SEO Implications of Google Anlaytics Data
Web Analysts are always cautious when it comes to data sharing. Especially, when giving the data to Google in exchange of their free tools including Google Analytics.
If you are on the same boat and worried about losing your rankings then here is a quick video from Matt Cutt’s (head of Googles webspam team). In this video, Matt debunks the myth about Google using GA data for SEO or search ranking. Quick and informative!
Web Analytics Success Story: The Omniture Way
Here is a link to one the most inspirational web analytics success stories of our times. Josh James, Omniture co-founder and now the SVP & GM of Adobe’s Omniture Business unit reveals his success secrets.
The Inc.com article explains how he went from being a small town web designer to selling Omniture to Adobe for dollar 1.8 Bn. Some of the most interesting things that you can learn from this story are -
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Josh’s first commercial when he was just 4
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Life in Tokyo as a Mormon
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His first business venture
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First stab at web analytics
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Omniture’s failures and successes
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Adobe’s Omniture Acquisition story
Truly, an inspirational story that teaches us how to never lose hope and be persistent in life. Enjoy!
Quickly Integrate Facebook with Google Analytics
I found this really interesting post on “How to integrate Google Analytics to Facebook Fan page” and its worth sharing. The core of the integration is using image beacon version of Google Analytics. The blog author also provides a “Google Anlaytics link generator” tool that makes the code creation really easy.
For those who prefer not using the third party redirection, there is also an option to run code from your own servers. The advanced version of the code is written in php.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Please share your thoughts, insights and comments because it really helps me write more effectively.
Copy My Actionable Google Analytics Advanced Segments
In this post, I want to share some of my most frequently used Google Analytics advanced segments using Google Analytics segment sharing feature. These segments allow me to dissect data and produce actionable insights. To copy these segments simple click the links below, login to your Google Analytics account and create segments.
Before we begin, here is a quick video that explains how to create advanced segments in Google Analytics.
#1 Visits with Zero Goal Completion (copy segment) – Conversion should be the ultimate goal for your website. Using zero goal completion segment you can instant identify the traffic sources for all the non performing traffic. You can also identify the pathing data and optimize site navigation.
#2 True Backlinks (copy segment) – Backlinks are the key to organic search ranking and traffic. Banner placements on third party sites can skew your referral traffic data. Banner/text placement with direct links will show up as referrals in your referral report along with true backlinks from referring websites. This segment will exclude all the banner site traffic from the referral traffic.
#3 Partner referrals (copy segment) – Partner referral segment allows you to evaulate the performance of your channel partners. You can view the traffic and conversion data for the partner websites.
#4 Visitor Engagement (copy segment) – This segment allows you to measure the visitor engagement on your site. Visitors are more engaged if they visit multiple pages on your site.
#5 Early Adopters (copy segment) – The idea behind this segment is to find out all the marketing initiatives that are successful in driving visitors who convert on their first visit. Apply this segment and find out the keywords that are consistently driving leads / sales on the first visit.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Please share your thoughts, insights and comments because it really helps me write more effectively.
Web Analytics Scan 2.0: Instantly Check Web Analytics Tag Errors
Web Analytics has completely transformed on how we look at website performance measurement. Web metrics like bounce rate, page views and time on site have become the key focus of the web measurement vocabulary.
Even though there has been a fairly large amount of technological updates in the web analytics industry, the basis of the technology is still the good old java tag. Missing the java tag one or more pages of your website will result in loss of tracking and potentially impact your marketing dollars and profit.
Here are some of the most common reasons on why one or more pages on your site might be missing java code -
1. Added new page/pages
2. Updated existing page
3. Include file is corrupt
4. Added a new site section
5. Infrastructure changes including addition of a new web content management system.
Introducing Web Analytics Health Scan 2.0
Web analytics health scan is a powerful web based tool that allows you to quickly scan your website and identify the pages with missing web analytics tag. Web analytics health scan currently supports top 5 web analytics solutions including Google Analytics, Omniture, Yahoo Analytics, Coremetrics and Web Trends all in just one tool. The best part is there is no need for any code installation, plugins or downloads and did I mention it is completely free!
Watch this 28 second video to see how it works and continue reading this blog post to find out how to use the web based tool.
Here is how you can instantly scan your website and identify error pages-
1. Go to WebAnalyticsHealthCheck.com
2. Enter your domain in the box.
3. Select your web analytics solution from the drop down menu.
4. Hit Enter.
Within seconds, the web analytics health check scanner will scan your web pages and report back all the error pages. You can either wait until the scan is completed and download the excel report, or you can have the report delivered to you or your developer by email.
Once you have the report you can easily fix the error pages and gain back web tracking.
I hope you will find this tool useful. Please share your thoughts, insights and comments so we can make further improvements to this tool.
5 Tips for Negotiating A Winning Web Analytics Contract
If you are a web analytics manager or a senior web analyst then one of your job responsibilities is to negotiate analytics contracts. Like any other technology vendor contracts, the web analytics contract contains a multiple level of intricacies. Some of the technical jargons make it really hard to sign a good contract.
In this post, I am going to provide 5 powerful tips to pull a winning contract and become a hero in your organization. These tips are time tested and proven to work. I have personally used them to significantly reduce our enterprise analytics software cost and get more value add services on top of it.
#1. Request for Proposal (RFP) to multiple vendors
Always make sure to send out the request for proposal to multiple vendors. Getting multiple vendors to compete with each other puts you in the driver seat of negotiating the contract. You can use one contract to negotiate the terms on others. I would even inform each vendor that you have sent out RFPs to multiple vendors.
#2. Server calls
Even if you are a killer ninja negotiator, and you feel you have negotiated a low price contract for your organization. This still does not guarantee you will be paying less.
One of the most important line items of the web analytics contracts is the annual server calls volume. Your analytics account manager / sales rep may try to convince you for a lower server call volume so don’t book yourself weak. I use a “5x rule of thumb” to calculate the forecasted server calls volume because it allows you to scale easily. Here is the formula -
New Contract Annual Server Call Volume =
Total server calls for the highest traffic month in last three years (traffic from all tagged sections of your website and campaigns) x 5 x 12
You could definitely go higher than 5x multiple, but you should never go lower than that.
#3. Length of the contract
The length of the contract is another lever that your vendor could use to charge more money. As a best practice you should always sign only a 12 month long contract, unless it’s free. 
If you are concerned that you could lose money if the web analytics package prices go up then let me assure you that the prices of basic web analytics software are forecasted to go down. The reason behind is the increase in competition and exponential growth of the free Google Analytics solution.
Additionally, short term contracts allow you to shop around for better and more powerful solutions.
#4. Support hours
This is the most interesting piece of your analytics contract. You could pay a ton of money unknowingly for small issues like an account reset or lost password. Always negotiate to get free support if not then atleast try to get 10 hours of free support each month.
#5. Implementation & User Training
Most enterprise level analytics implementation and integrations are complicated. Your analytics vendor may charge you extra for new integrations or implementations. Always ask your vendor to train your web developers on web analytics implementations.
Lastly, negotiate a free live training package for all the web analyst in your organization.
In most medium to large business organizations, contract negotiation is done by procurement. If this applies to your organization then you can provide these tips to your procurement manager.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Please share your thoughts, insights and comments because it really helps me write more effectively.
Here is a list of other helpful blog posts -
5 Web Analytics Predictions for 2010 and Beyond
Troubleshooting Website Traffic drop with Web Analytics
Top 5 Coolest Web Analytics iPhone Apps
Case Study: Using Web Analytics to Optimize Media buy
I recently participated in a case study with Omniture Inc., (Adobe company) on the campaign attribution success stories. The case study explains how Rackspace Hosting used Omniture Genesis & Eyeblaster integration to improve our media buy campaign attribution and performance.
Here are some of the actionable insights -
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Automate display campaign management
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Track display view through conversions
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Develop better campaign attribution model
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Effective & efficient ad spend
I have acquired special permission from Adobe to allow my blog readers to directly download this informative case study. Enjoy reading and please share your feedback, comments and tweets
5 Web Analytics Predictions for 2010 and Beyond
I still can’t believe that 2009 has come to an end, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your comments, feedbacks and retweets. Your input has helped me become a better analytics blogger.
In this post, I will talk about my version of the web analytics predictions for the new year 2010.
#1. Web Analytics becomes Multi Channel Analytics
Web analytics has evolved from being a niche segment of the online marketing world to become a big piece of the web optimization pie. 2009 was the turning point for web analytics with free solutions like Google Analytics becomes more beefier and the shocking acquisition of the Omniture Inc. by Adobe systems.
Web Analytics is definitely not a standalone system anymore. I remember when Omniture co-founder Josh James announced in their 2009 summit, that “we are a web optimization company”. He was clearly trying to reposition his company from being a pureplay web analytics company to a web optimization organization.
In 2010, web analytics will play a bigger role in multi channel analytics. Offline marketing initiatives will be closely integrated with web analytics tools and systems. Partner and referral marketing will be aligned with analytics systems to provide a holistic view of the marketing & sales performance.
#2. Enterprise Analytics Companies will offer free / almost free Analytics solutions
Google Analytics entered the enterprise analytics battle with full throttle in 2009 when they announced several new advanced features. New features such as analytics intelligence, annotations, mobile reporting, and custom variables became instantly successful. Google’s strategy of leveraging the analytics guru Avinash Kaushik’s brand evangelism paid off big time.
In order to survive and thrive in 2010, enterprise analytics solution providers will offer free basic web analytics software as a value-add with a high dollar online marketing package. Companies will focus more on services side of the analytics technology to acquire new and keep existing customer until someone comes up with a highly advanced analytics solutions (prediction #4).
#3. Mobile Analytics 2.0 will become the new buzz word
In a fascinating post at the search engine land website, Joshua Odmark explained why this is the best time to focus on mobile marketing. Here are some of the staggering statistics mentioned in his post-
- 93% of the U.S adults own cell phone.
- Revenue generated from mobile channel totalled $1.6 billion in 2009.
- 5% of the top 500 online retailers offer mobile sites.
This exponential growth has already resulted in availability of mobile analytics tracking in popular web analytics tools. 2010 will be the year when mobile analytics will evolve from being a cookie based technology to pulse based real time analytics. The new analytics technology will be based on the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) number. This is an absolute unique number tying each subscriber back to their service provider.
Mobile analytics 2.0 will be beyond normal pages views, videos / mobile app usage. It will rely on the capturing the unique pulse data that a mobile phone emits to the nearest cell phone tower. Commonly known as the cell phone ‘heart beat’ this pulse carries the IMSI number. The mobile phone pulse is always active even when you are not using the phone, unless the phone is switched off.
The data from each pulse is stored with the phone service provider. Imagine the possibilities of using this data for behavior analytics. This technology will allow companies to get the entire social graph of a consumer. Personal information like their favorite hang outs, best friends, favorite restaurant and lot more will be accessible. This does sound scary and it will soon become a reality even after the rising concerns about privacy.
#4. Integration of Predictive analytical tools with Web analytics
Predicting the future outcome using historical traffic data has always been a fascinating topic for me. You are not alone if your senior management asks you to prepare a web traffic and conversion forecast model. Analytics providers will soon incorporate a predictive analysis system like SPSS into the web analytics logic.
For web analysts, that will mean greater success will day to day analysis and will make them a hero in their organization. For marketer managers, that potentially means greater success with marketing campaigns and higher roi.
#5. Automated Web Analytics Integration Technologies Emerge
Integrating web analytics software packages with CRM, adserver, and sales software has always been a pain in the neck. The promise of a “seamless integration” by the vendor falls flat when the rubber hits the road. The core issue is that the web analytics providers try to sell a one for all solutions for integrations. They fail to understand the intricate details of technical infrastructure of each organization.
Analytics providers will soon develop more sophisticated integration technologies to provide truly seamless integrations. This would allow web analyst to focus on actionable insights without getting their hands dirty 
.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Please share your thoughts, insights and comments because it really helps me write more effectively. Have a happy and prosperous new year
Top 5 Coolest Web Analytics iPhone Apps
Apple applications are raging the world by storm. There is hardly anyone who would not love to have one of these Apple mini computers. Web Analyst are not left behind and there are several apps that could improve analyst productivity.
#1. Analytics App ($5.99)
Analytics App allows you quick access Google Analytics on iphone/ipod touch. You can instantly get a snapshot of your GA account or access detailed analytics reports. One of the most reviewed GA app, analytics app allows you to create custom reports on the fly from within the app itself.
#2. HootSuite ($1.99)
After the exponential success of their web based application, Hootsuite recently launched the Hootsuite iPhone app. The iphone app is packed with same Hootsuite features like scheduling tweets, twitter list access, Twitter analytics and lot more.
#3. Omniture SiteCatalyst (Free for Omniture SiteCat Customers)
If you are an enterprise analytics evangelist and love SiteCatalyst then SiteCatalyst iPhone app is a perfect fit. The app allows you to access SiteCatalyst reports and dashboards on the go. You can also access mobile analytics data from the sitecat app. The only drawback is the app does not displays advanced graphs like funnel visualization and geo segments.
#4. Ego App ($1.99)
One of the coolest features of the Ego app is the ability to view the Feedburner statistics. The app displays statistics for several other services including Google Analytics, Twitter and Vimeo.
#4. SEM Calculator (Free)
SEM calculator has several complex paid search analytics calculations built into one app. Web Analyst often find themselves at the mercy of the SEM vendor for ppc calculations. This app increases analyst productivity by providing multiple calculations at your fingertip. When you are on the road or in a meeting, you can instantly calculate CPM, CPA, and other ppc campaign metrics.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Email me if you have any questions. Please share your thoughts, insights and comments because it really helps me write more effectively.
PPC 2.0: Google’s Top 3 Paid Search Updates
Paid search has always been my second hobby after the web analytics. It is pretty amazing how paid search has evolved over time.
With significant growth in social media, paid search growth has slowed down a bit year over year. According to latest research done by Forrester Research, Inc., more businesses will shift a larger percentage of their budget towards the social media marketing in next three years.
Source: March 2009 US Interactive Marketing Forecast Online Survey by Forrester Research, Inc.
Google being the biggest player in paid search marketing (more than half of their revenue comes from paid search), is ready to accept the challenge.
Besides adding live twitter updates (watch the video for details) in organic listings to improve search relevancy, Google is testing a lot of new things on the paid search side.
Here are some of the most useful updates on Google paid search-
Paid Search Site Links
Paid search site links is one of the coolest feature available to advertisers on brand terms only. It looks similar to the organic search sites links.
PPC site links offers more visibility on the sponsored links providing a better search experience for users and a higher brand term CTR for advertisers. The links can be used to display multiple offer pages or different product/service offerings.
This is definitely my highest recommended paid search feature. If you have not activated this feature on your account yet then talk to your search/account manager now.
PPC Image Ads
Google is now displaying product images (product extention) on the SERP sponsored listings for some of its advertisers. Advertisers can display multiple product image ads directly in the search results.
Advertisers will be charged on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis. The CPC will be the same for clicks on any one of the image ads. The ads can be controlled from the Google Merchant Center. These ads are triggered when someone searches for the keywords in your adwords keywords list.
This could definitely improve the click through and it will be interesting to see how this feature could clutter the search listings once its out of beta.
Product Listing Ads
Google recently announced the product listing ads feature. The output of this new feature looks similar to the product extention ads but the key difference is the spend model. PLA is focused on the cost-per-action (CPA) performance model. Advertisers will only pay once a user completes a purchase on their site.
Another key differentiator between the Product Extention ads and the Product Listing ads is there is no need for keywords list or ad copy for the latter. Google’s adwords engine automatically pulls the entire inventory from the advertisers Google Merchant Center based on search keyword relevance.
This is a pretty significant step from Google to incorporate the organic search relevancy to paid search.
Hope you enjoyed this post. Email me if you have any questions. Please share your thoughts, insights and comments because it really helps me write more effectively.
