So What?

Maybe you want to find out how people are using a new landing page you built for your Adwords campaign or you have built a fancy new sidebar navigation for your website. Without tracking where people are clicking around on your website you wont know if your users have the same vision as you do. I find without using heatmaps you spend your time guessing what will work. Why guess?

What do you want me to do?

Go sign-up for an account at CrazyEgg.com. Its free and allows for quite a bit of testing without having to upgrade to one of their paid models. They ask you to drop a javascript code, much like the one from Google Analytics, into your html so they can track where people are clicking. Start up a quick test for 100 clicks and you will see what I’m talking about. Plus once the test is done they will email you to let you know. Really, this is a set and forget thing. Although its pretty addicting to check it often to see how the stats play out.

Once the test is done you can review all the different types of stats. By default it shows what links people have clicked on and how many time they clicked on it. It can even tell you what kind of traffic clicked on the link. Of course there is the heatmap itself which breaks down where peoples click patterns are. This is important to see where your website has peoples eyes and mouse going. Then you can better optmize the site so people are clicking on what you think are the most important items. The newest addition to CrazyEgg is the confetti system, which is a dot break down of exact click points on the site. Very handy and fun to look at.

Go try heatmaps on something small. A landing page or a small singular page on your site. Takes 5 minutes and is worth learning how to do and understand.

oohEmbed.com is a web service which acts as an API for grabbing information from various media websites. When I say media, I’m referring to YouTube videos, Flickr images and things like Amazon products. I was on the hunt for a method to give my users from an automotive website the ability to add videos to their comments without having to make things complex. Everyone knows its easy to mess up an embed code and have this hodge podge of code in someones comment or post. oohEmbed solves this through the usage of oEmbed and the API’s from the various media giants who have made it possible for us to easily access their information.

How do you call this information? Through the oohEmbed.com url schema. Tack on your media URL to the end of oohembed.com url.:

http://oohembed.com/oohembed/?url=http%3A//www.amazon.com/Myths-Innovation-Scott-Berkun/dp/0596527055/

Here is the kind of raw information oohEmbed outputs:

{
“type”: “photo”,
“version”: “1.0″,
“provider_name”: “Amazon Product Image”,
“url”: “http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31%2BfVjL2nqL.jpg”,
“height”: “500″,
“width”: “317″,
“thumbnail_url”: “http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31%2BfVjL2nqL._SL75_.jpg”,
“thumbnail_height”: “75″,
“thumbnail_width”: “48″,
“asin”: “0596527055″,
“title”: “The Myths of Innovation”,
“author_name”: “Scott Berkun”,
“author_url”: “http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%3FASIN=0596527055%26location=/Myths-Innovation-Scott-Berkun/dp/0596527055″
}

Here is my simple and quick PHP method for accessing oohEmbed and making use of their API structure (with a few comments to explain whats going on):

//Simple function to get the contents from the oohEmbed API.
function oohembedURL($u){
return @file_get_contents(’http://oohembed.com/oohembed/?url=’.$u);
}

//$content is whatever you get your content from. Wordpress/Joomla/Drupal, however you can process the raw content before it is visually shown. For Wordpress you use $get_the_content();.

$content = $get_the_content();

//Check my $content variable for any type of url
preg_match_all(’>http://([\w+?\.\w+])+([a-zA-Z0-9\~\!\@\#\$\%\^\&\*\(\)_\-\=\+\\\/\?\.\:\;\'\,]*)?>’, $content, $matches);
//Grabs the first URL in the content. If there were more than one you do this part differently to process them all, but we’re just focusing on one.
$url = $matches[0][0];

//Run the $url through the oohembedURL function
$ooh = oohembedURL($url);

//if $ooh is empty then we leave the $content variable alone. This is caused by a 404 error from oohEmbed.com when an invalid url is run through the service.
if( !$ooh ){
$newContent = $content;
} else { //else we break up the content and find what in my case is the video embed code.
//explode the API return
$explode = explode(’,', $ooh);

foreach ($explode as $phrase){
//if the $phrase includes “html”: ” then set it to the $embed variable.
if (strstr($phrase, ‘”html”: “‘)) $embed = $phrase;
if(isset($embed)) break;
}

foreach ($explode as $phrase){
//if the $phrase includes “html”:”(there are slightly different embed returns based on what service it comes from) then set it to the $embed2 variable.
if (strstr($phrase, ‘”html”:”‘)) $embed2 = $phrase;
if(isset($embed2)) break;
}

//if no $embed2 variable input the embedding code into the $content
if( !$embed2 ){
//remove the “html”: ” from the string.
$embed = str_replace(’”html”: “‘, ”, $embed);

//trim off the quote from the right side of the string
$embed = rtrim($embed, ‘”‘);

//replace the video url for the new embedded code.
$newContent = str_replace($url, $embed, $content);
}else{ //else if $embed2 exists use this process
//Remove the “html”:” from the string.
$embed2 = str_replace(’”html”:”‘, ”, $embed2);

//Removed the ending quote from the string.
$embed2 = rtrim($embed2, ‘”‘);

//Replace the link in the $content with the new embedding code.
$newContent = str_replace($url, $embed2, $content);
}
//Remove any extra slashes, if any.
$newContent = stripslashes($newContent);
}

oohEmbed caters to a healthy list of media sites. For a full list visit their website under the ‘configuration’ heading. So far the service has been flawless. I have not put it through any excessive traffic loads, but I’m sure it can handle it, as the app is hosted through Google App Engine. My only qualm so far with the service is the minor inconsistancy I have experienced in the format the API information is returned in. Otherwise this is an excellent addition to any website and adds more functionality for the users.

pic by: yoz-u

The friendly and helpful interaction with people can really go a long way in developing your personal brand online and offline. When you start a one on one dialogue with someone new or old you have the chance to directly interact and impact their lives. In the process this can benefit you in more ways than you may have initially thought.

1. More traffic

The time you spend to develop a relationship with someone new pays off in dividends, especially when you help them. Lets say for instance you helped one person through a coding issue. This new person you personally interacted with is likely to come back and see what you are doing on your website more often than the normal user. They are also more likely to recommend you/your website to a friend. Of course everything here hinges on you accomplishing the task they want to get done.

2. Meet new people

You are building a relationship. This new person now has talked to you on a personal level and knows you more than the average user. Meeting new people can lead to many things down the road, but the sheer greatness of meeting them is enough to keep you helping and being friendly for a long time.

3. Build up a reputation

Even if you did not figure out the solution to the persons problem, you are still more likely to have a good reputation with them. When most people get a one on one interaction with a friendly and genuinely helpful person they feel taken care of. This feeling is not one you get everyday. The reputation you develop can solidfy your position in your niche very quickly as THE person everyone needs to meet and interact with.

4. Lead to better opportunities/partnerships

You never know who exactly you are helping or who they may know. These random interactions with your users can lead to greater opportunities on future projects or possibly partnerships. Although the later is something you earn and generally is not given. Some other opportunities can be the users writing about your blog and helpfulness, allowing you to do a guest post, linking to your website and the list goes on.

5. Feel better about yourself

Last and certainly the greatest reason of all.  At the end of everything you feel good because you just got the chance to positively impact someone else’s life. You can have the worst day ever and in the end when you look back and you helped someone else achieve a positive result, you just had the best day ever.

Try this out and help one person a week with whatever you can. Be it through forums, comments on a blog or just through email. You will end everyday feeling good about the results you are achieving. It will show through almost everything you do.

This has come to my attention more than once. When I will be working on a personal project for a while and getting really into it. I come to find someone else has produced a similar product or the exact same thing I have made. Now immediately what has gone through my head in the past is a mix of if I need to keep pursuing this project or ditch it. Here is how I asses my projects and whether I need to continue or ditch it.

Do you have an edge?

I take a hard look at what the new competition has. I will buy the product/service and use it like any other user. This way I can actively have an idea if my product will be released with the same or, from what I see, as a better set of benefits. Interact with the community and see what their problems are with the product/service early on and if you can solve or have solved them in your own product/service. This is one of the most major factors in deciding whether to move forward with the project or not.

How complete is the project?

If the project is far from done or even far from an alpha test, then it will most likely get tossed aside for a rainy day thing to do. Otherwise if I see my project is half way or close to done I will push through and release what I have and then slowly add in various features to make it more competitive in the marketplace. On the flip side you have to look at your competition and see if they have a complete product as well. If they do not then you can have a leg up and get your completed product to market faster.

How much competition is there?

Recently one of my project ideas was capitalized on by another group faster than I was able to make it. Pretty discouraging right away, although it didn’t stop me because they were the only competition out there. If you release a product with the same features and nothing different at all you still have chance to actively compete in the market place. What makes this a prime opportunity is the ability to gain a user base and have a separate group to mold your product into. In most cases you will mold into a product with its own special features and needs based on the user base you have.

Taking all of this information into account you can get a clear overview of the project and what you have ahead of you. In almost all cases I will move forward on a project if I can say yes to these questions and I still have the passion for the product. Good Luck!

1. Personalize It

As you can see my old blog was bland and boring. It was a slightly modified version of the Magazeen theme. Partly due to me not being sure how committed I was going to be on this blog. Now with a good momentum I felt like it was worth putting some more effort into the entire blog. Personalizing a blog layout is something any serious blogger needs to take on. Like me, I think its good to initially feel out the website and the traffic behind it. My personalization was simple to a certain effect because simple is how I like to do my sites these days. I brought in a pic of myself and my personal logo. I retuned the rest of the site to reflect my simplicity. I ditched all the separation points and attempted to let the text do the talking and not so much the graphics.

2. Make elements easy to find

I wanted to make the site easier to navigate and understand. Sure the old theme had tons of fancy drop down menus and pictures all over the place from each of the posts. The idea of this blog is simplicity now. So I ditched all the unnecessary pictures and brought it back to the basics, text. This is the easiest way to make use of the header HTML tags and build a little more SEO power. I also reorganized the sidebar by bringing the category listing and about me section up. There was plenty of unused real estate up top to take advantage of.

3. Encourage users

On the single post view, I took advantage of the empty space next to the retweet button and added in a little thank you note from me. Along with the note there are some extra links to help spread the word about the post you’ve just read. I went for the most noninvasive approach and still visible, because who doesnt want a little more traffic!

Positive Effects

Ideally these latest changes to the site will give users a more personal connection with the branding alone. Then I gave them a better opportunity to read what I have to say. The idea with any site is to get users to come back and look at your content, giving yourself the highest possible exposure. Of course none of these ideas are full proof and will constantly have to be watched and retweaked, but for now it will be a good second version.

To start, I’m sure anyone reading this from the US has seen an infomercial for P90X(the program in the image above). If you haven’t it is Beachbody’s most successful product to date. The reason is the content. Beachbody produce exceptional content and I know because I have had the chance to check it out. So its not some scammy infomercial you’re watching, its the real deal if you stick with it. How it achieved this level of success was due in part to the efforts from Beachbody’s marketing department.

I was not paying attention to their products prior to P90Xs’ launch, although I have started to see some steam building up for the launch of their newest product, Insanity. If you checked out the link, you can see Beachbody is taking the pre-launch campaign online and using a basic list building page to gather emails from people interested in Insanity. This is a two pronged approach. First you get to build a solid list of people who want to buy your product and second you now have a list of people who you can cross promote products to and further increase your revenue per email gathered. The way they gather those emails isnt using some lengthy sales letter, rather real content from their products to help sell the user and build trust in the product making them to see more from this series. Simple as that.

We have covered their pre-launch campaign. Lets talk about the campaign during the life of the product, which for P90X is still going. They have taken TV slots by storm. If you happen to be in the US and its either early morning or late at night you can catch one of their 30 minute infomercials covering every aspect of the product. Their infomercials cover the workout and how it works. It talks about how they offer a nutritian plan to help you even further, a nice bonus on the already packed dvd set, and you get workbooks, yet another bonus. So they give you plenty of reasons to buy, but they pack on even more. The show off actual testimonials of people who has used the product and had great results. So ok, we know the infomercials are dead on.

The web presence is just as good. Selling the product in the same mannor. The website has much more of a sales letter approach. Yet it still has its own special style. Not the same vertically five page long sell on the product. They show you what you get along with a variety of tesitmonials from people who have used it. They provide ample opportunities for you to buy.

Ok they have the customer at the pre-sale and now the actual sale. Most infomercial based products quit after this. After actually watching an entire P90X video you can see how they bring it to another level. Throughout all the video routines they suggest buying and using their upsell products, like supplement vitamins and energy drinks. Which I have no problems with and I’m sure works great. Immediately after each video they show their nutritional specialist talking about how good the drinks and vitamins are for the user, further gaining their trust.

The customer now buys the product and probably has bought at least one upsell. What else is left? Why not joining their free/monthly recurring(depending on what choice you make) program where the customer can interact with the people who make the programs the customer buy and use. For the month recurring revenue they give the customer plenty of personalized options. While the customer is now most likely made it through the DVD’s and is ready for more, they can join the ‘Coach’ program. Coaching, which gives the customer an opportunity to make their own coaching website and sell the Beachbody products to make a profit for themselves. The coaching program completes the circle of making the customer a business partner. I see no faults in the entire marketing process. It is solid from start to finish. I’m sure as new DVD’s come out they will promote the Teambeachbody.com area more.

From the moment you even hear about a product from Beachbody to the time you buy a product and use it, they are constantly in touch with you in every way they can be. They dont do it in a horribly pushy or in a rude way. Their products are geniune and work. Take some time and study how this company keeps building on their already big 300 million dollar a year business. You will find new ways to market your own products, whether they are digital or physical. This company is the best example of selling I have seen yet.

One thing I read through their site was the plans to fully combine Wordpress and Wordpress MU. The possibilities of those two together, if done correctly, can make the base for any simple social networks. I’m sure we’ll see the advent of millions of websites with social networking functionalities. We’ll have to wait and see until the next version.

I have yet to upgrade this installation(@ryanyockey.com) to 2.8. Not too sure I want any of the features in it. Although it is always a great idea to keep your software installs up to date.

1. The Speed Factor

This is like talking about a super hero power or something. From the tests I have read about throughout the net, they have found Ruby on Rails to be faster overall compared to other PHP frameworks. This is a major selling point for me. My ambitions are to build web apps on a large scale. Whats worse than having a great web app, but to only see it dump off in speed when the heavy traffic hits. If right out of the box a framework can handle more traffic at less server cost, then you’re bound to save money in the long haul for your business. This is part of effective business planning. Although I am aware and have played with faster frameworks, like Pythons Django. I will have to compared the frameworks in a later post.

2. Instant Resume Booster

To coin the catch phrase of the year, ‘In this kind of economy’, we need to be prepared for the future. Meaning, in case you haven’t been browsing the market lately, most every decently sized company out there wants an employee who has experience in developing in Ruby. Even more so Ruby on Rails. I keep plenty busy with my private clients and personal projects, but if I have to get out there in the future, I might as well be prepared.

Edit: (Thanks  Brian) “You want Rails to help you get a job? Learn Ruby, submit patches, become known on the net as someone who does Rails. Nobody’s gonna hire you (for a good job) for just putting it on your resume. Same goes for PHP, Python, and even Javascript.”

3. The Big Boys Use It

The newest and latest startups like, oh.. Twitter and maybe you’ve heard of Hulu. Not to say the oldies are bad for using PHP or Java as their base. Since so many big startups are adopting the Ruby on Rails framework, it is probably not a bad idea to learn it. Who knows, your next web app may just be bought out by these social giants.

4. Enrich Your Brain

Why not just learn something to learn it? Of course we’re all strapped for time, but this is for those guys who have the drive to learn and develop in something totally new.

5. Solid Community

To me so far, the Ruby on Rails community seems helpful and new. Combined with the screencast and documentation, you really can’t lose. There are more than enough resources for anyone to succeed in developing web apps through Ruby on Rails.

I say make 30 minutes twice a week and dive into it. You may find you really enjoy the language and it isn’t such a waste of time for you or your goals in life.

Getting Real runs down all aspects of starting the business of running a web app in the minds of the folks behind the creation of 37 Signals web apps. You get the chance to see the break down of the thought process. From the development of the idea of the site and how to effectively build out an idea and refine it into something worth working on. Then you get other aspect like team building and how to choose the right people for the job. There are various tips on how to build up the brand of your web app and what kinds of realities to expect when actually building one up.

The format of the book is new to me, because they use very simple paragraphs to explain the idea and then feedback from respected people in the industry to backup those ideas. The nice thing is this book presents you with real life examples of important things in a way you can easily digest.

I read this book a month or two ago and the information has stuck with me. I will most likely re-read this book again soon, as it is free to read online, since I will be developing a new web app soon. Take a day or even a week and sit down to read this book. You will be glad you did.

Before you even get started with split testing we must have a clear set of statistics for how the element is already doing. If you don’t have prior test results, then all this split testing to find the better of the two will be wasted time. Use Google Analytics or if you’re against javascript based analytics programs, Webalizer works just as well.

You have some stats and now you’re ready to start finding out what works best. Here is a short and simple PHP script for split testing. There are much more complex systems and scripts out there to handle in depth testing. For this post I’m going to keep it simple. The script below will generally give you a 50/50 distribution.

<?php

$split = rand( 1, 100 ); //Generate random number for split test.
if( $split > 50 ){ //If the random number is greater than 50 then use Test 1
?>
    TEST 1 Goes Here
<?php
} else { //If the random number is less than 50 use Test 2
?>
    TEST 2 Goes Here
<?php } ?>

Using the script and your stats, set a goal for your tests. Lets say increasing your conversion rate from 1% to 2%. If this first test doesnt do it, adjust your test subjects and try again. Don’t settle on your tests until you feel you have sapped every last ounce of productivity out of your users. The best part about all this testing is you now have learned so many new rules for future sites. The time it will take a website to be extremely profitable is extremely reduced and now you have time to test even more aspects of the sites conversion.

Whats the major rule here? Always test, everything. Test is another fancy word for doing. Dont ever stop trying new things and you will accomplish more than most online.