If your hosting server has a cPanel, you’ll find your Web site’s stats located in Logs | AWSTATS. Every host is different so if you cannot locate your stats, just ask your hosts where they are located.

When most folks login to their stats they are overwhelmed with all the data displayed — graphs and menus abound explaining pretty much every bit and byte of activity on your site. Many express surprise at how much is being tracked on the server side with the next comment being “what do I do with all this?”

Below are the main criteria, that if you work towards becoming familiar and comfortable with — you’ll have a very good idea as to what is going on with your site.

The above criteria will help you determine what is working, what isn’t and what to add more of and what to do next. There is a ton of other information contained within your server logs that is pretty self-explanatory. The more you understand your stats the better you are able to notice trends and differences in site activity.

Make a point of visiting your stats at least once every month. This allows you to be more proactive when considering the growth and nurturing of your site.

At your service,

Your WordPress Consultant

WordPress Site Stat Tips You Can’t Live Without is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

“With so many e-mails stating for a fee I can have top ten rankings and get on the top page of Google, why do I have to do all things you claim?”

Back in the day, sites created with a target market in mind by considering keyword terms and phrases in code and copy produced relevant rankings. See I was waaaaay ahead of my time and determined targeted phrases before I typed a bit or byte of code. I came from corporate sales/marketing background so to consider how you wanted to be ranked, to me, was a no brainer.

Fast forward to present day and the whole process has been mucked up with misinformation and hype catering to those who don’t want to deal with the reality of what attaining relevant rankings entail and one can understand why most small businesses are frustrated. But what many don’t like to hear is…

Getting good rankings is an ongoing process that has to be monitored, tweaked and worked at — that’s simply part and parcel of having a Web site.

The healthy portion of site owners are not open or willing to embrace the reality of what attaining top of page; above the fold rankings require. Regardless of how often I explain the facts as to what is involved or send them to SEO links on my site so that they can read at their convenience and benefit from a solid understanding and realistic expectations — they just won’t have any of it. “There just has to be an easier way!”

“I should be #1 if that site is! Why is that site #1 when I am not?”

I feel your pain — but all you can do is your due diligence and keep working your program.

“Do what you do for your sites — they all rank very well — I don’t have any time to deal with this and make it happen!”

I do not do SEO for hire — I help site owners understand what they need to do and consider. And what I do on my sites is what I preach on this site — I work at it constantly, always and never quit. In addition, I strongly believe it behooves site owners to understand all the variables, be involved in their site, and have a long term consistent plan to improve their rankings over time.

“I have to add new information all the time?”

Yep! Brochureware sites just don’t cut it! Only those sites that offer value and unique content will be ranked highly in the eyes of the search engine gods. Just this week Google added a freshness factor to their algorithm. Have outdated old stuff — you cannot expect to compete for rankings.

“I don’t want to Blog — can you Blog for me?”

Really? Only you know your business, product and market well enough to know what type of information your current and potential customers would benefit from and appreciate. There are all kinds of things most folks don’t “want” to do when it comes to their business but we do it anyway. That’s part of running a successful business on or off-line. Like accounting and legal issues for example. You need to plan on blogging at least once each week — not just for search engines — but more importantly for your customers!

I get an e-mail almost every day that claims they can get me top ten rankings or on the front page of Google. So clearly that must be easy, so tell me how!

That’s called spam. Ethical and credible SEOers do not spam to get customers — period. And to make things worse, being on the top page of Google isn’t all it is cracked up to be. You need to work towards being “above the fold” on that top page if you really want to benefit from great rankings. I explain to folks how to work their rankings by virtue of the 95 SEO/SEM articles here on this site. Read and Learn.

I know — SEO sucks. It isn’t easy. It isn’t as cut and dried as many would prefer and unless you have deep pockets to throw four figures at true SEO professionals so they may assist you to attain good rankings over time, there is no way around the hard work.

But for those who understand how search engines work and take that into consideration when creating a site that caters to their site visitors, they will rule the day.

I look forward to seeing you on the top!

At your service,

Your WordPress Consultant

Guaranteed Top Ten Search Engine Rankings! is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...

Landing page “how to” inquiries come in daily here at The IStudio. Clients want to know what they need to consider, how to create effective landing pages or even if this is something they should hire a pro to do. One client stating “I just can’t wrap my head around what makes a good landing page!”

You know me, I’m all about empowering you with the tools and information to do as much as possible on your own. The more knowledgeable and involved you are the better the chance that you will meet your goals. With that in mind I dug out an old post from 2008 that had a free eBook that is still relevant and can help you to wrap your head around what good landing pages entail. 2008? But that was years ago! Guess what? The information still applies — so I thought I would share it again with you today. In a nutshell…

You need to have customers land on a page that caters to their
specific queries with a call to action to close the sale!

Dr. Ralph F. Wilson is one of the guys who has been online from the start that I have followed over the years. He offers down-to-earth real-world information based on the fact and reality of what you need to know and do to thrive online. My kinda guy!

Back in 2008, Dr. Wilson allowed me to offer his absolutely unique 83-point checklist to remind you of all the elements you should be considering when developing a landing page so that you can boost your conversion rate as high as possible. I’m offering this eBook again to give you a quick overview “checklist” of the things you need to consider.

WordPress Landing Page Checklist from How to Develop a Landing Page (2008) by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

I know you’ll find this comprehensive checklist extremely useful when planning your landing page development and integration. (Check out my recent article WordPress Landing Pages Made Easy about a plugin that helps you to create great landing pages too.)

At your service,

Your WordPress Consultant

WordPress Landing Page Checklist is a post from: WordPress Consultant: Judith Kallos, At Your Service...