Search Engine Optimizers do it.
Paid search managers do it.
So, why aren’t you doing it?
I’m talking about looking at search query volume, of course. As you plot out your search marketing strategy, you’re looking for the intersection of high volume, low competition and strong user intent.
Getting at the volume part of that estimate can be tricky business. Typically, this involves using any number of keyword discovery tools, such as Trellian. 3rd party tools pull from an amalgamation of sources and the absolute number you get is dubious at best. Relationships, however, still hold true.
Better Search Query Volume Estimates
Now, Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool has finally pulled back the curtain and included search query volume in their reports (it used to be a graphical scale). Take a look at this example for web analytics phrases.
Just a couple quick things to keep in mind:
- You can change your match type. I used exact in that image.
- Hide and unhide the columns you need. I think the search trends is really great for understanding seasonality:
Ideas for Using the Data
From a paid search marketing perspective, more exact volume data will help you plan budgets and campaigns better (especially for larger projects where volume can be tricky within constraints).
SEO’s now have another sources of search query (aka keyword) volume data. I’m sure there are weaknesses associated with these data as well, but it does come straight from the source. It’s also much more granular than Google Trends.
For the web analysts in the audience, this will help you:
- Gauge your search query/keyword share for targeted terms
- Analyze whether trends in search results are due to seasonality
- Complement your web analytics and internal site search data to help see how well your site users your customers’ language.
Which tools do you prefer?
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Read One of These Similar Posts:- Google: “All Your Data Are Belong to Us”
- The utm_term Parameter: Screwing Up Yahoo Paid Search & Google Analytics
- utm_term and MSN AdCenter: Getting Google Analytics to Measure MSN Paid Search
- #21 - Mine Your Internal Site Search Terms for SEO and SEM
- 3 Ways Google Analytics Fails Paid Search Marketers
Maybe it’s the competitive pressure from IndexTools/Yahoo or just a carnivorous appetite for your data, but Google really seems to be on a tear with analytics lately.
Google Trends: Covered in Scales (and Competitive Data)
First, there was the Google Trends update. Google Trends, for those who don’t know, allows you to trend the volume of searches for a particular set of queries over time.
Google finally introduced scales and the ability to export data to a comma separated value (CSV) file. Thus, you can finally get a sense of how dramatic WebTrends search volume has dropped vs. Omniture’s.
Then, Google upped the ante on the competitive intelligence market by releasing Google Analytics for Websites. Admittedly, it offers very few features compared to enterprise tools like Hitwise or mid-market options like Compete, but it will certainly open up the field to more people.
Of course, some people might be interested in exactly where this data is coming from:
Trends for Websites combines information from a variety of sources, such as aggregated Google search data, aggregated opt-in anonymous Google Analytics data, opt-in consumer panel data, and other third-party market research. The data is aggregated over millions of users, powered by computer algorithms, and doesn’t contain personally identifiable information. Additionally, Google Trends for Websites only shows results for sites that receive a significant amount of traffic, and enforces minimum thresholds for inclusion in the tool.
The Arranged Marriage - Google AdWords and Google Analytics
From the beginning, Google Analytics has been synchronized with AdWords (though, not always well suited for measuring paid search). Lately, it seems that Google has been pushing the switch from AdWords Conversion Tracking to Google Analytics more aggressively based on 2 points:
First, Google is dumping your old reports
Second, Google is pushing AdWords in Analytics and Analytics in AdWords
This makes perfect sense, of course, for Google. The question is… what’s next?
Read One of These Similar Posts:
It’s something of a design truism that you can be decent at more things or great at a few things. Scarce resources, time and customers always force trade-offs. I like to think of “decent at more things” as a horizontal focus. Being “great at a few” would be a vertical focus.
Before eMetrics in San Francsico, I speculated that Google Analytics would make an announcement about the return of Measure Map (a blog measurement). They did resurrect it as a vertically focused tool designed just to help Blogger users measure their blogs.
On the flip side of the equation, Omniture used their annual summit to announce the newest version of their tools and the integration of everything into the Omniture Suite. Integrating each tool still takes some configuration, but the suite is definitely more horizontal in nature.
Different Users, Different Needs
The web analytics industry is growing up. It’s still a very geeky field, but as more people create and advertise online those same people are paying attention to measurement.
There’s a bunch of users who need focused data that’s simple. Not everyone needs access to every metric under the sun (when was the last time a blogger looked at technographics?). For those less experienced in web analytics, too many numbers can be confusing to navigate and understand.
Some users need focused data that’s richer than horizontal tools can provide. Specialized metrics and a clear presentation can make vertical tools much more applicable and useful. Email or affiliate analytics are probably good examples of targeted measurement.
Of course, we all want to simplify our lives. Horizontal tools can often integrate many different channels in one place. There’s no discounting the value of a unified world.
You Tell Me
At the end of the day, it’s all about the bottom line. What numbers do you need to measure and improve? What tool delivers the right user experience to make it easy for you to find and act on the data that matters? The answer may be one horizontal tool, one vertical tool or a combination of the two.
What do you think? Is the future of web analytics vertical or horizontal?
Read One of These Similar Posts:
I often stumble on a lot of great articles that don’t trickle down to my blog. Instead, I often share them on Twitter. Follow me to get all of the resources (DigitalAlex).
You can also check out my FriendFeed. I share great posts from my Google Reader there.
- Sample Correctly to Measure True Improvement Levels
- Writing for the Web — And Getting It Read
- Creating a Positive Professional Image
- Stats on the growth of mobile video
- Breakdown of each search engines share of mobile search
- Yahoo Developer’s Ideas to Improve Site Speed
- An overview of landing page design
- Form analytics from ClickTale
- Learn linkbait from Matt Cutts
- PR Secrets for Startups
- The Wordpress SEO Guide
- Get a free web analytics industry report
- Web Analytics Data Reconciliation: How To Guide
- The SEO Success Pyramid
- Learn how Google uses testing
- Analytics for iPhone Apps
- Non-profits can get free money from Google!
- Interesting thoughts on PPC testing
I’m back! After a crazy 6 weeks at work (6 new clients!), I finally have some time to get back into writing. In case you missed it, I was blogging elsewhere about blog conversion and the importance of search queries.
Last time I wrote, I mentioned 4 ways to profit from the buying cycle. Let’s get right into the meat and potatoes of closing the sale on your ecommerce site: pictures.
If you want to sell online, then you have to close the tangibility gap–the inability of a customer to touch, feel and assess your product. Great copy goes a long way, but you’ll need compelling pictures to fill in the gaps. Here are 16 ways to sell more with better pictures:
1. Provide Zoom In - The #1 issue with pictures (in my opinion) is that they’re too small. It can be hard to distinguish features and detail. This is doubly true if you sell clothes and people want to inspect patterns, stitching and other nuances.
2. Offer Multiple Angles - Front, back, sides, top, bottom. Make it easy for people to see your products from every side. It also helps reduce return rates, because there are no unexpected surprises.
3. Scan and Review Details - Think of scanning as an advanced zoom. It lets you get very close to the product and pull the zoom up and down to review the product as if you were holding it. The finer the detail, and the bigger the price, the more people will want to examine closely.
4. Packaging - If your product features an especially interesting package, as is often the case for jewelry or any well designed product, consider showing the packaging as well. It sells the whole purchase experience.
5. Product in Use - Demonstrate how the product works in picture. Help people visualize themselves using it.
6. Product in Settings (usage ideas, aspirational settings) - Furniture retailers have this one down perfectly. I love Room and Board for all of their design ideas. They understand the aesthetic of their
7. 3-D Rotation - Sometimes static pictures don’t tell the hole story of a product, especially detailed ones like collectibles.
8. Paired with Other Products (cross-sell/up-sell) - Show the ideal pairing - a great wine with a wine glass, the perfect shirt with a pair of pants, or a Vespa in a great Italian city.
Continue reading ‘16 Ways to Harness the Power of Pictures - Ecommerce Tip #9′
Read One of These Similar Posts:The problem with a lot of ecommerce sites is that they assume you want to buy right now. Of course, that’s only true of a portion of your visitors.
Some visitors are browsing, some researching and others comparison shopping. Your site and marketing can (and should) speak to each of these potential buyers. Here are 4 ideas to reach them:
1. Email
Email is routinely cited as one of the highest ROI tactics for online marketers. It’s great for customer retention and building a relationship.
Give sneak previews to your email list to find out which products generate the most interest. Test out creative concepts with an A/B split to email recipients.
Offers are the obvious route for email, but I don’t think they’re always necessary. In fact, I think relevance is much more important. Design Public, my favorite modern store, rarely provides offers. Instead, they have a simple email that highlights their interesting modern goods. I open everyone, because I love the products. Value is king (or queen):
When asked why recipients stopped subscribing to opt-in emails, more than one-half said the content was no longer relevant, and 40% said they were getting too many offers. - JupiterResearch (2007)
By the way, that image is a really great example of an email signup box from the New York Times. The iconography is easy to understand. The call-to-action and offer are compelling. Any doubts about value are easy with a link to a sample email and the privacy policy.
2. Blog
Blogs are so mainstream that it seems silly to mention them. Or, it would if businesses were using them better.
I think the best blogs reflect your target audience and connect with them in a meaningful way. It’s not another news or PR outlet. Those conversations are so inauthentic that they’re not worth the energy it takes to produce them.
Let’s look at a good example: Urban Outfitters.
Putting aside the rather unfriendly horizontal scrolling, the content is surprisingly well targeted. They have geographic specific content for local events (no doubt near their stores). Music, a critical component of the store experience and target market, has its own section. The Projects section opens up the design studios for enthusiasts.
Where’s the conversion? A small link to shopping and some product mentions.
The value for Urban is that they connect with their customers and stay top of mind, not to mention the potential link value from a worthy presence in the blogosphere.
Continue reading ‘Ecommerce Tip #8 - 4 Ways to Profit From the Buying Cycle’
Read One of These Similar Posts:Pop quiz: You’re pressed for time and need an answer to your internet marketing problem fast. Where do you turn? Search engines can be imprecise, consultants can be pricey and if your coworkers knew how to do it, you wouldn’t need an answer.
I’m faced with that situation every week. And that leads me to my confession:
I subscribe to a lot of blogs, but I don’t actually read them regularly.
Instead I use them as my own personal search engine. I’ve amassed over a hundred trusted sources in my Google RSS Reader. I’ve tagged them all to categorize them. Then, when I’m faced with a question, all I have to do is search all the blogs or an applicable subset, like this:
I’m much more likely to get relevant and actionable results that way. To get you started, I pasted links to all of the blogs from my reader below. They fall into the following 16 categories:
- Web Analytics
- Copywriting
- Blogging and Social Media
- Competitive Intelligence
- Conversion Rate
- Comparison Shopping Engines
- Data Mining
- Excel Tips
- Industry News
- Information Presentation
- General Marketing, PR & Strategy
- Paid Search
- Public Speaking
- Search Engine Optimization
- Testing - A/B, Multivariate, Taguchi, etc.
- Data Visualization
Am I missing any? Please leave a comment.
- Analytical Engine
- Analytics Talk - EpikOne
- Analytics Notes
- Conversion Rate Marketing Blog –>GrokDotCom…
- Conversion Rater
- Digital Alex by Alex L. Cohen
- Eric T. Peterson’s Analytics Weblog
- eWhisper.net
- Google Analytics Official
- immeria - An immersion in Web Analytics, by S.Hamel
- Jim Sterne on eMetrics
- Judah Phillips at Web Analytics Demystified
- Juice Analytics
- June Dershewitz on Web Analytics
- Lies, Damned Lies…
- LunaMetrics
- Marketing Productivity Blog
- Occam’s Razor by Avinash Kaushik
- Official Google Website Optimizer Blog
- On The Trail
- Orthogonal Thinking
- SemAngel
- The Commerce360 Blog
- Unofficial Google Analytics Blog
- Web Analysis, Behavioral Targeting and Advertising
- Web Analytics & Affiliate Marketing blog
- Web Analytics Analyzed
- Web Analytics Tool Time
- Web Analytics World
- WebTrends Outsider
Copywriting
Blogging and Social Media
Competitive Intelligence
Conversion Rate
Comparison Shopping Engines
Data Mining
Excel Tips
Continue reading ‘101 Great Blogs You Must Subscribe To (and How to Use Them)’
Read One of These Similar Posts:In spite of ever rising broadband connections, site speed remains an issue for many users. Jakob Nielsen noted this in 1997 and it holds true 11 years later. In fact, Google incorporates it as a factor in Quality Score.
As you plan your website redesign, don’t forget…
Ecommerce Tip #7 - Speed Up Your Website
Images, javascript and heavy Flash can all way down your site performance in terms of speed and, sometimes, conversion. Before you start slashing and burning features, first assess the problem.
Here’s where I’d start:
- Any of your entry pages are obvious candidates
- The homepage
- Pages with a high bounce rate
- Pages with a high exit rate
- Content/code heavy pages
Next, run the pages through a few tools:
- Site Report Card - Free
- Web Page Analyzer - Free
- UI Test - Free
- Net Mechanic - Pay
Read up on some of the thoughts about site speed
- High Performance Web Sites: Essential Knowledge for Front-End Engineers
- How To Improve Site Conversion, Minimize Google Ad Cost, And Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
- Google article
- Check your current standing in AdWords
Finally, it’s time to optimize. If you’re cutting out invisible code, go for it. Trimming image sizes? Fine. But if you’re planning on cutting out elements, don’t forget to test!
Tune in next week for another tip.
Read One of These Similar Posts:Follow Me on Twitter
On a non-blog note, I’ve been on Twitter for a couple of months now. If you tweet, follow me on Twitter as DigitalAlex.
For those who don’t know, Twitter is a micro-blog platform. Your communications, or tweets, are limited to 140 characters. I use my Twitter account to share good links and chat with industry folks. Here are a few you might also want to follow:
- Jim Sterne - eMetrics
- Eric Peterson - Web Analytics Demystified
- June Dershewitz - SEMPhonic
- Jeremiah Owyang - Forrester / Web Strategist
- Steve Rubel - Micropersuasion
See you there.
Read One of These Similar Posts:
