Furniture Marketing: 103

· · · why web

In Furniture Marketing 101 and 102 I introduced you to developing brand/image and building Web sites. This final article in the series covers the three Ms of Web site administration - monitoring, maintaining, maximizing - and is aimed at manufacturers who host their Web sites on Apache/UNIX servers. The three Ms determine the cost effectiveness and marketing success of your site. They require a hosting package that includes access to "raw" Web logs, error logs and htaccess (add CGI, PHP, PERL and MYSQL to run databases and scripts). If your Web designer advises hosting on Windows 2000 Server, be aware of the cost and reliability implications (information on the UNIX vs Windows debate).

· · · monitoring

How many hits does my Web site generate everyday? Where are they coming from? How is the site navigated? Which pages are viewed most/least? These questions and more can be answered by the data stored in your raw Web logs. Most hosting packages come with a "free" Web log analysis program such as AWstats, Webalizer, Urchin, etc. These are adequate for an overview of your site statistics but lack the capability to track detailed individual page use. Propriety software can cost from $150 to $800 and more. PC Magazine reviews several of these programs. However, manufacturers with Microsoft Access languishing on their PCs can use VCR's instructions below to convert raw Web log data into a format that is easily imported and manipulated through MS Access.

· · · maintaining

A Web site that displays "not found" pages, has missing graphics, malfunctioning forms or scripts reflects negatively on the company. These errors can be easily isolated and corrected because they are recorded and entered into your error log file - don't operate a Web site without one.

Keep your site content current - delete those dated "see us at the ICFF show" notices or incorrect addresses. Changes and additions to your site should coincide with two peak periods for furniture enquiries - January to March and September to November.

· · · maximizing

Maximize the number of potential buyers finding your site by making it as Google friendly as possible. A few strategies to consider include:

Make substantial changes to your site twice a year
Make minor changes as often as possible
Add as many internal and external "links" as feasible
Provide pages of "consumer" product information with links
Co-operate with others for reciprocal links
Build a separate "non-commercial" site with editorial content linked to your company site

Apply the three Ms to your Web site operation and you are sure to benefit by the increased exposure and reduced costs.

In conclusion, I would emphasis the importance of taking an overview of your marketing strategy before committing to any one element. As a prudent manufacturer, you developed a "business plan" with the assistance of financial advisors. You should apply the same logic to your marketing goals and develop an "image plan" with the assistance of design/marketing consultants.

If you have suggestions for future articles or require the services of a designer and/or Web consultant, please contact me.

, VCR publisher

Using MS Access to Evaluate Your Web Site Logs

Scrolling through the gobbledegook of a typical Web site log file, the average manufacturer may think they need expensive analysis software. Fortunately, an inexpensive alternative exists. Just convert your Apache (UNIX) Web site logs (the most common format on the Web) into a text file and import the file into MS Access where it can be manipulated to generate a range of reports.

To start, download any small Web site log file (usually by FTP) from your ISP to a directory on your computer. Open the file with your text editor. Use "cut and paste" and copy the first 10 to 20 lines of data to the clipboard and save the new file as weblog.txt (or similar name). Compare your data with the example in link (1) (the example shows only one line/row of data). Next, use the "search and replace" function to search --[ and replace with no characters; then search 2003: and replace with 2003 followed by a space as shown in the example in links (2) and (3).

Components of a basic Apache Web log (pop-up window)
Modifying logs with search and replace (pop-up window)
Typical log data after search and replace (pop-up window)

Next, create a new MS Access database.

Start MS Access
Click New (toolbar left), select "Database" - click OK
Name your new .mdb database and click Create
Select "Get External Data" - "Import" from the "File" menu
Click on your weblog.txt text file in the "Import" window
Select "Delimited - Characters . . ." - click Next
Select "Space" for delimiter and Text Qualifier "{none}" - click Next
Select "New Table" - click Next
Click on Advanced and check fields in "Skip" boxes numbered 4, 5, 7, 11 to 17
Click on Save As . . . and save specification as "ImportLogFile" - click OK
Click OK - click Next
Select "Let Access Add Primary Key" - click Next
Name your table and click Finish

Next, open your MS Access table in "Design View" and rename the fields (ignore the first ID field created automatically by MS Access) HOST, DATE, TIME, PAGE, CODE, SIZE, REFERRER.

Next, check your PAGE field data and note you have files with numerous extensions. Graphic files are usually ignored in Web log analysis - only .htm or home directory files / are important. (If you are running scripts, you may wish to include .cgi, .pl, etc., files.)

Open your table in "Design View," click on PAGE in the list of Field Names
Find "Validation Rules" under Field Properties (left side, toward bottom)
Enter Like "*.htm" Or Like "/" (every character, including quotes)
(If using scripts, add Or Like "*.cgi*" Or Like "*.pl*" etc.)

Next, create a macro to import your Web site log data on a regular basis.

Click on Macros in the "Objects" window
Click on New
Select "Transfer Text" from "Action" drop-down window
Complete the following in the fields in the lower input box: (MS Access supplies help info on the right)
Click on Specification Name and select "ImportLogFile" from drop-down window
In "Table Name" enter your table name
In "File Name" enter the path to the directory for weblog.txt
In "Has Field Names" enter "No" (no quotes)
Close the Macro window and name the macro in the box displayed

Next, download your first large Web site log for analysis, save as weblog.txt, search and replace the two character strings (as explained above) and save. To import the file, open your MS Access database and run the macro you created. You now have a table in your database containing the most relevant log fields for analysis and only HTML files (no graphics). Delete the first few logs you used to set up the import criteria.

Finally, you can now apply queries and run reports on your data, using MS Access "Wizards" or applying expressions (data filters) directly in the "Criteria" grid of a "Select Query" in "Design View." For example, apply a specific day expression to the DATE field and a Like "*google*" expression to the REFERRER field to retrieve the number of hits from Google on that day. The usability of this method of analysis depends on your skill at writing queries and knowing which data you wish to isolate. The MS Access manual sections on generating different types of queries will help.

Addendum When importing data, MS Access may report errors and produce an "Error" table. The number of errors (caused by corrupt data) is usually very small. Open the Error table - if it is small, delete and ignore; if it is large, you probably made an error in the set-up for importing external data.