Webinar Wednesday 173 – February 28, 2024

Key Topics:

New Updates & Releases

• 2:50 – NEW ADD-ON: Block Traffic by Country
• 3:41 – SPAM BLOCK: Suppress Disposable Email Sign Ups
• 6:30 – FORMS INBOX: ‘Reply to’ will Include Original Message
• 8:01 – VERIFIED: CSS to Easily Target ‘Verified’ Members in Search Results
• 9:24 – WEBHOOKS: Member Service Areas Part of Smart List Webhooks
• 10:07 – BLOG: New Section for Revenue Generating Strategies: 📈 Monetizing Membership Sites

Tip of the Week

• 11:02 – Built-In Analytics for Website Traffic & Trends
• 12:10 – Developer Hub: Analytics (AWStats in cPanel)
• 14:21 – Notable Statistics
• 19:00 – Demo: Website Analytics Tool
• 39:27 – More Traffic Analytics Tools

Questions & Answers

• 41:12 – YoY analytics graph?
• 42:01 – Member Profile Statistics add-on displaying in page URL visits stats?
• 44:48 – AWStats vs. Google Analytics GA4 discrepancy
• 47:03 – Find and import business data update?
• 48:09 – How to integrate BD site with Hubspot? – Zapier Integration
• 51:31 – AWStats peak hours time zone?
• 52:00 – See website visitors by state/province instead of country in AWStats?
• 53:00 – How to utilize Sell Digital Products & Services add-on?
• 1:00:58 – Best practices for lead-gen website? Maximize Lead Sales To Drive More Revenue
• 1:08:46 – Integrate Pipeline Pro with Brilliant Directories?
• 1:11:50 – Shopping cart feature for Brilliant Directories?

AI-Generated Transcript – Please excuse any inaccuracies

NEW ADD-ON: Block Traffic by Country

• A new add-on, "Block Traffic by Country," allows users to restrict or allow access to their website from specific countries.
• David recommends using this add-on cautiously and only when experiencing unwanted traffic, spam, or signups from regions outside the target market.
• The tip of the week will demonstrate how this add-on can be useful in identifying areas from which to block traffic.

SPAM BLOCK: Suppress Disposable Email Sign Ups

• Suppress signups from Disposable email address | disposable email addresses to prevent unwanted traffic or spam.
• Disposable Email address | email addresses are often used for quick signups and are not associated with real people.
• After initial verification, disposable email addresses cannot be used to receive emails.
• Enabling this setting blocks form submissions with disposable email addresses.
• Additionally, members cannot change their email address to a disposable one once logged in.
• This helps protect the site from unwanted signups and spam.
• Found in the Integrations tab under General Settings.

FORMS INBOX: 'Reply to' will Include Original Message

• The Forms Inbox now includes a 'Reply to' button with a copy of the original inquiry.
• This provides context when replying to emails directly from the admin area.
• The original inquiry is displayed by default and can be deleted if not needed.
• Useful for surveys, applications, or message forms.

VERIFIED: CSS to Easily Target 'Verified' Members in Search Results

• There is a new CSS class that can be used to target verified members in the member search results.
• This allows web designers and developers to customize the appearance of verified member results, such as adding an orange border.

WEBHOOKS: Member Service Areas Part of Smart List Webhooks

• Member service areas are now included as part of the web hooks when syncing smart lists.
• This means that if a member has selected additional locations that they service, this information will be included in the smart list web hooks that go out.

BLOG: New Section Dedicated to Revenue Generating Strategies

• A new section dedicated to revenue-generating articles and tips has been added to the Brilliant Directories blog.
• The articles cover a variety of topics, including monetizing specific types of sites and general membership monetizing strategies.

Built-In Analytics for Website Traffic & Trends

• Brilliant Directories has built-in Analytics | analytics that provide insights into website traffic and trends.
• These analytics can be accessed through the BD admin portal and provide information on core website traffic and visitor behavior.
• The analytics can help website owners identify areas for optimization and improve their website's performance.

Developer Hub: Analytics (AWStats in cPanel)

• AWStats is a tool in the website's developer Hub that provides a comprehensive snapshot of website traffic statistics.
• It doesn't require any code to be pasted into the website's header or footer or the installation of third-party tools.
• AWStats provides necessary traffic statistics such as:
• Number of visitors
• Page views
• Hits (requests that require bandwidth usage)
• Overall bandwidth usage
• Time of day and day of the week with the most traffic
• Website referrers (search engines and other websites sending traffic)
• Geolocation of website visitors
• Operating system and browser used by visitors
• Entry and exit pages (to identify high-performing and low-performing pages)

Notable Statistics

• Peak hours: Identify the time of day and day of the week with the most website traffic.
• Traffic by country: Monitor traffic from specific countries and consider blocking countries that use a lot of bandwidth without being a target market.
• Bandwidth usage by host: Identify individual IP addresses that use a lot of bandwidth and consider blocking them if they are not from target countries.
• High activity bots: Identify and block unfamiliar bots that scrape the website by editing the robots.txt file.
• Top file formats: See the most downloaded file formats, such as ebooks and PDFs.
• Most frequently downloaded files: Track which specific files are downloaded the most.
• Entry and exit points: Determine the most common pages visitors come to and leave from.
• Operating system | Operating systems and Web browser | web browsers: Identify the most common operating systems and web browsers used by visitors.
• Referring search engines and websites: Track which search engines and websites direct the most traffic to the website.

Demo: Website Analytics Tool

• Website traffic Analytics | analytics and trends can be accessed through "aw stats" in the CPanel | cPanel dashboard of the BD admin area.
• The analytics provide basic information like unique visitors, average visits per visitor, page views, hits, and bandwidth usage.
• Historical data can be analyzed monthly, daily, or hourly, allowing for growth comparison.
• Peak traffic times can be identified and utilized for special promotions or banners.
• The "Visits by Country" section shows visitor countries and bandwidth usage, enabling bandwidth conservation by blocking non-target countries.
• The IP addresses section reveals visitor IP addresses, allowing the investigation of outliers and blocking unwanted traffic.
• A robots.txt file can be used to block rogue spiders and bots while allowing safe spiders to crawl the website efficiently.
• File types utilizing the most bandwidth can be monitored, and large images can be optimized to reduce bandwidth usage.
• Top downloaded files and visited pages can be tracked to gauge popularity and identify potential improvements.
• The homepage has the most entries and exits, presenting an opportunity to reduce bounce rates by directing users to internal pages.
• Traffic primarily comes from desktops, but if mobile traffic is significant, calls to action should be placed higher for better accessibility.
• Join pages should have prominent buttons near the top and throughout the page to increase conversion rates.
• Analyze referring sites to understand traffic sources and adjust marketing efforts accordingly.
• The robots.txt file can prevent unwanted spiders, but it may not be 100% effective due to spoofing.
• The website is not reaching bandwidth limits, and traffic from various websites, including ilaw connect, presents potential partnership opportunities.

More Traffic Analytics Tools

• More robust and granular analytic tools are available beyond the CPanel | cPanel AWStats provided by Brilliant Directories.
• Google Analytics is a popular free option that provides comprehensive insights into visitor behavior and page visits.
• Paid options like Hotjar, Matomo (software) | Matomo, and SC Rush offer real-time reporting and more detailed data for conversion rate optimization.
• Third-party tools provide complex Analytics | analytics, reporting, and scalability for larger websites.

YoY analytics graph?

• Brilliant Directories analytics does not have a year-over-year graph comparison feature.
• Monthly, daily, and hourly comparisons are available within the same year.
• To compare traffic between years, open two tabs and switch between the desired years.

Member Profile Statistics add-on displaying in page URL visits stats?

• The Member Profile Statistics add-on is causing a weird string to appear above the homepage in the page URL visits section of AWStats.
• The string is taking up a significant number of visits (11,000 visits in February).
• The string is related to the post user clicks event submitted by the Member Profile Statistics add-on.
• The size of the string is 392 bytes.
• Obscure links like this are often seen in AWStats and are usually related to tracking activity on the site or providing reporting in the admin area.
• It is not necessarily a cause for concern, but it can be alarming.

AWStats vs. Google Analytics GA4 discrepancy

• The unique visitors count in AWStats may be higher than Google Analytics GA4 due to:
• AWStats may count the site owner's visits.
• AWStats may count bots visiting the site.
• There will be inconsistencies between a third-party tool like Google Analytics and AWStats.

Find and import business data update?

• The ability to add additional businesses from millions of business records is coming soon.
• The release is expected by the end of March, but it may be released in April if there are higher priority items.

How to integrate BD site with Hubspot?

• HubSpot can be used as a CRM to store member contact information.
• Zapier and Pabbly are tools that allow users to sync data between different platforms without the need for coding.
• These tools are relatively low-cost and can save time and money compared to hiring a third-party developer or paying for more robust development.

AWStats peak hours time zone?

• The peak hours displayed in AWStats are based on the time zone set in the website's general settings.

See website visitors by state/province instead of country in AWStats?

• AWStats only provides data on website visitors by country.
• Google Analytics (GA4) can provide more granular data about the geographical location of visitors, including by state or province.

How to utilize Sell Digital Products & Services add-on?

• Create digital products for each vendor space size and add them to the membership plan, assigning the website owner as the only member.
• On the vendor registration form, display an alert or redirect users to the digital product page after submission, providing instructions for payment and securing their spot.
• Alternatively, users can purchase the digital product first and then be redirected to the vendor registration form.
• Offer multiple pricing options by creating separate digital products and linking them in the description, allowing customers to toggle between options and add multiple products to their purchase.
• Due to the lack of shopping cart functionality, customers must add additional items to their order after completing their initial purchase.
• Provide a "circular motion" by offering the option to add more items on the thank-you page after payment.

Best practices for lead-gen website?

• To gain professionals' trust and encourage them to join, explain how your site can help them get business and generate leads. Highlight specific members and encourage design professionals to create listings or learn more about membership benefits.
• Create a "tour" page that advertises featured listings and emphasizes the site's focus on getting members leads.
• Provide a clear explanation of the lead program, including information on becoming a member, creating a listing, and getting found online.
• Establish trust by verifying project referrals, ensuring lead information accuracy, and having a lenient refund or credit policy for bad leads.
• Share a page that explains the lead program and addresses frequently asked questions.
• Use confidence boosters and a step-by-step process to build user confidence and encourage them to provide their information.
• Educate visitors and members to earn their trust and increase the likelihood of them purchasing leads.

Integrate Pipeline Pro with Brilliant Directories?

• Pipeline Pro is similar to ClickFunnels and LeadPages, used for creating funnel pages or funneled offers.
• Zapier can be used to integrate Pipeline Pro with Brilliant Directories.
• By integrating Pipeline Pro with Brilliant Directories, users who opt-in for an offer or subscribe to a newsletter can be automatically added as free general users to the directory.
• This allows businesses to turn one-time customers into members of their community and ecosystem, where they can be offered higher-ticket items and other products or services.
• Pipeline Pro and Brilliant Directories can be synced together using Zapier or another integration tool.

Shopping cart feature for Brilliant Directories?

• There are currently no plans for a shopping cart feature, but there are plans to increase the quantity of a specific purchase.
• A shopping cart feature may be revisited towards the end of the year.
• Potential integration with existing e-commerce tools like WooCommerce, Shopify, or Equipt is being considered.
• Some users are using third-party e-commerce solutions and creating a subdomain (e.g., shop.mywebsite.com) to match their branding.
• Others are embedding products or product libraries from third-party tools into their Brilliant Directories website.
• The built-in Analytics tool is available to all users with Developer Hub access.
• It provides basic statistics about the user's site.
• The next webinar will be in two weeks.
• The replay of this webinar will be posted in the Facebook group and on brilliantdirectories.com.