This post will be an attempt to show how easy it is to get an insight into how many potential “converters” leave your site before they buy anything (or perform any other goal) and why they do this.

First of all: make sure you set goals in Google Analytics. In this post, I assume you only have one goal, but be sure to mark everything that is of interest to you (as the site owner) as a goal. If you didn’t do this upfront, you’ll have to wait for some time so you have enough data to work with (let’s say at least 150 – 200 conversions).

Secondly: have a look at the people that convert. Because it is a predefined segment, select it like this:

• Open up the advanced segments selection on the top right of your Google Analytics overview.
• In the “Default Segments” list, select “Visits with Conversions” and click “Apply”.

As you would expect, you now see information for visitors that completed your goal. One important note: if you have multiple goals, be sure to monitor them separately.

Have a look at the “Visitors” – “Overview” report, you will see some useful averages for visitors that converted. E.g.: you’ll notice people that convert visit at average X number of pages or stay X minutes on your site. Write them down or something (yes, with a good old pencil).

With this information: advanced segmentation to the rescue (again)! It is as easy as this:

• Open up the advanced segments selection again.
• Click “Create a new advanced segment”.
• Add one or more of the averages you have in front of you to the new segment. E.g. Page Depth greater than or equal to 15. As long as you have enough results, segmenting more precise can have advantages (as long as you don’t generalize the outcome).
• Save the segment and apply it to the reports.

You now basically look over the shoulder of people that leave your site before they convert. You can for instance notice:

• where they left your site (“Content” – “Top Exit Pages”).
• whether many of them return more than once (“Visitors” – “New vs. Returning”).
• if specific countries/languages pop out (“Visitors” – “Map Overlay”/”Languages”).
• if any OS or browser pops out (“Visitors” – “Browser Capabilities”).
• whether specific content is notably more popular (“Content” – “Top Content”).

Comparing this to the people that convert can be useful. Did not-converters

• reach you from a different source (“Traffic Sources” – “All Traffic Sources”)
• land on another page (“Content” – “Top Landing Pages”)

than converters?

Remember: there really is no end to this – segment and analyze as much as you can. One segment at a time. People in one segment could be leaving for different reasons than people in another.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you get stuck somewhere!

Not that I know that much about it, but let’s assume you want to find the appropriate job/hobby related to IT for yourself.

When I was at school we basically had to choose between development (programming) or networking. A fairly easy choice that, as we realised later, would define the rest of our life. Luckily our school provided good guidance (just kidding).

With the Internet and everything around it evolving at warp-speed, the options you have are far less obvious.

Of course you should still look at yourself and think about whether or not you like to do development. But let’s say you do. In that case and in my opinion, the language you pick is not that important. Although at school they probably still divide classes that way, it is good to realize you will have to switch between languages someday (possibly multiple times, who knows). And as Dave Thomas (The Pragmatic Programmer) says: it’s almost a requirement to keep an eye on multiple languages/technologies.

While you should not be guided by the salaries mentioned, the IT Jobs Watch provides multiple views on the current job market. One basic fact that you could derive from this list is what sector/language/tool is becoming increasingly popular (in the UK, but probably everywhere). While that may not be the optimal choice (and I’m not even saying you should base your choice on this!), it may as well play a role in your decision process.

Note: if you are interested in the salaries mentioned, there are far better opportunities for you!

Why not do that in a nice luxurious resort? With catered banquets, manicures, facials, pedicures and massages?

The executives of AIG got that right.
You can at least say they did this thoroughly.

As a reference: AIG got bailed out for 85 billion USD last week and received another 38 billion USD today.

At least they can pay that bill now.