San Diego, CA  (Profitable.com)  As the sun sets on the old Analytics interface, version v5 is coming closer to reaching fruition. While the beta version has already been available for users to try out, Google says in a matter of weeks the new version will be activated in all user accounts. You will still be able to switch back to the old version while you get your feet wet with the new interface, but only until January 2012. After January, version v5 will be fully integrated and the old version will be gone. With all the cool new features on the v5 interface, however, we don’t see any need to switch back. Here are a few of our favorite new features:

Visitor Flow

Visitor flow provides a great visual for how visitors navigate your pages and where they drop off. In the drop down bar, you can choose what flow chart you want to see, whether it be direct traffic, referral traffic or even mobile traffic. This feature also lists the numbers of visitors to each pages, how many go on to another page and how many drop off.

Real Time Tracking

Real Time Tracking provides a visual breakdown of real time visitors to your website. You are able to see the number of visitors fluctuate as they enter and exit your website each second. You are also able to see where in the world these visitors are coming from on a map, how many pages they have visited and the amount of time they have spent on the website.

Mobile Tracking

With mobile search becoming more prominent, Analytics v5 has added the capability to track mobile devices, as well as iPods and iPads. The Analytics team was even nice enough to provide images for each mobile device, just in case you forget what an iPhone looks like.

Multi-Channel Funnels and Goals Funnels

The multi-channel funnels give you a visual breakdown of what traffic sources preceded a conversion. This is a useful tool which can reveal what is more influential in yielding conversions. Under the ‘Conversions’ tab, you can find funnel visualization and goal flow, which are also unique visual tools which can help track conversions.

Key Differences Between the New and Old Versions

Even with the addition of all these new features, many of the key features of the old Analytics version have been preserved. The overall layout and menu bar have changed slightly, since Google has done away with the ‘Dashboard’, ‘Intelligence’ and ‘Goals’ tabs from the old interface and added the ‘Advertising’ and ‘Conversions’ tabs on the new menu.

New tabs have been added along the top, where ‘Home’ will take you to your dashboard and ‘Standard Reporting’ will take you to the familiar reports. ‘Custom Reporting’ allows the option to create your own reports based on customized factors.

In addition to the new features, some of key features from the older version have been switched around. For instance, the ‘Keywords’ tab, which used to be under ‘Traffic Sources’ in the older version is no longer there. Instead, you can find keyword tracking by going to Traffic Sources > Overview and your keywords are there on the right hand side.

Even with the new features and alterations to the layout, the new Analytics platform is straight-forward and easily understood. The Analytics team did a great job of providing an enhanced version of the Analytics we love, creating a visual approach to the variables that matter most, like conversions and site navigability. We sure enjoyed experimenting with all the new features on v5 and hope you will too. If you have any questions regarding the changes, or how to use a new feature, contact your SEO Agency.

Google+ has joined Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and BeKnown as the latest social media tool in the job seeker’s arsenal. According to a new report on CareerCast.com, Google+ allows you to keep your social life separate from your professional life and is a great way to connect with potential employers and find job leads. However, this hot new tool is still in beta so it’s only available by invitation from people who have already joined.  

If you’re lucky enough to score an early invite, Google+, unlike other social media sites, allows you to control which parts of your profile each of your connections sees.

“Through the use of ‘Circles,’ Google+ allows you to choose who sees each of your posts, photos, and videos,” explains Tony Lee, publisher, CareerCast.com. “You can also add potential employers and contacts to your circles without needing them to ‘friend’ you back.”

Another highlight of Google+ is the ability to edit your posts once they are published. Even one of the site’s drawbacks – your newsfeeds or “Streams” can be re-shared with friends outside your circle – can be overcome with a tool that allows you to disable re-sharing of posts.

“Hangouts” is Google+’s version of group video chat, which can potentially be very useful for long-distance interviews. Being able to do a video interview with a recruiter or hiring manager from the comfort of your home can be a huge savings and timesaver.

The “Sparks” feature of Google+ is a feed of current news stories related to interests that you select.  

“Keeping abreast of company and industry news is a great way to find leads and research employers before an interview,” says Mr. Lee.

Google+ is still developing its company-specific pages, so for now, it’s best to research a company on other services. For job seekers, the bottom line is that no matter what social media network you are using, make sure you maintain control of your brand across the Internet. Take some time to surf the web and see what a potential employer might find about you. Not taking control of your brand could cost you in a big way.

For more information or to read the full report, visit http://www.careercast.com/career-news/how-google-plus-can-help-your-job-search.

The social media market is primed for a new player that allows users to connect with friends, according to the 2011 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) E-Business Report, produced in partnership with customer experience analytics firm ForeSee Results. Despite a small improvement this year, Facebook (+3% to 66) is the lowest-scoring site, not only in the social media category, but of all measured companies in this report. The survey was conducted last month, before the widespread introduction of Facebook’s biggest competitor, Google+, but Facebook’s low score indicates that Google+ could easily pounce and gain market share if they can provide a superior customer experience.

“We don’t know yet how Google+ will fare, but what we do know is that Google is one of the highest-scoring companies in the ACSI and Facebook is one of the lowest,” said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results. “An existing dominance of market share like Facebook has is no longer a safety net for a company that is not providing a superior customer experience.”

Facebook is just one story emerging from today’s report. The ACSI E-Business Report covers three categories of e-business: social media, portals and search engines, and online news. This is the twelfth annual report of its kind, allowing companies and analysts to track the performance of these organizations over time by a critical metric: customer satisfaction.

Social Media: Wikipedia (+1% to 78) takes the top spot, while YouTube (+1% to 74) comes in a distant second. MySpace drops from this year’s Index because there were not enough users to create a statistically significant sample. Overall, social media is one of the lowest-scoring industries measured by the ACSI—only airlines, newspapers, and subscription television services score lower.  

Search Engines and Portals: Google leads the search engine and portals category (up 4% to 83), but Bing follows closely, jumping an impressive 7% in one year to 82. Anything over 80 is generally considered an excellent score. Bing has grown in market share over the last year and makes up roughly 17% of the search engine market, up from 9% last year.

“While Google+ is the challenger to Facebook’s established dominance in the social media sphere, in the search engine wars, Google is king and Bing is hoping to be a contender,” added Freed. “Last year, Google’s customer satisfaction score was three points higher than Bing’s. This year, that gap narrows to one point. Bing is showing it can challenge Google in terms of revenue, market share, and the customer experience.”

News Websites: FoxNews.com (82) has a strong lead on the news and information category and is five points ahead of the next highest-scoring site, ABCNews.com (+3% to 77). HuffingtonPost.com (69) debuts at the bottom of the industry. Satisfaction with NYTimes.com drops 4% this year to 73. The study was conducted during the same time the site began to implement their metered paywall, but it remains to be seen whether satisfaction will rebound as customers adjust to the new business model.

“E-business is still relatively immature in many ways, often more interested in technology than in satisfying customers,” said Claes Fornell, founder of the ACSI and author of The Satisfied Customer. “As competition gets tougher, this is likely to change, and the successful companies are going to have powerful cause-and-effect customer satisfaction measurement systems.  The losers will be the companies that underestimate the power of a dissatisfied customer and fail to upgrade their current measurement systems.”

For more analysis and complete historical scores, please visit www.theacsi.org or www.ForeSeeResults.com.

About the ACSI

The American Customer Satisfaction Index is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States. Data from interviews with approximately 70,000 customers annually are used as inputs into an econometric model to measure satisfaction with more than 225 companies in 47 industries and 10 economic sectors, as well as more than 130 federal government departments, agencies, and websites. Results are released on a monthly basis with all measures reported using a 0-100 scale. ACSI data have proven to be strongly related to a number of essential indicators of micro and macroeconomic performance. For example, firms with higher levels of customer satisfaction tend to have higher earnings and stock returns relative to competitors. Stock portfolios based on companies that show strong performance in ACSI deliver excess returns in up-markets as well as down-markets. And, at the macro level, customer satisfaction has been shown to be predictive of both consumer spending and gross domestic product growth.

Founded at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, the Index is produced by ACSI LLC and supported in part by ForeSee Results, corporate sponsor for the e-commerce and e-business measurements.

About ForeSee Results

As the leader in customer satisfaction measurement, ForeSee Results captures and analyzes voice-of-customer data to help organizations increase loyalty, recommendations and marketing value. Using the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), ForeSee Results identifies improvements across all channels and touch points that drive customer satisfaction. With over 60 million survey responses collected to date and benchmarks across dozens of industries, ForeSee Results offers unparalleled expertise in customer satisfaction measurement and management for clients around the world.

ForeSee Results, a privately held company, is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and on the web at www.ForeSeeResults.com. Connect with ForeSee Results at (www.ForeSeeResults.com/connect.html).

ATLANTA  (Profitable.com)  Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and Google will offer free in-flight Wi-Fi to customers on Delta flights equipped with Gogo Inflight Internet service between Nov. 20, 2010 and Jan. 2, 2011. With more than 540 Wi-Fi-enabled aircraft flying more than 2,200 domestic flights each day, Delta expects more than 11 million customers to benefit from this holiday promotion.

“Our frequent travelers live with us in the air much of the year, and we are always looking for ways to say ‘thank you’ for their business,” said Tim Mapes, Delta’s senior vice president – Marketing. “Our holiday promotion with Google’s Chrome browser team allows us to offer our customers free Wi-Fi as a small token of appreciation while also making it easier for them to squeeze last-minute shopping into their hectic schedules or connect with family members as they head home for the holidays.”

Delta began installing Wi-Fi on its domestic fleet in fall 2008 and today operates the largest fleet of Wi-Fi enabled aircraft in the world.

Customers using the free Wi-Fi during the holiday season can tag #DeltaWifi on Twitter to show they are tweeting from 30,000+ feet.  Users can also add the hashtag to their tweets to participate in discussions and follow other users by searching for “#DeltaWifi.”  More information on about Delta’s in-flight Wi-Fi services is available at delta.com/wifi.

Customers can find Delta online at delta.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/delta where bookings can be made through the industry’s first social media ‘Ticket Counter’.  Customers can seek real-time travel assistance by contacting DeltaAssist at twitter.com/DeltaAssist.  Travel tips and promotional information are available at twitter.com/Delta and Delta’s blog at blog.delta.com offers an “under-the-wing” perspective on customer-related topics.

Delta is focused on improving the customer experience, with an investment of more than $2 billion in full-flat beds in BusinessElite on 90 trans-oceanic aircraft, in-seat audio and video on demand throughout Economy Class on international aircraft, and new Delta Sky Clubs in Atlanta, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Philadelphia and Seattle.

About Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 351 destinations in 64 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 75,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry’s leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline’s service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, the world’s largest airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.

Terms and Conditions

Additional restrictions may apply. Offers subject to change. Use of the Gogo Inflight Internet service is subject to terms of use available at gogoinflight.com.