Here at Allyte, we’re big supporters of local churches and non-profit organizations. This month, Allyte is giving away a website (through our new product, called Speak) and 1 year of hosting to one church or non-profit organization. Winner to be announced September 17, 2011.

Do you know a church or non-profit that could use a website facelift? Enter them in the giveaway here!

Read part 1 of “How to Understand Google Analytics Reports” here.

Read part 2 of “How to Understand Google Analytics Reports” here.

The last part of this 3-part series on understanding Google Analytics covers the last five pages of the sample report [download it here]. Let’s start with the map overlay.

The map overlay section is a breakdown of the countries your website’s traffic is coming from. In the sample report, the majority of the traffic came from the United States. The numbers that follow show the amount of visitors from each country, the average time they spent on the website, what percentage of the visitors were new, and their bounce rate. You’ll also see the comparison to last month in the sample report.

This information is somewhat helpful in understanding where traffic comes from, but a customized report that drills down to a more local level would be more beneficial. The report can be configured to show this data, but it isn’t configured in the default Google Analytics report, as demonstrated in the example.

The next section down is titled “Content Overview”. This is one of my favorite sections of the report because it shows the most popular pages for the website. There is also a term here that we haven’t defined yet – “Unique Views”. Google defines unique views as “pageviews that are generated by the same user during the same session. A unique view represents the number of sessions during which that page was viewed one or more times.” [source]

For this site, the home page is the most frequently viewed page on the site, which I suspect will be the case for the majority of websites. The report shows the number of pageviews for each page down the list, and the percentage of total pageviews this number represents. It is also compared to the last month’s pageviews to contrast traffic to the previous month.

Lastly, the “New vs. Returning” section breaks down visitor types by numbers. As you can see in this sample report, new visitors outweight returning visitors by a margin of only 54. In the previous month, however, new visitors took the title. If goals are configured in your Google Analytics dashboard, these numbers will also appear here. Google has a great article about getting these setup for your Analytics account.

The sample report we used as an outline for this series of articles is the default report available from Google Analytics. Analytics users can configure customized reports that offer information that is helpful for their specific website. The online dashboard for Analytics allows for interactive reporting, drilling down through the site to display numbers that are helpful in determining how to optimize your website. As I mentioned in Part 1 of this series. The information found in these reports needs to be interpreted for the purposes and goals of your website.

Thanks for reading through the series – and happy number crunching!

If you remember in “How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 1“, I wrote about market share. I mentioned Windows, Macintosh and Linux, all as having market share. I said that Windows was targeted because of its market share and that both Macintosh and Linux were prone to viruses as well, but that they weren’t targeted as heavily.

Most people think that if they don’t get a Windows computer, they have to get a Macintosh computer. Usually the decision goes something like this: “Do I pay less for a Windows computer now and take my chances with maintenance costs or do I pay more up-front and get the attractive, reliable Macintosh?”

I want to suggest a third alternative: What if you could purchase the Windows computer, but get the reliability of the Macintosh?

The way to accomplish this is by using Linux.

I will say up-front that this solution is not for everyone. When considering a switch to Linux, here are some things to keep in mind:

• There will be a bit of a learning curve to switch from Windows to Linux (but wouldn’t there be a learning curve with a Macintosh, anyway?).
• You may have to find replacements for your software (but wouldn’t you have to replace software with a Macintosh, anyway?).
• There are not exact replacements for some software (like the iTunes Store).

There are some wonderful benefits to using Linux, however.

• Vast library of free software at your fingertips
• Lower maintenance costs – it “just works”
• No issues and hassle with licensing/registration/activation
• Largely compatible with the major functions of a Windows or Macintosh computer

I have been a Linux-only user for the last four years and have had a great experience with it. I used Linux through my last 2 years of a Master’s degree and had few, if any issues. I am confident in the current state of Linux and its ability to offer a solid computing platform.

Get in touch with me about switching to Linux. I’m glad to offer suggestions and tips for getting started.

In “How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 1“, we established that Windows PCs are often targeted because of their large market share and that the brand of your computer makes no difference because viruses, spyware and malware occur at the software level.

In “How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 2“, we considered browsing and clicking habits that can be harmful for your computer and your privacy.

Let’s look at two different types of software that can help protect your computer.

Internet Security Suite

There are some tools available that can help secure your Windows PC as well. A question that is often asked of me is, “Which antivirus software is the best?“. My answer is always, “I can recommend a certain product, but you need to know that no security software is bulletproof. They will all let some things get through.”

It’s important to understand that antivirus software offers only a certain type of protection. So if you go to download one of the free anti-virus software packages (AVG, Avast!, and Avira are all popular), they will offer anti-virus only protection. In order to get a quality level of comprehensive protection from a single piece of software, you’ll need to pay for it.

PC Magazine has a good run-down of the best software for 2010 here. They rate Norton and McAfee above the rest of the suites in this particular review. On more than one occasion, however, I have had major software issues with both McAfee and Norton, so I typically recommend another software package.

In my experience, Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 offers the best value, features and pricing. I use this software with many of my clients and have had good results without inhibiting the computer’s performance. It’s around $80, which covers three computers for a full year. Contact me to get this software installed on your computer.

Consistent Environment Software

Wouldn’t it be great if your computer was exactly the same every time you turned it on? One software package makes that happen.

Windows Steady State, developed by Microsoft allows a computer’s administrator to configure other users for a consistent environment on every login. It’s free and compatible with Windows XP and Vista (sorry, Windows 7 users!).

Basically, here’s how it works: a user can login, browse the internet, download files and even adjust settings just like usual. Then when they log out, all the settings revert back to the way they were before the person logged in. This software is very useful on a computer that a family with children may use, or in my case, a computer lab with multiple users.

Other helpful features of this software are timed logouts, software restrictions, and user permissions. If these sounds fancy, I assure you that Windows Steady State makes it very easy to understand and adjust these settings.

With a little common sense and the right software, your Windows PC should operate smoothly without much effort on the part of the user. It may not be bulletproof, but the overall experience will be better than if no protection or safeguards were put in place.

There is one option still to consider when using a PC. We’ll take a look at that in Part 4.

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In “How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 1“, we established that Windows PCs are often targeted because of their large market share and that the brand of your computer makes no difference because viruses, spyware and malware occur at the software level.

To protect your Windows computer, the first and best rule of protection is to use your head and be pro-active in your browsing and clicking habits. This typically means two things:

1. Only visit websites that you know can be trusted
2. Use caution when clicking on links in e-mail that are unsolicited

Let’s look a little closer at #1:
How do you know which websites can be trusted? There is a difficult tension here – if you visit only the sites you already know, there are many useful and informational websites out there that you will miss in an effort to be cautiuos. But, if you go out willy-nilly and click on every site that comes up in the search results, your computer will get infected with malicious software sooner or later.

So the answer lies somewhere in between. More experienced users can take a little more liberty in clicking on unknown sites, but naive or less experienced users will need to be more careful when visiting unknown websites.

The truth is that malicious websites will do their best to look like a legitimate, reputable website. But these same sites will do damage to your computer that can be difficult to recover from.

Let’s look a little closer at #2:
E-mail is also a popular way to direct people to websites that are harmful not only to your computer, but to your privacy. If you get an e-mail from a financial institution, never click on the link in the e-mail. Instead, go to your browser to access the institution’s site directly.

It is very possible that the legitimate-looking e-mail you just received will direct you to  a “phishing” site that will extract your login information and allow someone else to access your accounts and information.

In Part 3, we’ll consider two types of software that can help protect your computer from viruses and spyware.

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Beth’s Blog is one of the more popular resources for non-profits and socially-conscious organizations. The blog offers practical information and real-life stories about using social media for social change Beth Kanter, the author of the blog, is the CEO of Zoetica, a communication organization intent on “Connecting Organizations with their Networks”.

If you’re responsible for social media in a non-profit or socially-conscious organization, Beth’s Blog is worth adding to your feed reader or checking in on a regular basis.

Read Beth’s Blog here.

If you’re looking for some space online to meet, look no further than DimDim. This free web service with a funny name offers a comprehensive package for meeting online.

Here are a few highlights:

• No software installation necessary – DimDim runs completely in your browser
• Desktop Sharing
• Use your webcams and microphones for video and conversation
• Record and embed meetings
• Social media integration

A complete run-down of the feature set is available here.

As mentioned above, a free version is available that allows up to 20 users and 1 webcam. Premium, paid packages are available, too. Here is a full-comparison of the packages.

Give DimDim a try for your next online meeting.

Need to get a message out to a group of people through a phone message? You could spend several hours making the calls yourself. You could pay someone to do it for you. Or you could use DialMyCalls.com.

DialMyCalls offers a free subscription that will make 1 call per day to a maximum of 25 people. The message is limited to 30 seconds or less in length and will be branded with a DialMyCalls message. A premium subscription is available with fewer restrictions and no branding.

It’s an easy service to use, with only 3 steps required to make a phone call:

1. Create a new message
2. Setup your list of people to call (an address book feature is available too)
3. Select your call options and schedule it to call.

That’s all it takes to make automated phone calls to the people you need to contact. Give DialMyCalls.com a try the next time you need to call a group of people.

Does your decision-making process look like the one on the left or the one on the right?

Image from Zapproved.com

The decision-making process quickly and easily becomes complicated and convoluted with dozens of e-mails flying in and out of mailboxes. Zapproved.com helps your group streamline the decision-making process and keep the feedback all in one place.

To use Zapproved, you can begin by simply creating a proposal, or by signing up for a free account. The free account allows users to send 5 proposals/month; each proposal is kept for 30 days. Paid accounts start at $12/month for unlimited proposals and storage retention.

Those who serve on committees or work with groups often to make decisions will find Zapproved a simple and user-friendly tool to facilitate discussion and decision-making.

To learn more about Zapproved click here.

I’ve been a user of Google Voice for nearly two years now. This service has literally changed the way I use my phone.

I was lucky enough to get an invite just after Google acquired GrandCentral and have used it ever since. It especially came in handy when moving from North Carolina to Tennessee, as I got a Knoxville area Google Voice number which I gave to potential employers. I now use that number as my primary number for text messaging (free!) and to route business calls to my mobile phone, which is still a North Carolina number.

Over at AscendWiki.com, they’ve put together an excellent article about how to send faxes for free with Google Voice. This comes in handy for eliminating long-distance fees for faxes. Too bad Google Voice won’t allow you to receive a fax yet. Suggest it as a feature here.

Here’s an excerpt:

Go to your Google Voice account, select Settings, Phones and then the Edit option for the phone on which you have your fax machine residing. Open the “Show Advanced Settings.” Then select “Yes” and “PIN not required (for added convenience)” for the “Direct access to voicemail when calling your Google number from this phone?” You could of course have the PIN required, but then you need to add that to the phone number you construct below. I figured my home phone is safe from someone misusing it.2. Send your fax but construct the fax recipient’s number as follows

 YourGoogleVoiceNumber--2--NumberOfFaxReceivingMachine (those are dashes in this number to insert 2 two second pauses).

For example, if your Google Voice number is 515-555-5565 and the fax machine is at +44-55-56-57-58-59, then set up the number to be

15155555565--2--011445556575859

Click over to the full article for more details.