PSPINC Official Company Blog

Upgrading to Google Analytics 4

5月

25日

If you’re a small business owner or a digital marketer, you’ve probably seen the top banner in Google Analytics telling you that Google Analytics will be phasing out Universal Analytics (UA). Additionally, it tells you to switch and set up Google Analytics 4. Simply put, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a new version of Google Analytics that uses machine learning. By mid-2021, users already started switching over to GA4, less than a year after Google first announced it in October 2020. In fact, 60% of marketing professionals already updated their Google Analytics account by May 2021 according to databox. And an additional 22.7% said they hadn’t done it yet but planned to.

So, why the switch? Other than Google phasing out UA by July 2023, GA4’s use of machine learning allows it to offer new and attractive features. It’s also important to note that GA4 doesn’t use historical data, i.e., all the data users have built up over the years. But it can use data it’s gathered over time, so switching over to GA4 sooner is better than later. That way, it’ll start accumulating data in the new system before the old one gets shut off. Plus, it means you won't be starting from scratch when setting it up after support for Universal Analytics ends. And GA4 will improve over time, resulting in more accurate results when using its new predictive modeling features.

Google Analytics 4 Features

someone pointing a pen towards a tablet with google analytics open

GA4 uses a more sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI), which allows it to provide better insights into understanding the data moving forward. And it uses historical evidence it’s gathered over time to predict future outcomes. But GA4’s use of machine learning is continually evolving so it’s likely that it’ll introduce more AI tools in the future. The hope is that GA4 will eventually allow marketers to identify which users are more likely to convert based on specific website interactions. Other additional features GA4 offers include funnel analysis, tree diagrams, overlapping audiences or segments, and many more.

For users with multiple Google Analytics properties, it can be difficult to track individuals across multiple properties. And if you’ve ever used Google Analytics in a high-traffic area, you’re probably all-too-familiar with the loading bar, which can take several minutes to load. Google has made the process much faster by redesigning it from the ground up instead of relying on what was a 10-year-old data mining process. Additionally, tracking visitors’ overall customer journey as they travel between multiple channels is much simpler with GA4’s “Information Streams” feature.

To switch, all you have to do is connect Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 in the admin panel. Or you can switch by replacing an embed code. If the embed code is particularly old and doesn't reference gtag.js in it, the code will have to be replaced.

If you need any help in switching over to Google Analytics 4, please don’t hesitate to 800-232-3989 or emailing us at support@pspinc.com.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#ai #analytics #blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #crm #digitalmarketing #google #googleanalytics #googleanalytics4 #machinelearning #marketing #tech #technology #universalanalytics #update #web #webdevelopment #website #websites #webtools

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 116 “Changing with the Times”

5月

20日

We’ve been in business for over 30 years now. But one of the keys to our success is continually learning about our industry. Over time, the technology sector’s changed and evolved drastically. We’ve all, as a result, evolved and adapted along with it. Other businesses, namely very successful ones, have done the same. Take Netflix, for example. Netflix used to just distribute DVDs to customers and in turn, customers would return them after they were done with them. Much like Blockbuster, or the more modern example, Redbox. In 2007, that changed. Netflix went from physically distributing DVDs to streaming film and TV content online. Since then, Netflix disrupted the entertainment space.

Many more streaming platforms popped up afterward as they became direct competitors. However, none of them obtained the market share that Netflix dominated. Now, Netflix creates its own original content as well. And again, other streaming platforms followed by doing the same. Alternatively, Blockbuster no longer exists because they refused to change with the times. PSPINC has grown greatly as a web hosting and email hosting company. But it has since evolved into so much more. Today, we also offer web design and marketing services and develop other online tools for other small businesses. So, the key to sustaining a successful small business is to change as the industry changes.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blockbuster #blog #business #businesstips #change #marketing #netflix #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #redbox #smallbusiness #tech #technology #webdesign #webtools

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 115 “Human Customer Service”

5月

13日

Here at PSPINC, we believe in excellent customer support. That’s why we have a whole support team that spends their day answering questions our customers may have. While automated customer service has gotten popular in the last few years, we persist. Even though we’re a tech company. Why? Because we still believe in giving our customers the best support they can get. With an automated system, there’s no capability to form a personable relationship with the customer. When our customers call PSPINC, they know they’ll talk to a real human being. And for customers that call often, they’ll know exactly who they’re talking to or who to ask for. That’s a benefit that doesn’t come from automated customer service.

Our customer support team gets quality feedback from customers about our products and/or services. And we learn more about them in our conversations that an automated system would never get. With that, we can collect valuable data on the customer and use it to market to them more effectively in the future. Many companies use automated customer service because they argue it results in fewer mistakes and can be cheaper in the long run. But just because it cost more, it doesn’t mean it’s not worth the extra cost. Because while people can make mistakes, so can machines. So, if you need any help with your website needs, give us a call. Our support team is ready for your call.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerservice #hosting #marketing #marketingdigital #newsletter #officetips #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #webhosting #website

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 114 “Being Proactive in Business”

5月

6日

It’s important to be proactive in business. Rather than waiting for problems to arise, businesses should anticipate them and have a plan in place to solve them. Otherwise, you’ll be left scrambling to fix the problem. And in the process, you may lose customers as a result because they might lose trust in you as a company. To ensure this doesn’t happen, you’ll have to do your research to find potential problems. The best way to accomplish this is by testing everything constantly to make sure your new product and/or service works correctly. It’s exactly why PSPINC has a quality assurance (QA) department. And even if you think it’s great, you should still seek feedback from your employees. Especially because they too represent potential customers.

Additionally, you should test every part of the purchase funnel to identify places that could cause friction. For example, if your payment portal on your website isn’t working properly, customers will likely abandon the process altogether. Instead, they’ll look to your competitors to find a similar product. Today’s customers are smart and hold a lot of influence over the marketplace. If a potential customer tries to buy your product and finds the product problematic or the process too troublesome, they won’t hesitate to tell you. Or worse, they’ll tell others on social media. So, avoid this problem by being proactive before releasing a new product or service.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #customerservice #customersupport #digitalmarketing #entrepreneur #marketing #marketingdigital #marketingtips #newsletter #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #qa #qualityassurance #tech #technology #testing #web

What is a Customer Journey?

5月

4日

If you’ve ever worked in sales or marketing, you've probably used or at least heard of a customer journey. While it sounds self-explanatory, fully building a customer journey out will help to create a stronger strategy moving forward. And from a business perspective, continually improving the customer’s experience will lead to not only an increase in sales but also in loyal customers. A customer journey outlines the steps a customer takes when encountering a company, including where they could potentially drop off.

A customer journey typically has five stages: awareness, consideration, acquisition, purchase, and loyalty. The awareness stage consists of how a customer hears about you. This can be through non-digital mediums like word-of-mouth or newspapers. But nowadays they probably found your company somewhere online like through a Google search or on social media. Then, there’s the consideration stage, where customers decide if they want to learn more about your company, your product, and/or your service. If they’re interested, they’ll move forward to the acquisition stage, where they’ll actively explore your company’s content and see how your competition compares.

The Acquisition Stage

a man sitting at a small cafe table with a laptop, notebooks, and phone on the table while the man's holding a to-go coffee cup in one hand and the other hand on his hand

The acquisition stage is arguably the most important step of the journey. At this point, your customer knows who you are, what you’re selling, and how you stack up against your competitors. But whether they purchase or not depends on multiple factors. From the company’s perspective, you want to make sure your brand and what you’re selling is as presentable as possible, the customer’s experience is smooth and simple, and your prices are at the same level as your competitors.

If your products and/or services are too expensive, the customer will just buy them elsewhere. If you’re not the cheapest option, you need to at least tell your customers why. For example, if your product is better because of the material or usability, make sure your customers know that. Because while price is an important factor, many will be willing to pay extra if they think it’s worth it.

Getting Customers to the Purchasing Stage

a woman holding multiple shopping bags while wearing sunglasses and looking at her phone

Once they decide they want to purchase, they enter the purchase stage, hence the name. This could be physically paying for it in a physical store or going through the payment portal on your site. After that is the post-purchase stage. In a brick-and-mortar store, this includes everything the customer encounters after paying. For example, they could see poster ads hung around the store. For digital consumers, this could be a “Your order is placed” page with their order number and details or a follow-up email encouraging customers to follow them on socials and shop from them again.

If your customer is frustrated or overwhelmed at any point in the process, they’ll probably end the journey there. As a business, that’s the last thing you want. You want your customer to go through the entire journey. Actually, what you really want is for customers to come back repeatedly. Beyond that, you want loyal customers to start recommending your products to convert even more people into customers. Or more loyal customers, preferably.

How Loyal Customers Play a Role

a woman holding a bag with a small flower bouquet inside as she leaves a store

For people who are actively loyal to your company to the point of recommending your products, they are what’s called brand evangelists. Regarding the customer journey, repeat customers no longer start from the beginning. Instead, they skip forward to the acquisition stage or straight to purchasing your product.

From a business perspective, it’s important to know how customers interact with your brand. The best way to figure that out is by creating a customer journey. With it, you can identify the steps potential customers make both before and after they purchase from you. Or more importantly, where you need to improve to prevent people from leaving before they get to the purchase stage. After all, you can’t fix a problem if you don’t where to start.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#acquisition #advertising #awareness #branding #business #businesstips #consideration #customerjourney #customers #customerservice #digitalmarketing #google #loyalty #marketing #marketingdigital #purchase #smallbusiness #socialmedia #tech #web

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 113 “Dreamersi Customers Earn More”

4月

29日

Did you know that Dreamersi, comes with exclusive access to other PSPINC products? For example, Dreamersi customers also have WebdeXpress and InforMakers at their disposable. And they even get special discounts whenever we discount any of our products or services.

WebdeXpress (WDX) is PSPINC’s intuitive website builder and comes with all sorts of great features. WDX makes it easy for customers to design their website, with the option to use a pre-defined template or fully customize it with HTML and CSS. All it takes is one click to download WDX to get started building your website.

InforMakers is another additional tool that’s available for free for our Dreamersi customers. With it, users can easily create custom online forms. It’s usually priced at $8/month for everyone else, but to thank them for their loyalty, Dreamersi customers get it for free. It’s a great feature for businesses because it can be a way to generate more leads and collect data on their customers.

Dreamersi is our premiere web and email hosting service. We developed and designed it in-house, which means we have full control over the digital environment. That then makes it easier to create custom development for customers looking for website features that aren’t offered by other website builders. So, please consider hosting your website with Dreamersi.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customersupport #dreamersi #hosting #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #seo #smallbusiness #softwaredevelopment #tech #technology #webdesign #webdevelopment #webdexpress #webhosting #website #webtools

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 111 “10% Off All YourHost Plans”

4月

15日

YourHost is PSPINC’s hosting service that uses award-winning ShopSite tools to create easy and reliable e-commerce sites. This month, we’re running a promotion for customers to get 10% off on all our ShopSite plans.

Our YourHost page on the website now shows the discounted prices for each of our three plans and it will stay that way until the promotion ends at the end of the month. To get this deal, choose choose one of our three plans (Starter, Manager, or Pro) on the YourHost site. Then, enter the promo code, “SHOPSPRING10”, at checkout.

This promo code will only work until the end of this month, so get this deal while you can. For additional help on getting everything set up, we have an amazing support team who is always ready for your call.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #customerservice #customersupport #ecommerce #hosting #newsletter #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #tech #technology #web #webdevelopment #webhosting #websitebuilder #webtools #yourhost

Is Traditional Advertising Still Relevant?

4月

6日

With most of today’s marketing focused on digital efforts, it begs the question, is traditional advertising still relevant? The short answer is yes. Social media and Google Ads have become standard in marketing practices nowadays. And every year, marketers continue learning and adapting to all the intricacies and trends each digital platform has to offer. But there’s still something to be said about traditional avenues, which generally refers to mediums like print ads, TV commercials, billboards, and radio spots.

While many businesses largely write off the prospect of print ads, billboards, and radio spots, it’s a beneficial effort for smaller businesses. For local businesses, marketers focus more on getting customers inside their store, signing up for their service, and buying their products. To do that, they need a more direct approach by emphasizing the store location that runs for a shorter amount of time. Print ads in newspapers and/or magazines, billboards placed around town, and spots on local radio stations are great ways to do that. Especially if they’re trying to target an older audience. And the same can be said with direct mail marketing.

TV Commercials

a family sitting on the couch together with the dad holding a tv remote

As for TV commercials, they’re still largely effective. Despite the growing popularity of streaming platforms, TV commercials are still very relevant. Most streaming platforms even offer a free plan, which comes with ads. Examples include but are not limited to Hulu, Peacock, YouTube TV, Tubi, and more. But the same would still be true, even without these free plans. TV is still the best way to increase brand awareness as it can effectively get your product, service, and/or company in front of a mass audience.

There are also times when TV viewership is higher than ever. Holiday specials bring in a sizeable audience, but the annual Super Bowl is the first big event that comes to mind. While sports TV can generally bring in a male-dominated audience, the Super Bowl is a unique opportunity to rope women into the mix as well. And it’s not just because of the halftime show. Super Bowl commercials have become just as popular as the game. They’re not only watched by millions of people but also talked about. Not just through word-of-mouth but on social media as well. From the last Super Bowl, commercials cost an average of $7 million per ad for 30 seconds of airtime. As expensive as that is, it’s worth the effort if you can afford it. In return, you’re not just getting the ad revenue, you’re also getting a guaranteed audience of about 100 million viewers.

Marketing today includes a lot of digital avenues, namely posting on social media and advertising on Google. With everyone already online, it just makes sense. But traditional advertising is still relevant for businesses that know how to use it to their advantage. For smaller, more affordable efforts, print ads, billboards, and radio efforts are a great way to reach local audiences. But for bigger brands who can afford to pay more for a TV commercial, it can be worthwhile.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#ads #advertising #business #businesstips #commercials #digitalmarketing #directmail #googleads #local #magazines #marketing #marketingdigital #newspapers #radio #smallbusinesses #socialmedia #superbowl #tech #traditionaladvertising #tv #tvcommercials

PSPINC What's New Newsletter Vol. 106 "WordPress Site Management"

3月

11日

Many site owners use WordPress to manage their sites. However, it’s also often used as a stepping stone for hacking and hijacking because it’s a system many people use. For this reason, WordPress constantly makes updates. Without it, the site itself would have a lot of vulnerabilities. Needless to say, WordPress sites, including plugins, need to be updated frequently to eliminate vulnerabilities from external attacks.

Additionally, WordPress websites are often created by professionals that know about WordPress site creation and development. In some of these cases, the creator of the website (and not the owner) are the only ones that can access the WordPress admin panel. Which can result in websites being completely abandoned if the creator of the website cannot be reached.

Fortunately, Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. (PSPINC) offers a dedicated WordPress hosting environment. As a company, we provide you with all the services you need to update and manage your WordPress site. This includes updating your plugins, managing site access, and creating or modifying your site. We can even migrate your site to our environment for maintenance and management, even if you’re no longer a site administrator. If you want to host your site with WordPress, please consider Dreamersi, our hosting service.

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.

#blog #business #businesstips #businesstools #dreamersi #newsletter #pacificsoftwarepublishing #pspinc #pspincwhatsnewnewsletter #smallbusiness #technology #webdevelopment #webhosting #websitebuilder #wordpress

PSPINC What’s New Newsletter Vol. 105 “Store and Share Your Passwords Securely with Pass Wizard”

3月

4日

Earlier this week, we announced that our password management software, Pass Wizard, officially came out of its beta stage. Pass Wizard was specifically designed to securely store and share passwords. We still have a free plan available, but we are now offering a paid plan for just $1.67/month (billed annually).

Pro users will have access to additional features for both individual users as well as groups. With the free plan, users can store up to 30 passwords. When using Pass Wizard Pro, users can store an unlimited number of passwords as well as take advantage of password-sharing features within their group. For small businesses, this is ideal as it eliminates the security risk of sharing passwords with employees via sticky notes or insecure shared documents.

For a full breakdown of some of the amazing features offered with Pass Wizard’s new pro plan, please check out our announcement blog post.

If you and/or your organization need a password management system, get Pass Wizard! You can store up to 30 passwords with our free plan or store and share an unlimited number of passwords starting at just $1.67/month (billed annually), making it one of the most affordable password managers on the market today.

Get started for free!

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.

1404 140th Place N.E., Bellevue, WA 98007

PSPINC Creates Tools For Your Business

Pacific Software Publishing, Inc. is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington and provides domain, web, and email hosting to more than 40,000 companies of all sizes around the world. We design and develop our own software and are committed to helping businesses of all sizes grow and thrive online. For more information you can contact us at 800-232-3989, by email at info@pspinc.com or visit us online at https://www.pspinc.com.