The search query report in AdWords provides a great way to expand your keywords in a data-driven way. There are a lot of keyword tools out there to help you discover which keywords you should be bidding on so that your keyword list is perfect right out of the gate. I like the approach of […]
Where The Web Is Heading
Where Mobile, Social, Local and Personal all intersect. That’s where the web the heading. One in five searches on Google is a local search. (That number goes way when the user is searching on a mobile phone). 17% off all time spent on the internet is on social networks. Up from 6% a year ago. […]
3 Great Uses of Advanced Filters in Google Analytics
While going through different reprots in Google Analytics, analyzing what is and isnt working can be difficult if you have thousands of keywords, referring sites and pages in your reports cluttering everything up. You want to be able to efficiently look through them to find something useful. To do this use the Advanced Filter under […]
An Easy Example Of How To Use Google Analytics To Improve Your Site
This is one of the first things I look at when I analyze any website. Under Content in the left column click on Top Landing Pages. These are the most frequently landed on pages that your visitors see when they first come to your website. These are your “head” pages, which means that small improvements to […]
Simple PPC Bid Strategy Using Impression Share Report
When setting out to manage and optimize bids in paid search, looking at all the campaigns, adgroups and keywords at once can be overwhelming. I like using the impression share report as a starting point for focusing optimization strategies and managing bids. In AdWords make the following report: 1. Report Type: Click Campaign Performance. 2. […]
Consultants Are Overrated, You Need An Analyst
I think this screen shot from insights for search tells the story all by itself. The age of hiring a “consultant” are coming to an end. Why would you hire someone with all this so-called experience when your own business, with it’s specific problems and issues, has all the data it needs to figure out […]
Web Analytics Planning Dashboard In Excel
Sometimes while looking at all your web analytics data it’s difficult to figure out where to focus. This dashboard allows you to take a very maco look at where your site is at, define where you want to be in terms of revenue and then set some high up goals. This dashboard uses the following […]
Managing the Long Tail of Search
Long Tail keywords individually might not make the biggest difference to your overall PPC account. But in aggregate these long tail keywords can sometimes mean huge amounts of traffic and lots of money. Setting up you PPC account with your most popular, or “head”, keywords set to broad match is not an effective strategy to […]
How Brands Can Start The Conversation In Social Media
“Join the conversation” is a big buzzword these days for telling brands they need to start using social media. The idea is that there are already a lot of people out there talking about you so you’d better start being a part of what they are saying so you can overcome concerns or right wrongs […]
How To Quantify Success in SEO
SEO is a means to an end, not the end itself. You want your site to rank higher so you get get more traffic, but what use is more traffic if it’s unqualified traffic? Traffic that just bounces and whose intent doesn’t match your website’s purpose? I believe that the biggest mistake in SEO is […]