What reporting data are you after?

Posted on September 16, 2010 by

I was at a friend’s office today discussing the different types of reports that we send to clients and the automated SEO traffic and rankings stuff that I’ve built as well as the stuff that he puts together manually for each client based off their Google Analytics data and his own insights.

At the end of it, what he’d told me was essentially what I’d known all along but had taken some very (comparitively) large steps towards simplifying what I’d created.

"That’s a LOT mate.  There’s simply too much there."

The data gathered from reporting on website stuff is like a great novel to me, I get as much of it as I can and don’t stop until I’ve figured it all out.  Not everybody’s like that though.

I realise this, and have really tried to separate out what I thought was important VS. what’s actually readable and understandable by a client.

It’s still too much.

I even went so far as to build something that measures what you spent VS. what you made via your website.

But then the brick-and-mortar business, that aren’t e-commerce websites, throw a spanner in the works by being so bold as to conduct business offline, where I can’t measure and track their leads and business and ensuing dollars.

So I’m putting it out there and inviting feedback on it: What would you look for in a weekly report?

You!  With the one-person operation!  You who were, and probably still are, utterly perplexed by the data in the reports that I send you… what are YOU after?  What do YOU want to see every week?

I know I’ve asked before and you didn’t have anything to compare it to so you just shrugged, but now that you’ve been at this a while and you’ve gotten a feel for what your website should be doing for you… then lay it on me.

Tell me what you’re after, and I’ll do my best to make it happen.

Category: Around the Web | 2 Comments

Stone Soup – A Great Tale

Posted on September 1, 2010 by

Not long ago, an idea hit me.  I was thinking of ways to make The Web a better place, even if only a little bit.

See, I know all these designers and developers and content writers and usability experts and all-around seriously smart people, ALL of whom are quite good at whatever Web Thing it is that they do.  Some blog, some don’t, but most don’t blog a lot, or are writing at least intermittently enough that I miss out on much of their stuff because I forget to check back.

So, I have all of these smart people, most in different areas of Web Awesomeness, most of whom like to write already… hmmm…

You see where I’m going with this?

So I sent an email with a reference to the Story of Stone Soup.  If you’re unfamiliar with it, give it a quick read.  If you hate links, it’s about some Ye Olde Worlde folks passing through a town, who dupe the townspeople into creating a huge and wonderful meal, just by combining their meagre resources.

The main lesson being someone gave everyone a starting point with really no fixed direction past that other than a decent meal.

I hadn’t even named it yet, but after that email I went out got it registered straightaway.  One of my favourite folks, the lovely and talented Patrick Templeman Twells (a web designer and developer in Mandurah) offered to design it and even gave me the HTML and CSS for it!  Grabbed a quick deal on hosting, installed WordPress, slapped in a theme, and…

Stone Soup – Recipes for a Better Web was born!

I’ve got a brilliant smattering of folks signing into it too, and some are even writing already.

I reckon it’s time to start promoting this thing!  I think it’s going to get quite popular.

Category: Latest News | No Comments