Getting to know Google Analytics.

After spending some time learning about Google Analytics I began working with it on my blog site, “SEO Webmetrics by KT”. Each facet of the tool is useful and I will focus on the ones that are most beneficial to me. Please keep in mind that my specific needs may be different than yours. The sections that I have found valuable are: Audience, Acquisition, & Behavior. There are two others which I don’t currently use but will discuss below, Real-Time and Conversions.  

An Overview
Since implementing Google Analytics on my IMC 642 blog I have received two visitors to my site. Of these both were unique visitors, each viewing one page. There is a series of steps I take when reviewing the data that Google Analytics has provided me with.

My Trip Across Google Analytics 
At the top right of very page there is a date range. By selecting the arrow to the right of the dates you may enter in any time period to review. This makes it possible to review data for a specific period and then compare it to another like period.

For example: I check my data on the first of every month. What I will do is enter the first through the last day of the previous month to retrieve my data. After I review it and take brief notes, I then enter the dates of the first and last day of the month prior to that. From there I can compare how my website if performing month to month. I also like to go in and select a whole year prior to see what my average is and compare it to my current data.

The Audience Control Panel 

The first reports that I review are in the audience tab. I start by reviewing the overview tab. This tab gives you the ability to look at one or two metrics at a time on a graph. The default is “Visits” and can be displayed hourly, by day, weekly, or by month. In addition, below the first graph the overview shows you how many visits, unique visitors, page views, pages per visit, average visit duration, percentage of new visits and your bounce rate.

Geography
After that I take a trip down to a section called “Geo” where I look to see what language my site is being viewed in. This will help me to make sure I am reaching the people whom I want to reach. It also gives me the ability to make some changes to my site if I were to see that I had a lot of people who speak another language visiting my site.

Next, it’s on to “Location” where I view a map that shows what country(ies) my web visitors are from. If I want to get more specific I select the country and then I opens and break it down by state. I can even go one step further by selecting the state of choice and the viewing what city(ies) people are viewing from. This would be ideal if I were trying to promote to a very specific geographic location. I would be able to see if my efforts were paying of in the form of visits.

Behavior
The behavior tab allows me to see my new vs. returning visitors and then compare the number of visitors of each. I can also compare the % of new visits, new visits, bounce rate, pages per visit, average visit duration and then goal conversion rate, goal completions and goal value if I had those set up.

Then I check out the frequency & recency to see how many page views the visitors have made during the specified time period. This tab also shows the count of visits. A trend I might notice is that out of 2000 visits about 75% of them have only come to the site once. Whereas another ten percent have visited two times and the remaining fifteen percent of visitors have come to the site three or more times. It also shows the number of page views in relation to the visits made.

Engagement is the final metric I visit in the behavior section. This section is simple in that it shows how many seconds your visitors were on your site. Most visitors will be either 10 second or less or somewhere in the mid range at 1-3 minutes.

Technology
Another section of interest is technology. Here we get a break down of the browsers our site visitors are using. One step below we can see which network or service provider our visitors are coming through.

Mobile
A great newer section is the mobile one. An overview shows us how many people are coming from a desktop, a tablet or a mobile device. When we drill down further we can see that some of our visitors are coming from an iPad, Kindle, etc. This information is great for letting you know how much time and energy you should put into making your website mobile friendly.

The Acquisition Control Panel 

The first stop of each section is always the overview. Here I can review how I have acquired my visitors. Some areas I might see are (not set), organic search, direct, social, referral and email. For each of those I can also simultaneously view the bounce rates, pages per visit and average visit duration.

Channels
In the channel view you can see (not set), organic search, direct, social, referral and email. Once you select one of these it opens a new page showing you where they cam from. For example when selecting organic search you will see which keyword got them to your site.

If you want to dig deeper you can check out the traffic and all referrals sections. Here it segments by where the traffic is coming from (Facebook, Google, etc. Along with the acquisition, behavior and conversions for each of these sources.

Campaigns
The campaign feature is excellent for tracking visitors who enter your site through your channels like email newsletters. Here you can see what email promoted them and also see the standard details: the % of new visits, new visits, bounce rate, pages per visit, average visit duration and then goal conversion rate, goal completions and goal value if I had those set up.

Keywords
The keywords are just as they sound, the key words people are searching before they land on your site. This can help you to tailor content for your site of you see a trend that is relevant. There are also three others that can be useful depending on your needs. These include AdWords, Social and SEO.

 

The Behavior Control Panel 

The final section that I have been referencing is behavior. Here you can look to see the behavior flow of where the people are staring on your site to the steps they take before leaving.

Site Content 
The site content pages shows us what pages are being viewed and the numbers of standard metrics such as pageviews, unique pageviews, etc. It also shows us the first page (landing page) as well as the exit pages.

Site Speed 
This section shows us the time it takes to load pages on your website. It will also provide you with help on how to increase your page load time.

In-Page Analytics 
The final section I review is In-Page Analytics. This feature shows you what percentage of people are clicking where on your website. It is an amazing asset to the Google Analytics platform because it can show you whether or not people are viewing what you want them to view and in the order in which you want the pages viewed.

Summary
As you can see Google Analytics is filled with myriad features, functions and metrics. For each person and each company the desires and reporting needed or wanted will vary. I recommend checking into each area to see what reports you like best.

Pay For Ads? A Look into Google AdWords and Facebook Ads.

Both Google and Facebook tout some pretty expansive advertising capabilities. Each was designed to help marketers, both large and small to connect with their target markets. Google and Facebook are ranked number one and two tops sites in the world, respectively, so it’s no wonder why these two giants are the leaders of online advertising.

Google’s AdWords is a pretty robust system with many features and a plethora of support for creating and managing your ads. They do not require a minimum budget for your campaigns and you can start and stop your ads at any given moment. As far as targeting your ideal client you can select by geographic location and keywords (ex. Orlando Wedding Photographer). All ads are real time and can be changed instantly if needed. You can pay for impressions or cost per click and the system tracks all of your spending. In addition you can monitor your results to see how your ad(s) are performing (Google AdWords, 2013).

Facebook, the number two contender, has also put together an amazing advertising platform. Like Google they allow you to select your own budget as well as start and stop your campaigns whenever you’d like to. You can also change your ads instantly to see if they could be performing better. To target the best client you can choose, geographic location, age, gender, and interest to name a few. They too have a monitoring system to help you track your performance and spending (Facebook, 2013). 

As you can see these two media giants are running head to head in this arena as well as many others. The biggest differences that I see are Google is the number one place to search for something and Facebook allows a more precise targeting. I think that both of these choices would be great for most businesses if you have a clearly defined plan and objectives.

References 

AdWords. (2013). Google. Retrieved November 11, 2013, from https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=adwords&continue=https://adwords.google.com/um/gaiaauth?apt%3DNone%26ltmpl%3Djfk&hl=en_US&ltmpl=jfk&passive=86400&skipvpage=true&sacu=1&sarp=1&sourceid=awo&subid=ww-et-awhp_nelsontest3_nel_e

Facebook For Business. (2013). Facebook. Retrieved November 11, 2013, from https://www.facebook.com/business/connect

Who is the Real King - The Content vs. Conversation Debate?:

The great debate is on and often we as marketers struggle to decide who is right. 

Writer, Michael Greenberg, swears by content and believes that it is the way to go.  It can be quite simply added onto a marketing calendar and treated as another to do in your company’s overall marketing plan. As long as you are meeting three requirements, content will take you to the top. “Have something to say. Say it often. Be interesting.” (2009).

Catherine Novak, a writer for Social Media Today, is on the other side and believes that conversation is the answer to the great debate. She says that “Content is just something to talk about” and can be useful in starting a conversation sometimes. If we set up our communications as a way to interact and start conversations we will be much more successful on all social platforms (2010). 

As a social media marketer I think that they are both important to help build a successful social market. There must be a delicate balance. You must have good content to drive people to your blogs, whether it’s through search engines or a push through your other social media channels. You must also have conversational posts on your social media channels to help relate to your clients and prospective clients. People want to feel like a brand is a real person and the best way to do that is to get personal.

Being in the photography business I see many types of methods for trying to produce great content and have great conversations. One photography studio that I follow has a great example of how both content and conversation are important. Let’s look at their blog Zach & Jody Photography. They use their blog to communicate about their products and services, share images from the weddings they photograph, gives reviews on products, share tips on photography techniques, and to share inspiring stories about their journey as photographers, husband & wife, becoming parents, etc. 

One recent personal post from their blog is about their maternity session. It is definitely a little look into a big part of their lives. The conversation tone is such that you feel like you are friends seeing a part of their journey. Some other conversation posts that they have contributed were about setting goals for the year and actually working towards them.

The other side “content” has a special place in Zach & Jody’s world too. Each week they post their “Photo Tips & Tricks”. These posts teach a variety of photography techniques for things such as Creating the Image and Background Lighting. This valuable content helps them to be seen as experts on photography and caters to the B2B part of their business, teaching photographers.

As you can see, there is a time and place for both content and conversation. Why don’t we put the debate to rest and embrace each part as something that is great?

References

Greenberg, M. (2009, October 20). Content is King of Social Marketing. MultiChannel Merchant. Retrieved November 11, 2013 from WVU Lesson 3 readings.

Novak, C. (2010, July 7). Why Conversation, not Content, is King. Social Media Today. Retrieved November 11, 2013 from WVU Lesson 3 readings.

The Blog. (2013). Zach & Jody. Retrieved November 11, 2013, from http://www.zachandjody.com/blog/

Are Higher or Lower Bounce Rates better?

The question seems like it would be easy to answer, but as with many things related to the ever-changing digital world it really depends. “Bounce Rate can be a sneaky metric that can change dramatically depending on the report you’re working with.” (Uzcategui, 2013). One thing that bounce rate is used to help define is website engagement. IMC 642’s Lesson 2 defines it as "single page visits divided by entry pages". Bounce rate is one of the easier metrics to review and understand. 

Simply put, it shows if people came to your site and immediately left or of they hung around and looked at additional pages. Kaushik (2010) defines this one with the four attributes of great metrics.

Uncomplex - "I came, I puked, I left" 

Relevant - it identifies where we are wasting money and which of our pages stink

Timely - It's a standard reporting feature and is instant on any reporting tool

Instantly Useful - All you have to do is look at it to see what you need to work on. (if you are at a 25-30% rate you are doing great, 50% needs help and 70% there is an immediate need).

Not everyone would agree with Kaushik’s “great job” marker though. Nick Eubanks, a writer on Search Engine Watch says that bounce rates should be looked at subjectively. "A high bounce rate can be indicative of a number of things but usually falls into one of two categories:

1.     You're acquiring the wrong kind of traffic to your page(s), or

2.     You're acquiring exactly the right kind of traffic to your page(s)."

Many times we all get so wrapped up in having such low numbers that we have discounted that it’s possible the goal was met and after reaching a page and bouncing from it the visitor was fully satisfied. Eubank does also go on to state that the pages in which you want conversion you should have a lower bounce rate while general information pages do not matter as much because a lot f people reach a website in pages other than the home page and may go directly to the information that they need. 

So why is a low bounce rate usually desired and how does it benefit you? Eubank states “Reducing the bounce rate on pages that have the highest volume of traffic from your highest converting sources means more engaged visitors and a greater chance of conversion.” If you find that you have a high bounce rate on any of your conversion pages you can do several things to help improve (lower) the bounce rate. 

• Making sure your site is free of pop-ups is a big one, as most people don’t want the nuisance. 
• Navigation should be intuitive, especially when the item(s) are important. 
• Design must be good, along with speed and mobile accessibility. 
• The site should be designed around your priorities while segmenting information into related and relevant categories. 
• Optimize your pages and be mindful of ads placed on your site as not to be too intrusive. 
• You should also make sure the message of your site is out in the open and easily found on each page. 
• Minimize distractions such as auto play music and videos. 
• As far as search and links are concerned prominently display a search box, leverage internal search, and open external links in new windows so your visitors don’t leave. 
• And last but not least make sure it is readable! (Eubanks, 2013).

By understanding the bounce rate metric you can make several changes to your site to reach your goals such as creating a flow of traffic to the pages you want people to end with. As with all marketing knowing what the goal of your website is and what you want the visitor to do while on it is a key part of creating a great website and helping your business to grow.

References

Eubanks, N. (2013, January 18). Reduce Bounce Rate: 20 Things to Consider. Search

Engine Watch. Retrieved November 1, 2013 from http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2237250/Reduce-Bounce-Rate-20-Things-to-Consider

Kaushik, A. (2010). Web analytics 2.0: The art of online accountability & science of

customer centricity. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing. ISBN# 978-0470529393

Uzcategui, J. (2013, May 30). When Bounce Rate is Not Bounce Rate in Google

Analytics. Cardinal Path Blog. Retrieved November 4, 2013 from http://www.cardinalpath.com/when-bounce-rate-is-not-bounce-rate-in-google-analytics/

What is Web Analytics?

Web analytics, in its most basic form, is used to measure traffic on your website. This information can be used to show you who your visitors are, what they do on your website, where they are coming from, how long they looked around and when they left (TopTenReviews, n.d). It “provides easy access to valuable insights — not just for content governance but also content planning. However, when used poorly, it can confuse and mislead rather than guide and inform.” (Allen, 2012).

It is important to know why you want to use web analytics and what you hope to achieve by gathering this information. Also, as a marketer and analyzer, you should learn what web analytics can and can’t do.  For instance, while some may like to believe that it is the most accurate data, it is not because of many third party issues that could compromise information (Allen, 2012). On the flip side, it can offer a way to challenge and validate assumptions about the use of your website. Web analytics can provide you with so much valuable information that can be used in order to see what your customers are really looking for. This provides you with the opportunity to learn how you can make their experience on your website better (Blogging Sense, 2013).

In order to decide what kind of software your business wants/needs you should look into a comparison of features and benefits of several options. The Top Ten Review gives you the ability to do just that. Currently, the top companies include Coremetrics, Omniture, WebTrends, Unica, HitsLink, VisiStat, OneStat, Clicky, GoStats, and NextSTAT. Each company and software has its own features, exporting ability, traffic stats, referrals, report stat intervals, events, visitor details, as well as help and support modules.

Features - The features that are offered with the various programs are: multiple site monitoring, customizable dashboard, bot/spider filtering, social media monitoring, mobile browser monitoring, mobile access, HTTS compatible, multi-language support, bounce rates, email reports, real-time data, campaign tracking, campaign ROI, and conversions.

File Exporting - The files can now be exported a number of ways which include PDF, CSV, XML, Excel, Word and HTML.

Traffic Stats – The stats available include pages views, unique visitors, visit history, entry pages, exit pages, exit links, events per page, events per visit, time spent on page, time spent on site, average visits per day, most popular pages, and visitor path.

Referrals – There are a few different types of referrals and they are each trackable. Internal referrer, referring domain, referring search engine, search keywords and phrases are the ways tracked as of today.

Report Stat Intervals- At certain times you may need to review data different ways. Today software can provide you with lifetime, yearly, monthly, weekly, daily, hourly and custom date range searches.

Events – Click-through, downloads, flash events, multimedia streams, error pages, favorites/bookmark stats, and RSS feed subscriptions are the available event that we are able to track. While there is quite a variety none of these are standard across the board.

Visitor Details – Many details about your visitors are great to know in order to help you market to them effectively on the web. These include: browser, operating system, screen resolution, cookies enables, JavaScript enabled, internet service provider, IP address, Organization/host name, Username, Country, state/region, city, time zone and language.

Help/Support – If assistance is needed with your analytics software you can reach customer service or help by telephone, email, FAQ/knowledge base, online chat, user moderated forums and training/tutorials.

Of the top analytics providers two of the ten are offered as a free service. In comparison to the others they are quite competitive except for the events.

References

Allen, R. (2012, October 22). Web Analytics: What Is It Good For? MeetContent. Retrieved November 4, 2013 from http://meetcontent.com/blog/web-analytics-what-is-it-good-for/

Blogging Sense.  (2013). Web Analytics and Your Business: Why Analytics Can Help You Succeed. BloggingPro.com retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://www.bloggingpro.com/archives/2013/06/11/web-analytics-and-your-business-why-analytics-can-help-you-succeed/

2014 Web Analytics Product Comparisons, (n.d) Top Ten Reviews. http://web-analytics-review.toptenreviews.com/