Google has began to share more detailed data for each individual search query in the Top search queries feature in Webmaster Tools.  Users can now click on a given search query to see a breakdown of the number of impressions (number of times your site's pages appeared in the results for the query), as well as the amount of clickthrough (number of times searchers clicked on that query’s search results to visit a page from your site) for each position your site's pages appeared at in the results associated with that query.

In the past, the data in Webmaster Tools hasn’t been all that helpful other than the occasional finding of a crawl error. Their inaccurate information has often caused people to wonder what they're doing wrong and in some cases they even panic or waste time 'fixing' things that were not broken in the first place, just because they believe everything that comes out of Google.

This new data, assuming it will be accurate, will hopefully provide a new layer of information beyond that which we can typically get elsewhere. There's no other way to know the actual number of times an organic listing in Google is shown to people for a given keyword phrase. That's pretty interesting and important information.

Where we’ll see the real value though, is in conversion rate optimisation. Just knowing what your clickthrough conversion rate actually is, is a whole new set of data that we never had before.

Whilst there are going to be some questions around how precise the information is, the bottom line is Webmaster Tools are now  great deal more useful to a lot of site owners. In fact, a lot more site owners may soon be using Webmaster Tools for the first time.

Time is valuable. You probably already know that, but is it something you consider when it comes to your customers' time?

If you run an e-commerce business, you have to consider that consumers want to spend as little time on your site as possible. That's not because they don't want to buy from you, they just want to be able to do so quickly. The more time you make them spend on the buying process, the less likely they are to actually buy from you.

You probably include a form on your site to get your users information but think about how much you’re asking them for. Forms can really slow users down on a site and at the end of the day; you only really need a couple things.

Say, for example, that you have an email form and you're collecting email addresses to put them on your email newsletter, you ask for their name, interests, email address and you include some checkboxes like ‘where did you hear about us?’ You’ve seen other sites doing it, so you probably assume that's just a normal field, but when someone looks at it, they say, 'I don't really want to spend time filling that out.'"

Don’t you do that yourself? I know I do.

Try reducing the number of form fields that you put on your form and you’ll see a dramatic improvement in the number of people who will actually fill it out. Only ask for the information that you really need. The same goes for the check-out and registration process. Make it as simple and concise as you can, and you'll really increase those conversions.

Behaviour-targeted advertising is more than twice as effective at converting users into buyers. A new study by the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) found that behaviour-targeted advertising pulled in 2.7 times more revenue per ad than non-targeted advertising.

The study shows us how crucial behaviour-targeted advertising is to improving your conversion rate. Although behaviour-targeted ads sell at twice as much, they are clearly twice as effective as normal running ads.

This increasing significance of behavioural advertising will also now need new consideration of policies that may affect the current online advertising marketplace and the innovation it supports.

Other highlights from the study include:

•    The average relative cost of behaviour-targeted ads in 2009 was 2.68 greater than that of standard run-of-network advertising.
•    Behaviour targeted ads accounted for 17.9% of respondents' advertising revenue, with revenue increasing from 16.2% in Q1 to 19.4% in Q4 2009.
•    More than half of the respondents' advertising revenue - 54.6% - went towards the purchase of inventory and was therefore shared with publishers and content producers to support their businesses.

There are two main categories in marketing: Push and Pull.

Push marketing is basically when you push your marketing message on someone when they’re in the middle of something else such as driving a car, watching television or browsing the Internet.You may have heard this otherwise called ‘interruption marketing’ and you probably know exactly what I mean. Well, here’s a question for you; how do you feel when you favourite television show is interrupted by an advert for washing up liquid? Pretty annoyed I bet.

So it probably won’t surprise you when I tell you that the best way to increase your conversion rate is NOT through push marketing but through pull marketing.

Pull marketing is about putting your message in front of those who are actively seeking the products or services you offer. If they’re already looking for what you do, then this gives the perfect opportunity to solve their problems and meet their needs.

Some of the most common pull marketing tactics include:

•    Search engine optimisation
•    Pay-per-click
•    Social media sites
•    Newsletters
•    Tradeshows
•    Public speaking
•    Blogging
•    Strategic networking

In general, there’s a lower ROI associated with push marketing. You’ll get far fewer clients for every pound you spend and it requires more effort.

Pull marketing, on the other hand, is very targeted. It gets your message in front of your ideal clients, and it presents your business as the solution to problems that people are actively seeking help with. That’s why pull marketing has such a high conversion rate. It attracts more clients, and it takes much less effort.