Google Analytics — The Experiment

This blog is, in part, a venue for sharing my newfound Web analytics knowledge. Its primary purpose, however, is to provide me with an opportunity for hands-on learning with the tool Google Analytics. Once I added the tracking code to my site, Google Analytics began collecting data about visits to the blog. Now that it is time to look at the data, my first reaction is that I wish there were more to analyze! A brand new blog about a niche topic written by a non-expert does not exactly shoot to page 1 of the search engine results. As such, one interesting report to view is Traffic Sources, as it tells me how my few visitors are finding the blog.

A New Era in Advertising

Cost per thousand. Four-color process. Rates per column inch. Readers per copy.

You may recognize these terms as belonging to the advertising lexicon. Today, however, advertisers are just as likely to talk about cost per click, bid price, and click through rate. With the dawn of the Internet and the rise of both search engine marketing and social media, companies have more options when considering where to spend their advertising dollars. This post will discuss two popular choices for online advertising, Google Adwords and Facebook Ads.

Content First, Then Conversation

Picture this: You arrive at a networking event or cocktail party and strike up a conversation with another guest. You trade elevator speeches about your jobs. You chat about the weather. You move on. It’s awkward. We’ve all been there.

But sometimes, you have the good fortune of meeting someone whose work really interests you. Maybe she can provide insight into a problem you have been trying to solve. Or can share her personal experience with a product you are considering purchasing. You stick around because you are getting value from the exchange.

This analogy demonstrates why content should come before conversation. Don’t get me wrong; both are important for a brand trying to attract and retain customers. Conversation can be so much richer and more productive, however, when it is based on solid, valuable content. You have to give people something to talk about.

Are you part of the 3 percent?

While you may think there is nothing particularly exciting about your daily morning Web-surfing session, there are probably lots of marketing professionals who would jump at the chance to hover over your shoulder, observing your every mouse click. But, that’s creepy. So, instead they will view your activity as a data point on a Web analytics report. Whether you are reading the news or buying a gift, you leave a trail of data that, when combined with lots of other data, provides valuable information that has the potential to help a company increase its readership or boost its sales.

For example, do a large percentage of people exit the site upon reaching a specific page? If so, how can that page be modified to encourage continued browsing within the site? Are people more likely to make a purchase after their third visit to the site? If so, how can new visitors be enticed to return again soon?

If a tree falls in a forest…

You have likely heard the age-old question: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? The Boston Business Journal recently proposed a more modern version of the query: “If you have content, but no one sees it, does it really exist?” (Plumb, 2012).

Clearly, it exists, because someone (maybe you?) has spent valuable time writing crisp, concise text and selecting the perfect, attention-grabbing images for your website. So the real question is: Does it bring you any value? Black Tie Marketing (2012, para. 3) suggests that having a great website that does not show up on Page 1 of a Google search is like “having a super cool billboard in the middle of the desert.” People are not going to see it.