by Felicien | Feb 27, 2018 | Education
Excel is an invaluable tool in the world of modern business. Whether keeping track of data, budgeting or tracking trends, companies that use Excel Tables are at a considerable advantage over those that use knock-off alternatives.
The professional benefits of Excel Tables extend beyond the technical level. Businesses that frequently use Excel Tables are more likely to make decisions that are more advantageous to their enterprise as a whole. This is because information in a table format allows for more clarity and accurate evaluations. Numbers are laid out, patterns are easier to observe, and the people responsible for making important decisions will have a more informed perspective, one that they might lack without using Excel Tables.
Companies that frequently use Excel Tables can not only track day-to-day operations but also find areas in need of improvement. For instance, if employees clock in and clock out, management can easily track weekly hours and determine whether an increase, decrease, or continuation of employee numbers is required. Furthermore, if staffers fail to complete necessary tasks while working on company time, the problem is much easier to recognize and compare with similar statistics using data in a table.
You can create a Table in Excel by using a current range of data, or by creating a new Table and populating it with data later.
Use a current range of data.
Highlight the data you want to include in the Table and use the shortcut Ctrl + T. Excel will ask you to confirm the range of data for the Table (you can always change this later if you want). Note: If your data range includes headers, make sure you tick the checkbox that says “My table has headers.”.
Create a blank Excel Table.
Select the cells that you want in your Table, and press Ctrl + T. Then, check the respective box for whether your data has headers or not. If you don’t, an extra row will be automatically added to your Table. Hit OK. Excel will create column headings for your table. It will use ‘Column1’, ‘Column2’ etc., for any blank headings.
One of the best business features of Excel Tables comes in the form of waterfall charts.
Waterfall charts are commonly used to track finances, such as gross sales and net income. Although these charts were officially incorporated into the Excel program in 2016, many people still have trouble understanding how to use them.
Colors play an important role when using waterfall charts. While entering the correct data and numbers is imperative, the use of various colors makes it easy for you to track financial growth, loss, or stagnation. Furthermore, you can easily notice patterns and variables which may be impacting the state of your financial transactions.
Here’s how to create a Waterfall Chart (in Windows).
Select your data.
Click Insert > Insert Waterfall or Stock chart > Waterfall.
Another way to create a waterfall chart in Excel is to use the All Charts tab in Recommended Charts.
Excel Tables’ waterfall charts come with many advantages (and certain restrictions) of which you should be aware. For instance, while the charts above are easy to create, the global color scheme is the sole method of controlling the various types of data. Moreover, waterfall charts are only applicable to Excel 2016. Nevertheless, the use of waterfall charts has proven helpful to many businesses, both big and small.
Keyboard Shortcuts are also an incredibly helpful asset in Excel Tables.
(Note: If you want to work efficiently within Excel Tables, you should take the time to learn the keyboard shortcuts.)
These shortcuts not only save time and boost your productivity, but they also help you quickly observe patterns and learn how to enter information into the database. The essential Excel Table keyboard shortcuts to remember are “undo and redo”, “find and replace”, “cut, copy, paste”, and “select/select all”.
The “undo and redo” shortcut lets you backtrack if you make an error. This can easily happen when entering data into Excel.
“Find and replace” allows you to make certain connections, while “cut, copy, paste” is used to either remove, replicate, or post information into the spreadsheet.
“Select/select all” is a heightened version of “cut, copy, paste”. While “cut, copy, paste” may be used for a certain segment of data, “select/select all” highlights all of the information in the given spreadsheet. “Select/select all” is very helpful when you’re looking to share multiple tables of data with employees, colleagues, or clients.
Although the preceding shortcuts are the most commonly used, they aren’t the only ones that can save you time and increase productivity when using Excel Tables. Use Fill Color to add or change the background color or pattern in various cells. To use Fill Color, select Alt+H, H. You can access Data and View tabs by pressing Alt+A and Alt+W.
If you want to use a custom color, click More Colors. Then in the Colors dialog box, select the color you want.
Here are some other things you can do with Excel Tables:
Calculate table data totals. Create a “totals row” at the end of the table and select the functions that are provided in the drop-down lists for each of the totals row cells.
Insert and delete table rows and columns. Add a blank row at the end of the table or insert table rows and table columns anywhere that you want. You can also delete rows and columns if you wish.
Sort and filter data. You can find Filter drop-down lists in the header row of your table. Sort tables in ascending or descending order, by color, or create your own custom sort. You can also filter tables to show only the data that you need. Select the data, then click in the column header. Then click either Text Filters or Number Filters.
Format table data. You can apply a predefined or custom table style, or you can choose the Table Styles options. You can choose a table with or without a header or a totals row. Apply row or column bandings to make your table easier to read.
Export your table to SharePoint. Export your table to a SharePoint list so others you select can view, edit, and update the table data.
The benefits that you can obtain from Excel Tables are limitless. With Excel Tables, your data will be displayed in a unified, consistent format that you can easily interpret or update as needed. When you employ this tool, you’ll notice an overall improvement in multiple areas of your business. Waterfall charts, keyboard shortcuts, and other Excel Table options will enhance your decision-making capabilities which are critical for efficiency and productivity. The ability to track finances, create budgets, or monitor day-to-day operations are advantages that your business can benefit from that will help you gain an edge over your competition.
by Felicien | Feb 27, 2018 | Education
Instagram is taking on Pinterest, Snapchat, and Facebook to compete for a larger chunk of the social content sharing market with a new branding innovation.
Who is the current king of Social Media? That depends on who you ask. With the variety of social platforms — Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, the list goes on — the king of Social Media title might depend on the user count, the volume of activity, or advertising revenue. Facebook is the dominator in each category, with roughly 2 billion and rising, which is more than Instagram and Twitter combined. However, there’s competition, and the most surprising factor may be that Facebook is the biggest cheerleader and mentor!
Platforms carefully — and artfully — construct branding to stand out from their competition. As recently as 30 years ago, branding efforts were generally limited to a logo and a tagline. With the explosion of the Internet, having a company website meant a more complex brand identity.
For example, a “post” on social media platforms is the communication of content in the form of a thought or an image, but Twitter’s branding calls these posts “tweets”. The terminology of each platform is just as important to its brand identity as its logo. Can you keep up with social slang?
How is a social media king crowned? In this particular battle, user count is important, but the main competition comes down to the power of the brand’s marketing. Facebook offers a number of ways to expand the reach of your content and a coveted algorithm for reaching your target audience, but Instagram may have just unveiled a tool to crush at least some of the other players.
Instagram has released a new feature, the “regram”, which gives users the choice to share content — for the first time ever — by adding public content from other users to their own Instagram Stories. Yes, this is similar to what Twitter and Facebook users have been able to do for several years, but Instagram is the preferred platform for hundreds of millions of people, including an entire generation of Millennials – otherwise known as the most active group on social platforms.
The “regram” is likely copied directly from Facebook’s Share feature since Instagram was acquired by Facebook in 2012. Social users today aren’t as interested in reading lengthy content posts, and Instagram has captivated users with its visual storytelling concept. Instagram users can swiftly scroll and absorb content, experiencing a story and taking a quick journey while being exposed to subtle brand-discovery tactics.
Instagram was the perfect complement to the Facebook brand since it was a social platform but not a direct competitor due to the differing communication styles. Instagram is taking a direct swipe at Snapchat, though, and is eyeing Pinterest with keen regard. The design of social platforms is to share content, and this nature has attracted countless brands to vie for a position in the brand discovery war taking place in the social market. A “repin” on Pinterest has proven successful for brands, and it was only a matter of time before these ideas — sharing content (Facebook) and “repinned” Pinterest posts — made their way onto other platforms, especially if there are revenue opportunities!
Instagram eyes Pinterest and its unique position as a search engine for content in visual presentation, especially since brands can successfully optimize content to capture their audience through this platform. The inherent value in visual content is exponentially amplified with its embedded message, and the possibilities are endless. Was the inability to share content on Instagram hindering the platform before its acquisition? Not likely, being that it’s the fastest-growing social network, and this sustaining user base growth being the primary attraction that caused Facebook to bid for purchase.
The viral value of the “regram” no longer limits the shelf life of content and boosts the power of the brand and platform influencers. Similar to how YouTube launched the careers of Michelle Phan, whose company is today valued at over $80 million, and Sweden’s PewDiePie, a favorite in gamer fandom whose net worth now hovers near $10 million. Instagram is opening doors with the “regram”. When current and new influencers begin sharing content with their followers on Instagram and gain new revenue channels, and content partners gain new means of distribution through branded Instagram Stories, Instagram’s popularity is about to explode – yet again.
With the “regram”, Instagram is proving it’s prepared to take on the industry giants shortly. Tackling the fleeting lifespan of visual content, a “regram” is meant to function like a well-understood Facebook Share and be close enough to a Pinterest “repin” to convert users into quick-adopters and become an established daily practice, in hopes of extending content shelf life.
Social media is sticking around, and Instagram knows this. A few things to keep in mind when using Instagram to promote brand content:
Show authenticity and originality.
Originality gives a brand credibility and establishes a sense of trust and loyalty with your audience.
Use your bio to “wow” your audience.
Invoke a sense of individuality and creativity. This is your chance to shine and stand out from all other users and brands.
Hashtags are only effective when used intelligently.
Too many hashtags are annoying and alienate your audience. The most successful trending topical hashtags are simple, concise, but still fun.
It’s worth repeating: Engage. Engage. Engage.
Engaging with your audience instead of talking to them will always yield a more positive relationship.
Show some love: Featuring fans builds solid relationships – and loyalty.
When a brand features a customer’s name or words, it deepens the bond and strengthens the sense of loyalty to the brand.
Instagram has always held potential for brands, but its updated vision includes the use of the platform as a solid revenue channel. Now brands have the opportunity to gain more traction with content and expand their brand reach to the audiences of their followers – potential new customers.
Instagram should be part of a brand’s digital marketing mix, given the enormous potential this feature offers, and this is likely just a glimmer of the features Instagram has in store for users this year. The dissemination of content is the ultimate goal of a brand using a social platform, and an effective media strategy dances around the intricacies and algorithms involved.
Instagram is far more than the jester at the royal court, playing back-up to others’ rule over the social sharing world – Facebook is right there with it, helping every step of the way with the expertise to solidify their status.
by Felicien | Feb 27, 2018 | Education
Driving a passenger vehicle is both a privilege and a responsibility. Ontario is enacting legislation that increases the cost of carelessness in hopes of also increasing safer driving practices.
To a teenager eagerly awaiting their turn with the car keys, driving symbolizes freedom. No longer bound by a chauffeur chaperone, the driver’s seat is an open invitation to opportunity. The heady responsibility weighing on the driver isn’t as seductive as finding your favorite song to play (loudly) on the radio or digital music player, but it’s still there. Airbags, seat belts, blinkers, and anti-lock braking systems don’t sound as appealing as the wind in your hair and tunes blasting from the speakers.
When a teenager leaves the house, a parent’s worst fear is that something bad will happen to them. We worry nonstop and hope we’ve laid the foundation for responsible driving. We teach young drivers every safety rule and guide them on how to handle situations, from mundane incidents to outright emergencies. We then hope for the best, and that new drivers will make wise decisions on the road. It’s not always easy with the multitude of distractions available today.
Mobile phones were initially bulky and heavy but became smaller and sleeker over time. The Palm Pilot, widely used in the late 1990’s, and even BlackBerry models in the early 2000’s seem unwieldy compared to 2017’s iPhone 8. Smartphone adoption exploded around the 2007 launch of Apple’s first generation iPhone.
Cell phones were designed to connect to the nearest public telephone network and were not capable of sending text or SMS messages. Early adoption of these phones was popular in areas prone to harsher climates, like prolonged winters, or locales with long stretches of less-traveled roads.
Did you know that the first cell phone weighed over four pounds? The phone also used radio frequency to make and receive calls while connected to a public telephone line, rather than today’s cellular networks.
More cars than ever are on the roads, and by default, more drivers (Google has yet to replace every car with a self-driving model!) Smartphones offer the ease of sending multi-media messages, email, video, and much more, but commonly through the use of touchscreens. While some newer cars include hands-free communication connectivity, this is still a high-end feature for most automobile manufacturers. Driving and touchscreens is a horrifying combination for parents of new drivers!
It’s interesting that this combination isn’t restricted to new drivers – “adults” know better, too, and yet there are so many that are “old enough to know better” and still have lapses in judgment. In cases like this, we end up needing protection from our own worst enemies: ourselves.
What will it take for all of us – new drivers and experienced drivers – to put down the phone and focus? For drivers in Toronto, for example, Ontario responded with pretty hefty distracted driving rules.
The laws in Ontario
First, convictions under the distracted driving rules will result in the driver having his or her license suspended for up to five years. Licenses cannot be seized by the responding officer at the time of the violation.
Second, Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca revealed that on top of license suspension, drivers face a significant fine. Drivers who are caught disobeying rules will face fees ranging from $2,000 to $50,000 – and potential jail time.
First offense: License suspended for three days and up to $1,000 fine
Second offense: License suspended for seven days and up to $2,000 fine
Third offense: License suspended for 30 days and up to $3,000 fine
Suspensions and fines increase on repeat offenses, up to two years’ suspension and $50,000 in fines, but should these violation punishments be harsher – and sooner?
Safety of motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians is the ultimate goal of stricter distracted driving laws, and a driver needs to choose the point at which a response is less important than those around them. We have created a digital culture, one in which information is immediately available, allowing us to communicate instantly. These distracted driving laws are intended to protect everyone sharing the road and promote a climate of caution.
Did you know that in 2016, it’s estimated that distracted driving was the cause of over 7,000 crashes in Toronto? Eight resulted in the loss of life, and more than 4,700 caused property damage.
Since the first version of the distracted driving laws took effect in 2009, documented violations as a result of distracted driving have been shockingly overwhelming – even surpassing the instances of speeding violations or crashes involving drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
For clarity, Ontario’s distracted driving laws are written with specific rules:
What is against the law?
Operating hand-held communication and electronic entertainment mobile devices while operating or driving a vehicle
Viewing screens or displays with details not related to your current commute
Hand-held and mobile devices include:
iPods and MP3 players
Smartphones and mobile phones
Laptops or tablet computers
DVD or multi-media players
GPS devices are the trickier part of the equation. A dashboard-mounted GPS device, or a dashboard mount for your smartphone on which you display a GPS application, like Google Maps or Waze, is the workaround for this.
Given that all of the above require the use of a battery, and thus a charging cable, it’s understandable that these regulations extend to the “plugging in” of these cables, as well.
The bottom line is, drivers are legally able to use devices that do not require touching or holding while engaged behind the wheel of a vehicle. If the said device requires touching, like to dial or scroll, this is a violation of the distracted driving law.
The sole exception to this law, in any circumstances, is the need to access emergency services, like police, fire or medical personnel.
Don’t let 2018 be the year you become an example of what not to do while driving – exercise caution, drive responsibly, and arrive at your destination safely while respecting the safety of those around you. Share the roads, and everyone wins!
by Felicien | Feb 26, 2018 | Education
For an organization to be successful, critical goals of all team members involve a shared investment in its future. Is cybersecurity a shared priority?
How invested is your team in the success of your company? How careful is your team when it comes to network protection and cybersecurity? How aware are team members of your security protocols and risks? Basic information assurance training is no longer effective as a means of self-awareness and protection, nor is it a reliable indicator of the level of awareness of your collective team.
What is information assurance? Processing, storage, and transmission of information (data) involve systems – and risks. Information assurance is the practice of protecting this data and these systems to ensure its security and to minimize risk.
It’s no longer enough to include a combination of letters and numbers in your passwords. Today’s sophisticated cybercriminals have an arsenal of tools that can crack a password in a matter of moments, and we need to be far more vigilant with our data.
What is the greatest threat to every organization in the world? It’s no longer the threat of someone picking a lock or breaking a glass window to get inside an office building; the only assets to gain are low-end computers that burglars can’t re-sell quickly. To say cybercrime is on the rise is the proverbial understatement of the year. Cybercrime tools and services are being marketed on the Internet – and there’s little we can (successfully) do to stop it at the grassroots level.
The primary tools a hacker needs are a computer and an Internet connection to access a network. What is the primary goal of a hacker? The simple answer is, to cause harm. Nearly half of all cyber attacks focus on small businesses because they are easier targets – small businesses don’t have the deep pockets that global organizations do to invest in cybersecurity. Cybersecurity vulnerabilities can end a small business.
The majority of global enterprises are targeted multiple times each year, with hackers relentlessly seeking the smallest weakness in a network to gain access. Once a hacker gains access, the impact on a business can range from ID theft to ransomware and countless other circumstances, and none of them with positive outcomes. Only those infiltrations with the greatest impact are heard about, and it’s not because of the volume of data, or the number of consumers whose personally identifiable information (PII) were compromised, though this is newsworthy. We hear about the successful cyber attacks as a lesson in how to better protect ourselves, and to become more aware of our vulnerabilities.
Consider the first three questions we asked:
How invested is your team in the success of your company?
How careful is your team when it comes to network protection and cybersecurity?
How aware are team members of your security protocols and risks?
These three questions share one focus: security. Security leads to success, which is a byproduct of longevity. Companies with a commitment to cybersecurity awareness training for its teams fare better in cyber attacks. These same organizations often have a higher overall degree of awareness among end users.
Four key areas outline your cybersecurity awareness program:
Baseline: Determine how aware your team members currently are.
Goals: Define where you need to be, and set a deadline.
Plan: Formulate a step-by-step agenda for your team to get from your baseline to complete each of your goals by their assigned deadlines.
Maintenance: Your team will need support throughout the process, as well as ongoing support after each goal is achieved.
Cybersecurity awareness levels range from nonexistent to maximum security, and today it pays to know where your company – and your team – ranks.
Nonexistent:
Cybersecurity “newbies” are the most vulnerable and have no goals, no plan, and no clue when it comes to the potential impact of their naivety.
Compliant:
These companies meet the bare minimum and follow the basic rules that someone read about in an email newsletter. Staff is offered annual training, but the information isn’t comprehensive, nor is security understood or strictly enforced.
This type of awareness focuses on “yesterday”, primarily reviewing what has already happened.
Goal-Oriented:
These organizations are one step above compliant, in that they’ve established goals for themselves, but do the goals match the needs of the company?
There may be a formal policy, but is it understood and widely used? Is it enforced, and by whom?
This level of awareness focuses on “today”, with an understanding of how yesterday impacts today.
Proactive:
These companies have established programs, dedicated staff for cybersecurity and information protective measures. These team members oversee the program, enforce policies, make modifications, hold regular reviews, and are communicative to all company personnel in order to ensure safety protocols are understood and followed.
Proactive organizations are always looking at tomorrow, and what needs to be done for the best outcome. This is a great level to achieve, even if it’s not the most secure, as this level of awareness involves all staff and establishes a professional culture of expectations and guidelines.
Robust
The maximum security measures an organization can utilize are seen at this tier, where teams take action to continuously improve cybersecurity protection.
These companies are taking a hard look at today and tomorrow where their network, risks, and safety protocols are concerned but the focus is more on next week, next month, and next year for sustainability and growth.
The greatest obstacle at each step outlined above is the “unknown” factor. You may not fully comprehend the skills and expertise required to determine your company’s baseline, or set and achieve goals. We recommend working with a cybersecurity expert to determine your level of awareness and establish a long-term plan. Communication and understanding are key aspects of the best relationships, as well as your maximum-security protection. The importance of ongoing training and awareness cannot be stressed enough!
Outlining a comprehensive cybersecurity awareness program with ongoing training is a daunting task, but one that will keep you from being the next victim of a cybercriminal.
by Felicien | Feb 26, 2018 | Education
This chat-based meeting application for agile teams – but only if you know how to use it properly.
So many things have changed in business circles. From lighting fast computers to programs that allow you to accomplish any task, today’s technology makes almost anything possible. One of the big changes in America’s corporate culture is the way that workers meet.
It probably all began with the huge rise in companies employing remote workers. Remote workers save a company money in numerous ways. You don’t have to provide offices, desks, or office equipment and supplies in most cases. It’s better for the workers and studies have shown that remote workers actually get more work done each day than on-site workers.
Today’s technology has responded to this growing trend with apps to facilitate remote workers. One of the big winners in this space is Microsoft Teams. This app makes it easy for a team to meet even if they live in various countries around the world.
The big surprise to many business people is how well virtual meetings have taken off. Every team member may work in the same building, but when asked, they’ll tell you that a virtual meeting is much easier to fit into their daily schedule. This has led developers like Microsoft to create virtual meeting space tools that accommodate team members’ preferences.
Microsoft Teams is their flagship virtual meeting product and users may not realize that it is included in MS Office 365. It works well for chats, phone calls and meetings of any size. This app provides virtual meeting rooms where people can collaborate on any subject. It’s available for your PC, Mac or mobile device, and it’s revolutionizing the way workers communicate.
It also works well in classrooms – the classroom of the future may very well take place online. You can meet with the teacher and other classmates to discuss a topic or go over a lesson. There’s no need to get dressed and drive to the school or office building. Just turn on your computer, log into the meeting room and you’re all set. You can discuss a challenging math problem, find out how everyone is progressing on a new marketing campaign or you can plan an office party. There are endless ways to use the app in schools, colleges, and business.
The Microsoft Difference
There are already abundant team meeting apps available, so what sets Microsoft Teams apart from other virtual meeting apps like Zoom or Go-To-Meeting? Of course, with Microsoft, developers went the extra mile to include features that were helpful and convenient. Some virtual meeting space apps do not have the ability to upload or exchange files, but this one does. You can even edit those files during the meeting. Just about everything you could do in real life can be accomplished in a virtual meeting room.
Many of the exciting features are available with just a single tap – even better, Teams is fully customizable. It works the way your team needs it to work, as a seamless program that will evolve as your business evolves. You can quickly and easily create a new team and set up a meeting in just moments.
How to Begin
Open Office 365 and then go to Microsoft Teams. There, you will create a new team by selecting “Create Team” in the bottom left corner of the screen. Give your team a name and include a short description of it. Once you get familiar with this app and begin using it more frequently, you’ll better understand the need to name and describe your team accurately. You might have several different teams for any department in your company. That’s why it’s important to distinguish between a graphic design team that is working on Project A and other graphic design teams working on other projects.
Once you’ve named your team, enter each member’s name. Team members are easy to add or delete from a team as needed. MS Outlook groups allow you to add an entire group of people at once without having to enter their individual email addresses or names. This can also be done using a security list or an email alias.
Now select “Done” and create a channel for the team by selecting “” located next to the team name. Now choose “Add channel” and enter a name and description for your channel. Finally, click on “Add” and you’re done. Once you learn the process, you can set up a team and channel in less than five minutes. In the beginning, you’ll have one channel called “General” that can be used for any purpose. Later on, you can add channels as needed.
Team Management Tools
By selecting “View Team”, you can change the settings, add or remove team members and manage team ownership. As a team manager, you will have additional privileges that allow you to make numerous adjustments. This can be very helpful when working with people from multiple departments or various projects. Different team members can take charge of the meeting as needed. You will quickly learn how to structure your team so that it’s highly efficient or just more fun for team members.
Regardless of what type of work you do or what type of projects you may be currently working on, Microsoft Teams will become an indispensable business tool. This digital hub makes quick work of creating and customizing your team so that it’s tailored to meet all your needs. The app is fast replacing email as a way to communicate because it’s so much more efficient. You can view replies, likes, and @mentions with just a single tap. Add other apps your team uses or websites you want team members to visit.
Since the app is part of Office 365, you can easily access all Microsoft programs such as Excel, Outlook, and Word.
Exciting Features
Microsoft Teams supports flexible communication, including chats, calls, meetings, and private and group conversations. Below are a few more helpful features available in the Microsoft Teams app:
Use the Settings tab to edit member permissions, customize your team picture, and turn certain features off and on
Add notes, websites or other apps
Edit files, exchange ideas
Collaborate on a project
Available in 18 languages for business and Enterprise customers
Access Skype while in a meeting
Initiate a private discussion
Users can customize their digital workspace with stickers, custom memes, emojis, and GIFs
Access OneNote, SharePoint, Planner, and PowerBI
Email integration
Use Microsoft Graph to perform intelligent searches across files, chats, and people
Add helpful Bots to enhance the user experience
The Digital Workspace of the Future
Microsoft Teams delivers an innovative digital workspace for today’s agile teams. This app encrypts all data, both at-rest, and in-transit. In addition, it includes multi-factor authentication to improve identity protection. As with all Microsoft products, the developers will no doubt continue to add great features that make the program even more useful for the workers of tomorrow.
by Felicien | Feb 26, 2018 | Education
Making your website work for you involves much more than a polished design on your dot-com, but will it earn you a profit? Here’s a hint: Google can help you.
You’ve done it; you’ve made the leap. Your idea has become a reality, blossomed into a company, and you’ve designed a website.
Now what?
How effective is your website? More importantly, do you understand what makes your website effective? By “effective”, we do mean profitable. If you were asked what the most popular element of your website is, would you be able to answer? If you aren’t able to answer these questions, why haven’t you added Google Analytics to your website yet? You can’t afford to wait any longer!
Google, the most trusted name AND the de facto authority in all things search engine-related, offers its Google Analytics service to help you understand just how your website is working for you – and where it’s not. Google Analytics gives you unbelievable insights into ways to make your website working smarter AND harder. Did we mention this fantastic tool is free?
What are you waiting for?
To start, you add a snippet of code text to your website’s source code and begin tracking everything you could ever want to know about anyone who comes to your website. We understand the phrase “source code” might sound like a foreign language to a lot of readers, but we promise this is painless – and Google makes sure to provide easy-to-follow video tutorials that aid anyone in getting started.
Getting started is simple:
Set up a Google account. If you already have one, just sign in
https://www.google.com/analytics/
Set up a web property:
Click “Admin”, then choose the account if you have more than one
In the “Property” column, click “Create new property”, and select “Website”.
Enter the full URL, including the “http://”.
Choose your Industry category, Time Zone, and click “Get Tracking ID”.
That’s it – you’ve now created a Google Analytics account and retrieved your Tracking ID snippet! How do you add this to your website? Your tracking code snippet will look something like this, but ‘GA_TRACKING_ID’ will be your tracking ID, and often looks like ‘UA-XXXXXX-1‘:
<!– Global Site Tag (gtag.js) – Google Analytics –>
<script async src=”https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=GA_TRACKING_ID”></script>
<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
gtag(‘js’, new Date());
gtag(‘config’, ‘GA_TRACKING_ID’);
</script>
You’ll add this code snippet to each page of your site you want to track right after the opening <head> tag on each page. Once this is in place, Google Analytics typically takes about 24 hours to being reporting traffic, though a quick visit to your website in a new browser tab will register your visit in Real-Time reports, thus eliminating your need to wait 24 hours and potentially waste an entire day (of profits).
A few items to remember as you start using Google Analytics:
Reports are unable to show website traffic history prior to set-up on your website.
Brand new websites will take time to “ramp up” in search rankings, and may limit search traffic coming to your site immediately. New sites can take up to 30 days for Google to index, but there are ways to expedite this if you’re willing to take a few quick steps. The fastest and easiest is a simple request form submitted to Google.
Take Google Analytics for a Spin
We recommend paying attention to a few key areas at first.
How is your traffic finding you? Google Analytics labels this “Acquisition”, and the main ways are:
Referring sites: These are sites that have sent visitors to your site from another site.
This is the full list of your new best friends.
Organic: This is traffic that has discovered your website through search terms, “keywords”, that visitors are typing into search engines and clicking links that bring them to your site – your favorite “freebie”.
Direct: This traffic is entirely made up of people that come straight to your website as if they clicked on a shortcut or typed your URL into their browser bar.
What do visitors do once they find you? This is “Behavior” in Google Analytics terminology:
See the entire visitor journey.
A key metric here is the Bounce rate; when a visitor lands on your site but then immediately closes the browser tab or window, or clicks the “back” button, this is registered as a “bounce”. The lower the bounce rate of your page or website, the better your site engages with your audience
Do you have a social media profile? While this is a critical marketing channel, it’s also a great opportunity to take Google Analytics for a test drive. Using a social media post that includes a link to your website, you can see the corresponding traffic within GA and determine the effectiveness of post content, and correlate Facebook reach to website visitors.
New Traffic Pattern Ahead
Over time, you’ll begin to see patterns, and note traffic spikes and dips as well as begin to predict traffic. Leave the visitor wanting more from your site with each page. The desire to see more will earn another click.
Which pages of your site are most popular? Go to Behavior -> Site Content -> All Pages, and see every page of your site and its corresponding traffic metrics. These can be sorted however you choose.
Want to see visitors resulting from social media but only those based in England? Want to see referral traffic AND their corresponding top destination pages? Add the Secondary Dimension to this view and see how visitors landed on each page or by which channel for an even clearer picture of your site’s performance.
Pay close attention to pages with high bounce rates, and the landing pages and exit pages. A bounce rate, as described above, is a wasted opportunity because the visitor isn’t engaged. A landing page is where traffic enters your site; adversely, exit pages are where traffic exits the site. Landing pages can be an indicator of external links that point to your site, and optimized accordingly, can attract visitors to continue to additional pages.
Google knows they have an incredible tool for websites, and won’t give everything away for free. At some point, you’ll encounter the most dreaded words for any Google Analytics user: “not provided”. Typically, these are enclosed in parentheses, “(not provided)”, and will come to represent the largest chunk of your traffic. These are visitors who are logged into their Google account while visiting, and Google restricts information shown to protect the privacy of Google account users. The good news is that Google will share more details with you – if you upgrade to a paid Adwords package or premium analytics account. A closer look at keywords will help with organic traffic, and perhaps a paid boost on your most effective keywords will “up the ante”.
A few more key features in Google Analytics we recommend trying out:
Behavior Flow – Flow charts that give you a high-level overview of popular patterns
Events – If your end goal is driving traffic to another site, like Facebook or Etsy, where you have limited reporting, Events will let you see how many times a set clickthrough is utilized, like a button to take a visitor to the Facebook page.
Conversion Goals – You establish a set of criteria that you define as a “conversion”, like signing up for an email newsletter or following the sales funnel completely through the checkout process for a purchase, and the conversion goal will give you insights about the transaction.
Audience details are best “guesstimations”, based on generalizations and cookies. Never assume that this information is 100% accurate, but it will be a good indicator.
Understanding your audience is the key to knowing what makes them “tick” – and what makes them open their wallet. Once you start actively using Google Analytics and tailor your site for search engine optimization, it’s amazing what doors may open for you.
