Google Analytics includes built-in alerts whenever there are significant changes in the traffic patterns on your website. You can also add custom alerts to specify the changes you want to track, and you can have Google Analytics automatically send you an email when any of these changes occur.
For example, suppose you wanted to track the performance of a specific landing page named services.htm. Specifically, you want to know when the Bounce Rate increases by more than 20% over the previous week. (The Bounce Rate is the percentage of users who view the page and leave without clicking on anything. Ideally, bounce rates should be under 50%.)
To create this alert:
- Click the HOME tab at the top of the GA window.
- Click Intelligence Events in the left navigation panel.
- Click the Custom Alerts tab.
- Click the Manage Custom Alerts button.
- Click the Create New Alert button.
- Type a name for the Alert. (e.g., Services Page Bounce Rate Increase)
- Select how often you want to check the data — day, week, or month.
(You might want to check a Bounce Rate daily, but weekly revenues weekly.)
- Check the appropriate options if you want GA to notify you by e-mail or text when the alert triggers.
- Select the Alert conditions you want. The picture below shows the conditions for the alert described above.
- Click the Save Alert button to save and close the custom alert.
When the custom alert is triggered, GA will notify you via email or text message. You can also check the data yourself or edit the alert:
- Click the HOME tab.
- Click Intelligence Events / Overview in the left navigation panel.
- Click the Custom Alerts tab, and then click the Custom Alert you want to view or edit.
If you are a full-time web developer, you probably already use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) to format and layout web pages. However, if your only design experience is creating and maintaining your company’s web site, you are probably still working with HTML. It’s time to think about changing.
CSS works with HTML to improve the appearance of your web pages. Styles can be applied to headings, images, tables, text, or any other object on a web page. If you work with styles in Microsoft Word, the concept is basically the same.
Do you remember what the Web was like back in 1994 when we were all amazed by the Louvre web site? (Remember the Mosaic browser?) Wow, we could actually see pictures on our computer that were in France! This was HTML 1.0 with no support for tables, so all Web pages were one column. Boring! Then tables came along, and all of a sudden, web pages could have more than one column, paving the way for more complicated layouts. A revolution! CSS represents another sea change in web design.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to train users on software (and who isn’t these days?), consider Camtasia Studio, screen recording software from TechSmith. (Price: $299)
Camtasia is easy to learn and fun to use. You simply record what’s happening on the screen as you speak the narration into a microphone. Depending on the length of the video, it’s often easier to record small chunks of your video at a time and then stitch them together during editing. When you edit the video, it’s easy to pan and zoom smoothly, so you can focus on the parts of the screen that are important. During editing, you can also add titles and transitions, edit the audio track, etc.
After 27 years in the business, you end up with a few observations. Ron Miller, an old friend of mine, interviewed me about Vista, Office 2007, and my observations on technical writing. All opinions expressed are my own, but I did get a chance to say some things. Take a look at the interview: http://www.daniweb.com