Coffee Shop vs. The Office

I just finished writing a piece entitled Your Blog is (or should be) a Coffee Shop. I think challenging the way many businesses are coming to think about blogs is important, so I'd encourage you to come read it in its entirety:

Visiting a Coffee Shop is a low pressure outing...it's a way to get know someone better and have meaningful conversation. And that's exactly what your blog should be. Your blog is (or should be) a Coffee Shop. It should be a low pressure way for someone to get to know you, your interests, or passions better. It's not your Office. Other parts of your site or perhaps a different site all together should be considered the place where people can learn more about your business.

Wrap-up of The New New Internet

I spent yesterday doing some live text and video blogging of The New New Internet Conference.

Here are some highlights:

Andrew McAfee on Enterprise 2.0

Web 2.0 is successful because technologists figured out what users wanted:

 1. To interact w/each other

2. As little structure as possible during interaction and use of technology

…and the result was that

3. The outcome of getting out of the way does not mean chaos

Rajen Sheth of Google - Web 2.0’s Impacts on Business

One of the nuggets that I think folks will take away from his talk was that software-as-a-service - SaaS - allows companies to focus on business and not on infrastructure. Instead of having to focus on the technology - installing, maintaining, etc. - they can use hosted services that just work.

Jason Goldberg on Web 2.0 and its Influence

According to Jason, Web 2.0 goes beyond being online…it solves business problems. He asks, “How many people have gone to the public library in the last month?” A smattering of hands raised….”how many people have searched Google?”. Everyone raised their hands. People turn to the web first.

Metrics - The Lifeblood of Your Web Presence

I'm always surprised when clients indicate they have no web analytics in place on their blogs and websites. Metrics are the lifeblood of your web presence. They help baseline success, as well as provide a way to set new goals.

They also give you a better picture of your visitors, including what content they find interesting and how long they are spending on your site. Implementing web analytics is a no brainer.

There are a number of great tools that exist...many are free. Probably one of the most compressive is Google Analytics. But there are others that have recently caught my eye, including HitTail and Crazy Egg. Some more basic tried and true analytics tools include Stat Counter and Site Meter.

"Installing" analytic tools is often as simple as copying javascript code into the HTML of your web properties. For sites that have a CMS installed, it's much easier to roll-out site wide analytics because the code can be placed into the header or footer.

I'll soon be covering a subset of these tools in greater detail.