The End of The Road…For My Web Analytics and SEO Class

When I began this journey into Web Analytics and SEO nine weeks ago, I can honestly say I had no idea what to expect. I was thinking a variety of things: this is going to be exciting to delve into the world of SEO and data; will I be able to decipher the information in this class; how will I be able to apply this in my daily life to enhance my work for my clients?

Well, nine weeks have come and gone, and I can say that I have learned a lot about Web Analytics and SEO. First, I gained a better perspective on what Web Analytics and SEO are. I had a concrete definition of what each was and would be able to carry that knowledge throughout the remainder of the course and definitely in my professional life.

Throughout this course, I learned how to apply Google Analytics and truly understand it. I learned about goals and funnels, and how they can be used to help a company design its overall marketing campaigns. In fact, during the course of this class, I worked on a project to launch a Website for one of my clients, Cleveland Thermal. I was able to develop a plan for the site that included analytics and the setting of specific goals for the site, in particular direct people to the contact page as well as get returning visitors to sign-up for e-mail updates for the company. In addition, I refreshed the keywords, ensured there was linking and tagging, and enhanced the page title to aid in search engine rankings. I believe this practical experience is a testament to what I learned in this class.

I had always known the importance of SEO and collecting analytical data, but I had never truly understood it and could apply it. But, by completing this course, I now have a true understanding of these two trends in digital marketing. I can speak eloquently about them and clearly advise my clients on how SEO could help them reach their overall goals, and how the analytical data collected will provide the support for marketing decisions.

So I have come to the end of the road of my Web analytics and SEO class, but I have taken away with me great knowledge. In the future, I will continue to apply the techniques learned in the course.

The Final Rose

Maybe it is an ode to “The Bachelor,” but this is really a testament to one of my final postings in my Web Analytics and SEO class at West Virginia University. In fact, to keep with the floral theme, I elected to look at the Web site for 1-800-FLOWERS for this assignment, which asked us to look at how an online retailer is using analytics and how it is using them.

When looking at the code on the site, it was evident the company was using Coremetrics as its analytics tool. Coremetrics is one of the leaders in the SEO and Web analytics industry. In fact one of the most interesting things about Coremetrics is how detailed its code is, and for a company like 1-800-FLOWERS, this is specially important because of so many products and offerings on one site.

Thirty-seven percent of online retailers who use Coremetrics or Omniture also use Google Analytics, and 1-800-FLOWERS is one of them (Bright, 2010). The company is also testing its site and is using Google Website Optimizer. First, I will detail its analytics approach, and then take a look at what the company is testing using Google Website Optimizer. 

First, it is interesting to note that the company is only using Google Analytics on its sub pages, and not the home page. On the other pages of the site, Google Analytics and Coremetrics are being used.

From the home page, it looks as if the site is using analytics to see where an individual clicks. This most likely signifies the company is tracking visitors, page views and return visits. The second component of the code shows the company is tracking events. From the home page this event is to see if the visitor is going to the flowers page or another page on the site. In addition, the company is also tracking returning visitors to see if it needs to recognize a returning visitor. This is a sign of strong customer service, remembering a user on a site. In addition, the company is also tracking domain names, which indicates how the people are reaching the site. This most likely correlates into the company’s advertising and marketing efforts, and determines if one tactic is working better than another.

There are numerous banner ads on the home page of the site, and 1-800-FLOWERS is tracking each of the click-thrus to determine the most popular. This is a strong example of testing a site and truly monitoring what people are finding valuable and using on a site. This is smart marketing. One of the interesting components for me was to see the testing of the banner ad across the bottom highlighting “The Millionaire Matchmaker.” In the code, there is actually a report for determining if the page is more successful with the ad as opposed to without it.

As you delve deeper into the other pages of the site, it is still tracking visitors, but it is also tracking where they are clicking, and if they are eventually placing an order on the site. The company is collecting this data to see if purchases are being made, or if there is a point where a user does not continue to the checkout. As I have learned throughout this course, this is valuable data to see if a site is working or if tweaks need to be made to encourage visitors to make a purchase. The site is also tracking if people are leaving certain pages to go to “order tracking,” “my account” or “customer service.” This is a funnel the company has set.

With Google Website Optimizer, the site is testing different layouts to see which ones will have the highest conversion rates. This will prove beneficial to them in determining the future direction of the site. It will also show which site will bring in the largest number of sales and return visitors. In addition, there is multivariate testing happening on the home page. The company is also looking at the variety of options people can select based on flowers for occasions and dates. In fact, when I logged onto the site from work and then from  home later today, I had two different home pages.

I cannot think of something specifically that needs improvement for the company since it seems to be doing a great job of testing and collecting data. I would hope they are analyzing the data based on geography as well to see where it may need to expand its florist network or those areas in which it needs to advertise more.

Since the company is collecting so much data and placing such a significant investment in testing the site and analyzing it, I hope that it has experienced professionals in place who can carefully look at the data and apply it to marketing and advertising efforts that can expand the business.

All in all, this site truly encompasses everything I have learned in the course for the past nine weeks – analytics, enhanced search engine optimization and testing. It was a great site to select for one of my last blog postings in this class.

Reference
Bright, D (2010). 37% of Retailers Who Use Omniture or Coremetrics Also Use Google Analytics. Istobe Blog. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from http://istobe.com/blog/2010/01/22/37-of-retailers-who-use-omniture-or-coremetrics-also-use-google-analytics/

And The Winner Is...For Real This Time

As a follow up to my post earlier in the week, for Week 7 of my Web Analytics and SEO course at WVU, I needed to publicize my blog using social media and traditional marketing platforms. As a refresher, I utilized both mine and my firm’s Twitter and Facebook pages as well as a direct e-mail to fellow colleagues I know from AAF-Cleveland and PRSA’s Cleveland Chapter. And, I am happy to say the results are in.

During the period of Monday, March 8th through today at the time of this posting there have been 22 total visits to my blog. This is just 11 less than the total visits I had for a month-long period. There were 37 total page views. People found my blog through the following methods:
Direct 11
Blogger 7
Google 3
Facebook 1

This proves to me that even in the wake of social media; sometimes, targeted outreach to a select audience is the way to go. These people are engaged in the industry. The results may have been different if all of my Twitter followers and Facebook friends were in marketing and communications. But no matter how they reached the blog, I am seeing a growth in readership, and that is the most important thing.

I’ll Bank On It…Testing Could Improve Web site Usage

Online banking has become commonplace in the United States. In fact, online banking has become one of the fastest-growing Internet activities. Approximately 43% of those who use the Internet, or about 63 million Americans, conduct some sort of online banking, according to a 2006 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project (Salazar, 2009). With this in mind, I decided to look at a large, national bank’s Web site to see if it could be enhanced for navigation and overall ease of use.

PNC is one of the largest bank’s in the country. This was further solidified after its acquisition of National City Bank in 2008. When logging onto the PNC site, one is not greeted with numerous graphics. Instead, the user sees some Flash animation, and then numerous links to various banking-related topics under the headings of products and services; solutions and PNC’s security assurance. In the top left-hand corner of the page is the user log-in. The site also has a toolbar directing users to personal banking, small business and corporate and institutional areas.

The clean, streamlined look of the site is very appealing. It seems to almost simplify what can be a difficult topic to navigate: banking. You can easily find navigation on it, and within a few clicks I seem to be able to obtain the information for which I am looking. Yet, I do wonder if any type of testing was conducted on the site.

If I was on the team working to design and launch the PNC site, I would have conducted a multivariate test since you can test many different variations of a site or changes at once (Alt & Usborne, 2005). In addition this type of testing offers a reliable, scientifically-grounded method for understanding visitors’ preferences by using algorithms.

Multivariate testing is suggested because of the few things that stand out on the site to me: numerous links on the home page and minimal graphics. Within these tests, I would change the graphics. I may add more Flash to the site to make a bit more appealing graphically speaking.

In terms of the links, I would have pages that had fewer links and ones that had even more links. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, you will see even more links in a faint gray. There seems to be a plethora of links on the site, and I would like to see which ones are used the most frequently and which ones are not used at all. This could help determine the layout of the site and minimize the overall number of links on the home page and throughout the site.

In addition, I would also make a somewhat stronger call to action on the Web site with different page headings and titles. I would want to assure that the proper page titles have been selected, and they are terms that the average user will understand. I would want the language simplified and not simply banking terminology that only bankers would understand. The toolbar could also be changed to reflect different navigation and if any other headings should be added to the main navigation on the site.

I would then combine these different link, graphics and headline options into different pages to test.

From the above, you can see that I believe multivariate testing as well as A/B testing is a viable option for companies looking to either launch or re-launch its site. But, it is imperative to first select a testing option that best suits the need of your company. Essentially these two different tools that can help a company with its Web presence and success. Learn more about the differences between the two methods here.

The very reason I believe this is because multivariate testing is one of the most frequently used marketing tactics that has achieved positive results in terms of increased sales and services (MultvariateTesting.com, 2009). Some may say because you can test numerous options at once, you are getting the biggest bang for your buck since the algorithms used in this type of testing are accurate in determining which option or combination of options would be the most effective (Verster.com, 2010) Yet, one needs to ensure the testing is being done right.

I would advise companies to utilize professional marketers who have extensive experience in this line of work to conduct these tests. Jonathan Mendez outlines a strong, strategic approach to this type of testing in his blog. Within it, he discusses, step-by-step, how to implement such a test from designing, creating the content and implementing the code. This is a not-to-be-missed post as it points to the positives of multivariate testing and the results that can be had if done properly.

Web testing is not something to take lightly. It requires time commitment, research and creativity. But, if done properly, a company will see numerous benefits including increase in Web traffic, sales and any other goal it may have for its site.

References

Salazar, C. (2009, Jan. 28). How dangerous is online banking? MSN Money. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/StockInvestingTrading/how-dangerous-is-online-banking.aspx#pageTopAchor

Alt, B. & Usborne, N (2005). Multivariable Testing. Marketing Experiments Blog. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from http://www.marketingexperiments.com/improving-website-conversion/multivariable-testing.html

MultivariateTesting.com (2009). Multivariate Testing. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from http://multivariatetesting.com/

Verster.com (2010). Multivariate Optimization vs. A/B Testing. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from http://www.vertster.com/multivariate-testing/multivariate-optimization-vs-a-b-testing

And the Winner Is....

As I write this post on Oscar Awards Sunday, I thought the title of this post was appropriate. While I will not be making any winner predictions, this post does center on my efforts to publicize this blog, and the results that were achieved.

This week, we were tasked with publicizing our blog. As a public relations professional, I welcomed this task as a way to exercise the skills I have developed over recent months to utilize a mix of traditional marketing and social media.

My first step was to go the traditional route; in doing this, I sent out an e-mail to a targeted audience – those who have an interest or currently work in public relations and marketing. I selected people who are colleagues and fellow members of the local chapters of AAF-Cleveland and PRSA Cleveland. I believed this would be an engaged audience who would find the information on this blog informative and useful.

Also, these individuals were selected based on two key factors in selecting a target market. The first is the attractiveness of the segment. As mentioned above, these individuals are marketing communications professionals, which make them an ideal audience for this blog. The second factor is whether or not this audience fits into the objectives of the blog (NetMBA.com, 2007). The goal of my blog is to be an educational resource. The audience selected would be interested in these topics and are currently seeking ways to increase their knowledge on the ever-evolving world of digital marketing.

The next approach I took was engaging social media. The first outlet I selected was Facebook. With more than 400 million users and recently surpassing Yahoo as the second most popular Web site in the United States, Facebook was a logical choice for getting the word out about my blog (Campanelli, 2010). Granted, I know that not all of the 400 million users are going to see my posting, but nonetheless, Facebook was a great outlet for disseminating information about my blog. With one posting, I was able to reach a large audience.

My first step in using Facebook was to post the link to the blog on my firm’s Facebook fan page. I then reposted this link to my own Facebook page. With more than 100 fans of Roop & Co. and more than 500 of my own friends on Facebook, I believed this was a strong venue to disseminate this message.

The final vehicle I used was Twitter. Once again, I posted the link via the Roop & Co. Twitter page and then I retweeted the post from my account. This tactic reached approximately 300 engaged users.

Before I give you the overall results in numbers, some of the qualitative results speak volumes.

From my e-mail campaign, I received positive feedback from numerous members of my target audience. Interestingly, no one commented on the blog. Instead, I received these comments in a reply e-mail. I did thank everyone for the comments, but I also encouraged those individuals to post their comments to the blog since blogs are a way to elicit conversation between people (Uhrmacher, 2008).

From my social media results, I saw comments from friends and colleagues on my Facebook page. When looking at Twitter, individuals had tweeted the link to this blog to their own followers. This example truly demonstrated to me the genesis behind Twitter and the power it had. As a result of this Twitter activity, I gained some followers who work in the Greater Cleveland public relations industry. This is a win/win. Not only was I able to share the knowledge I am gaining from the digital marketing program at WVU, but I am also building a network among my professional peers in the process.

And now, the numbers…

Well, just as much to my disappointment, like those who went home Osacr-less, when I set up my analytics account, I also added filters on my overall reporting. Yet, I did this incorrectly. Instead of posting the funnels to a different report on my account, I added it to my overall accout. This mean my data was missing because I did not post these on a separate report on my account. Yes, this is definitely a learning process, but this article on Google Analytics helped me navigate my oversight as well as a conversation with my professor. Have no fear, the problem has been alleviated, and I will now take the tactics outlined above and once again put this plan into action. I will post the full results from this experiment in publicizing this blog later this week.

References
NetMBA.com (2007). Target Market Selection. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://www.netmba.com/marketing/market/target/

Campanelli, J. (2010, March 1). Cleveland personalities find lots of friends on Facebook. The Plain Dealer, PDQ section. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://www.cleveland.com/pdq/index.ssf/2010/03/cleveland_personalities_who_ha.html

Uhrmacher, A. (2008). How to develop a social media plan for your business in 5 steps. Mashable Blog. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from http://mashable.com/2008/07/10/how-to-develop-a-social-media-plan/