Hasta La Creative!

A lot of websites are created and then left to operate without review. While many websites perform just fine, it is the websites that are constantly audited that eventually return a higher ROI to the owner. A thorough website analysis report can tell you a lot about your website, including errors that are costing you conversions. Even if you don’t feel your website needs a review, consider why some of the biggest websites on the Internet do quarterly reviews.

They’re Inexpensive
Some analysis reports can be costly, but there are some out there that aren’t. In fact, some companies will offer free analysis reports as part of their membership. If cost is an issue, consider the amount of money you might be wasting not analyzing your site. Errors, poor performance or improper search engine optimization can cost your business hundreds (if not thousands) annually.

They’re Thorough
A website review is thorough and looks at multiple areas. A typical website analysis report will cover areas like search engine optimization, readability, performance, content, navigation and organization, etc. The points a review goes over are things that can take the average website owner days to complete.

They Review Your SEO
Search engine optimization is critical for your website. By using the right keywords and phrases on your site you tell search engines how to index your site. Then, when a user searches based on the keywords you’ve integrated into your website, he or she is directed to your business via the search engine results page.

A thorough analysis can review your website’s use of SEO. It can make sure you’re using the proper techniques based on the latest search engine releases (such as Google’s Panda, Penguin or Hummingbird updates) and can also make sure you’re not committing any black hat SEO tactics. With the right analysis you can see what keywords are working best for your website and what keywords aren’t driving much traffic.

They Find Critical, Technical Errors
Technical errors can hurt your website’s conversion rate. Issues like page errors, dead links, or images that don’t load might turn potential buyers away. A website analysis report looks for these technical errors on your website. They can find errors in your shopping carts, checkout pages and even your blog that are hindering your website and business performance.

They Analyze Your Website Performance
Technical errors can ruin a website, but so can performance issues. Slow-moving pages or poor-quality graphics deter customers from making purchases. Because Internet users are shopping online for convenience and speed, they often will leave a website if it doesn’t perform to their standards. It’s crucial you identify performance issues and fix them right away not only for your conversion rate, but for your brand’s reputation as well.

They’re Unbiased
As a website owner you’ve built your business and site; therefore, you have a biased attachment to your products. A website analysis report is unbiased and takes an objective look at your site. This is important for identifying issues. After all, what you might think is fine a review can prove is turning customers away.

An in-depth website analysis report is something every website owner should conduct. Whether you have an ecommerce site, blog or you just operating landing pages, knowing how your domain is performing helps save you time and money in the long run. As you improve your website you should also conduct a review to make sure your changes still benefit your site. Over time you can improve your site’s functionality and usability — which might give your conversion rate a hearty increase as well.

This is a guest post.

The post 10 Reasons to Try a Website Analysis Report Since Your Website Is Not Performing appeared first on AdPulp.

Fred Wilson wants to get serious and break out of the 2.0 box.

I am a bit jealous of friends who are working on finding and funding alternative energy or biomedical technologies that have the potential to address the serious problems facing the world. At times it seems that helping the web become more social, intelligent, mobile, and playful is not as impactful.

The work that we do at Union Square Ventures can’t just be about making money. At least that’s not enough for me. It has to be a force for positive social change. It needs to be about making the world a better place for our children and their children.

I feel the same way. In fact, I’ve always harbored the idea that someday the work I do in this business might be needed by companies or movements that truly are important. That all I’m doing now is preparation for that, as yet unspoken, need.

This Ad Age article about Subaru caught my eye:

Subaru of America is moving its digital account from one of the industry’s hottest specialists, R/GA, to its Interpublic Group of Cos. sibling, Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis.

The business moved without a review and was part of a consolidation. Subaru had no issues with R/GA, a spokesman for the automaker said, noting that it makes sense to have the entire account in one place. Subaru handed Carmichael Lynch its estimated $150 million national media and creative account without a review last fall.

The spokesman said Carmichael Lynch wasn’t equipped to handle the digital account a year ago, but it is now.

Are we going to see more of this? Will digital specialists like R/GA have trouble holding onto accounts if more general market agencies get their act together? Does it make sense to keep the entire account at one agency for integration purposes? Or can digital agencies start beefing up strategic thinking and take the lead on brands?

Look into your crystal ball and tell me what you see.

Laughing Squid is liking this video from Gary Vaynerchuk.

How about you? Do you buy that communications technology can and will work wonders for the forces for good, while exposing the evil-minded for the cretin that they are? I like the concept. But it seems like a bit of a reach.

I’ve long said that major corporations and marketers simply don’t want to “join the conversation,” so to speak. They’d prefer not to engage in two-way dialogue with their customers and would just as soon keep the one-way megaphone.

But now comes a very persuasive little handboook for those very marketers, The Open Brand: When Push Comes to Pull in a Web-Made Worldby Kelly Mooney and Nina Rollins.

Despite its small size (think of it as a Lonely Planet Guide to Web 2.0), it’s a very thorough compendium of all the definitions, types, and issues surrounding new media, a new type of “engaged citizen” and what it means to “open up” a brand to all the new forms of marketing. As it is, it’s a very of-the-moment book, that is to say it may be all different a year from now.

The Open Brand is chock-full of case studies, diagrams, and techniques for moving brands along. And it also broaches a number of legal issues surrounding blogs and the “fair use” of materials in consumer-generated ideas.

If you, your agency, or in particular a client of yours needs an introduction, replete with glossary, to get them up to speed on new media and Web 2.0-type ideas, The Open Brand is a great place to start.

Special thanks to FSB Associates for providing me a copy for review.

Tomorrow marks the official launch of Hulu, which is the latest move to provide full-length TV shows and movies via the Web. And it has some big names behind it:

Hulu, the online video joint venture of News Corp and General Electric’s NBC Universal, will make its public debut on Wednesday with programming from Time Warner Inc’s Warner Bros Television Group, Lionsgate and from sports leagues.

Missing from the list of providers are media mogul Sumner Redstone-controlled companies Viacom Inc, which continues to hold discussions, Viacom said recently, and CBS Corp, which has said it was not averse to a licensing deal.

At launch, Hulu will offer full-length episodes of more than 250 TV series from current hits such as “The Simpsons” as well as older shows like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” It also will offer 100 movies including “The Big Lebowski” and “Mulholland Drive.”

Hulu said it has signed licensing deals with the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League.

Hulu’s launch is a big bet by big media companies that consumers are as eager to spend long periods of time watching TV shows and movies in front of their computers as they are in front of their televisions.

That last sentence is an interesting one. I tend to drift (or click away) from long-form content when I’m on the net. What about you?