Do Pages with questions as title receive more clicks (Part 2)

This article is the complete study conducted by codemakit Website Research. If you feel that the contents are too technical for you, you may want to read the simplified summary presented at part I of the article first. Based on the data obtained from 190 Web Pages and their page views, the following observations were found.

The data available were the number of views, and the date of publication of page. Since the pages were linearly published (i.e. one page after another), the difference of the number of days were found and Cumulative number of days were found. Cumulative number of days helped in determining the number of days a webpage was present on the website as published. As a page's page views and the number of published days are directly proportional. 

The Data Set

The complete Data Set containing information in pdf for all the blog posts is available for perusal here. To probe this even further, Consider Page A has 200 page views and Page B has 20. This cannot be called as the complete indicator of the actual worth of the page, As Page A might have been published a year ago and Page B just a week ago. Hence a balanced base is needed to determine whether a webpage is performing well or not.

V/D ratio was found out. The V/D ratio is the ratio of the number of page views per unit cumulative day. The ratio is a perfect indicator of the number of how well did the page do in terms of garnering visitors. Using V/D ratio the index for page A would be (200 page views/365 days) and for page B as (20 page views /7 days). The ratio for Page A comes to be 0.548 and for Page B comes to be 2.85. The page A which at first looked better in comparison to Page B, now doesn't look worthy at all. Hence a normalized base would help in determining the true worth of a page.

Types of Webpages

The complete analysis was done using V/D ratio. Graphically, V/D = 0.2 was obtained as the value to be used for determining if a webpage performed well or not. Complete Data was divided into three parts 

1. The lesser ones,

Now all Web Pages which had a V/D ratio less than 0.2 can be safely said to perform worse than its counterparts. Hence all Web Pages with a V/D ratio less than 0.2 come under its purview. There were 53 lesser ones.

2. The Greater Ones

Just like the name suggests, all the Web Pages with a V/D ratio more than 0.2 were called as the greater ones or the ones that performed better. There were 123 Greater ones.

3. The questions

Each webpage which contains a question in its title text is a question type webpage. There existed 63 question type Web Pages on the said website.

How did we arrive at V/D=0.2 ?

Note. It must first be understood how the value of 0.2 was obtained. The complete analysis being a really simple one, It was thought that the sample could be plotted on the graph based on its frequency. The graph was then created taking V/D ratio on the abscissa and the frequency at ordinate. 

The resultant graph was a sharp bell shaped curve. The sharpness was due to excessive variations among the sample group with different number of Web Pages having inordinate differences in their V/D ratios. Hence, The Graph was then magnified at its peak in the hopes of arriving at the dividing value. This graphically came near 0.2.

The Observations

Summarily, It was found that, The Webpages with questions as their title text that performed poorly was 21.21%. However, The Webpages/Articles/Blog Post with questions as their title text which performed poorly was just 21.21%. In Short, if you put your title text as a question for any webpage, you have 50% more chances of making it more famous. 

			Greater Ones	Lesser Ones
		Total Number of WebPages	123	66
		Number of Webpages with Questions	39	14
		Percentage of Webpages with questions	31.71	21.21

Disclaimer for the study, 

It is however pertinent to note that, the study took 197 webpages and had to exclude some to maintain the sample's integrity. The study was conducted on a single type of website with a single Page Rank and hence same results cannot be expected for any other.

The study could be extended to cover other types of websites too. These could be analysed and results displayed. Also, one must understand that the criterion for determining if a webpage performed good or poor, was created based on the overall performance of the website itself. Hence, there exists a need for determining independent criteria for websites of different types, page ranks and visitor interaction.

Also, you can bring people to your webpage, but making them stay there is wholly dependent on how you present the content. Bounce rate isn't too irrelevant you know.

Is the Study too technical for you?

For a much simpler version of this study you can visit the part I of the series. 

If you still have doubts or would like to share your own story, comment below, we'll be happy to answer.

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Do Pages with questions as title receive more clicks (Part 1)

There exists a very contended view that, If you write an article with a question as its headline or title, it will receive more clicks and the webpage as a whole would be more successful. 

codemakit in the past has published material on improving the readership of any blog like, using specific publishing schedule, controlling Spam, creating apps, organising your blog content etc.

Though some are of the opinion that it plays no part in determining the popularity of an article. However, Online marketing experts disagree, Several studies claim an increase of 100% (Though there are several more probable methods of doubling your website traffic) traffic to the website, i.e. "Double Your Traffic!", some claim a modest 10% increase.

The truth isn't inaccessible, its just hidden. Gregory Ciotti, who oversees marketing at Help Scout and is the founder at Sparring Mind, believes, there exists an information Gap Theory based on a paper by George Loewenstein, on "The psychology of Curiosity: A Review and Reinterpretation" 

The Online marketing geniuses often claim that once a person glances on the headline, She/he frames their question as per the one displayed. For example, You need to know how to plant a eucalyptus tree in your backyard. You put the search term as "Plant a big eucalyptus tree". Suppose you stumble upon the headline, "How do you plant a large tree", though the queries are different enough, you must understand that the person finds it irresistible not to merge the two and experience that Aha! moment where you feel "That is just the damn thing I was searching for! How cool is that, I must check this out!"

Codemakit Website Research performed a study and analyzed Web Pages to answer this question. Since the study can prove to be too technical for some, It has been included in the second part of the article.

In the study, We took 197 Web Pages and collected just two information from them, Their number of Page views and the number of days they had been public on the web. We divided the complete set into three parts. 

1. One was the Greater ones or the ones that performed really great. 
2. Second was the lesser ones, i.e. those that did not perform up to the mark. 
3. Third set consisted of those which contained questions as their headlines. 

You can take a look at part II of the article if you want to know how did we divide the articles/blog posts into good and bad (complete Data Set containing information in pdf format for is available for perusal here). Once that was achieved, We analyzed and are now presenting our findings. 

Read carefully, The Web Pages which performed really good had 31% of them as questions. However, The ones that performed really bad had 21% as questions. In short your webpage has 50% more chances of performing good if it has a question as its title/ headline. 

For more information on the study you can visit the part II of the series. If you still have doubts or would like to share your own story, comment below, we'll be happy to answer.

But, Don't you wanna know how did we arrive at this conclusion?

Check out the second part of the series. 

Also, tell us how much better did your website perform?

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Create an Auto Responding Google Form

Corporates and institutions often accept information from public through online forms. The best (Non Google) form creation websites have already been discussed which do provide a lot of facilities. Often the best of them are disguised behind the paid ones. These are mostly inaccessible to the general web owners as the professional ones need a note for shelling out money from their firms and the freelancers just don't have the money. 

One such facility is the automated response which one receives after he/she has filled up an online form which might say "thank you for your responses" or something. The facility, though available on Google docs is not readily available. You would not see fancy buttons to facilitate your auto responding form. So, you'll have to do it yourself.

For this purpose an app needs to be created. The app will obviously have a script. but fret not, as most part of the script is already filled by Google. you just need to add a small snippet and your work will be done. Following are some really simple steps with instructive screenshots which will help you create an auto responding form which has the ability to send emails to the filler. But, do read the special note so that things go smoothly.

Step 1: 

Firstly you need to create a form at google Docs. The form creation has been explained pretty clear article at codemakit.

Step 2 : 

Now assuming you are accepting the responses in a google spreadsheet, You then need to open the spreadsheet where the responses for the form are stored.

Step 3 : 

You will land on the Google Script Window where you need to select, which script do you need to create. Since we're creation a script for a spreadsheet, click spreadsheet. A scipt will then be visible to you. Do not modify any code, Just add another piece of code given here.

The Code

Edit the code to your wishes, Do check the notes to understand the functioning. 

function formSubmitReply(e) { var userEmail = e.values[2]; MailApp.sendEmail(userEmail, "Yo! Thanks for your time", "Thanks for submitting your information to us, \n\n", {name:"Help Desk"}); };

Note. 

One must understand the intricacies of the code and not use it mindlessly.

formSubmitReply is a function, which handles events, this is the function that initiates the action. It has a parameter 'e' which basically is an array filled with values. Have a look at your spreadsheet containing responses, First one will always be the timestamp. If your table consists of 2 questions, ie.e 'Name' and 'email' address, you will have to put the array value as e[2] so that the app would know where to send the response.

Also the name of the sender is taken as "help desk" Which can be changed to suit your needs.

Step 4 : 

Now you need to set a trigger for the script you just set. Click on resources menu and select "All your triggers". You will see a window stating all your triggers, Click on "create new", which will create a new trigger instance. Select values from the dropdown window as is done in the screenshot below.

Step 5 : 

You might be presented with an authorization window where you need to click yes to go forward. Once you've authorized the app. Your form will start sending automatic responses to anyone who fills your form with an email address.

Related Reading

1. If you're unsure, why you need an online form, you can check out Why Online forms, A study (Part One) and the rest can be found out at Why Online Forms, A study (Part Two)
2. Need help creating a form using Google Forms, Try this.

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Why Online Forms? Best Online Form Creation websites (A Study : Part I)

Forms are tools by which any web owner/developer/designer wants to communicate with its intended readers. So having a form on your site is as important as having a label system or a subscribe button (Which itself is a form). 

codemakit ran an article on "How to create easy online Forms with Google Forms?" when the service was first Launched. By far google is one of the most easiest and most economic ways of creating an online form. But, free services are bound to have drawbacks and lower fucntionalities. And so comes the need for other form creating websites which shall be discussed in the next article. But first we must understand why do webmasters need online forms? Why aren't they happy with their websites? What more are they trying to achieve? Consider the following examples.

1. You need to determine which photo or image would look great on your website. You put up a form collecting votes by showing both the pictures together and asking the users which one do you like. You put up a voting form on current topics to attract visitors showing interaction.

2. You need to put up a survey for your visitors as you need to know what age group do they belong to, what do they like, what don't they like. So that using these questions you could mold your website content to suit your readers. Result? increased visitors who are content with your content. No need for SEO, keyword study or best content practices.

3. You need a form which collects email addresses and related information from users in exchange for premium information.

4. You need forms so that people may comment on your articles which they found interesting. More comments would surely attract more comments (even the spam ones).

5. You might have a plethora of content and would like to share the same with other users, but the website is too large for them to find just be clicking.So you create a form which takes inputs from the users and displays a list of those pictures/videos/content which matches the most.

6. You want some extra functionality added to your website making it more interactive and user friendly, by adding a tool/calculator. E.g. Financial calculator, bond returns calculator (A really great example is tabelizer which itself is a tool for converting xl data sheets into html code)

7. There are yet smaller forms available with just one or two fields like, the subscribe us form, change language form (Which has been incorporated on codemakit since 2011 or change currency form etc.

Related Articles, Create an Auto-Responding Google Form

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4 Concepts to Convert your Website into an App

The previous article spewed fire on the need for having an app for your precious website. Here we'll discuss the concepts you can use to create a new app from your already functioning website. According to data from mobithinking, currently 1.3 billion consumers are using android, this figure is expected to rise to 4.4 billion by 2017. As per Neilson report, huge number of people are now shifting towards mobile smartphones. An april Google Survey, show that people preffer mobile web than websites. 56 billion smartphone apps will be downloaded in the year 2013 as per ABI Reseach. Portio Research, however suggests that the revenue from app downloaded will increase to 64.5 billion in 2017. Now that you are on my side in creating an app, lets widen your horizon and see the different types of apps you can create. Lets have the four types of apps web developers always want for conversion.

The Functional App
A re-directional app on the other-hand, functions in a completely different way. For an app, the user just has to toil for once, i.e. during the installation of the app. 

After that, the person just has to click on the app in his phone and boom! your website, his smartphone, a match made in heavens. Regarding the concept  an app is usually known for its functionality. A website however is not. 

You can actually use your app to practically pull the users towards your website, confused? lets have an example, A very apt example for fitness lovers is an app called micoach at adidas. The app tracks your movements as you go jogging or walking or running with the help of gps on your phone.. Finally after the workout, the app give you the distance traveled, calories burnt and even speed. In a nutshell it is a complete app. but there is a facility of scheduling workouts in the app, . i.e. you can create  a schedule on which days you would plan to run and which days you would rather work on strength training. However the function can used only after you sign-up on the website. That would mean the visitors will have to visit the website and look at other functionality available, glance through their blogs indulge in forums and meet new people (See how the possibilities unfold)

2A. Website Redirection Type App
Other than a functional app which obviously provides a service, you can always go for the simple website redirection app. which opens a separate platform for viewing your website that too without opening the browser. This is applicable for podcast based websites too (like websites which host video clips or music composings) where users can select and view a video. a very nice example is the khan academy app, where separate videos are hosted for students to listen and learn.

Let us take the example of Mashable.com, an extraordinary website with huge connections and overflowing articles. What does it need, you ask? "I want to conquer the world" would be its answer. Why would an otherwise fabulous website need an app for. But they do have one, for the obvious reasons mentioned in the previous article. The app readily transforms into a full blown article based website which obviously relies on your ability to make a selection and touch.

2B. Website Conversion Type App
Another type of app is the one using a website and converting into an app. with separate functionality for buttons, image viewings and feedback systems, throw in a couple of simple games and you've got yourself a real winner. One really good website converted into an app is NDTV.com. The website is one of the most popular and trusted sources of latest news. let us look at the app.

Reader Type App
Other than website redirection and functional apps, there is a third type of app not very common but is still present. The particular app downloads content from the website and reads it aloud with the help of an inbuilt reader software. 

The app is particularly useful for commuters who do not have enough time to read or are unable to read. and prefer to listen to the article being read aloud by someone while on a bus or train.

Theme from your website

If your website is an insanely popular one with a lot of people backing it and a bucket load of fans just waiting for a piece of it. you can create a theme based app.

The theme consists of just duplicating the css style of the website into a theme pack which can be installed on any android or ios device. In short, your website structure and content is sooooo good that people are dying to replicate/copy it on their phones.

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7 Reasons, why do you need an app for your website?

Have a website and its not doing great? Want another way up? Then you're at the correct place. When you come through the article below you will have a renewed sense of direction and clarity. You will understand why is it better to have a cannon in a world of guns.

My professor used to tell me, the road to success is always fraught with difficulties which can be overcome only by updation. At the age of 68, he used to subscribe to journals and used to buy books just to keep himself updated with the latest technologies. But as a student you are bound to experiment. (What happens if i do this? What happens If i mix this and that?) Applying the same concept to the web design and development sphere, I can ask the same question in a different manner, What if I mixed web design and android apps. The world is obviously android or ios savvy, If I look it in that way, by mixing these two different Things together I am swimming into an ocean of untold possibilities. But again it would need a lot of resources, energy and time too.  Uncertainties will come surely. Questions will be raised, you ask and I'll answer.

"Why android? I am getting pretty good comments and large number of visitors on my website. People do visit my advertisements and every thing looks fine. Why do I waste my time in app creation?"

First of all,there is one figure that you must keep in mind,, 1.5 billion, that's right 'billion' about a quarter of the world population have a smart phone. imagine your reach with so many devices ready to display your website. Also you must have you heard of the pencil example by Swami Vivekananda? 

'To excel, Spend 90% of your time sharpening your pencil and just 10% for using it'

Agreed your website is performing better than ever everything's looking up, but what is you can soar even higher? creating an android app will give higher visibility to your website and thus providing you with more number of visitors swarming your site. wouldn't you like that? I have observed on multiple occasions that people are often lured by a good looking app towards the parent website in search for more material or functionality.

'I am still not convinced, Its just too much trouble for too less'
Ok, I get your suspicion, So I've got 7 crucial reasons which shall clear your doubts. At the end you'll curse yourself 'Why didn't I start sooner?'

Reason 1: More Likes and retweets! :-D

A mobile app will let your readers instantly like your articles, give it a thumbs up, retweet, or give a Google +1.

Reason 2: Higher Visibility babe ;-)

Websites are often looked done because of their higher loading times and erratic behavior on mobile platforms. But apps function well on almost every mobile device.

Reason 3: Boast New Content :-0 

Say Goodbye to the days when people come to your website because of a singular post on facebook or twitter. Now apps are the ones doing all the heavy-work when a new article comes in town. If you own an ecommerce website, special discounts will obviously grab more consumers.

Reason 4: "I trust You, My love"

Psychologically speaking, people find websites with apps more trustable. This leads to more action based clicks and better sales from ecommerce websites.

Reason 5: "Money, Money, Money" $-D

People do not see it coming when they are suddenly lured through apps into buying things.

Reason 6: "Tony will BURN after seeing my app!" :-@

You will actually see the fumes coming out of your competitors head when he sees your new app and what it can do.

Reason 7: "Are you unhappy, my loyal minions?" :-( 

An app will help you understand your consumer's requirements in a better way. A feedback from your loyal visitors or readers is always much appreciated. Provided you take it in the right sense.

"OK, I get it, I'll make an app, but what is the concept? 

How is it different from the mobile website?"

A mobile website lags in several things; a mobile website usually opens up in a browser only, so the user has to open up chrome, safari etc. and then type your web address or name and then search from the Google search listings and then arrive at the website to read the articles. An app will bring more life to the situation, more colors and much more fun! If you need a concept for the app, just wait for the next article.

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15 Things you must include in your About-Page

You have written or are planning to write an about page, but What are the things you should never miss while writing an about page? So, here's a list of thinks you should never miss out.

An about page, is one of the most important pages in  any website, It is this about page which leads the visitors to believe you're an authority on the topic and this about page converts call to action.

Thus you must not treat an About-Page as a normal blog post, but as a carefully written article which will remain on your website for years to come. But first you must determine which category do you fall into, so that you know which things are the most important in your case.

The complete article is divided into three categories

Red topics are the most important

Yellow topics are subject to the blog type (i.e. corporate blog, personal blog etc.) 

Green topics can be done without, but including them would add extra value to an about page.

So here it goes,

Your name – The author name for a blog is just as important as the blog’s name in on the landing page. For a community blog or a corporate blog with number of authors, it is good to add each and everyone’s name so that they feel important and the reader finds a sense of trust, thinking ‘I know the author so I’m sure the content is authentic.’

Social circles – Be sure to inform the visitors about your social circles and where will you be available. Facebook and twitter being some of the most popular ones, you can even think out of the box with other services. The user once in your social circle will become loyal and will come even more regularly. In short, it is a nice place to garner likes and followers.

Update Regularly – Just as it is evident, search engines always look for new content and would preffer pages with new and updated content. Regarding you, since an about page is a story of you and since time does not stops, you should be kind enough to update your about page with the latest activities and milestones in your life(only if you’re a timeliner).

Include links and buttons – You do not just want people to read your about page, you want them to explore and discover about you. So provide external links as well as internal links on your page. Give your users incentives to explore and learn. Also never forget the contact us button.

Include Photos – An about page is in many ways just another article which mainly deals with you and your creation. To captivate your readers and make them read the page, you must include multimedia and what better place is there to start other than an image?

Overachievers arrange yourself - An overachiever will have every reason to fill his about space with loads of achievements and accolades, but just as Mahatma Gandhi said ‘Not to have control over the senses is like sailing in a rudderless ship, bound to break to pieces on coming in contact with the very first rock.’ So control yourself, because by mentioning everything, instead of impressing the visitors, psychologically you’re giving them inferiority complexes.

What do the reader wants – If you’re from a different field like me, writing about an entirely different field. Then do not make the mistake of including everything. The writer came to listen to the story of you and you creation only. Do not bore them with unnecessary details (read more) and never boast your PageRank.

Location helps – Though it is of relatively low importance for a content based blog to include a location for the author, the location of the service is of prime importance for a corporate website. It will go a long way in solving customer problems to find your address. So add a location through google maps or through text, if it helps your page.

Education – Many veterans usually prefer to include their educational and academic background in the article. The point is a good addition as it stirs up authority in the eyes of the visitors. But like everything this too has limitations, you must have some academics to talk about or else there will be a non-related statement dangling around in mid-air.

What am I good at? – Though blatant display one’s strengths is a misuse of web space for boasting your talents, a well written about page will always tell about the strengths/skill set of the author in a subtle way. You should tell the people about your skills; after all it’s your page.

Honesty is the best policy – It goes around without much saying but, users can normally pick out a lie. Though not consciously but subconsciously and so you lose some trust and thereby loyalty. But who’s stopping you to bend some facts.

Keep it under limit – Again you must remember, it’s not an autobiography, it’s a page which talks about you and your creations only. So keep it short, so that the reader can get on with their lives and not get stuck to your page learning about your life history.

Just an about page – Several people want to show off their talents, writing themselves as practically supermen. They use hyperbole adjectives like best, cutting Edge, world class, awesome etc. We all believe you’re awesome, but do you have facts? Just an extension of the previous topic, ‘A half-truth is still a lie’.

Try different multimedia – An image might be equal to a thousand words, but it is not the only thing equal. You can try using music or video to look original and a tad different.

Make up your mind – certain personal and professional blogs are written in first person (like Jeff Attwood). Also some are written in third person(like Amit Agrawal). But one of the characteristics of a wrongly written about page is, unsure person. The writer vacillates between first person and third person which is obviously not good.

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