checking before you buy a domain name. Your privacy is a precious possession.
Posted in Computer and Internet Related | No Comments »
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
Having a notebook or laptop provides the freedom to be truly mobile. You can work in many places and situations. But this brings an annoyance: if you move your notebook between various different networks, you always have to change network settings.
Recently my employer has issued me a brand new notebook. When I came home at the end of the day, I had to disable DHCP, set up an IP-address and DNS configuration. Next morning I needed to reverse my configuration to work at my office. The real headache began when I went to our customer site…
SWITCHING NETWORK SETTINGS ON THE FLY.
There are three ways to switch a notebook between networks with one click. First is to use a built-in windows feature of saving and loading network settings. This way is for experienced users. Second is by using Windows XP “alternate configuration” feature. The third way is to use third-party utilities like Net Profile Switch, IPSwitch etc. Let’s discuss all three.
WINDOWS “NETSH” UTILITY.
Windows 2000 comes with the “netsh” utility that gives you the possibility to “dump” all network settings into a file which you can later use to restore your complete Network settings.
To Save the current Settings use “netsh -c interface dump >netset1.txt” To Load the Settings again use “netsh -f netset1.txt”
Create a dump file for every Network that you use (e.g.., netset2.txt, etc.) and create a desktop shortcut for every Network.
Pros: - Cons: hard for inexperienced users, does not deal with switching a proxy server in a web-browser, mapping network drives etc.
WINDOWS XP “ALTERNATE CONFIGURATION” FEATURE
Windows XP contains the “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) properties” dialog box, which has a tab “Alternate Configuration” in it. You can specify “alternative” settings, which would be used when the “default” settings are not accessible.
Pros: simple Cons: does not deal with three or more networks, no proxy switching etc.
“NET PROFILE SWITCH” UTILITY
Another way is to use the “Net Profile Switch” utility from Jitbit Software (http://www.jitbit.com/). This tool creates a profile with your configuration settings, and you can easily switch between locations by activating a profile with one click. Net Profile Switch not only switches the TCP/IP protocol settings but also switches the proxy-server settings of your Web Browser (Internet Explorer or Firefox), Windows Firewall settings and maps/unmaps network drives for each location. There a free non-commercial edition of this tool available.
Pros: multiple locations, proxy settings, drive mapping etc.
Posted in Computer and Internet Related | No Comments »