Google Analytics (GA) is one of the best free tools you will ever come across for your website and if you haven’t added it to your site you really should, especially with the recent upgrades which have taken it even closer to enterprise level software.

Being able to look at all the wonderful information and pretty graphs is all well and good, but how do you actually take the data available and apply it to improve your website?

Traffic
Beyond simply knowing how many people have visited your site, checking your traffic stats every day also provides an insight into how the traffic changes throughout the day, week and month along with seasonal fluctuations, thus allowing you to make plans accordingly, for example…

- Maintenance down time in the quietest periods of the day/ night
- Stock management during busy months
- Planning advertising schedules  offline and online
- Periods of the day with a higher likelihood of sales/ conversions

You can also use the data to highlight if your site had any technical issues or, even worse, if it has any ongoing technical issues.

The specific pages people are going to also provide an understanding of how they are interacting with your site. For example, if the ‘Help’ page is one of the most visited pages then clearly people are having trouble finding what they are looking for and you need to look at making changes to either  the content, navigation or structure of the site.

Time spent on a page
This is one metric I use when analysing the popularity (or not) of a blog post. If people are spending very little time on a post then that tells me that subject is not an area the readership are interested in and I shouldn’t spend time doing any more like that. On the flip side, if they are spending a long time on the page, then I will look to write more posts about that subject or in that format e.g. an interview.

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If you missed our Christmas card this year then you can see it at:

http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/christmas/

You can now setup your domain name to use Google Apps in just one click. Google Apps are a suite of free tools from Google that help you stay connected and be more productive, they include:

- Gmail - Fast, searchable email with less spam
- Google Talk - IM and call your friends through your computer
- Google Calendar - Organize your schedule and share events with friends
- Google Docs - Share online documents, presentations, and spreadsheets
 
To setup Google Apps for one of your domain names login to our control panel, click “Manage Domain Names”, select the domain you wish to update and then click “DNS Management”. On this page there is a new section called “Setting DNS for Google Apps”. Click the link in this section and all the settings will be made automatically for you.

To find out more about Google Apps visit: http://www.google.com/apps/

Helpdesk software has become a vital tool in providing a well structured support system for businesses and individuals online. A support system will allow you to manage all of your trouble tickets via an intuitive interface, giving you the ability to keep organised and respond to enquiries quickly and efficiently. Heart Internet take customer support very seriously, which is why we have provided our hosting customers with two fully featured helpdesk programs: osTicket and Trouble Ticket Express. These can be installed within seconds via our powerful eXtend 2.0 control panel. Helpdesk software can also help to detect recurring problems and allow you to compile a list of FAQ’s (Frequently Asked Questions) that can help guide your customers through the more common issues.

Helpdesk Features Include:
- Categories and representatives
- Correspondence tracking
- E-mail alerts
- Custom fields
- Ticket monitoring
- Unlimited operators
- Highly customisable
- Multiple enquiry forms
- E-mail piping
- Visitor tracking
- Auto-assigned trouble tickets

Product Support
Should you need assistance in using your Helpdesk software you can find detailed documentation and support for each product below:

osTicket
http://osticket.com/support/

Trouble Ticket Express
http://www.troubleticketexpress.com/

For more information on all our hosting packages please visit:
http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/hosting-h.shtml

Managing your projects is not always the easiest task, especially with so many different aspects  to take into consideration, you may feel like giving up before you even begin.  At Heart Internet we want to make sure managing  your projects is as painless as possible, which is why we have dotProject  listed as one of our installable scripts from our powerful eXtend 2.0 control panel. dotProject is an extremely easy-to-use and intuitive project management tool  packed full of features that will undoubtedly save you time and money.  dotProject has mutli-project support allowing you to manage more than one project at a time, progress can be tracked via the in-built calendar, events and task list. You can assign multiple users to each project and allow them to collaborate easily via a handy discussion forum and also via email, automated notifications will also keep yourself and your users updated on the progress of each project.

dotProject features include:
 - User Management
 - Email-based Trouble Ticket System
 - Client/Company Management
 - Project Listings
 - Task List
 - File Repository
 - Contact List
 - Calendar
 - Discussion Forum
 - Resource Based Permissions
 - Plus many more!

dotProject is available on our Home Professional, Business & Reseller hosting accounts. For more information on each package please click the link below:
http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/hosting-h.shtml

dotProject is one of many installable scripts via our eXtend 2.0 control panel. For a full list of what’s available to our customers please click the link below:
http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/cgiscripts-r.shtml

If you want people to be able to email you from your site, but don’t like spam (who does?) then our new and improved Form to Email is what you need. It’s available through Heart Internet’s eXtend 2.0 Control Panel. Click on Form to Email, choose a directory to install into and it will be installed and configured for you.

Thanks to the addition of an image code verification field, like on most website registration forms, only real people will be able to send you email. This should help keep your inbox a bit cleaner.

The form is completely customisable and will allow you to put all sorts of form data into it. Anything from text boxes to radio buttons will be submitted to you by email.

You can change the email address that the form is submitted to, as well as setting up a page for the user to be forwarded to thanking them for their message.

Log in to eXtend (https://customer.heartinternet.co.uk/manage/) to give it a go.

Yes that’s right! With every Heart Internet hosting package we will give you access to our extensive resource library containing over 23,000 elements. Our massive digital library consists of web templates, logos,  flash banners, clipart, photography and much more, which can all be freely used within your web projects.  With so many high-quality templates available you can have a professional looking website within minutes. We also supply a fully layered Photoshop file and a font pack should you need to make any changes to the graphics. As an added bonus , every customer who has a Reseller hosting package with us will also be able to provide each of their clients access to the same resource library at no extra cost!

Free Resources Include:
- 22,500 Photos which are all intuitively categorised
- 50 Premium Web Templates
- 100 Extra Templates
- 400 Basic Web Templates
- 16 Flash Templates
- 5 Hosting Templates
- Over 100 Logos
- Flash Banners
- Clipart
- Software
- Plus much more!

With so much choice it’s never been easier to create a professional looking website! For more information on all our hosting packages please visit:

http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/hosting-h.shtml

Heart Internet customers also get access to a large CGI library of scripts to which they can easily install via our powerful eXtend 2.0 control panel, for more information please visit:

http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/cgiscripts-r.shtml

We have updated 3 of the scripts you can install in eXtend to the latest versions, these are:

Joomla - upgraded from 1.5.6 to 1.5.8
Drupal - upgraded from 6.4 to 6.6
WordPress - upgraded from 2.6.1 to 2.6.3

Login to eXtend to try these out.

Ever wanted to run your very own auction website like eBay? With Heart Internet’s powerful eXtend control panel it’s never been so easy to get your auction script installed and up-and-running within seconds. As eBay is the definite industry leader amongst general auction websites, it’s going to be near-on impossible to beat, so it’s best that you target your auction site to a particular niche or be product specific, e.g. cars, gardening, crafts, etc. Being able to focus on a particular subject will allow you to tailor the entire site towards a set demographic and feature products that you know people will be interested in. If your subject is seasonal then highlight products that suit that time of year, it’s well worth sending out an e- newsletter highlighting the best deals and hot products that you know your members will be interested in to help increase sales/bids. We know security is a big issue with ecommerce websites, so our Heart Internet reseller package comes with a shared SSL security certificate which you can use to give your customers extra peace of mind when entering sensitive information.

Web Auction features include:
 - Simple Administration Interface
 - Specify Start/End times for products
 - Specify Bid Increment Rates
 - Create multiple categories to which users can browse by
 - Product Images & Descriptions
 - Create a Watch List
 - Email Notifications on auctions
 - Administrative Reporting
 - and much, much more.

Web Auction provides extensive product documentation as well as an informative support forum should you need further assistance:

Web Auction Documentation:
http://www.xataface.com/documentation

Web Auction Support Forum:
http://www.xataface.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=5

You can also check out our full list of scripts that can be easily installed by our customers via our eXtend 2.0 control panel below:
http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/cgiscripts-r.shtml
 

Being able to provide live customer support can be extremely  beneficial to your company. Not only will it enhance the user experience but it will also give you an edge over your competitors, especially if they are not offering the same standard of service. Allowing a user to instantly interact with you will most likely give you a higher rate of sales conversions, as being able to provide instant support when needed you’re effectively minimising the risk that if a user can’t find what they are looking for on your website, then they will simply go elsewhere. Giving the user access to instant support will provide them with peace of mind that should they ever need help… you’ll be there to give it. People don’t want to wait days for a support email to be answered, they want a solution as quickly as possible and if you can manage to solve a users problems in a suitable timeframe, the chances are they are going to stick with you and become a repeat purchaser of your product. Don’t forget that if you provide excellent customer service then you’re increasing the likelihood that people will start recommending you, word-of-mouth is an extremely beneficial marketing tool!

Crafty Syntax features include:

 - Unlimited operators, departments and users
 - Live Support with visitors on your site in real time
 - Proactive chat invites
 - Typing Preview to see what is being typed as it is being typed
 - Chat Transcripts and Logging
 - Page and referrer Tracking
 - Canned Messages
 - and much, much more…

Crafty syntax can be installed instantly through your Heart Internet eXtend 2.0 control panel, just enter the directory name and we will take care of everything else!

Crafty  Syntax has a very informative support forum to which you may be able to find your answer:

http://www.craftysyntax.com/help/

You can also check out our full list of scripts that can be easily installed by our customers via our eXtend 2.0 control panel below:

http://www.heartinternet.co.uk/cgiscripts-r.shtml