If you’re a diehard search marketer, you probably find web analytics conferences a bit strange. Many of the speakers are versed in the nuances of customizing third-party analytics platforms like Google Analytics, Omniture, and ClickTracks. But many of them seemed to have learned to sprint before they learned how to walk. I’ve been struck by how often search marketers have been told to pay close attention to some arcane point about an approach to data interpretation by people who have rarely, if ever, lived and died by the performance of an actual client paid search campaign. While the " [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Paid Search | SEM Tools: Web Analytics

You're already using your smartphone to search and surf the web. You're using it to read and write email. You might be using it to tweet, post to your blog, or network on Facebook. If your smartphone is an iPhone, you can also use it to keep an eye on all the sites in your Google Analytics account. With the recent launch of Analytics App, there are now three primary apps that bring Google Analytics to the iPhone; myAnalytics and Analytics Pro are the others. Analytics Pro also has a "lite" version. But are they any good? After using each of them during the past week, I can answer that qu [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Features: General | Google: Analytics | How To: SEM | SEM Tools: Web Analytics | Top News

Marin Software has introduced a new tool that the company says is unique in the industry. It's called "Multi-Conversion Tracker." It enables search marketers to define various kinds of actions or "conversions" (e.g., newsletter sign up, e-commerce transactions, e-mail capture, etc.). That process then enables SEMs to determine the relative performance of keywords and ad copy in terms of those defined conversions. They can then refine and fine tune their keyword bids accordingly. Here's how the company explains various use cases: The new feature, now available to all Marin Software use [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | SEM Tools | SEM Tools: Web Analytics

Yahoo has announced that they'll begin to roll out Yahoo Web Analytics (beta) on a limited basis beginning this week. According to Jitendra Kavathekar, Yahoo's Web Analytics VP, the service has already been made available to select Yahoo advertisers and third-party application developers. The next "big deployment," Kavathekar says, will be for Yahoo's 13,000 e-commerce customers hosting under the Yahoo Small Business service. Beyond that, Yahoo Web Analytics will continue to roll out for the rest of this year and into 2009. Yahoo's analytics service is a result of the company's purchase [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | SEM Tools: Web Analytics | Top News | Yahoo: Web Analytics

In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today's in-depth look, "web analytics for (SEM) dummies part 3: online resources to learn more, a free tool to double-check your Google Analytics implementation" and this week's free tips and tools. News from the search engines Google AdWords: Conversion tracking site stats logo is now optional As reported on the Inside AdWords Blog: Conversion tracking users are no longer required to dis [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Search Marketing Toolbox | SEM Tools: Web Analytics

When I attended South by Southwest 2008, I had the pleasure of attending a panel where four somewhat lost panelists were (with difficulty) trying to come up with metrics to measure success from a social media marketing campaign. I was a little annoyed when they concluded that there were no metrics available right now, and that someone would have to come up with a new way of measuring social media success. While many people argue that the current metrics are no longer applicable, here's a look at how we can adapt the currently available methodologies and apply them to social media marketing [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Search & Social | SEM Tools: Web Analytics | Social Media Marketing

In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today's in-depth look, Web Analytics for (SEM) Dummies Part 1: Basic Terminology, a Free Geocoding Tool and this week's free tips and tools. News from the search engines Google AdWords: AdWords Seminars From the Inside AdWords blog: Due to the success of the AdWords Seminars program, we’ve recently added a third level which builds upon the two existing AdWords Seminar levels. To help our [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Search Marketing Toolbox | SEM Tools: Web Analytics

Google offers Google Analytics. Microsoft has its "Gatineau" or recently renamed Microsoft adCenter Analytics service in beta. So I suppose it was inevitable that Yahoo get in on the web analytics action. The company announced today that it is acquiring Tensa Kit, which produces the IndexTools analytics service. Products from Google and Microsoft are free to use, and it sounds like IndexTools -- currently a fee-based product -- will shift to being given away: Following the acquisition, the first group of customers to benefit from these enhanced tools will be more than 150,000 sm [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | SEM Tools: Web Analytics | Yahoo: Other

Many people jump into social media marketing because they feel they "should be doing it." Many times companies don't take the time to identify their goals and why they want to engage in a campaign. Identifying and measuring social media metrics can be easy and inexpensive. Here are some simple things to keep in mind and free ways to track them. This list is based on a viral marketing / linkbait campaign where you are tracking one URL. Traffic. Is your goal to get more traffic? Are you looking for more brand recognition? Do you have CPM based advertising on your website? Measuring tr [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Link Building: General | Link Building: Linkbait | Search & Social | SEM Tools: Web Analytics | Social Media Marketing

Are you still measuring your SEO success by the rankings you obtain? If so, you need to stop—right now! Here's why: 1. Rankings are constantly fluctuating. You might check rankings one minute, then check again a few minutes later and see different results. 2. Search results are sometimes geotargeted. The search engines know where you're located by your IP address, and if they want they can (and I believe they do) sometimes point you to pages that are closer to where you are searching from, as they assume those results might be more beneficial to you. 3. Personalized search. If y [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Channel: Analytics | SEM Tools: Web Analytics | SEO: General

When Google Reader launched new subscriber figures earlier this week, I touched base with Google to find out if they'd be doing a real top blogs list rather than the ad-hoc ones now out there, plus how often the stats were updated and a few more things. Answers have come back from Google Reader product manager Nick Baum. Will a top list come? He can't say. But he did say figures are updated roughly every day and anyone with a subscription is counted, regardless of whether they read the feed. Longer answers are below. Question: Why did you start reporting counts? Nick: We had the data [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Google: Reader | SEM Tools: Web Analytics | SEO: Blogs & Feeds | Stats: Popularity

"I know that half of my advertising dollars are wasted...I just don't know which half." It's not a joke: it's an astute observation from pioneer marketer John Wanamaker. John was a Philadelphia businessman who conceptualized the department store in the early 1900s. Today, 100 years later, we share the same problem Wanamaker faced of identifying which advertising works and which doesn't. The challenge is compounded by the need for better accountability of our advertising dollars. The days of unlimited online marketing budgets with no responsibility are over. CMOs, CFOs, CEOs, and oth [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | SEM Tools: Web Analytics | Small Is Beautiful

Google announced today at the eMetrics Summit in Washington, D.C. new features for Google Analytics, plus a much desired beta release of Urchin software. The new Google Analytics features include site search reporting and event tracking. The site feature will be available worldwide soon, and will enable you to track internal searches on your site and apply those site searches to other metrics on your site. The site search reporting feature also works with Google Custom Search, GSA, Google Mini, and many other non-Google site search products. The event tracking feature is launching in a lim [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Google: Analytics | SEM Tools: Web Analytics

Google Webmaster Central has gone live with a new "subscriber stats" area showing statistics of how many people read your feeds through the iGoogle personalized home page and Google Reader, as well as a new look and user interface for GWC. Below, more about both, as well as issues for those tracking feeds through services such as FeedBurner. I like the new look, and Google says it is designed to better group similar tools and reports together. Here's the overview page: Off to the left, you can see a box with the five main groupings of tools and reports: Diagnostics Statistics Li [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Google: FeedBurner | Google: iGoogle | Google: Reader | Google: Webmaster Central | SEM Tools: Web Analytics | SEO: Blogs & Feeds

In previous articles, we covered Structuring an In-House Team and Creating the Search Engine Marketing Needs Assessment Report. So now your in-house search team is in place and the search department has gained insight into the key performance indicators (KPIs) they are responsible for influencing, as well as the resources available to accomplish search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing (SMM) objectives. After establishing these fundamental requirements, the in-house team and trainer will need to prove that SEO and SMM are driving an increase in the previously established [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | In House Search Marketing | Search Marketing: Public Relations | SEM Tools: Web Analytics

Enquisite, a provider of free analytics software, has introduced a product called "PPC Assurance." The aim of the product is to help search marketers identify whether their campaigns are performing as intended and to identify clicks that fall outside the parameters of their campaign guidelines or clicks they were billed for but never received. The product also has a feature that permits marketers to submit the errant click data automatically to search engines for refunds or credits. For example, a search marketer based in New York that was geotargeting selected markets on the East Coast and [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | SEM Tools: Web Analytics

Google Analytics today has released a new version of their web analytics tool. I spoke with Brett Crosby, Senior Manager of Google Analytics about the release, which he explained was a completely "new platform" to enable "non-experts" to use sophisticated web analytics without expert intervention. The screen shot above is a view of what a sample Visitor Overview page may look like in the new Google Analytics. The new user interface should enable easier use and comprehension of the reports and metrics within the data sets. Brett explained to me that the new user interface truly puts the [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Google: Analytics | SEM Tools: Web Analytics

StoneTemple Consulting is in the process of conducting a 2007 Web Analytics Shootout where they are comparing five different web analytics packages. The software packages included in the comparison are Clicktracks, Google Analytics, IndexTools, Unica Affinium NetInsight, and WebSideStory HX Analytics. Most people have their own preference, but what I am hoping to see come from the final report is an objective answer on the most valuable analytics package on the market. However, you can currently see a lot of data from the interim report. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | SEM Tools: Web Analytics

Back again with a daily stats and traffic review for Search Engine Land. When I did the first one yesterday, I warned this wouldn't be a daily activity. But we had another record traffic day, including making the Delicious home page. That's going to make for some nice comparison to Digg traffic for a future post. In the meantime, here's are the top stories yesterday on Search Engine Land and what drove traffic to them, as well as some tips on Google Analytics and analytics from FeedBurner. Before I dive into the stories, just a quick tip on what I'm doing, which may be helpful to other Goo [...]

Related Topics: About Search Engine Land: Daily Stats | Channel: Analytics | SEM Tools: Web Analytics

As promised, here's the first in regular monthly updates on how Search Engine Land is growing. I hope the traffic statistics look will be both interesting to the curious and informative about how various places can turn into traffic generators. For December 2006, we had about 93,000 page views, or about 4,400 page views per day. Actually, those are "AdViews," the number of times ads were shown as reported by our ad serving software. We only began showing ads from December 11 onward, so I have to turn to our Google Analytics statistics to talk about the entire month. Let's dive into [...]

Related Topics: About Search Engine Land: Daily Stats | About Search Engine Land: Monthly Stats | Channel: Analytics | Search Marketing: General | SEM Tools | SEM Tools: Web Analytics | SEO: General