Archive for December 2008
December 18, 2008 | 
Author 
Meenakshi Wali asked:
The organizations run advertisement campaigns for making their brands distinguished and liked in the target market. They are nurtured with utmost diligence, for achieving better brand positioning, higher brand equity and widespread brand awareness. These campaigns are well coordinated and organized by online ad agencies. This is due to the fact that user base of Internet is large and growing. So, the Internet becomes a feasible medium for carrying extensive promotions.
The organizations approach online ad agencies, which enables them to create awareness about their brands. These agencies undertake the responsibility for advertising and promoting with the use of Internet as a medium. It is done by effective planning and development of strategies related to advertising. Moreover, the targeting of users is done according to the discretion of advertisers. It includes techniques like capping, geo-targeting, browser/network/connection type, day/time, user data, IP tracking etc. When it comes to offline ad agencies, they cannot provide such an exclusive targeting. The Internet advertisers have a personal command over the advertisement displays.
This is due to the report and tracking provided by the online ad agencies. It enables the advertiser to keep a track of ad spend and responses generated by the advertisements. Few agencies also provide online account for advertisers that enable them to control the ad spends and ad rotation. The offline agencies do not have such integrated tracking system. The services provided by Internet advertising agencies are economical in comparison to that of offline ad agencies. The solutions of Internet advertising are instant, as the ads can be published, rotated and changes can be made quickly.
The online ad agencies attract relevant audience to the ads, which ensures that the marketer would pay for sensible responses. The advertisement campaigns conducted for by the offline ad agencies might be irrelevant to appropriate responses, as it is spread across the masses. Unlike Television or Radio advertisements, the Internet advertisements cannot be skipped by the users. This is because the web page, where it is displayed upon, may contain information according to the user’s interest. Mostly, the user becomes attracted and sees it. The Internet advertising would give an edge to the business players.
Caffeinated Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress
The organizations run advertisement campaigns for making their brands distinguished and liked in the target market. They are nurtured with utmost diligence, for achieving better brand positioning, higher brand equity and widespread brand awareness. These campaigns are well coordinated and organized by online ad agencies. This is due to the fact that user base of Internet is large and growing. So, the Internet becomes a feasible medium for carrying extensive promotions.
The organizations approach online ad agencies, which enables them to create awareness about their brands. These agencies undertake the responsibility for advertising and promoting with the use of Internet as a medium. It is done by effective planning and development of strategies related to advertising. Moreover, the targeting of users is done according to the discretion of advertisers. It includes techniques like capping, geo-targeting, browser/network/connection type, day/time, user data, IP tracking etc. When it comes to offline ad agencies, they cannot provide such an exclusive targeting. The Internet advertisers have a personal command over the advertisement displays.
This is due to the report and tracking provided by the online ad agencies. It enables the advertiser to keep a track of ad spend and responses generated by the advertisements. Few agencies also provide online account for advertisers that enable them to control the ad spends and ad rotation. The offline agencies do not have such integrated tracking system. The services provided by Internet advertising agencies are economical in comparison to that of offline ad agencies. The solutions of Internet advertising are instant, as the ads can be published, rotated and changes can be made quickly.
The online ad agencies attract relevant audience to the ads, which ensures that the marketer would pay for sensible responses. The advertisement campaigns conducted for by the offline ad agencies might be irrelevant to appropriate responses, as it is spread across the masses. Unlike Television or Radio advertisements, the Internet advertisements cannot be skipped by the users. This is because the web page, where it is displayed upon, may contain information according to the user’s interest. Mostly, the user becomes attracted and sees it. The Internet advertising would give an edge to the business players.
Caffeinated Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress
Posted in Ad Tracking | 
Tags: Advertisements, Internet Advertising Agencies, Personal Command | 
No Comments »
Phil Autelitano asked:
I get a ton of email asking about newspaper advertising. First and foremost, people want to know if the growth and popularity of the Internet and other forms of “new” media have rendered newspapers obsolete as an effective advertising medium. And to that I say, no way! Newspapers are alive and well, and as effective as ever! If they weren’t, advertisers (of all shapes and sizes) wouldn’t continue to throw billions of dollars at them every year! Newspapers – local and national – will always be there. They’re not going anywhere, no matter how big the Internet gets or how many forms of “new media” are introduced. They’ve stood the test of time – through radio, TV and the Internet — and they’ll always be a great place to advertise, provided your target market is within the newspaper’s demographic.
Next, people are always asking for advice on newspaper advertising. They want to know the best newspapers to advertise in, the best times to advertise, the best size ads to use, what colors work best, what to say, how to say it, etc. For those people, I’ve put together this list of my best newspaper advertising “secrets.” (Fourteen to be exact.)
Of course, these aren’t really “secrets” – this advice has been around for years. Unlike the Internet and other forms of “new media” which seem to change every day (creating a constant need for bigger and better marketing strategies), newspaper advertising hasn’t changed much in the past 25 years, meaning the tips and techniques that follow have proven themselves to work over and over again. Time-tested and proven – the best kind of advice!
Here we go:
Tip #1: Consistency is key in newspaper advertising. Whether you’re interested in community, local or national newspaper advertising, always think in terms of using it consistently no less than once a week.
Tip #2: Certain days work better than others for certain types of advertising. Generally, the best day to run a newspaper ad is Sunday. That’s when most people spend the most time reading the paper. Let’s take a look at the other days:
Monday is good if your audience is primarily men all weekend sports are usually summarized on Monday.
Tuesday and Sunday are great days for classified ads, especially financial or business related classified ads.
Wednesday and Thursday are good days if those are the food or health days in your paper, and yours is a food or health related offering.
Friday is a good day if your business picks up on the weekends restaurants, bars, nightclubs, some retailers, concert venues, farmer’s markets.
Saturday is good because fewer advertisers use the Saturday edition, thinking it’s a bad day for readership. This means less competition for your prospects attention and money
Tip #3: Positioning your ad. To gain maximum exposure, request that your ad run in the main news section of the paper, as far forward as possible. Traditionally, you were told to always ask for a right-hand page, but recent studies have shown it doesn’t really make a difference. Half the people read the newspaper front to back, the other half, back to front. You should, however, request that your ad be positioned above the fold.
Tip #4: Dominating a page, without paying for it. To dominate a page in the newspaper, which is usually 8 columns wide by twenty-two inches high, design an ad that is five columns wide and twelve or more inches high. This is proven to have the same affect as a full-page ad, at a much lower cost.
Tip #5: Use color. You should also inquire about adding one color. The use of just one color, any color, can dramatically increase your “net exposure” (what I call the number of people who actually read your ad) and nearly double your response rate.
Tip #6: Whatever you do, don t let the newspaper people design your ad for you. Have your ad professionally designed, otherwise it will look like every other ad in the paper. (I once worked in a newspaper ad department, believe me, I know!) Be sure the designer has experience in newspaper ads, too. You want your ad to reproduce properly, which means it may need a certain line-screen. Also, stay away from reverse-type white type against a black background. Keep your type clear; your headline bold.
Tip #7: Make your ad newsworthy. People read newspapers to get the news, so try to make your ad as newsworthy as possible. If your ad is small, give it a distinctive border so it creates a visual identity for your ads.
Tip #8: You’re paying for that space – use it! Be sure to give your prospects enough information to buy what you’re selling. And don’t fall into the trap of revering white space because it looks good. You’re paying for every square inch of that ad – use it. Your ads should win sales, not design awards.
Tip #9: Test, test, test! If you’re just getting started in newspaper advertising, don’t settle on just one newspaper. Test your ad in the various newspapers available to your market to figure out which one works best. Once you’ve figured out which newspapers are read (the most) by your prospects, stick with them.
Tip #10: Don’t expect it to work overnight. CARDINAL RULE: Don’t expect newspaper advertising to work instantly! (This takes us back to Tip #1: Consistency is key.) Unless you make a time-sensitive offer such as a free gift for stopping by before a certain date, or offer a discount coupon with an expiration date, don’t expect a stampede of customers through your door the day you run your ad. It won’t happen. Never does.
Tip #11: Use “tracking devices” to measure ad performance. A “tracking device” is any element you can include in your advertising that makes it easier to measure that ad’s effectiveness. Adding a number code or color code to your coupons is a good example of a “tracking device.” This will make them easier to track if you’re using more than one newspaper or advertising on different days. You want to know which coupons came from where, when, and how many. That way, you’ll know which newspapers work the best for you, and on which days, and even which headlines work best for those papers on those days. Get it?
Tip #12: The “big” newspapers aren’t as expensive as you think. If you’re not happy with your local newspaper, or you’d like to hit a larger audience than just your town, look into advertising in the regional editions of USA Today, The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, if your prospects read them. These regional editions, while more expensive to advertise in that your local newspaper, are much less expensive to advertise in than the national editions. (If you’re a local or regional business, you should NEVER advertise in the national edition. I don’t care what the ad rep tells you, don’t waste your money.)
Tip #13: The first thing people will see in your ad is your headline. This should entice the reader into wanting to learn more. I always INSIST that a headline make a meaningful or fascinating statement of benefit – or an outright offer – to the reader. For instance, “Get Your Tax Refund Today!” or “Professional Tax Preparation Only $10” are much better headlines than “Bob Jones Tax Service.” That’s pretty obvious, I know, but I can’t tell you how many people put the name of their business or product or service or worse yet, some totally worthless copy, in place of a headline and then hide the meaningful, fascinating stuff in the copy. It’s the biggest mistake in advertising! Put your main benefit or offer in the headline (and/or subheading) so even those who don’t read the entire ad will get the main point.
Tip #14: Next, people will see the visual, any subheadings, and then your name. Adding a visual can TRIPLE the “net exposure” of your ad. More people will notice it if it has a photo or image, which means more, in turn, will RESPOND to it. A photo of yourself will add instant credibility. A product image is better than a logo. Even better is an image of your product or service being used. Let people see it in action. Let them see how good it looks, how good it fits or how good it works. Let them see the smile on the face of a person using it.
Even in this super-high-tech day and age, any businesses still rely on newspaper advertising as their primary marketing tool. The key to success with it is to know the “tricks of the trade” I just revealed to you and to stick with it long enough for it to work its magic. (Read: Consistency is key.) The advertising graveyard is full of failed businesses that gave up on newspaper advertising before it had a chance to prove it’s effectiveness. If you’ve made up your mind to do it, whatever you do, DO IT, and don’t give up on it until it works. It will!
Caffeinated Content for WordPress
I get a ton of email asking about newspaper advertising. First and foremost, people want to know if the growth and popularity of the Internet and other forms of “new” media have rendered newspapers obsolete as an effective advertising medium. And to that I say, no way! Newspapers are alive and well, and as effective as ever! If they weren’t, advertisers (of all shapes and sizes) wouldn’t continue to throw billions of dollars at them every year! Newspapers – local and national – will always be there. They’re not going anywhere, no matter how big the Internet gets or how many forms of “new media” are introduced. They’ve stood the test of time – through radio, TV and the Internet — and they’ll always be a great place to advertise, provided your target market is within the newspaper’s demographic.
Next, people are always asking for advice on newspaper advertising. They want to know the best newspapers to advertise in, the best times to advertise, the best size ads to use, what colors work best, what to say, how to say it, etc. For those people, I’ve put together this list of my best newspaper advertising “secrets.” (Fourteen to be exact.)
Of course, these aren’t really “secrets” – this advice has been around for years. Unlike the Internet and other forms of “new media” which seem to change every day (creating a constant need for bigger and better marketing strategies), newspaper advertising hasn’t changed much in the past 25 years, meaning the tips and techniques that follow have proven themselves to work over and over again. Time-tested and proven – the best kind of advice!
Here we go:
Tip #1: Consistency is key in newspaper advertising. Whether you’re interested in community, local or national newspaper advertising, always think in terms of using it consistently no less than once a week.
Tip #2: Certain days work better than others for certain types of advertising. Generally, the best day to run a newspaper ad is Sunday. That’s when most people spend the most time reading the paper. Let’s take a look at the other days:
Monday is good if your audience is primarily men all weekend sports are usually summarized on Monday.
Tuesday and Sunday are great days for classified ads, especially financial or business related classified ads.
Wednesday and Thursday are good days if those are the food or health days in your paper, and yours is a food or health related offering.
Friday is a good day if your business picks up on the weekends restaurants, bars, nightclubs, some retailers, concert venues, farmer’s markets.
Saturday is good because fewer advertisers use the Saturday edition, thinking it’s a bad day for readership. This means less competition for your prospects attention and money
Tip #3: Positioning your ad. To gain maximum exposure, request that your ad run in the main news section of the paper, as far forward as possible. Traditionally, you were told to always ask for a right-hand page, but recent studies have shown it doesn’t really make a difference. Half the people read the newspaper front to back, the other half, back to front. You should, however, request that your ad be positioned above the fold.
Tip #4: Dominating a page, without paying for it. To dominate a page in the newspaper, which is usually 8 columns wide by twenty-two inches high, design an ad that is five columns wide and twelve or more inches high. This is proven to have the same affect as a full-page ad, at a much lower cost.
Tip #5: Use color. You should also inquire about adding one color. The use of just one color, any color, can dramatically increase your “net exposure” (what I call the number of people who actually read your ad) and nearly double your response rate.
Tip #6: Whatever you do, don t let the newspaper people design your ad for you. Have your ad professionally designed, otherwise it will look like every other ad in the paper. (I once worked in a newspaper ad department, believe me, I know!) Be sure the designer has experience in newspaper ads, too. You want your ad to reproduce properly, which means it may need a certain line-screen. Also, stay away from reverse-type white type against a black background. Keep your type clear; your headline bold.
Tip #7: Make your ad newsworthy. People read newspapers to get the news, so try to make your ad as newsworthy as possible. If your ad is small, give it a distinctive border so it creates a visual identity for your ads.
Tip #8: You’re paying for that space – use it! Be sure to give your prospects enough information to buy what you’re selling. And don’t fall into the trap of revering white space because it looks good. You’re paying for every square inch of that ad – use it. Your ads should win sales, not design awards.
Tip #9: Test, test, test! If you’re just getting started in newspaper advertising, don’t settle on just one newspaper. Test your ad in the various newspapers available to your market to figure out which one works best. Once you’ve figured out which newspapers are read (the most) by your prospects, stick with them.
Tip #10: Don’t expect it to work overnight. CARDINAL RULE: Don’t expect newspaper advertising to work instantly! (This takes us back to Tip #1: Consistency is key.) Unless you make a time-sensitive offer such as a free gift for stopping by before a certain date, or offer a discount coupon with an expiration date, don’t expect a stampede of customers through your door the day you run your ad. It won’t happen. Never does.
Tip #11: Use “tracking devices” to measure ad performance. A “tracking device” is any element you can include in your advertising that makes it easier to measure that ad’s effectiveness. Adding a number code or color code to your coupons is a good example of a “tracking device.” This will make them easier to track if you’re using more than one newspaper or advertising on different days. You want to know which coupons came from where, when, and how many. That way, you’ll know which newspapers work the best for you, and on which days, and even which headlines work best for those papers on those days. Get it?
Tip #12: The “big” newspapers aren’t as expensive as you think. If you’re not happy with your local newspaper, or you’d like to hit a larger audience than just your town, look into advertising in the regional editions of USA Today, The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, if your prospects read them. These regional editions, while more expensive to advertise in that your local newspaper, are much less expensive to advertise in than the national editions. (If you’re a local or regional business, you should NEVER advertise in the national edition. I don’t care what the ad rep tells you, don’t waste your money.)
Tip #13: The first thing people will see in your ad is your headline. This should entice the reader into wanting to learn more. I always INSIST that a headline make a meaningful or fascinating statement of benefit – or an outright offer – to the reader. For instance, “Get Your Tax Refund Today!” or “Professional Tax Preparation Only $10” are much better headlines than “Bob Jones Tax Service.” That’s pretty obvious, I know, but I can’t tell you how many people put the name of their business or product or service or worse yet, some totally worthless copy, in place of a headline and then hide the meaningful, fascinating stuff in the copy. It’s the biggest mistake in advertising! Put your main benefit or offer in the headline (and/or subheading) so even those who don’t read the entire ad will get the main point.
Tip #14: Next, people will see the visual, any subheadings, and then your name. Adding a visual can TRIPLE the “net exposure” of your ad. More people will notice it if it has a photo or image, which means more, in turn, will RESPOND to it. A photo of yourself will add instant credibility. A product image is better than a logo. Even better is an image of your product or service being used. Let people see it in action. Let them see how good it looks, how good it fits or how good it works. Let them see the smile on the face of a person using it.
Even in this super-high-tech day and age, any businesses still rely on newspaper advertising as their primary marketing tool. The key to success with it is to know the “tricks of the trade” I just revealed to you and to stick with it long enough for it to work its magic. (Read: Consistency is key.) The advertising graveyard is full of failed businesses that gave up on newspaper advertising before it had a chance to prove it’s effectiveness. If you’ve made up your mind to do it, whatever you do, DO IT, and don’t give up on it until it works. It will!
Caffeinated Content for WordPress
Andrew Murray asked:
In this article we will discuss the importance web site tracking and explain to you why it is so important to pay attention your current web traffic.
Understanding what your visitors do on your site is crucial information, not to mention interesting.
For example, I continuously track what happens once my prospects hit my Emerald Passport site http://www.wealth-ambition.com/profit-masters-team.htm since it makes me $1000 per sale.
Knowing what my prospects do gives me a better idea as to where I need to improve and whether my advertising campaigns are cost effective.
If your visitors proceed to purchase a product but then a large majority leave the site when they get to a specific page in the order process then you need to know about it. It could be that this page is confusing or hard to use. Fixing it could increase your sales by 200%.
This is just an example; there are many reasons why you want a detailed analysis of your site visitors.
Most website hosting services offer a stats package that you can study. If you’re not sure where this is, call up your hosting service and ask them. Statistics are a vital part of tracking your marketing progress. If you don’t have access to website statistics get a package that can help you in this area. Do not get a counter that just shows how many visitors you’ve had. You’ll be missing out on vital information that can help strengthen weaknesses in your site.
A good website hosting service would offer traffic logs that provide an invaluable insight into the traffic being referred to a web site from various sources such as search engines, directories and other links.
Unfortunately traffic tracking provided by web hosting services is often in the form of raw traffic log files or other difficult to understand cryptic formats. These log files are basically text files that describe actions on the site. It is literally impossible to use the raw log files to understand what your visitors are doing. If you do not have the patience to go through these huge traffic logs, opting for a traffic-logging package would be a good idea.
Basically two options are available to you and these are: using a log analysis package or subscribing to a remotely hosted traffic logging service. A remotely hosted traffic logging service may be easy to use and is generally the cheaper option of the two. WebTrends Live and HitsLink are two good, remotely hosted, traffic-monitoring services worth considering. However, WebTrends Live is a more complicated system and is suitable for larger ecommerce websites. “SuperStats” is another recommended traffic logging service.
These services do not use your log files. Typically a small section of code is placed on any page you want to track. When the page is viewed, information is stored on the remote server and available in real time to view in charts and tables form.
Log analysis packages are typically expensive to buy and complex to set up. Apart from commercial packages there are also some free log analysis packages available, such as Analog.
************************************************************ A good traffic logging service would provide statistics pertaining to the following: ************************************************************
* How many people visit your site? * Where are they from? * How are visitors finding your site? * What traffic is coming from search engines, links from other sites, and other sources? * What keyword search phrases are they using to find your site? * What pages are frequented the most – what information are visitors most interested in? * How do visitors navigate within your web site?
Knowing the answers to these and other fundamental questions is essential for making informed decisions that maximize the return on investment (ROI) of your web site investment.
The most important aspect of tracking visitors to your website is analyzing all the statistics you get from your tracking software. The three main statistics that will show your overall progress are hits, visitors and page views. Hits are tracked when any picture or page loads from your server on to a visitor’s browser. Hits, however, can be very misleading. It is quite an irrelevant statistic for your website.
The statistic that is probably the most important for a website is Page Views/Visitors. This gives you a good indication of two things.
First, how many people are coming to your site, and secondly how long are they staying on your site. If you have 250 visitors and 300 page views you can figure that most visitors view one page on your site and then leave.
Generally, if you’re not getting 2 page views per visitor then you should consider upgrading your site’s content so your visitors will stay around longer.
If you see the number of visitors you have increasing as well as the number of page views per visitor increasing then keep up the good work! Always look for this stat as an overall barometer of how your site design is going and if your marketing campaigns are taking hold.
Also, a good stat to look for is unique visitors. Once a person visits your site they will not be added to the unique visitors’ category if they visit again. This is a good way to track new visitors to your website. Page views are a good indication of how
Caffeinated Content
In this article we will discuss the importance web site tracking and explain to you why it is so important to pay attention your current web traffic.
Understanding what your visitors do on your site is crucial information, not to mention interesting.
For example, I continuously track what happens once my prospects hit my Emerald Passport site http://www.wealth-ambition.com/profit-masters-team.htm since it makes me $1000 per sale.
Knowing what my prospects do gives me a better idea as to where I need to improve and whether my advertising campaigns are cost effective.
If your visitors proceed to purchase a product but then a large majority leave the site when they get to a specific page in the order process then you need to know about it. It could be that this page is confusing or hard to use. Fixing it could increase your sales by 200%.
This is just an example; there are many reasons why you want a detailed analysis of your site visitors.
Most website hosting services offer a stats package that you can study. If you’re not sure where this is, call up your hosting service and ask them. Statistics are a vital part of tracking your marketing progress. If you don’t have access to website statistics get a package that can help you in this area. Do not get a counter that just shows how many visitors you’ve had. You’ll be missing out on vital information that can help strengthen weaknesses in your site.
A good website hosting service would offer traffic logs that provide an invaluable insight into the traffic being referred to a web site from various sources such as search engines, directories and other links.
Unfortunately traffic tracking provided by web hosting services is often in the form of raw traffic log files or other difficult to understand cryptic formats. These log files are basically text files that describe actions on the site. It is literally impossible to use the raw log files to understand what your visitors are doing. If you do not have the patience to go through these huge traffic logs, opting for a traffic-logging package would be a good idea.
Basically two options are available to you and these are: using a log analysis package or subscribing to a remotely hosted traffic logging service. A remotely hosted traffic logging service may be easy to use and is generally the cheaper option of the two. WebTrends Live and HitsLink are two good, remotely hosted, traffic-monitoring services worth considering. However, WebTrends Live is a more complicated system and is suitable for larger ecommerce websites. “SuperStats” is another recommended traffic logging service.
These services do not use your log files. Typically a small section of code is placed on any page you want to track. When the page is viewed, information is stored on the remote server and available in real time to view in charts and tables form.
Log analysis packages are typically expensive to buy and complex to set up. Apart from commercial packages there are also some free log analysis packages available, such as Analog.
************************************************************ A good traffic logging service would provide statistics pertaining to the following: ************************************************************
* How many people visit your site? * Where are they from? * How are visitors finding your site? * What traffic is coming from search engines, links from other sites, and other sources? * What keyword search phrases are they using to find your site? * What pages are frequented the most – what information are visitors most interested in? * How do visitors navigate within your web site?
Knowing the answers to these and other fundamental questions is essential for making informed decisions that maximize the return on investment (ROI) of your web site investment.
The most important aspect of tracking visitors to your website is analyzing all the statistics you get from your tracking software. The three main statistics that will show your overall progress are hits, visitors and page views. Hits are tracked when any picture or page loads from your server on to a visitor’s browser. Hits, however, can be very misleading. It is quite an irrelevant statistic for your website.
The statistic that is probably the most important for a website is Page Views/Visitors. This gives you a good indication of two things.
First, how many people are coming to your site, and secondly how long are they staying on your site. If you have 250 visitors and 300 page views you can figure that most visitors view one page on your site and then leave.
Generally, if you’re not getting 2 page views per visitor then you should consider upgrading your site’s content so your visitors will stay around longer.
If you see the number of visitors you have increasing as well as the number of page views per visitor increasing then keep up the good work! Always look for this stat as an overall barometer of how your site design is going and if your marketing campaigns are taking hold.
Also, a good stat to look for is unique visitors. Once a person visits your site they will not be added to the unique visitors’ category if they visit again. This is a good way to track new visitors to your website. Page views are a good indication of how
Caffeinated Content
Posted in Ad Tracking | Tags: Invaluable Insight, Search Engines Directories, Website Hosting Service | No Comments »
Thomas Pretty asked:
Vehicle tracking systems are becoming an evermore popular option for fleet managers. There are many benefits to a system that allows you to track your vehicle fleet; purchasing a system however can be quite an expense. Normally a tracking system will be attached to software that must be installed back at headquarters. This means that the operator has access to information on all of the vehicles in their fleet, their location, speed, distance travelled and maintenance details.
A vehicle tracking system will work wonders for the efficiency of your fleet. No more is it necessary to have piles of maps in each vehicle in order for operatives to find their way. GPS tracking will give your operatives information on directions and locations. While it may take time for your vehicle drivers to utilise the system effectively, ultimately it will create a system where efficiency is held in the primacy. Cutting out delays and reducing fuel costs is of importance to all fleet managers, a tracking system will help you do this.
Fundamentally there are three distinct types of vehicle tracking systems available on the market today. All have various advantages and disadvantages. These three kinds of system are labelled cellular, wireless passive and satellite real time. But what is the best solution for your fleet? Here is an outlay of the pros and cons.
Cellular tracking has a lower initial set up cost than the other two forms of system. Cellular systems utilise cellular transmissions to transmit information on the whereabouts of your vehicle fleet. It is not strictly up to date however; locations are reported approximately every five to ten minutes depending upon the system you opt for. This type of system does however carry service costs based upon a monthly fee, meaning that it is an ongoing expense and not a one-off payment. The information is normally displayed over the internet using the accompanying software.
Wireless Passive tracking systems differ from cellular systems in the way that they can be considered a one-off payment. Once the system has been installed and set up, it is in place for not further fees; it can be expensive however to set up and install. The reason for this expense is the dual components of hardware and software that must be installed as well as the creation of a database. There is however a fundamental problem with this form of tracking system, the information can only be retrieved once the vehicle has been returned to the depot.
Some companies, because of this major disadvantage will not want to employ this kind of system as it simply does not provide information at the right time. It also provides no protection if the vehicle is stolen or involved in accident. Modern passive systems are however installing added modems in vehicles so real time information is available. This addition has also meant that the system is also far more detailed. This kind of system now can give information on vehicle speed and when stops have occurred. Subsequently, many companies are opting for this option as it becomes more advanced and still retains no monthly fee.
Satellite based tracking systems, while not giving the detailed information of the other two systems; do provide a solution around the entire country. Subsequently shipping and trucking companies are more likely to select this sort of system. This can be an expensive system to employ although monthly fees do vary on the detail that the company wishes to be given.
As evermore developments are made in the GPS vehicle tracking industry, it is possible to combine the benefits of these three systems. What we can be certain is that as the technology clearly advances; these types of system will become increasing widespread in a number of industries.
Caffeinated Content – Members-Only Content for WordPress
Vehicle tracking systems are becoming an evermore popular option for fleet managers. There are many benefits to a system that allows you to track your vehicle fleet; purchasing a system however can be quite an expense. Normally a tracking system will be attached to software that must be installed back at headquarters. This means that the operator has access to information on all of the vehicles in their fleet, their location, speed, distance travelled and maintenance details.
A vehicle tracking system will work wonders for the efficiency of your fleet. No more is it necessary to have piles of maps in each vehicle in order for operatives to find their way. GPS tracking will give your operatives information on directions and locations. While it may take time for your vehicle drivers to utilise the system effectively, ultimately it will create a system where efficiency is held in the primacy. Cutting out delays and reducing fuel costs is of importance to all fleet managers, a tracking system will help you do this.
Fundamentally there are three distinct types of vehicle tracking systems available on the market today. All have various advantages and disadvantages. These three kinds of system are labelled cellular, wireless passive and satellite real time. But what is the best solution for your fleet? Here is an outlay of the pros and cons.
Cellular tracking has a lower initial set up cost than the other two forms of system. Cellular systems utilise cellular transmissions to transmit information on the whereabouts of your vehicle fleet. It is not strictly up to date however; locations are reported approximately every five to ten minutes depending upon the system you opt for. This type of system does however carry service costs based upon a monthly fee, meaning that it is an ongoing expense and not a one-off payment. The information is normally displayed over the internet using the accompanying software.
Wireless Passive tracking systems differ from cellular systems in the way that they can be considered a one-off payment. Once the system has been installed and set up, it is in place for not further fees; it can be expensive however to set up and install. The reason for this expense is the dual components of hardware and software that must be installed as well as the creation of a database. There is however a fundamental problem with this form of tracking system, the information can only be retrieved once the vehicle has been returned to the depot.
Some companies, because of this major disadvantage will not want to employ this kind of system as it simply does not provide information at the right time. It also provides no protection if the vehicle is stolen or involved in accident. Modern passive systems are however installing added modems in vehicles so real time information is available. This addition has also meant that the system is also far more detailed. This kind of system now can give information on vehicle speed and when stops have occurred. Subsequently, many companies are opting for this option as it becomes more advanced and still retains no monthly fee.
Satellite based tracking systems, while not giving the detailed information of the other two systems; do provide a solution around the entire country. Subsequently shipping and trucking companies are more likely to select this sort of system. This can be an expensive system to employ although monthly fees do vary on the detail that the company wishes to be given.
As evermore developments are made in the GPS vehicle tracking industry, it is possible to combine the benefits of these three systems. What we can be certain is that as the technology clearly advances; these types of system will become increasing widespread in a number of industries.
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In this article we will discuss the importance web site tracking and explain to you why it is so important to pay attention your current web traffic.
Understanding what your visitors do on your site is crucial information, not to mention interesting. If your visitors proceed to purchase a product but then a large majority leave the site when they get to a specific page in the order process then you need to know about it. It could be that this page is confusing or hard to use. Fixing it could increase your sales by 200%. This is just an example; there are many reasons why you want a detailed analysis of your site visitors.
Most website hosting services offer a stats package that you can study. If you’re not sure where this is, call up your hosting service and ask them. Statistics are a vital part of tracking your marketing progress. If you don’t have access to website statistics get a package that can help you in this area. Do not get a counter that just shows how many visitors you’ve had. You’ll be missing out on vital information that can help strengthen weaknesses in your site.
A good website hosting service would offer traffic logs that provide an invaluable insight into the traffic being referred to a web site from various sources such as search engines, directories and other links.
Unfortunately traffic tracking provided by web hosting services is often in the form of raw traffic log files or other difficult to understand cryptic formats. These log files are basically text files that describe actions on the site. It is literally impossible to use the raw log files to understand what your visitors are doing. If you do not have the patience to go through these huge traffic logs, opting for a traffic-logging package would be a good idea.
Basically two options are available to you and these are: using a log analysis package or subscribing to a remotely hosted traffic logging service. A remotely hosted traffic logging service may be easy to use and is generally the cheaper option of the two. WebTrends Live and HitsLink are two good, remotely hosted, traffic-monitoring services worth considering. However, WebTrends Live is a more complicated system and is suitable for larger ecommerce websites. “SuperStats” is another recommended traffic logging service.
These services do not use your log files. Typically a small section of code is placed on any page you want to track. When the page is viewed, information is stored on the remote server and available in real time to view in charts and tables form.
Log analysis packages are typically expensive to buy and complex to set up. Apart from commercial packages there are also some free log analysis packages available, such as Analog.
A good traffic logging service would provide statistics pertaining to the following:
* How many people visit your site?
* Where are they from?
* How are visitors finding your site?
* What traffic is coming from search engines, links from
other sites, and other sources?
* What keyword search phrases are they using to find your
site?
* What pages are frequented the most – what information are
visitors most interested in?
* How do visitors navigate within your web site?
Knowing the answers to these and other fundamental questions is essential for making informed decisions that maximize the return on investment (ROI) of your web site investment.
The most important aspect of tracking visitors to your website is analyzing all the statistics you get from your tracking software. The three main statistics that will show your overall progress are hits, visitors and page views. Hits are tracked when any picture or page loads from your server on to a visitor’s browser. Hits, however, can be very misleading. It is quite an irrelevant statistic for your website.
The statistic that is probably the most important for a website is Page Views/Visitors. This gives you a good indication of two things. First, how many people are coming to your site, and secondly how long are they staying on your site. If you have 250 visitors and 300 page views you can figure that most visitors view one page on your site and then leave. Generally, if you’re not getting 2 page views per visitor then you should consider upgrading your site’s content so your visitors will stay around longer.
If you see the number of visitors you have increasing as well as the number of page views per visitor increasing then keep up the good work! Always look for this stat as an overall barometer of how your site design is going and if your marketing campaigns are taking hold.
Also, a good stat to look for is unique visitors. Once a person visits your site they will not be added to the unique visitors’ category if they visit again. This is a good way to track new visitors to your website.
Page views are a good indication of how “sticky” your website is. A good statistic to keep is Page Views divided by the number of Visitors you have. This statistic will give you a good idea if your content is interesting and if your visitors are staying on your site for a long time and surfing.
Some people are intimidated by web traffic statistics (mostly because of the sheer volume of data available), but they shouldn’t be. While there are many highly specialized statistics that can be used for more in-depth web traffic analysis, the above areas alone can provide invaluable information on your visitors and your website performance. Remember- this data is available for a reason. It’s up to you to use it.
Kansieo.com
In this article we will discuss the importance web site tracking and explain to you why it is so important to pay attention your current web traffic.
Understanding what your visitors do on your site is crucial information, not to mention interesting. If your visitors proceed to purchase a product but then a large majority leave the site when they get to a specific page in the order process then you need to know about it. It could be that this page is confusing or hard to use. Fixing it could increase your sales by 200%. This is just an example; there are many reasons why you want a detailed analysis of your site visitors.
Most website hosting services offer a stats package that you can study. If you’re not sure where this is, call up your hosting service and ask them. Statistics are a vital part of tracking your marketing progress. If you don’t have access to website statistics get a package that can help you in this area. Do not get a counter that just shows how many visitors you’ve had. You’ll be missing out on vital information that can help strengthen weaknesses in your site.
A good website hosting service would offer traffic logs that provide an invaluable insight into the traffic being referred to a web site from various sources such as search engines, directories and other links.
Unfortunately traffic tracking provided by web hosting services is often in the form of raw traffic log files or other difficult to understand cryptic formats. These log files are basically text files that describe actions on the site. It is literally impossible to use the raw log files to understand what your visitors are doing. If you do not have the patience to go through these huge traffic logs, opting for a traffic-logging package would be a good idea.
Basically two options are available to you and these are: using a log analysis package or subscribing to a remotely hosted traffic logging service. A remotely hosted traffic logging service may be easy to use and is generally the cheaper option of the two. WebTrends Live and HitsLink are two good, remotely hosted, traffic-monitoring services worth considering. However, WebTrends Live is a more complicated system and is suitable for larger ecommerce websites. “SuperStats” is another recommended traffic logging service.
These services do not use your log files. Typically a small section of code is placed on any page you want to track. When the page is viewed, information is stored on the remote server and available in real time to view in charts and tables form.
Log analysis packages are typically expensive to buy and complex to set up. Apart from commercial packages there are also some free log analysis packages available, such as Analog.
A good traffic logging service would provide statistics pertaining to the following:
* How many people visit your site?
* Where are they from?
* How are visitors finding your site?
* What traffic is coming from search engines, links from
other sites, and other sources?
* What keyword search phrases are they using to find your
site?
* What pages are frequented the most – what information are
visitors most interested in?
* How do visitors navigate within your web site?
Knowing the answers to these and other fundamental questions is essential for making informed decisions that maximize the return on investment (ROI) of your web site investment.
The most important aspect of tracking visitors to your website is analyzing all the statistics you get from your tracking software. The three main statistics that will show your overall progress are hits, visitors and page views. Hits are tracked when any picture or page loads from your server on to a visitor’s browser. Hits, however, can be very misleading. It is quite an irrelevant statistic for your website.
The statistic that is probably the most important for a website is Page Views/Visitors. This gives you a good indication of two things. First, how many people are coming to your site, and secondly how long are they staying on your site. If you have 250 visitors and 300 page views you can figure that most visitors view one page on your site and then leave. Generally, if you’re not getting 2 page views per visitor then you should consider upgrading your site’s content so your visitors will stay around longer.
If you see the number of visitors you have increasing as well as the number of page views per visitor increasing then keep up the good work! Always look for this stat as an overall barometer of how your site design is going and if your marketing campaigns are taking hold.
Also, a good stat to look for is unique visitors. Once a person visits your site they will not be added to the unique visitors’ category if they visit again. This is a good way to track new visitors to your website.
Page views are a good indication of how “sticky” your website is. A good statistic to keep is Page Views divided by the number of Visitors you have. This statistic will give you a good idea if your content is interesting and if your visitors are staying on your site for a long time and surfing.
Some people are intimidated by web traffic statistics (mostly because of the sheer volume of data available), but they shouldn’t be. While there are many highly specialized statistics that can be used for more in-depth web traffic analysis, the above areas alone can provide invaluable information on your visitors and your website performance. Remember- this data is available for a reason. It’s up to you to use it.
Kansieo.com