In this post, I’ll be highlighting those aspects of a community, which if ignored, can have major ramifications on the overall user experience.

Building your community on top of a third-party platform solves a number of user experience concerns, but also presents challenges. Out of the box, you’ll have content and widget types, and a general look and feel to the font, headings, icons, and navigation. These styles may or may not work for your organization as-is. Be sure to evaluate the following prior to deploying your community. Read more…

Social Media, User Experience, User Interface Design, Web Strategy Consulting Online Collaboration, online communities, Social Media, User Interface Design

This post is the first in a series that will highlight key performance indicators (KPIs) to include in your measurement arsenal for keeping your organization focused on the metrics that matter.

There’s a lot of buzz these days about driving greater online engagement on your website or in your community from customers, prospects, employees, or any specific targeted audience. This is essentially accomplished by creating and delivering the quality content, features, or tools your audiences want or need. Read more…

Internet Marketing, Web Analytics, Web Strategy Consulting digital strategy, Internet Marketing, KPIs, Web Analytics

I’m pleased to announce that I just passed the Google Analytics “Individual Qualification” exam.  That basically means that I know (at least 94% of) this material.  It was a challenging exam, but at the same time it was fun to go through the various tutorials and brush up on the nuts and bolts of GA setup and configuration as well as its strategic usage.

I highly recommend it.  You’ll learn new things and solidify existing knowledge as well.

Molstad Consulting Case Studies, Molstad Consulting News, Web Analytics Google Analytics, Molstad Consulting News, Web Analytics

Facebook’s announcement in April of their new Open Graph made waves across the web.  Its release has introduced a new level of social integration and personalization readily available to all website publishers.  If you are in charge of the strategy and/or user experience for your organization’s website, Facebook’s new social plugins are new tools for the toolbox you’ll want to become familiar with.  In this post, I’ll outline some strategic ways to bring your website and your Facebook audience together. Read more…

Interactive Industry News & Events, Social Media, User Interface Design, Web Strategy Consulting Facebook, interaction design, Social Media, User Interface Design, Web Development

Brian Molstad of Molstad Consulting will be presenting at the next MilwauCHI meeting on Monday, June 14 at 5:30pm in Brookfield, WI.  Details follow below. Read more…

Molstad Consulting News, Presentations

In Part 1 we set the stage for a adopting an agile web analytics methodology and looked at goal setting, KPI definition, closing data gaps, and creating your “to review” list.

In this post we’ll discuss data automation (and why it’s not the end-all-be-all), reporting strategies, insight brainstorming sessions, and the relative importance of data accuracy. Read more…

Web Analytics, Web Strategy Consulting Google Analytics, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Web Analytics, Website Testing

Time is, of course, money.  If you really want to see an ROI from web analytics, you need to reduce the time to insight.  This may mean slaughtering some sacred cows and taking a fresh look at what you’re tracking and why.  In this series, I outline ways to abandon bureaucracy and obligatory reports, take action faster, and point out why more automation is not always the answer.  Read more…

Internet Marketing, Web Analytics, Web Strategy Consulting Email Marketing, Google Analytics, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Surveys, Web Analytics

2010 is shaping up to have a number of tight political races.  The Wisconsin Governor’s race will likely be one of them.  A very important component of any political campaign these days is how well the web is utilized.

In this post, I take a look at the websites of each of the three candidates, Scott Walker, Mark Neumann, and Tom Barrett, and evaluate them based on their homepage performance, promoting email signups, usage of video, and available supporter tools and resources.

Read more…

Expert Review, Interactive Industry News & Events, Internet Marketing, Social Media Competitive Analysis, Internet Marketing, Mark Neumann, Political Website, Scott Walker, Social Media, Tom Barrett, User Interface Design, Wisconsin Governor's Race

By now, you’ve probably seen all the top-rated ads either during the game itself or afterward online and picked your favorites.  Most of the ads had some sort of mention of their web address, but not all of those sites greeted you with anything special upon arrival.  Here are four that went the extra mile to create experiences to make the most out of their massive Super Bowl ad expenditure.

Read more…

Expert Review, Flash, Interactive Industry News & Events, Internet Marketing, Social Media, User Interface Design, Web Analytics Flash, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Super Bowl, User Interface Design, Web Analytics, Web Graphic Design

Martha Coakley’s failed Senate run has led many to review the key differences in strategy between her campaign and Scott Brown’s.  It’s pretty clear that Brown took the web seriously and Coakley seemed to largely ignore many of the social media and web analytics strategies and tactics that swept Obama into office.

Ad Age and Social Media Today have taken a look at (and criticized) Coakley’s overall digital and social media’s approaches.  This post narrows in and serves as a reminder of web analytics best practices which can mean the difference between coming in first or a distant second.

The Obama campaign tracked digital metrics obsessively yet ingeniously with great success.  The techniques they used are just as applicable today as they were over a year ago.

Read more…

Interactive Industry News & Events, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized, Web Analytics, Web Strategy Consulting Email Marketing, Google Analytics, Google Website Optimizer, Internet Marketing, Social Media, Web Analytics, Website Testing