Earlier this year, a small North Carolina eco-conscious clothing company was contacted to participate in a documentary on eco-fashion being made by a media company out of Florida. The NC-based company took interest, but as the negotiations continued, they became more and more skeptical of a possible scam. The CEO of the clothing company voiced her concerns on her blog, and people took note. Shortly after, the media company out of Florida filed a lawsuit claiming her blog had cost them over $5 million in business.

This brings up a very sensitive, and relatively new subject for many business owners. Anything posted on a CEO’s blog - including reader’s comments - can be construed as carrying the weight of a company’s endorsement.

As our society turns more and more to the Internet for consumption, so shifts where we seek advice and feedback on products in order to justify a purchase decision. No longer are we as a society satisfied with what 4 out of 5 dentists recommend, or the exhausting debate over whether you’re a ‘choosy’ mom or not. According to Jupiter Research (August 2006), 77% of customers use reviews in their decision-making process when shopping online. Jupiter also reports that over 60% of people who buy offline had researched online, thus reviews significantly impacts offline purchasing as well.

User-generated content on your website will accomplish two main objectives for your online business. It will increase your conversion rate and improve your natural search rankings in all the search engines.

One of the first rules of Search Engine Optimization is to build links on your website in order to get ranked higher by search engines. But to the chagrin of someone’s grandmother, all links are not created equal. Some links are more valuable and popular than others, and certain categories of links can even lower your site’s ranking. Link Value and Popularity is important because it is a decisive factor used by search engines in determining a site’s position in search results.

This week we have delved into Volacci’s new web-based analytical features and how they will improve your business. Advanced segmentation, custom report generation, motion charts, and balloon animals are just the beginning of Volacci’s many talents that will affect your conversion rate, optimize your web traffic, and make your overall decision-making process more efficient and effective.

These new enterprise-class features allows your business more efficient functionality and provide you with certified performance-based analytics that will give your business the best quantitative leverage to make the most profitable decisions.

In today's world, you can customize anything from your burger at a local restaurant to a t-shirt with a picture of your customized burger on it. Customization isn't just monogrammed His and Her towel sets anymore. Unique and personal experiences are fueling our generation, not only our personal lives, but in our businesses as well. Today I would like to discuss in further detail Volacci's new ability to customize your business analytics through custom reports we are able to generate using the two analytical features covered so far this week. I touched briefly on this customization earlier this week, but would like to revisit Volacci's custom report generation again today.