Last night, I received an email from Google anoucning the new release of the Google Analytics interface. I finally got around to checking it out this evening. Whatever I say can’t really do it justice; instead, here is a screenshot (click the thumbnail for the full-size image):

It is a truly a wonder of information architecture. There are some fairly sophisticated metrics here and the presentation makes it easy to draw reasonable conclustions from a dizzying amount of data even for those who aren’t wizards of statistical mechanics. Remarkable.

While digging through the various reports for www.pointclearsolutions.com, I came across something that caught my eye (click to zoom):

This is a ‘keywords’ report, and it indicates the keywords that were used in searches when visitors arrived at our site via the various search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, Microsoft Live, etc.). Naturally, one wonders, why would folks interested in stopping air pollution be arriving at our site? Stopping air pollution is a noble goal, certainty–but it is hard to understand what we at PCS would have to do with it (other than contributing to it, perhaps).

So, I tried searching for ‘how to stop air pollution’ on Google. And there we are! The 10th ranked page under the topic of ‘how to stop air pollution’! (Click to zoom.)

Try the search yourself (you may not find the link on page 1, as the results are dynamic depending on how Google’s Skynet is feeling at that moment):

Search Google for How to Stop Air Pollution

Now, as you will notice, this search result actually links to Lee’s ‘Stop Air Pollution, Listen to Bluegrass’ blog entry from last month. This single blog entry led to 13 unique visits to the PointClear site. What a wonderful example of an unexpected consequence! Google Serendipity.

Update: the 13 visits had a 100% bounce rate, meaning the users didn’t ’stay’ on our site and visit other pages. Presumably, listening to bluegrass is not the solution they were seeking (pity!). Still, these are 13 visitors we wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Well, I can rest easy now. I have finally found it - the intersection between bicycle racing and user experience.

Last week (I think it was Monday) my teammate and I, through certain events and a long chain of emails, decided to start a bicycle racing series for beginner women. We wanted to promote a certain race to women racers, and this seemed like a good catalyst. Setting up a bike racing series sounds like a complicated endeavor but I assure you that we had the whole thing up and running by Tuesday, with the most important component in place - the Web site.

First, a little background, courtesy of my new friend Gail who runs a similar series in North and South Carolina:

Bicycle Racing 101: There are 4 categories in the world of United States Cycling Federation (USCF) Women’s Bicycle racing; CAT 1, 2, 3 and 4. As a beginner, you are labeled as a CAT 4 with the highest level being CAT 1. So, how do you go from CAT 4 to CAT 1? The USCF has set up a points system. Throughout the year, you will gain points based on how you finish in a race. Earn enough points and you can apply for an upgrade to your USCF license; you “CAT Up” so to speak. Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? Well, sort of. Oftentimes in Women’s racing, all categories end up racing together. As a CAT 4 you will line up with Cat 1 and Elite racers and let’s be realistic, that’s not only intimidating, but it’s not a good catalyst for you to grow into the sport.

So - here we are, trying to set up this series and get the word out. Our secret was piggy-backing on existing races, and simply combining them to create a series. We made a few phone calls and wrote a few emails to promoters. Once they found out they didn’t have to do much, but stood to make more money, they were on board. Easy enough. OK, now the Web site.

I know Wordpress is nothing new. In fact, this very blog here is a Wordpress blog. But it’s an amazing tool for setting up actual sites, because not only can you add blog entries, but you can create pages with static content. I had the whole thing up and running in about an hour. Professional, cross-browser compatible, easy to edit and add things, and best of all FREE. And, I didn’t have to touch a byte of code. OK, I did a little HTML editing…but I didn’t have to do it; I just want everything to look perfect. The interface is incredibly intuitive. Once you log in, a management nav bar at the top lets you edit, view, and manage the whole site. And every time you come back on the same computer, the bar is there. Nice.

I remember the days when a code-free solution for laypeople to create professional and polished web sites quickly was a dream (or a proposal on the table for tens of thousands of dollars). Solutions like Joomla and Drupal come close, but they still have a steep learning curve and require some knowledge of database setup. Now with Wordpress the dream is a reality for $0.

Check out our site: http://algabra.wordpress.com