Jones ryan seo-performancemetrics

1@RyanJones

Ryan Jones | SMX East. October 1, 2012Slides Online at www.RyanMJones.com

SEO Performance Metrics

@RyanJonesManager – SEO AnalyticsSapientNitro

www.SapientNitro.com

www.RyanMJones.com

2@RyanJones

“ How do you measure your SEO

recommendations? ”

- One of My Favorite Interview Questions

Note: If you want to hear more of my interview questions, We’re hiring a Sr. Manager in Chicago, Detroit or Toronto. Send me a resume.

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Lots of People Say This:

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Even More Say This:

Note: I took this from an actual e-book being sold online. If this is YOUR ebook, let’s talk.

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These are NOT the Metrics You’re Looking For...

Pagerank – Alexa Rank – Hits – Rankings – MozRank – Number of Links – Any “Score”

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So What IS the answer? The best answer is to ask another question.

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What’s Your Goal?Sales? Conversions? Leads? Awareness? These are all valid goals depending upon your business.

Goals Not Goals

Sales Visits

Leads Video Views

KPIs / LFAs Rankings

Awareness or Engagement

Facebook Likes, Twitter Followers

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“ Measure what makes sense, not

simply what’s measurable.”- Use your goals to create actionable KPIs that measure

success.

- Good KPIs should serve as reliable indicators and predictors of your goals.

- Statistical modeling and correlation can help – but be careful.

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“ I need search volumes on

Macbook Air And Macbook Pro.”- Your Boss

Sure Boss…MBA gets 4 million searches/monthMBP gets 9 million searches/month

Why?We’re marketing a newsletter to Mac ownersWell, you should use sales numbers then.Really?Yes! There’s more Macbook air owners than Pro owners

Let’s look at an example….

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Reporting vs. Analytics.Looking Deeper than Visits over Time

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“Reporting shows what the number

is. Analytics tell why and what we

should do about it”

Act * tion * able adj \ˈak-sh(ə-)nə-bəl\ 1: Capable of being acted upon

“What’s happening and what should I do about it?”

- your boss or client.

Rule of Thumb: If it doesn’t contain words, insights, actions, or recommendations it’s NOT analytics.

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Reporting: Actionable Analysis:

Down: 4Ball Location : 36 yd line

“It’s 4th and inches from the 36. Our RB is averaging 2.3 YPC and our kicker’s range is 42 yards.”

Reporting vs. Actionable Analytics.Referee Rhea Demonstrates the Difference.

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Quantum Measurement: The Observer Effect

Correlation is NOT causation. Optimizing toward one variable MAY change your correlation.

Example: YouTube Views Correlate To Sales.

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You Can’t Have Half of a Funnel

If you don’t fill the top, nothing comes out at the bottom.

Bad things also happen if you plug the hole at the bottom.

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That Same Funnel Can Be Used For Keywords

Home Page

Category Pages

Sub Category Pages

Product pages

Long Tail Keywords

Head KeywordsUFAs – Upper Funnel Activities

LFAs – Lower Funnel Activities

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The SEO Process Revolves Around Analytics

Discovery

StrategyExecution

Maintenance

Analytics

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Tips & Tricks You Can Use Today

Let’s Look At Some Examples

Apologize: we’re about to get all bulleted lists up in here

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Looking at SEO Visits and LFAs.

Ideally, Visits & LFA trends should mirror each other.

If they’re converging, build more high funnel terms.

If they’re diverging, it may be a conversion rate issue.

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“ Tip: Don’t just look at keywords,

look at upper and lower funnel

actions.”- Bucket Keywords into user intents

Keyword Bucket

Cost Paid Rank

SEO Rank

Paid Visits

SEO Visits

Paid LFAs SEO LFAs

Navigational

$1596

1 1 752 986 125 400

Blue Widgets

$396 1 1 600 250 481 49

Conquest $250 1 0 250 0 42 0

Red Sprockets

$860 4 12 1004 12 816 3

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Is That New Title Tag Working?Paid Search measures click through rates. SEO

can too!

Use Google’s Webmaster Tools for Impressions.

Calculate theoretical CTR, compare to actual

When launching new titles, did your CTR go up too?

Position % of Clicks0 0.0%1 36.4%2 12.5%3 9.5%4 7.9%5 6.1%6 4.1%7 3.8%8 3.5%9 3.0%

10 2.2%11 2.6%12 1.5%

• Get Impressions from GWT with PHP script at http://tiny.tw/9UI

Crazy Conspiracy Theory: Learn to Use WMT data now – if trends continue it may be all we’re left with!

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Tips For Analytics SuccessAnalytics involves words, insights, and actions – not just numbers.

If you can automate it, it’s reporting not analysis.

Measure what matters, not what’s easily measurable.

Correlation doesn’t mean causation. Optimizing for one of the factors may even change that correlation

Develop your goals first, then choose metrics that effectively measure those goals

There’s a forest behind the trees. Don’t forget to look at the big picture.

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* Download These Slides at www.RyanMJones.com

Thank You!

Thank You!@RyanJonesManager – SEO AnalyticsSapientNitro

www.SapientNitro.com

www.RyanMJones.com