Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals | Stacey Morgan Smith

Yeah, sorry to say it, but please — don’t get hung up on your rankings. Just because you are number one in Google for your search doesn’t mean you’re number one in Google for your customer’s search.

As I mentioned in my post on personalized search, Google customizes your search results based on your search history.  Test it yourself. Google something. Now find a friend and Google the same thing on her computer. Most likely your results are different… unless you’re both in the same field and mostly do the same searches.

The point is (and I do generally have one) — your site content has to sell your product, whether you show up above the fold or below in the rankings. If the 5 sites above you don’t help a searcher solve his or her problem and you DO, you get the sale…and the 5 competitors get the honor of “being ranked top 5″ Great. Let them take that to the bank while you close another sale.

– Stacey Morgan Smith

Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals | Stacey Morgan Smith

Monday afternoon I left the “SEO track” and visited the Analytics room at SMXEast in New York. I spend a lot of time looking at my customers’ analytics to plan the next steps in their SEO, so I attended the the “Actionable SEO Insights from Analytics Data” session.

The session was moderated by Chris Sherman, the Executive Editor of Search Engine Land. Notes from each speaker include:

John Maxson, Manager, Natural Search Optimization, iCrossing
Challenges with using analytics include the difficulty of verifying accuracy, the data is sometimes too complicated to analyze, and one can’t drill into the data. Actions: when you find strong-performing keywords, add additional content around those keywords. For poorly performing keywords, there probably isn’t enough content or content isn’t really focused on that theme. Monitor your own site like a competitor’s site. You may not always be aware of changes to your own site.

Taylor Pratt, Senior Search Specialist, nFusion
Use site search to see what language customers are using and if they are converting for that language. For more keywords, look at paid search keywords and how they are converting. Analyze your referring domains. Don’t just look at top traffic content. Look at weekly, biweekly, or monthly TREND reporting, not numbers. Form a hypothesis and test it.

Mike Tekula, President, Unstuck Digital
Look at the metrics for longtail keywords. Per-visit value is priceless. Look at keyword data – bounce rate PLUS pages per visit. Look at users who viewed X pages to find keywords that refer most engaged users.

In this session I picked up a few new ideas for using analytics. If you aren’t using analytics in your own search engine optimization, you aren’t seeing the whole picture. Analytics will help you get a baseline measurement, help you measure performance, and help you correct your course.

– Stacey Morgan Smith

Everything is measurable in Internet marketing. That’s the mantra my company NetStrategies stands by! Analytics is the tool by which we measure. In following the data, a smart content writer can determine what a target audience does and does not respond to. The data helps you understand who your visitors are, where they come from, and where they exit during the buy-in process.

A good content writer understands how analytics works even if they are not certified experts on the topic. I’ve studied the educational modules on Google Analytics’ Web site called Conversion University. I recommend anyone working with Web sites at least reads through the material to gain a baseline understanding of what data is available through analytics and how you can use that information. (Actually my boss “encouraged” me to enroll for that very reason, and I’m grateful I did!)

Google Analytics is one example of data tracking and measurement. If used and interpreted properly, it is a fantastic way to track your online progress and make changes based on real data.

Here are two other very simple ways to measure your social media efforts if they are included in your content delivery plan, Facebook Insights and YouTube Insight.

If video is part of your content plan, you can upload to YouTube as a free delivery method. It helps that YouTube is also a household name! Did you know you can access Insight through your account see the analytical data on how your video performs?

Insight, YouTube’s analytics and reporting product, allows you to view detailed statistics about the videos you upload to the site. It charts video views on an interactive time line and map, letting you drill down into different geographic regions and see the viewing activity in those regions over selected time periods. You can also compare the relative popularity of your videos in a given region to all other videos in that region.

To see Insights on your own videos, log on to YouTube and click on the “Insight” button under “Account” > “My Videos” > “Insight.”
YouTube plans to launch new features and additional analytics including viewer demographics, how viewers are engaging with videos (playback length, ratings, comments), and a breakdown of how viewers are discovering videos (e.g. search, email, embeds etc.).
Insight includes a report download section so you can easily share the numbers with your boss or your customer!

For more in depth reporting, Google Analytics integrates with YouTube brand channels, giving partners and advertisers more analytical data by fully enabling Google Analytics reporting. Brand channel owners can track metrics such as how long visitors stay, repeat visits, bounce rates, and page views per visitor.

If a Facebook Fan page or movement is a way you deliver content to your stake holders, use Facebook Insights to dive into the context of those interactions with analytics. Insights illustrates how users are interacting with your page, broken down by Wall posts, likes, and comments. Your Post Quality shows you how engaging your posts are to your fans, and your star rating compares your Post Quality to other pages of similar size. Your Fans Over Time graph allows you to track when users decide to unsubscribe from your posts in their News Feed. It also includes statistics on where your fan base is located and which languages they speak. To export your reports, click “Switch to the Old Insights” in the menu and follow the Export link. Facebook plans to add new metrics in the coming weeks and months.

Your stake holders determine the quality of your content when they engage and follow through. Follow the numbers to better tailor your content to what your stakeholders want.

When you are writing for your Web site, use keywords that your customers use to reach the most searchers.

Use your customers’ search terms. You may sell ”vegetable-tanned cowhide foot coverings,” “green groundcover seed,” or ”one-of-a-kind extra-special violet outer garments”, but what if your customers are searching for organic leather shoes, grass seed, and purple coats? Until you’ve built up brand recognition, you may need to change the way you talk about your product or service.

Speak the same language as your customers. Search engines don’t think the way people do. A search in Google for “house” brings up different results than a search for “home.” If you only mention “homes” on your site, you aren’t reaching everyone you should.  Users query Google for “purple coats” approximately 3,600 times per month. There are zero searches each month for “one-of-a-kind extra-special violet outer garments.”  More searchers will find you if you speak their language.

Analyze your site. How do you find out what words people are using to find you? Web site analytics. There are free and fee-based analytics tools that can tell you how many visitors came to your site on each keyword, which can help you decide which words to use to describe your product.

In addition to keyword analysis, Google Analytics, a free tool, will give you a wealth of information on your site visitors. This information can help you measure the effect of your SEO efforts, evaluate A/B testing data, monitor which pages receive the most visits, and assess which pages lose the most visitors. An analytics expert can help you interpret your reports and plan your course of action.

Once you know which words searchers use, use the same keywords. Add in the words that set your business apart from the others, but speak the same language as your customers to get the best results.

– Stacey Morgan Smith