Tip One: Who visits your website? Use Google Analytics.

Do you wonder who is viewing your website and how they found it? Google Analytics, a newly released service, is one of the better tools we've seen for analyzing web traffic. Even better, it's free!.

http://www.google.com/analytics

You'll need to add a small snippet of code to your website to generate the tracking data. Once installed you can explore interactive charts and reports with great data about the type of traffic your website generates. A global map showing the geography of you web audience is fun. More useful is a listing of Google searches that led people to your website.

Mac Users: For full access, use Firefox instead of Safari.

[Source: We saw this first on Seth Godin's BLOG. Update -- Google Analytics has limited the number of new sign-ups to cope with unexpected demand. Sign up now for the waiting list.]

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Tip Two: Clean your Desktop, Speed up your Mac.

Here is an easy tip to speed up your Mac, and possibly reduce the frequency of the rainbow cursor:

Reduce the icons on your Desktop!

Why? Mac OS X treats each desktop icon as its own little window. With only a few icons the result is minimal. But designers with a habit of burying their desktop with work may be paying a price in speed and stability.

So clean up the mess and speed up your computer a bit.

[Source: Left-brain readers may enjoy the original discussion on Mac OS X Hints.]

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Share tips and win music! Each week we're giving away a pair of $15 iTunes cards to a randomly chosen new Seattle-area subscriber PLUS the friend who referred them. Pass this newsletter along using the "Forward to a Friend!" link at the bottom and tell your friend to give you credit when they sign up! Last week's winners: New subscriber, in-house designer Daniel McElwee at Coinstar referred by creative services manager Paul Kidd also from Coinstar.

QuickTips is a free weekly e-newsletter from CreativeTechs, Inc. Each week we publish a fresh mix of left-brain and right-brain tips based on our real world experience supporting hundreds of creative teams in the greater Seattle area. For a complete archive of previous tips, visit www.creativetechs.com/tips

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