Recently, I moved into a second story condo after living the past 5 years in a house.  I am astounded at how loud my upstairs neighbors are.  Not ‘partying, playing loud music all the time’ loud, but more like ‘clompy, loud-walking’ loud.  Because of this, I’ve been very aware of how much noise I make.  I thought I was being a pretty considerate neighbor until I found out otherwise.

Apparently, my dogs have a favorite rumbunctious playtime every weekday morning – unbeknownst to me – when I blow-dry my hair.

Now, this has probably been going on for a few weeks and I just never realized it until the other day……until the day my hair dryer stopped working.

I’ve had this hair-dryer forever.  And it has always just worked.  But recently, there was just a split second delay when I turned it on.  And, every day since the delay has been getting little bit longer.  But it still works, it is just a matter of waiting (now) quite a few seconds for it to eventually turn on.  I am pretty sure that I am going to wait to replace the hair-dryer until it completely dies.

For some reason, I drew the strange parallel between my replacing the hair dryer, with how many companies view their analytics.  Sure…they, like me, may use their analytics everyday and they may be more than aware that there is something not quite right with the analytics tool they are using.  But, since it does the basic job, they feel no need to replace it with something that will do a better job.

Analytics to some companies are seen as boring and mundane as an everyday appliance like a hair-dryer.  Replacing an analytics package is not all that appealing.  At best, it involves some research -moving away from a tool that they are used to.  And at worst, it involves paying money for something that used to be free, learning a new system, and often creating a new culture (a data driven/data accepting culture) against some resistance.

Of course, I realize that using an electrical appliance that is not quite working is not only unwise but can be potentially unsafe (okay, I didn’t actually realize that until my husband mentioned it) just as using an outdated Web analytics tool can be unwise and unsafe (since you are probably making important spending decisions using bad data).  So, this weekend, I am off to get a new hair-dryer.  And if you decide that it is time to replace your broken analytics, please feel free to contact us.

I had a great day at work today.  Not something many folks can say on a Monday.  But, I did.  I had a great conversation with a client about this topic today. A smart conversation with smart people.  And, at the end of the conversation, we were much happier about setting realistic goals.

I’ve mentioned before that Unique Visitors are not ‘everything’ after reading Jakob Nielsen’s article Reduce Bounce Rates: Fight for the Second Click (where he argues that the focus on the metric of ‘Unique Visitors must die’).

The reasons that Unique Visitors is not a metric to base goals on are:

Tendency to be inaccurate
Some log file analyzers use IP address or IP address teamed with user agent to count a unique visitor. This over-counts when visitors return from a dial-up connection (new IP address) and under-counts when accessing a site from the same network (same IP address for many people).

Cookie Issues

We’ve all heard the debate of how often people do or don’t delete their cookies.  This definitely impacts the validity of the unique visitor count.  Worse than this, however, is when a site uses a persistent cookie to define a unique visitor, yet only sets a cookie on the homepage (believe me, this happens a lot).

The fire hose issue
Unless you have a fire hose filled with money to continually pour into pay-per-click and other online advertising – the odds of month over month significantly growing the number of unique visitors is extraordinarily slim.

But here’s the kicker…
Increasing your unique visitor count is actually counterproductive.  By wanting to only grow the number of unique visitors, you are attracting useless traffic to your site.  If these unique visitors don’t return, you essentially are paying – one way or another (pay-per-click, time spent optimizing your site, time spent creating content for your site) – for visitors who will never engage with your Web site nor start a conversation with your company, never encourage their friends to see your site, or purchase your products.

This is the conclusion to the three part series on SEO and PPC’s quest to have an amazing night out on the town.  If you missed part one or part two – check them out before reading on. 

While both SEO and PPC are now having an amazing time, they both feel like it can still be taken to the next level. Just then Web Analytics reappears, but he is not alone this time. On one side, he’s got the one person that PPC has had their eye on the entire night while on the other side, SEO sees the one that they’ve been after.

With PPC, you can tell there are instant sparks and they immediately head out to the dance floor. SEO, however, is the type to take it real slow and so they go take a seat on the couches. It doesn’t take long for the chemistry to build and soon they are having an amazing time as well.

With a smile on his face, Web Analytics knows that SEO and PPC have learned an important lesson tonight. While they both can get into the party on their own and have a decent time, the night will not reach its full potential unless they work together.  They need to bring along their friend, Web Analytics to show them how best to play off each other and eliminate the obstacles that present themselves along the way.

This experience that SEO and PPC had can be translated into the real world of SEO and PPC. SEO is a slow process that requires a lot of patience while building up rankings for the targeted keywords. The pages that visitors will be going to are often more content rich. So, it can often be a slower process before a visitor actually makes a purchase.

PPC on the other hand, provides instant gratification. It’s quick to get going and quite easy to move into the top positions if you’re willing to pay the price. It’s generally flashier since you have full control over the marketing message and the landing page that a visitor goes to. It is generally more offer-oriented and is designed to generate an immediate purchase.

All too often…SEO and PPC aren’t done in conjunction with each other. Each forges out on their own and can experience success. But, unless they are working together they are likely not reaching their full potential. That is where Web analytics comes into play.

The Web analyst needs to understand how SEO and PPC work together and find the optimal balance. It means nothing to rank #1 in the SERPs for a “key” search phrase if all you’re doing is sending crappy traffic that never converts. You need to know the types of keywords that do convert into sales or other site goals and refocus your efforts around those.

Too often, I see the excitement on people’s faces when they’ve finally achieved a goal of ranking on the first page of the SERPs and the site suddenly begins to see an increase in traffic. A high volume of traffic, however, does not necessarily translate into an increase in conversions of the site goals.

The Web analyst should know the keywords that are working well for PPC and those that work well for SEO. If it works well for PPC, then it’s probably worth trying for SEO purposes. The same holds true for keywords that are working well for SEO. If you have a set of keywords that you rank highly both organically and in PPC, then there is another task that the Web analyst needs to work on.

That task is finding the right position for the PPC ad based on where the site ranks organically. It may be that the #2 spot in PPC generates the highest return, but it could also be taking away sales that otherwise would be coming through organically. Understanding what position for PPC generates the highest overall (both organically and paid) return will allow your company to realize the greatest return.

That is just the beginning, but this would go on forever if I began getting into the importance of multivariate testing and the full analysis of user behavior for organic and paid visitors that should continually be taking place.

Instead, I’ll hopefully be leaving you with an understanding that a truly integrated SEO and PPC effort requires more than just the SEO and PPC teams working together. It requires the Web analytics team to also provide insights and advice to help take it to the next level.

So, while SEO and PPC can get into the party that is the first page of the SERPs, they really should enlist the help of Web Analytics to take the party up to the next level and really begin to drive the highest level of sales while delivering the best overall return.

This is Part Two of a three part series on SEO and PPCs quest to have an amazing night out on the town.  If you have not already read Part One, check it out before reading on. 

Once SEO and PPC finally meet up a new set of issues arise. Neither of them can manage to get past the crowds and up to the bar to get drinks. To make matters worse, the cocktail waitresses seem to be ignoring them. Frustrated, they decide they will instead mingle and see who they meet. They each go their separate ways, but after a while they both begin to get frustrated. While everyone seems to be out for attention tonight, neither SEO nor PPC is having much luck. Both of them seem to be getting ignored or shot down more often than not which is quickly making the night a disappointment.

Just then, an old friend who neither SEO nor PPC has seen in ages shows up. The old friends name is Web Analytics. SEO and PPC explain the frustration each is having with how the night is going and seem a bit upset as a smile comes across the face of Web Analytics.

Web Analytics explains that he can help turn the night into the type of party that SEO and PPC thought they were going to at the outset. He explains that PPC and SEO need to work together to have the night they envisioned and once they find out how best to play off each other then everything else will fall into place.

Armed with their new advice - they again try their luck. After a bit of experimenting with different tactics, their luck starts to change. Suddenly, they seem to be the center of attention with each generating their fair share of interest from almost everyone they come in contact with.

There is still one area, however, that SEO and PPC have yet to master and that is the ability to get a drink. Seeing that, Web Analytics sends over a cocktail waitress to SEO and PPC who are laughing and having a great time with a couple of new friends. After taking their order, the cocktail waitress tells them that she will keep an eye on them and makes sure they are taken care of for the rest of the night.

While both SEO and PPC are now having an amazing time, they both feel like it can still be taken to the next level. Just then, Web Analytics reappears – but he is not alone this time.

Find out who Web Analytics has brought with him in the conclusion next week.

This is part one of a three part series that was first published as part of Marketing Pilgrim’s Scholarship Contest. The finalists were determined by the number of visitors that read the post as well as factoring in bonus points for a low bounce rate and high average time on site. While this post was not a finalist, it did have the second lowest bounce rate of any entry and the eleventh highest average time on site. I guess what that means is that I should have made an effort to drive visitors to the post.  Oh well, there is always next year.

But, without further adu here is part one of the post.

How does search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising relate to your quest to have an amazing night out at the hottest bar or club in town? And, what friend should you make sure to bring along so that you will definitely have a night to remember? Well, I won’t require you to have the patience of SEO. But instead, I’ll give you the instant gratification of PPC.

Two friends, SEO and PPC are getting ready to head out on their quest to have an incredible time at the new local hotspot. They decide they will meet at the club since they live on opposite sides of town. As usual, PPC quickly gets ready and heads out the door. There is no style lost, however, in the quick process of getting ready. In fact, PPC is looking quite flashy and really stands out from the crowd. PPC quickly finds a parking spot right next to the club and heads past the long line waiting to get in. As usual, PPC is on the guest list and is ushered right inside.

SEO on the other hand takes a long time to get ready, but once ready looks every bit as impressive. After SEO finally makes it out the door, through the traffic heading downtown, SEO eventually finds a parking spot far away from the club a new obstacle arises. SEO does not seem to be on the guest list and instead has to wait patiently in line. SEO could be upset and frustrated, but instead excitedly anticipates the fun night that hopefully is about to begin. An hour goes by, but eventually SEO is let through the doors and to the party inside.

Does this sound familiar to all you SEO and PPC experts? PPC is always the one that can be up and running in no time with a flashy ad and ranking in top positions for all the important keywords. PPC can slip right into the party and start generating sales in no time. SEO on the other hand has to be patient since you’re likely not going to be able to join the party on the first page of the SERPs right away. Instead, it will take hard work and a lot of patience before you finally make your way in. That hard work and patience, however, can really pay off and potentially can be more cost effective than PPC in the long term. But anyways, back to the story…

Next week part 2…

JupiterResearch recently published its report, ‘Web Analytics Buyer’s Guide.’ I have to say in reading about the report I was astonished to see this finding from the Senior Analyst – “Despite some small skirmishes over capabilities like video and audio measurement, the Web analytics feature race is largely over.”

Wow. After spending the better part of the last 10 years using these tools to analyze data that shocks and saddens me. I admit that there are tools out there with an overwhelming number of features. And, I admit that the additional features add a level of complexity (and price in some cases) that make the tools almost unusable without a lot of training or experience.

But, to say that ‘the feature race is largely over’ seems to say that everything that can be measured in Web analytics is now already measured. That seems a little unrealistic, especially when Social Media and Word of Mouth campaigns are gaining traction and marketers’ dollars.

I am interested to see how the future plays out. If, in fact, the feature race is largely over it is going to become the responsibility of successful marketers to figure out not only what needs to be measured, but also figure out HOW to measure those things.

Avinash Kaushik recently ran an informal contest to find out what report people would choose if they could only have one Web analytics report. The winner of “the best Web analytics report” was a report showing “sources by state, compared to last month.” Based on her business, a locally owned company that competes solely in her geographic service area, it is a great report. For other businesses, it may not make sense. This makes picking one “best” report difficult since it can vary depending on the business and the focus that the particular analyst has.

For example, one Web analyst may be focused on the external sources of traffic while another is focusing on how the site converts visitors. These two Web analysts would undoubtedly come up with different reports that they felt were the “best” analytics report. Since Avinash’s contest wasn’t specific to a particular industry or the type of analysis that a Web analyst was performing, it makes it very difficult to pick only one report…and would still be very difficult even if you had additional guidelines.

If I were to pick just one report, I would probably pick traffic sources in relation to the site goals – which after reading the original contest post is the same as what Avinash picked. I would take it a step further and add some context to the report. In order to do that, I would compare the data to the previous days, weeks, or months depending on the time period being analyzed. That would give context to the report by allowing you to see the trends for each of the traffic sources.

It would require dumping the exported reports into Excel and creating a pivot table based on the data. Making use of dynamic charts would allow you to get a great visual of how each of your traffic sources is performing over time. You’d then be able to understand the specific sites as well as the types of sites that drive quality traffic and develop a plan to try to leverage those sites for additional traffic. Because you’re trending each sites performance, you would also be able to see the results of your efforts in gaining additional quality traffic from the sites that you’ve targeted.

While it’s not advisable to look at just one report, the contest that Avinash ran gives some great insights into what Web analysts deem to be the most critical data. These reports can give a Web analyst a great starting point from which they can then begin to dig deeper into the data to go from understanding what is happening to fully understanding why it’s happening. Just make sure you don’t get sucked to deep into the data and end up with data overload.

Reading Jakob Nielsen’s great article today, ‘Reduce Bounce Rates: Fight for the Second Click’ , got me thinking about delivering my first few trainings when I was with ClickTracks. The reason for this was this heading…

“Unique Visitors” Must Die

Before joining ClickTracks, I felt that Unique Visitors were a pretty important, if not the most important, stat to pay attention to. But, I soon learned the error of my thinking. First of all that metric, depending which type of reporting you are using (log files vs. java script) tends to be wildly inaccurate. (Based on IP addresses in log files and cookies in java script).

But, accuracy aside, it is an even more misleading stat, as Jakob Nielsen explains -

“Chasing higher unique-visitor counts will undermine your long-term positioning because you’ll design gimmicks rather than build features that bring people back and turn them into devotees and customers.”

The funny thing is that people don’t want to hear this. They want to believe that the Unique Visitor count, regardless of any other attribute (e.g. the fact that they leave the site immediately and never return), is the end-all, be-all metric. Countless times when reviewing the concept, ‘Don’t focus on Unique Visitors’ during the ClickTracks training sessions, I was questioned, even challenged.

If Unique Visitors are not the key metric, then what is? This is a great question and can vary from site to site. But, it all boils down to be able to segment out key groups of visitors.

Conversions – What are the business goals of your Web site? There should be more than one. Purchases are the most obvious conversion activities on an ecommerce site, but also important should be lead capture (getting someone’s email address and the permission to continue the conversation with them). Segmenting out visitors who convert can result in valuable behavior information and the ability to improve your site and increase conversions.

Return Visitors/Loyal Users – How many times do visitors return? How frequently? Following the paths of return visitors can give you great insight on the high impact sections of your site. Determining how often and how frequently they visit can give you great insight on the when you need to be updating your content and broadening your inventory.

Word of Mouth Traffic – Is online or offline conversations driving traffic to your site? It is possible to break out the traffic that likely gets to your site from word of mouth. Once the traffic gets to the site, following their path will give you very interesting insight on what people are talking about.

High Quality Traffic – Visitors who spend a significant time on your site (more than 20 seconds). Once again, breaking out this visitor group and following their paths through your site is the only way to find out if they are sticking around because they are happy and finding what they want. Or, if they are hopelessly lost and ping-ponging back and forth through the same pages on your site.

It is well worth getting ‘unstuck’ from the single-focus mentality and take a much broader look at your Web site traffic, not only to get a better understanding of the important traffic but also to be able to improve the user experience.