An introduction to setting Goal Value in Google Analytics
Goals in Google Analytics (GA) open a multitude of interesting and thought provoking questions when analysed properly.
In this post I'll show how to select the right goals, showing why it's so important to apply a value to those goals to help with data-driven decision making.
What is a Goal?
Within Google Analytics you have the ability to setup a specific action or interaction that can be used to calculate the flow of users within the site. You can setup funnels or just a single step funnel which Google Analytics can use to create a goal. Key to the principle behind goals is to understand what the users having been doing, in what order and trying to get an understanding on the the value generated to the business of their visit.
Which Goals do I need?
The…
"From the trenches" advice from web managers
Managing a website relaunch is not straightforward, there are so many issues to consider from marketing strategy, customer experience to content strategy to the technical challenges of selecting and integrating different technology platforms and web services.
We recently saw just how many challenges there are when Larry Peterson asked this question on the Web Managers Group on LinkedIn:
“What are the top five things a web manager should take into consideration when redesigning and launching a new website?”
There was such a great response from the group that we thought it would be a good idea to summarise the common advice from the discussion here. Altogether, there were 20 key points, so let's get straight to them.
1. Define Vision, strategy, goals
This is “the concrete vision of where you want the site to go,” according to website transformation consultant David…
ifttt : what is it and how can I use it as a marketer?
Short for "If This Then That", ifttt is an online service that allows easy management of social services. We've heard more marketers mentioning it recently, so thought it was worth sharing to see whether it could help you save time. Alternatively, we're interested to hear how you use? Do you have any other tips to share - these "recipes" are a good place to start if you want to see how it could help you. Here's a simple example:
You can see it's designed for people managing multiple social outposts (or channels as they call them) to manage at once and are looking for more efficient ways to maintain services.
It's a relatively new alternative for using other tools to automate social sharing. Dave Chaffey wrote…
Using SEO analysis tools to identify linking opportunities
In the latest article in this series on how to use analytics techniques for better SEO we look at the importance of targeting relevant domains for your link building.
I'll start by introducing what you should look for in quality link sources and then in Part 1 of this two part article, I'll cover how to select domains to target through link-building tools. In Part 2 I'll drill down to cover how to analyse existing links using web analytics tools.
Not all links are born equal
You'll know this! The impact of a link rests on several factors, not least the reputation of the website it resides on. Search engines place a great deal of importance on quality, relevance and trust. This is a deliberately simplified explanation, but the three signals combined make a heady cocktail of link love. My advice is that if you focus on these…
Chris Brogan shares the virtues of Google+
Interesting that after his recent book on Google+, and then announcing he's no longer using LinkedIn, there's an infographic helping the US social media guru promote Google's social network - and specifically its use for business. Though I'm cynical, it is an interesting infographic and it picks up on some of the key benefits of using the network - specifically the tie in to search results if you're creating and publishing decent content. I like the idea of viewing your Google+ account as a curated magazine, great advice.
…
New survey reveals swing in attitudes among marketers
Most proponents of email marketing have the letters R-O-I tattooed provocatively across their foreheads.
Email's remarkable return on investment has always been the key defence used by industry voices against suggestions that social media marketing or other channels have relegated email marketing to a dusty corner of the Museum of Internet History.
This ROI argument has its downsides, though.
In particular, the associated tendency to focus entirely on immediate, direct response can cause marketers to neglect the many other roles email might play in achieving marketing goals such as brand-building, relationship-building and encouraging advocacy.
A new survey of marketers from the UK's DMA and sponsor Alchemy Worx on the performance, value and use of email marketing suggests attitudes are changing though.
Throughout the whole DMA National Client Email Report 2012 is the sense of a channel that has settled into a strong and mature marketing role. For example:
Over…
RTB and DSP make real-time mobile ads more targeted and trackable
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Real-time mobile display ad buying is a technology with the potential to transform mobile communications.
RTB can improve targeting, tracking and campaign management to create an easily accessible real-time marketing medium capable of generating impressive ROI.
RTB is rapidly evolving from a technology option to create a new strategic foundation for mobile advertising - particularly when used in conjunction with time saving demand-side platforms.
Fragmented, complex mobile ads campaigns could become a thing of the past
Mobile advertising revenue growth figures have proved rather disappointing compared to early analyst forecasts. The 'less than thrilling' results are largely attributable to the complexity and fragmentation that must be overcome in order to deliver effective multi-device, multi-network, multi-operating system mobile campaigns.
The undesirable mobile campaign characteristics that…
What are the implications of Microsoft’s So.cl?
Importance: [rating=1] (currently)
Recommended link: Previous announcement of So.cl launch
So.cl was launched over the last weekend. It's a strange time to launch a product, particularly following the big Facebook IPO announcement. Apparently Microsoft wasn’t looking to make a big bang and are still refining their new service and how to position it.
Still, Microsoft is still a major provider of search, so we think it warrants an alert since you may be asked about it by colleagues or clients. You may need to say “it’s not relevant to our digital strategy”. This post explains why.
What is So.cl?
So what is So.cl? Is it a social network? Well no, not really, despite the headline that's what it will be called... The main welcome page carousel doesn't clearly show any differentiation - we have many ways to "connect…
"The first major update since 2007"
Well, that's what Google say, so it's an indication of how important this could be for digital marketers. It was 2007 when Google launched Universal Search, how time flies. 2012 sees the launch of a new upgrade called Knowledge Graph. In this alert we've summarised what it is and why it matters to marketers.
Value/Importance: [rating=5]
The feature is rolling out now for some users in the US, it's expected that other countries will get it in a matter of weeks. We'll update when it becomes live elsewhere. It could be a while since Google+ integration in Google.com is still a different experience for non US users since several months.
Recommended link: Google’s official introduction to the Knowledge Graph
What is Knowledge Graph?
Knowledge Graph is a set of semantic tools which aim to make your search results more relevant and informative - Google sees this as the first step…
2 examples of a technique to use for retail SEO
Advice to create quality content is a recurring theme from Google. It’s the recommendation every time someone raises a complaint about their latest algorithm. It’s also what Matt Cutts recommends in response to almost any question from the broad brush, like ‘What’s the best way to rank higher” to narrow focus such as ‘how do we avoid duplicate content’.
If you have already created well-written content on your site describing your products and services, and cracked the keyword conundrum, (appropriate use in page titles and headings, not too many, not too few, plus a smattering of synonyms) you may be wondering what else you can do. One approach is to look carefully at your product pages; earlier this week on Smart Insights, Jimmy McCann showed 5 tips for optimising product…
