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Slides for a talk by James Gurd of Digital Juggler showing analysis techniques to help improve results from SEO.
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Digital Marketing Priorities 2013 Summit11th January 2013. Brought to you by:
Tips for using analytics to support SEO
James GurdOwnerDigital Juggler
This talk will discuss key ways to use web analytics techniques & tools to help you evaluate and improve your SEO performance.
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Agenda Setting goals, objectives & KPIs Benchmarking your data Evaluating keyphrase performance Evaluating impact of external links Evaluating assisted conversions Interpreting your data Key take-aways Useful resources
Please interact using the BrightTALK buttons:
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About me >14 years’ e-commerce experience B2B/B2C, Client-side, Agency, Consultant Owner of Digital Juggler since 2009 Work with brands like House of Fraser,
Argos, Sweaty Betty, Smythson, The Watch Gallery…
Guest blogger for Smart Insights & Econsultancy
Author of industry best practice guides on E-commerce RFP, B2B Content Marketing, SEO, Landing Page Optimisation etc
Co-host of #ecomchat on Twitter (Mondays)
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Setting goals, objectives & KPIs Give yourself clear targets
Goal – broad target e.g. Increase brand awareness
Objective – concrete & measurable e.g. Increase number of visitors using social sharing buttons by 100% within 2 months
KPI – measurement target Volume / Value / Quality
Image from trendhunter.com
Volume Value Quality
Total visits Average order value
Bounce rate
Total newsletter sign-ups
Per Visit Value Conversion rate (basket-to-order)
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Benchmarking your dataWhy do you need to do this?
No clear focus = Poor decision making
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Quick Poll1. Free web analytics package e.g.
Google Analytics.2. Paid web analytics package e.g.
Webtrends / Omniture etc.3. Proprietary analytics package.4. Log files.5. SEO software e.g. Majestic SEO /
SEOMoz.6. Other.7. A combination of the above.
Which tools do you use to benchmark SEO data?
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10 Steps to benchmarking data Step 1 – agree your KPIs Step 2 – map which tools contain data for each KPI Step 3 – Identify gaps & plug them Step 4 – define reporting requirements Step 5 – export historical data (ideally last 12 months) Step 6 – create KPI dashboard Step 7 – create helpful visuals (charts/graphs) for trends Step 8 – sense check data: valid? Step 9 – define data update schedule Step 10 – start collating new data!
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Example: using Excel
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Evaluating keyphrase performance
The obvious Ranking Impressions Visits Click through rate Transactions Revenue Average order value Per Visit Value New vs. Return customers
Further reading from Smart Insights:http://bit.ly/UD1FYQhttp://bit.ly/Woi95f
The overlooked - context Top landing pages Relevance to landing page Share of market (% of total
searches) Revenue potential based on
increased market share Seasonality Market trends
Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword & Google Trends
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Keyword opportunity gapWork out where the ‘big wins’ are
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Example: Advanced Web Ranking1
Plot ranking against competitors
2Monitor multiple keyphrase targets
3Monitor multiple search engines
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Example: Google AnalyticsReport: Traffic Sources > Sources > Search > Organic
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Top tip for analysis
Export data to Excel, then use lookups/pivots etc to organise and give the view you need
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Evaluating external links You need a full picture – rank / traffic /
value / impact Links aren’t just about keyword rank
Links also: Drive traffic. Support customer acquisition & retention. Increase brand awareness. Generate revenue. Provide competitive positioning.
Further reading from Smart Insights:http://bit.ly/13dTG8D
What type of link works best for your
website?
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Quick Poll1. Specialist SEO software e.g.
Majestic SEO / SEOMoz.2. Free web analytics package e.g.
Google Analytics.3. Paid web analytics package e.g.
Webtrends / Omniture etc.4. Proprietary analytics package.5. Other.6. A combination of the above.
Which tools do you use for external link analysis?
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Example: Open Site Explorer1
Compare link portfolio against competitors
2Profile links based on link source authority (impact)
3Identify linking pages and anchor text
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Top tip for link analysisAdd campaign tracking codes to each link so you can use analytics reports to evaluate the impact.
Useful tool:
Google Analytics URL builder.http://bit.ly/RCa1kU
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Quick Poll1. Yes – all the time2. Occasionally3. No4. I don’t know!Do you use
campaign tracking codes to support SEO analysis?
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Evaluating assisted conversionsWhich keywords/phrases are giving your conversions a helping hand?
A visit from a matched search query doesn’t guarantee a conversion.
Buying cycles can be multi-stage. There are often time lags between
first interaction and final sale. Last click analysis misses the
bigger picture.
How do you calculate the ‘real’ impact of an organic keyphrase?
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Example: Google AnalyticsReport: Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Top Conversion Paths
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Interpreting your data Is your data trend positive, negative or neutral? Think about visitor intent:
What keyphrase has driven them here? What would they be expecting? What are the logical next steps to take? Are these steps being taken?
A decline in performance can have multiple causes: Internal – website conversion issues / poor campaign targeting External – industry decline / search engine algorithm update
Combine multiple data source to validate assumptions: Web analytics data – the ‘what’ Voice-of-customer – the ‘why’ Industry / Aggregate data
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Quick Poll1. Yes2. No 3. Maybe – it depends on the context4. I don’t know!Is a high
bounce rate for a keyphrase a bad sign?
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Example: bounce rateA high bounce rate can be positive or negative
PositiveLocal search goes to local store landing page
NegativeOrganic listing for product keyphrase goes direct to product details page
Please note HoF webpages used only to illustrate the point, not as case studies as data on these pages unknown
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Example: keyword market trendsIs your data in line with market trends?
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Example: search engine updatesAre changes the result of industry developments?
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Key take-aways Planning puts you in control Understand what you want to measure &
why before you start doing anything Make sure you benchmark data to give
you something to compare future performance against
Get your analysis toolkit set-up Do analysis regularly – be proactive as
well as reactive Learn to interpret data using context Stay in touch with industry news &
developments – SEO is fast moving
Image from phys.org…questions please!
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Useful resourcesSmart Insights
James Gurd’s SEO article series (12 parts):http://www.smartinsights.com/author/james-gurd/Guide - 7 Steps to Successful SEO:http://www.smartinsights.com/guides/seo-7-steps-to-success-guide/
Other industry resources
SEOMoz bloghttp://www.seomoz.org/blogSearch Engine Land:http://searchengineland.com/library/seoGoogle Webmaster Central blog:http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.co.ukHistory of algorithm updates:http://www.seomoz.org/google-algorithm-change
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Thank you for your participationYour questions please
Please ask questions and rate this webcast
For more Answers to your Digital Marketing Questions use our free community
Best wishes for 2013!
http://www.smartinsights.com/answers
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THANK YOU!
The end…..
For more information:
E: [email protected]: +44 (0) 7794 539 399
W: digitaljuggler.comT: @jamesgurd
Keep an eye out for #ecomchat – weekly industry ecommerce chat – new topic every week
