Understanding Google AdWords & Analytics
Rachael Gerson (@rachaelgerson)- Self-proclaimed data junkie- Google Analytics Top Contributor- GA Certified - 4 ½ years at SEER Interactive in SEO &
Analytics- Lover/owner of cute puppy named Cooper
Proud alumni of Villanova University – Go Cats!
Aaron Levy (@bigalittlea)- 5 years in digital marketing- 2 years at SEER Interactive in PPC- AdWords & AdCenter Certified- Managed budgets from $500 to
$100k/mo in B2B & B2C- (Usually) a pretty good hockey player
Is your online advertising working?
Hint: there are only two possible answers.
Step 1: Set Goals
• Establish a key success metric before you do anything else
• Cost Per Acquisition – Use lead-to-sale ratios and avg. customer value to back
into an appropriate figure
• Return on Ad Spend/Investment– Find the break even point
• Page Views/Visit– If the goal is traffic, make sure it’s good traffic
Set a metric to beat – CPA ceiling or break even ROAS %.
Don’t forget your brand name!
Step 2: Select keywords
If the keywords have no search volume, you won’t be eligible.
Don’t just guess
Google Keyword Tool – Start with the basics & see what the tool proposes.
Use the free tools available
Search Suggest – especially with the advent of Instant, these are terms you need to bid on.
Use what the engines tell you
Soovle – see up to 15 engines suggestions at once.
Use what all sites tell you
Use keyword tool exports & suggest to find initial negatives. Use query reports to grow the list.
Be a Negative Nancy
Broad for volume, exact for control.
Find the perfect match (type)Keyword = brown wingtip shoes
– Buy shoes with wings– Buy brown shoes
– Brown wings buy– Brown wingtip shoes
– Brown wingtip shoes– Wing tipped shoes brown– Buy brown shoes with wing tips
– Where can I buy brown wingtip shoes– Brown wingtip shoes
–Brown wingtip shoes
Broad MBM Phrase Exact
Include negatives in your estimates & don’t bid more than you can afford; you don’t NEED to be #1.
Don’t fall into a money pit
Example of organization directly from the Google Help Center.
Step 3: Be meticulously organized
Make sure to separate top performers into individual campaigns to ensure 100% visibility.
Build strong campaigns
• Budgets – Make sure your keywords
have enough $ to generate data
• Importance– Stronger keywords get more
$!
• Relevance
• Ad Extensions– Sitelinks, Phone #, Products
• Geo Targeting & Dayparting
Per Google, every keyword with 1,000+ monthly searches should have its own ad group.
And keep ad groups relevant
• Ad copy is set on the ad group level– Each copy point should speak directly to top terms
• Separate high volume terms into their own ad groups
• Set ad groups logically & control where copy shows– Different colors = different ad groups– Different products = different ad groups– Different search intent = different ad groups– Get granular
Make your ad stand out.
Step 4: Craft crafty ad copy
You don’t have long – engage the audience quickly.
Don’t be this guy
Everyone uses best practices. Use them differently.
Or these guys
You can stand out and still use the same formula. Test & optimize!
Be different, but be smart
Winning ad copy equation.
Clear call to actionResonates with landing page
Answers “why should I…” + Contains top volume keyword
Be edgy, but not too edgy.
Step 5: Pick (or build) landing pages
Page populates with brown wingtips, value-adds clearly displayed on the top.
Strong eCommerce
Weak eCommerce
No Twitter. No brown wingtips. No dice.
Quantifiable value propositions directly related to landing page. Clear call to action, customer testimonials.
Strong lead generation
Too many to count…
Weak lead generation
- Broken landing pages - No clear call to action- Lacking relevance from
ad to landing page- Tough on the eyes- Unsubstantiated claims- No privacy policy- Asking for too much
No need for external conversion trackers.
Step 6: Install & test tracking
Separate your PPC traffic from organic.
Don’t forget Analytics!
Initial settings were designed by engines for most volume, not best performance.
Step 7: Adjust settings
Both campaign types should be structured much differently (whole other session)!
Networks & Devices
Use Accelerated delivery for Brand & top performers to capture all volume. But make sure you have the $.
Ad delivery settings
Warning: the more granular you get, the less accurate the target is. Recommend staying on Metro level.
Location targeting
Launch early in the week so you can keep a close eye on early performance & optimize!
Launch!
…and beyond
The beauty of paid search is that we have data on everything. Use it.
- Test Ad Extensions (+CTR)- Test Ad Copy (+CTR, -CPC)
- But check for Statistical Significance- Mine Search Query reports to grow
negatives & keyword targets (+CTR, -CPA)
- Test & tweak your landing pages- Set up Google Alerts, watch Insights
- Know what’s going on in your space - Link to +1 accounts- TEST EVERYTHING
Your Knowledge Level
Newbie – Never used GA
Beginner – Use GA on occasion, can navigate through
Intermediate – Power-user, never sets up profiles
Advanced – Use & set up profiles regularly
Start Using GA
Some Do’s and Don’ts
Make sure this code is on every page of the site, prior to the closing </head> tag.
Google Analytics Code
Do: • Include the GA code on every page
Regular code cannot go on a site with multiple domains or mobile sites.
Google Analytics Code
Don’t:• Use regular code on sites that span multiple domains
or mobile sites• Use more than one set of the same code
Google Analytics Code
Do: • Let plugins do all the work for you!
Know these guys?
Make sure you’re driving the right traffic.
Visits = $
Don’t Be These Guys
Which Metrics Should You Be Monitoring?DO focus primarily on:
Visits&
Conversions / Transactions
Data can come into GA up to 24 hours late.
Visits
No visits = no salesMore visits SHOULD = more sales
Make sure the whole team is on board with the KPIs prior to setting up goals.
Conversions & Transactions
Non-eCommerce site:Figure out your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) &
create GA Goals
Reports should connect actions on site with $$$.
Conversions & Transactions
eCommerce site:Add eCommerce tracking to get detailed reports on
transactions & revenue
Which Metrics Should You Be Monitoring?DO focus secondarily on:
Bounce Rate
Use Bounce Rate as your indicatorthat you may be losing quality traffic & $
A bounced visit will show in GA as 0:00 time on site.
What is Bounce Rate?
Google Analytics definition:Visits in which the person left your site from the
entrance (landing) page
What is Bounce Rate?
Avinash definition:I came, I saw, I puked, I left
This is AvinashHe’s the Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google.<3
A high bounce rate isn’t always a bad thing.
What’s a Good Bounce Rate?Depends on the site & the industry
High bounce rate = BAD• eCommerce product landing page
What’s a Good Bounce Rate?Depends on the site & the industry
High bounce rate = Inconclusive• Blog• Research article• Recipe site• Sites with AJAX, Flash, etc.• Service site with a phone number listed
What’s a Good Bounce Rate?Depends on the site & the industry
High bounce rate = Good• Affiliate site
Time on site is a critically flawed metric to report on.
Which Metrics Should You Be Monitoring?DO NOT focus on:
Time on Site
Why?• How they’re calculated
• Browser behavior
Segment EVERYTHING
Another Avinash Tip:
“Never report a metric without segmenting it to give deep insights into what that
metric is really hiding behind it.”
How Do I Segment?
Several easy segmentation solutions in GA:
Instant Filters Advanced Segments Profile Filters
Use RegEx to consolidate multiple items.
How Do I Segment? Instant Filters
Advanced Segments can cause the dreaded Fast Access Mode.
How Do I Segment? Advanced Segments
Filters work from the day they’re applied. They do not work retroactively.
How Do I Segment? Profile Filters
Use GA to Answer Questions
Do I need a mobile site?
Which traffic sources convert best?
Which keywords drive the best traffic to my site?
How does my social media perform?
Do I Need a Mobile Site?
Do you already get mobile traffic?
Should I Make a Mobile Site?
How do visits for mobile compare to desktop?
Look at Conversion Rate, Bounce Rate
View the site on your phone!
Let the data make your decision.
Always dig deeper.
Which Traffic Sources Convert Best?% of Total Goal Completions
SEER’s sweet spot = SEO
Which Keywords Drive the Best Traffic?
Look at ONLY Social Traffic
Set up however you prefer, but find a way to limit the data to only social
Advanced segments cause fast access mode.
Look at ONLY Social Traffic
Example – Compare Visits
Top pages don’t match across different sources.
Look at ONLY Social TrafficExample – Compare Top Landing Pages
Look at ONLY Social Traffic
Example – Compare On-Site Behaviors
Create an advanced segment to only analyze “Twitter” traffic.
What Does Twitter Look Like in GA?
t.cotwitter.com
hootsuite.comtweetchat.com
tweetdeck.comtweetgrid.com
twittergadget.com
api.twitter.commobile.twitter.com
Launched March 2011
Eight of the New Features
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?
Usability update.
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?Searching in Menus
Dashboards aren’t shared between accounts.
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?Dashboards
Create dashboards for each group, based on their needs.
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?Dashboards
Use Keyword Clouds to visualize top keywords.
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?Keyword Clouds
Multi-Channel calculates attribution from Direct differently from the rest of GA.
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?Multi-Channel Funnels
(Google’s attempt at attribution)
Direct
Referral
Organic Search
Use Real-Time Reports to test campaign tracking.
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?Real-Time Data
Use these numbers to show relative trends.
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?Webmaster Tools Integration
Why use it?
• 40% of people abandon a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load
• A 1 second delay can result in a 7% reduction in conversions
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?Site Speed
Only one line of code needed to integrate social for AddThis. ShareThis doesn’t need any changes.
Analyze how users are interacting with Social Plugins
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?Social Engagement
PDF Export & Email Report – Temporary
Old GA turns off January 2012
What Do I Need to Know About New GA?Missing Features
Hootsuite
Don’t Limit Your “Analytics” to Google Analytics
Don’t Limit Your “Analytics” to Google Analytics
Don’t Limit Your “Analytics” to Google Analytics
YouTube
Don’t Limit Your “Analytics” to Google Analytics
Tip: Add a + to any bitly URL to get the stats.
Don’t Limit Your “Analytics” to Google Analytics
Use Topsy to find & reach out to influential people sharing your link.
Don’t Limit Your “Analytics” to Google Analytics
Tweets are not all equal
Don’t Limit Your “Analytics” to Google Analytics
Point – Lots of other FREE tools available!
???
• Loading Time Statistics - http://blog.kissmetrics.com/loading-time/• Amazing analytics blog - http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/• GA setup checklist -
http://seohimanshu.com/2011/06/03/google-analytics-setup-checklist/• Google Analytics RegEx tips -
http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/basic-regex-for-google-analytics/2011/02/11/
• GA Help Forum - http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Analytics?hl=en
Analytics Links
• AdWords Keyword Tool -
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
• AdWords Traffic Estimator - https://adwords.google.com/select/TrafficEstimatorSandbox
• Soovle -http://www.soovle.com/
• Analytics URL Builder Tool - http://www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?answer=55578
• AdWords Help Forum - http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/AdWords
PPC Links • What to watch for post-launch -
http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/youve-launched-a-new-ppc-campaign-now-what-5-things-to-watch/2011/09/12/
• More on Search Query reports- http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=68034
• Split Testing Tool
http://www.websharedesign.com/tools/ppc-ad-split-testing-tool/
Is My Bounce Rate Good?Know your site. Know what matters to you.
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