In Search engine marketing , few methods are been quickly evolving as search engine optimization (SEO).
Data, Analytics, and Reporting
The success in search engine optimization (SEO) has always gone to those businesses and their agencies who have the best data driven processes and people to give attention to the detail needed to compete.
People are changing their lives daily with blogging, whether it is through personal stories, building resources for others or using a blog to generate some extra money on the side. Traffic is one of the most important parameters for your blog; the more people who find your blog, the more people who will read your ideas. If you’re ready and willing to have your blog admired in the online community, then try a few different methods of increasing blog traffic. You’ll create better content in the end, and probably have dozens of new viewers each day.
Once you come up with a great blog idea.
Then the real fun begins!
That was before millions of people were connecting with new people every day to exchange information — before social networks dominated online news distribution.
Your social media engagement and conversion rates have a lot to do with the kind of blog content you create. If the quality of your content is low, then most of your optimization techniques will be ineffective. In general, social media users prefer highly actionable and interesting content written in a fun way.
Importance of Content in Our Website
Today, nearly every online marketer knows that content is king. Regardless of how pretty and well organized your website or blog is, none of it matters if you don’t have the content to back it up. Your website content can make or break a business deal. You can draw viewers in or push them away with a single sentence, which is why it’s important to do your best to make an impact on your viewers within the first few seconds they stumble upon your page.
Content has become a “must” in the digital sphere. Not only does it drive people to your site, but it provides a lot of value. But what qualifies content as GOOD content on your website? Well, it doesn’t just mean content that’s well-written and free of spelling and grammatical errors. It means content that is:
Local Business Result
If you’re having trouble getting your local business website to show up in the Google local 3-pack or local search results in general, you’re not alone. The first page of Google’s search results seems to have gotten smaller over the years – the top and bottom of the page are often filled with ads, the local 7-pack was trimmed to a slim 3-pack, and online directories often take up the rest of page one. There is very little room for small local businesses to rank on the first page of Google.
To make matters worse, Google has a local “filter” that can strike a business, causing their listing to drop out of local search results for seemingly no reason – often, literally, overnight. Google’s local filter has been around for a while, but it became more noticeable after the Possum algorithm update, which began filtering out even more local businesses from search results.
If you think about it, this filter is not much different than websites ranking organically in search results: In an ideal world, the best sites win the top spots. However, the Google filter can have a significantly negative impact on local businesses that often rely on showing up in local search results to get customers to their doors.
Google’s SERPs change every day. Sometimes it’s you, sometimes it’s your competitors trying to outrun you, and sometimes it’s Google itself update its algorithms (John Mueller from Google confirmed that algorithm changes happen on a daily basis).
Because of the rivalry, rankings of different domains change constantly. Everyone is searching for new keywords, developing new strategies, and looking for new back link placements.
Also, looking at the constant updates, one might say that constant fluctuations have actually become a part of Google’s algorithms.
We have collected a list of the most popular tools used to track Google’s volatility. Or, as Obi-Wan Kenobi might say it, to sense if there is any “disturbance in the Force.”
Most of these instruments have been on the market for quite a long time and, unfortunately, do not always keep up with the latest trends.
Two tools that had spikes matching the chatter in the SEO community are SEMrush Sensor and Mozcast. Unfortunately, Mozcast calculates scores one day later so marketers can’t see any changes until the day after the update. One day is a huge period of time that doesn’t allow SEOs to react to the changes fast enough.
At the same time, the SEMrush sensor follows all the changes that occur on SERPs:
All of this is crafted to ensure that the tool really helps to see if there are any important SERP volatility.
At SEMrush, we don’t stop at offering the data on the dashboard. We analyze it further and transform it in the studies and reports that the SEO community can use to make better data-driven decisions.
Below you’ll find the analysis of all Google SERP fluctuations during the last six months. Fasten your seatbelts as the shakeups are getting stronger and stronger.
The overall volatility rank during the last six months has been constantly growing from an average of 4 in the beginning of April to almost 5.6 by the start of September.
Some websites survived this September, some didn’t.
SEMrush Sensor detected an unbelievably high score. This means that almost everything has changed on the first page.
The spike was detected in all categories, so not only was the general score insanely high, but SERPs in all categories have suffered. Congratulations to the new winners in search, because if someone loses the top place, someone else gets it.
We also looked at the new top 10, and it turns out that the results in many categories have become more relevant.
The high volatility detected in separate categories (as depicted on the screenshot) is not accidental – it has grown since we started tracking the data.
Tracking Google updates, SERP changes, and your positions for relevant keywords is important.
Still, do not forget that white-hat methods are your best and safest strategy. Sooner or later websites with poorly written content, spammy links, trashy ads, and a slow load speed will be penalized, and their competitors will get to higher positions.
Let’s see if we can dig deeper in SEMrush Sensor data and discover some hidden secrets of Google SERPs?
When we looked into the gathered data further, we discovered that the amount of URLs that have been on the same SERP position for a few days in a row is steadily declining (the relative number dropped from 41 percent to 38.5 percent), whereas the share of the ones that changed their position only to bounce back the next day is growing steadily (from an average of 13.2 percent to an average of 14.51 percent).
This confirms that there are a lot of small Google experiments every day.
Also, the amount of URLs that have shifted by 3-5 positions is growing steadily, while the 1-2 positions shifts are somewhat in stagnation. But the latter number is still larger than the amount of 3 to 5 position shifts.
We found another trend that confirms what SEO experts talk about: the bigger the domain is, the easier it will stay in top 10.
In other words, if small domains want to push industry giants aside, they will have to put more effort into optimization, and focus on local search and things like content relevance and link building.
The changes in Google’s search results are aimed at making them more relevant. So beware of thin or low-quality content, aggressive ads, and poor UX implementation on your website.
Google pays attention to user signals. So make sure the keywords you are targeting are relevant to your content.
And, of course, make sure your website is secure and fast. Otherwise, even random SERP fluctuations won’t get you anywhere close to the first page.
In 2017, data drives every aspect of business. From predictive analytics powered by artificial intelligence, to data-based operating systems that allow businesses to perform just about any task with an immediate backdrop of company data, businesses are growing increasingly savvy about how to use data to guide their every step.
The story is no different in the realm of marketing. The most effective marketing decisions are data-driven these days, based on which tactics garner the most traffic, the most engagement, or the most conversions. And where does most of that marketing data come from? Google analytics.
Everyone knows that you can get website traffic information from google analytics, but what many people don’t know is just how much it allows them to drill down into the details of that data, and how they can use that nitty-gritty to inform every marketing decision they make. Here are just 20 of the things that Google Analytics can do – and how you can use them to your advantage.
1. Data from other sources.
Wondering where your social media stats fit into the big picture presented by Google Analytics? Need one central dashboard with all your marketing data in one place? Google Analytics has a Data Import function that allows you to combine data from other sources with the data it provides, thus giving you a complete picture of the results of your online marketing efforts – vital information in order for you to make educated decisions about your strategy.
2. Show real-time traffic data.
How many people are on your site right now? Log in to Google analytics and you can watch visitors come and go in real-time on your computer screen. What pages are they on? Where are they lingering, and when do they leave? It can be extremely informative – not to mention exciting – to watch your traffic in real-time.
3. Find the geographic locations your visitors come from.
Whether you’re targeting an international audience or just your own hometown, GA can show you where your marketing activities are having an impact. It allows you to see both the countries and the cities where your visitors are located. You might be surprised to learn that your marketing message is resonating with people in unexpected locations – and you can use that information to tweak your tactics accordingly.
4. See which devices your visitors are using.
Google Analytics allows you to see whether your visitors are primarily mobile or computer-based – which gives you insight into how important it is for you to have a mobile-friendly site. But more than that, GA lets you know what types of devices they’re using, right down to the brand and operating systems, so you can check your site’s performance on each one and make sure it’s optimized for all of your visitors.
5. Show the channels your traffic is coming from.
If you’re wondering whether your marketing tactics have been more successful with search engines or on social media, Google analytics will show you exactly which channels are sending you traffic, and how much of it you’re getting from each one. You may want to focus more intensely on certain channels once you see their ROI, and tweak your tactics on others to make them more effective.
6. Watch the path visitors take through your site.
By clicking on ‘Behavior Flow’ in GA, you’ll be able to see each step a visitor takes when they visit your site, from the page that brought them in, to the ones they visited next, and finally, which one made them leave. This data is invaluable, giving you insight into what attracts your traffic, what holds their interest, and which pages you still need to work on to make them just as interesting.
7. Rank pages by popularity.
You can also check to see the top, most often visited pages on your site – whether you want to know which pages are your all-time best performers, or which ones did the best last month. This data gives you a deeper understanding of what type of content does well with your audience, and what falls flat. Maybe seasonal blog posts draw a ton of traffic, but informational pages don’t – or vice versa. The numbers practically write your content strategy for you.
8. Track your e-commerce performance.
This one require a little legwork on your part first, as you’ll have to set up e-commerce tracking manually within GA – but once you do, Google analytics will keep tabs on sales activity on your site, from which products are your best sellers to the times they were purchased and whether they were eventually returned and refunded.
9. Watch your conversion rates for other goals.
Once again, you’ll need to set this up manually within GA, but once you set your goals, Google Analytics will track how many visitors are converting. You can have multiple goals, from filling out a Contact Us form to signing up for an email newsletter, and GA will show you just how effective your content, design, and calls to action are.
10. Track clicks on your site.
Google analytics will actually track every single click on clickable parts of your site’s pages, so that you can see what’s working to attract clicks, and what’s not – and tweak accordingly.
11. Segment your traffic for more insight.
You can also segment your traffic within Google analytic s, dividing it up based on traffic source, whether they converted or not, and much more. By doing this, you get a much more granular view of which groups are doing what, and which pages on your site are working – or not working – with each group.
12. View the interests of your visitors.
While you can’t personally track individual visitors with Google Analytics, you can still find out a lot about each one. Their interests, for example, and even their professions. This data can also be invaluable in determining how to tweak your marketing approach to appeal to them most effectively.
13. Check the results of your longer-term marketing campaigns.
Whether it’s a paid Ad Words campaign or an organic social media blitz, you can track your results in Google Analytics easily. You’ll just have to add a tracking code to the end of the URL you’re sending visitors to, and then GA will be able to show you how well you’re doing by tracking traffic to that URL.
14. Check the results of quick, one-day campaigns.
With GA’s real-time traffic tracking, you can watch the performance of even short marketing campaigns in order to find out what works and what doesn’t. This can guide your future short campaigns, or inform your strategy for longer campaigns.
15. Watch the real-time effects of social sharing.
Did you just post a new blog post to Facebook? Or ask people to visit your landing page on Twitter? Once again, GA’s real-time view of traffic will allow you to watch as people begin to engage with your content, and help you determine what works and what doesn’t.
16. Test site changes in real-time.
And one more real-time benefit? You can make changes to your site, and then track exactly how they’re affecting your traffic’s behavior in real-time. Are they leading to more conversions, or fewer? Are they guiding visitors through the sales funnel, or are they causing a higher bounce rate? The answers will tell you how to tweak your site.
17. Create your own channel groups for tracking traffic sources.
Google Analytics does offer its own channel categories for tracking the sources your traffic comes from, but you can also create your own unique groupings of channels to keep tabs on your visitors and which tactics are most effective at attracting them to your site.
18. How quickly your website loads.
Since site loading speed is part of Google’s ranking algorithm, this is an important thing to check from time to time. If Google Analytics tells you it’s taking longer than three seconds to load for your visitors, you’ll need to take steps to speed it up.
19. Track cart abandonment.
One of the most important things GA can do for e-commerce sites is help you determine the point when visitors are abandoning their carts. Is it at the shipping page? The payment page? Once you have this information, you can try offering discounts or free shipping or even just changing the flow of your check out process to see what gets more visitors to complete their purchases.
20. Track form abandonment.
If, for you, a conversion means filling out a form on your site, then GA can help you see which blanks are being filled in, and at what point your form is being abandoned. This can be invaluable in understanding how to change your form or your calls to action in order to get visitors to finish giving you their information.
Believe it or not, this is far from all that Google analytics can do. Start with these 20 things to give yourself a solid foundation in navigating GA, and then you’ll feel more confident exploring everything else it has to offer. And once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll be amazed at just how much more effective your marketing becomes, now that it’s based on the detailed data Google analytics provides.