In simple terms, an A/B test compares two versions of a web page to see which one performs better. (Let’s call them version A and version B.) The tester shows the experiment to users at random. The tester then uses statistical analysis to determine which version performed better.

The Internet of Things, in a nutshell, describes the interconnectivity of devices in the home, office, factory, and throughout the world. The IoT allows devices to "talk" to each other, allows data to be available anywhere at any time, and gives users (and devices!) remote control over technology.

It makes automation very simple - but it also raises a number of privacy concerns. 

At the end of 2016, unsavory things are coming to light about social media advertising - Facebook in particular. Over the last few months, Facebook has come out saying some of its metrics were miscalculated. This leads publishers and advertisers to ask a few questions:

Radius, an up-and-coming SaaS company that specializes in predictive marketing software, collaborated with Forrester Consulting to produce this infographic on the impact of predictive analytics. First, let's go over the basics of predictive analytics.

Google Analytics is one of the best free tools that any business can have, hands down. It tracks nearly every action on your website including the things most important to business owners. They want to know how much traffic do we get, how do they get there, where do they come from, what do they do when they are there. Google Analytics will tell you all of that AND MORE!

If you are using Google Analytics and are now tracking demographic information, start using the filtering feature to better understand your website's user experience based on their age. A 25 year old will have a different experience on a website than someone 60+ (in many cases), so by clumping all of that data together you aren't getting a true picture. In compiling these reports you may save yourself from jumping to conclusions that maybe aren't true.

SEO (search engine optimization) optimizes your website to rank well in the major search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo! SEO is imperative to online success because of the following statistics (courtesy of Search Engine Journal):

• 70-80% of users ignore the paid ads, focusing on the organic results.
• 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results.
• SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate.

SEO is not a one-time endeavor that your business can check off a list and never have to worry about again. Instead, it demands continuous attention to reach its maximum potential and to remain an effective tool for your business. This is where ongoing SEO comes into play.

Ongoing SEO analyzes the results of the services initially provided to make sure they are working. Many firms use tools like Google Analytics, MySEOTool, Moz tools, and more to review their activities and then use them to provide continuous SEO improvement. For example, here at p80, we provide ongoing reporting, recommendations, and modifications to ensure that our client company’s traffic and visibility see continuous improvement.

You may be thinking to yourself, “Hmm… My business already paid for SEO services when we created/upgraded our website. We’re already optimized so we don’t need ongoing SEO services.”

This is where you are wrong. Here is why:

Someone needs to monitor the results of those SEO services your paid for:

Yes, you have been optimized, but how well are those tactics that you have already invested in working? You may have some of your original SEO work performing poorly when you should be spending time on another tactic. Some of your web pages just may not be performing well SEO-wise and need to be modified. Ongoing SEO services can compare strategies and determine which one performs better. Through ongoing SEO you can make the adjustments necessary to ensure that your links stay on the first page of search results.

You competition’s SEO tactics have changed since you implemented your tactics:

If your competition is working on its SEO, you better be too! Your competition could start outranking your business on search result pages, costing your sales. If your competition starts ranking for keywords that you used to rank for then changes need to be made. This is where ongoing SEO comes in to keep you ahead of your competition.

Search Engine algorithms are always changing:

Most savvy Google users know that the company is always trying to improve its services and grow its market share (which is currently at an astonishing 67.3%) These changes include the algorithms for ranking websites. According to Moz, Google changes its search algorithm approximately 500-600 times each year. Most of these changes are insignificant, but some are major changes that affect search results. Accordingly, any successful results of SEO work done in the past can be negatively affected, making ongoing SEO even more important for your business. We stay up to date on all of those changes so you don't have to.

We cannot stress enough the importance of data to any marketing initiative. The more data you have the more you understand where your efforts succeeded and failed and you have amazing data to build your future strategies on what you know instead of just shooting from the hip. We're going to assume that you already have Google Analytics installed on your website, which is good, but now you have the power to know more. It's now time for anyone with a website to get started with Google Universal Analytics and Google Tag Manager.