Google Technology for Better Content

Adam Howitt

www.adamhowitt.com

Adam Howitt Consulting

• M.Eng Software Engineering

• Worked for Procter & Gamble

• Moved to US in 2000

• ColdFusion Developer since 2000

• Analytics Specialist since 2004

Who Are You?

• Marketers

• Executives

• Designers / Developers– Flash? – Flex?

• Other

Overview

• Search Engine Optimization

• Google Analytics

• Goals and the Call to Action

• Tracking E-Commerce

• Tracking E-Mail /Other Campaigns

• Google Optimizer

• Google AdWords

SEO Basics

• Page titles <title>Google Analytics Specialist…</title>

• Meta descriptions <meta name="description" content= " … " >

• Headings– <h1>Google Analytics Specialist</h1>

• URLs

Dynamic SEO

• Generate titles automatically– Cardinality: specific to generic– SKU > Name > Category > Manufacturer

• Generate headings to match titles– Name SKU

• Generate meta description from abstract

How do you improve this page?

Demonstration of Analytics

• Spot the Difference Poll– Version 1

30,760 views 167 purchases– Version 2

31,601 views 484 purchases

Results

• Conversion rate: 0.54% vs. 1.53%

• 317 x $100 = $31,000 difference in 3 days

• Is it worth the 3 hours / $200 of design?

• Is it worth the 3 hours of analytics?

Google Analytics Dashboard

Why Track pages?

Tracking Code configuration

• Basic, Virtual pages, PDFs, downloads

• Sub-domains

• E-Commerce

• Email / Campaigns

• http://tinyurl.com/32bga3

Tracking Flash and Flex

• Which videos to people watch in the movie?

• Which navigation device do people use? – Old way – virtual URLs

• urchinTracker(‘/videoUI/{category}/{title’});

– New system for tracking feature usage• http://code.google.com/apis/analytics/docs/

eventTrackerGuide.html

• Tracy Spratt on tracking flex– External Interface object– http://www.cflex.net/showFileDetails.cfm?ObjectID=768

Pick a Goal

• Event Registrations – sign up

• Leads – register

• Sales – buy something

• Readership – subscribe

• Be more specific– Don’t just buy something, buy this

• Most profitable or • Underdeveloped

Why Track Goals?

Goal Setup Tips

• Be as short as possible with Head Match– http://www.mysite.com/thankyou.cfm?oid=123– /thankyou.cfm

• Aggregate different goal pages with Virtual URLS– E.g. /regForms/doc and /regForms/pdf– /regForms/

• Third party tools warning

E-Commerce Overview

E-Commerce Features

• Best performing categories

• Best performing products

• Site Overlay

Why Track Campaigns?

Campaign Features

• Determine ROI

• Does email work better than snail mail?

• Which email generated the most leads/revenue?

• Is e-mail better than pay-per-click traffic?– Consider tracking email signups as a goal

• http://tinyurl.com/2tg94n

What if you could…

• Produce candidate copy

• Run focus groups with some of your traffic

• Review the results

• Identify the best candidate

• Launch the winner

Google Website Optimizer

• Design your experiment

• Set a goal

• How much traffic to test

• Prepare candidate copy

• Identify a winner

How Optimizer Works

• X % of your traffic see the experiment• Measures conversions of each combo

– How many impressions– How many conversions– Conversions deviation

• Initially distributes combos evenly• As leaders emerge traffic is weighted• Google declares a winner• Original copy can sometimes win!

Experiment Results

Testing Notes

• Test one thing at a time• A/B testing minimizes external influences

– Publicity, campaigns, seasons

• Only A/B testers count to experiment result

What to Test?

• Images – demographic, color balance• Text – tone, audience, pace, length, emphasis• Colors (text, buttons, backgrounds)• Fonts – spacing, flow, words per line• Position of page elements• Navigation• Promotions• Pricing• Limiting distractions

Overview of Google AdWords

• Create an account– http://analytics.google.com

• Pick keywords and create ads

• You pay for each click, not impression

• Click-thru-rate (CTR) = clicks / impressions

• Add conversion page code

• Minimum $1 per day budget

• Minimum price per click $0.05

Google AdWords Traditional

• Create a Google AdWords account

• Pick 130+ keywords related to your site

• Create an Ad unit

• Consequences– Low click thru rate and suspended keywords– Expensive keywords $1.50 per click or more– Ads that aren’t continually shown– Poor conversion rates once they hit your site

Smarter Google AdWords

• Pick a page to promote

• Pick keywords found on that page

• Pick a 20 character title

• Write 2 x 30 character copy

• Choose your market and launch

AdWords Grouping and Matching

• Grouping is critical– Separate keywords into like groups– Separate groups into campaigns

• One ad unit / destination URL per group

• Exact match vs. phrase match vs. broad match

Consequences

• Cheaper ads $0.05+ vs. $1.50• E.g. 30x more impressions for $1.50

• Higher click thru rate• E.g. 30x more clicks for $1.50

• Better targeted ads– Each visitor is more likely to stay

Summary

• Build a site around a goal

• Google Analytics: Measure the results

• Google Website Optimizer: A/B Test

• Google AdWords: Drive more traffic

Use numbers to decide the fate of your website, not emotion.

References

• Google Analytics, Mary E. Tyler & Jerri Ledford– ISBN: 0470053852

• Google Analytics– http://analytics.google.com

• Google Adwords and Optimizer– http://adwords.google.com