Is your blog good enough to win an Oscar?

I am just thankful to be nominated. Did you ever really believe that? Well, in Web analytics almost getting the statue (reaching the goal) is really valuable information and could be what puts your blog on the front page of Digg. Setting goals is more than measuring Web page traffic and on its own, Google Analytics will not figure out what is the most important thing you want visitors to do on your blog. You have to tell Google Analytics to keep track of what’s critical to your business—and you do this with goals (Lofgren, 2012).

In Google Analytics, there are four types of goals (Google, 2013):

•           A URL Destination goal triggers
•           A Time on Site goal
•           A Pages/Visit goal
•           An Event goal

For my blog, I have set up two different Goals:

1. Time on Site of more than five minutes. It is important to me to have the ability to look at traffic that hopefully finds my content useful and has read at least one blog. The average reading time of one of my blogs is five minutes. I know this because Roy Peter Clark, vice president and senior scholar at The Poynter Institute, figures the average adult can read 200 words per minute (Wylie, 2012).
2. URL Destination to a specific blog post. I have created a funnel to associate with this goal so that I can clearly see where traffic is going when they do not reach the goal and how traffic may be reaching the desired blog post, but taking another route. Measuring visits alone will not give you this incredibly valuable information that essentially translates into the low hanging fruit because once you set up a funnel, you can quickly identify bottlenecks and streamline the process to improve goal conversion.

But be careful, goal funnels really only work when you require your visitors to move through a series of pages (Lofgren, 2012). Additionally, funnels only allow you to set up ten steps. If you need additional steps, split the funnel between two different goals.

An event goal is really the golden statue in many cases, because it allows you to set up goals that are custom to your site. For instance, I could set up an Event goal for my blog subscription, apply a funnel and determine which blog posts are generating the most subscriptions. I may find that by making a couple minor adjustments to the content in future blog posts will improve my conversion rate. The closer these metrics are to activities that generate revenue, the better (Lofgren, 2012).

Avinash Kaushik is the author of Web Analytics 2.0. In his book, he talks about quantifying the economic value of your website and in the context of the example he uses, economic value is the imputed value of an action taken on your website. The question you must answer is, “As a result of this action by a Visitor, was any value created for my business?” (Kaushik, 2010). Can you see how much more valuable this type of information will be to you in comparison to simply measuring unique visitors?

I will use my blog as an example. The economic value of a blog subscription for me is $4—the cost of an email address. Now combine this with the Event goal to measure blog subscriptions and the funnel I have associated with this goal. Now, I have an opportunity to the real value changes to my blog have on the bottom line. Imagine doing this on your company’s website. Congratulations on your new promotion!

We all see the world through our own filter, so should we not look at our data using filters, too?

Filters are excellent to exclude internal traffic to your site from your reporting so that you can have a clearer picture of the activity taking place on your website from consumers. This is just one example. You can also use filters to include a specific domain and monitor traffic only on a subdomain. For my blog, I am dreaming of the day when it becomes wildly popular and Mashable cannot help but reference my work in tweets and blog posts. This would be an incredible accomplishment and right up there with drafting my acceptance speech for my blog Oscar.

Traffic from Mashable is something I definitely want to measure, but I also want to see if other tactics I have implemented to build relationships with other major influential bloggers is having any impact. I want to look at traffic to my blog that is coming from websites other than Mashable.

To do this, I can set up a filter to exclude the term ‘mashable’ in the domain. Therefore, no matter what page Mashable includes links to my blog, I will not see that traffic in reports when using my filter.

There is a very important piece to remember when using filters. Once raw data has been passed through a filter, Google cannot re-process raw data. Filters forever modify the data in a profile. For this reason, we recommend maintaining an unfiltered profile (Google, 2013).

Beginning with a fundamentall understanding in the metrics Google Analytics provides you will provide you with a tremendous amount of insight into consumer behavior and the activity on your blog or website. You will be able to identify seasonal trends, where visitors are coming from, what pages they are accessing the most and how often, and how many people find your website or blog completely repulsive. These are just a few pieces of highly valuable information you will begin to gather as you begin to understand metrics.

Once you have a better understanding of who is visiting your site, lay out who you want to visit your site and what paths they will take to get the information they want. Try to think about them clearly and identify a few different mindsets (i.e. a person who is in a rush and searching to solve an analytics problem, a person who is looking for a thorough understanding of goals and funnels and has all the time in the world). A person’s mindset is going to impact the path they take on your site. Try to understand these paths and set up goals to help you to better reach and engage with these different types of people.

Goals, funnels, and filters will be the final key to turning your blog into a well-oiled, money-making, machine. An Oscar winner.

References:

Google (2013). Google Analytics IQ Lessons. Retrieved on February 25, 2013, from, http://google.com/analytics/iq.html

Lars, Lofgren. (2012, May). KISSmetrics. 4 Google Analytics goal types that are critical to your business. Retrieved on February 25, 2013, from, http://blog.kissmetrics.com/critical-goal-types/.

Wylie, A. (2012, March 2). PRSA. The ART of the short story: How long will it take to read your piece? Retrieved on February 25, 2013, from, http://www.prsa.org/Intelligence/Tactics/Articles/view/9637/1045/The_ART_of_the_short_story_How_long_will_it_take_t

Kaushik, A. (2010). Web analytics 2.0: The art of online accountability & science of customer centricity. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pu

Top Four Analytics Reports To Measure The Success Of Your Blog

Although the objectives of blogs vary, there are essential metrics all bloggers should monitor to gauge the success of their efforts. Today, I will focus on the metrics and reporting available in Google Analytics (Google.com/Analytics). These metrics are based on the foundation of why most blogs exist and they answer these very important questions:

• How many people are visiting your blog

• Where are your visitors coming from?

• Are visitors engaged and reading my content?

How many people visit your blog and when?

Looking at Google’s Audience Overview report will enable you to immediately identify how many new and returning visitors access your blog. You may feel you are publishing the most awesome content and visitors are clamoring to read your latest post, but  without looking at the traffic displayed in the Audience Overview report, you will never truly know.

This report is especially useful when looking at the data in aggregate, viewed over a long period of time to identify more than peak dates visitors access your blog, but also seasonal trends. For instance, suppose visits to your blog peaks each year in February. Then by drilling down to take a closer look at the traffic to your site during this specific time period and learn that most traffic is coming to your blog because visitors are searching for a blog conference that you sponsor each year.

Additionally, the Audience Overview report may also reveal better optimized and engaging blog posts. For instance, you may see significant spikes that could reveal that the content used within your blog was more relevant or resonated very well with subscribers resulting in click-throughs (traffic) to your site. 

If you are blogging then you are most likely familiar with search engine optimization and with an optimized blog post using specific keyword terms and tagging, you could receive additional traffic from major search engines that have moved your blog up a couple positions in search engine results. Could it be that the additional 10,000 visits to your blog was the result of being “Digg’d?”

Digg is a popular website that delivers Internet news and enables visitors to easily find, read, and share stories. Maybe your blog post was highly regarded by Digg, and it was proudly displayed on the front page of Digg's website for thousands to see. Who knows? 

Now this is all good news, but you should also be prepared for not-so-pretty results. If what you end up looking at is a lack of visitors, you will still have the information you need to take corrective action and improve your blog to deliver better results.

Where are your visitors coming from?

You have a blog and you have visitors. Good for you. But where are they coming from?

Knowing where your visitors are located and the medium and sources that are driving them to your site will bring you an arsenal of analytic weaponry you can use to begin shooting for the stars. This information will tell you a few good things including the location of your visitors and the source that brought them to your blog. This information is not available in a single report, so you will need to navigate Google Analytics a bit to review.

Location

Understanding the location of visitors to your blog is important if you are targeting an audience within a specific region. It may be that your blog is getting a good amount of traffic, but if you are looking to reach prospects in New Hampshire and most of the visitors to your site are located in New England, then you have a problem. 

On the other hand, if location is unimportant, then you can still use location for other purposes. You may want to optimize your content to balance the geography of visitors. This information is available in Google Analytics' ‘Location’ report. Here you can view by Country/Territory, City, Continent, or Sub Continent Region. 

I enjoy using Google Analytics’ Secondary Dimension to view the number of visitors in their location and drill down even further to identify the traffic source and medium that brought them to my blog. You might find that more people from Connecticut are coming to your blog through search, but in Charleston they're finding you through referrals. Charleston is after all where the conference is located that you sponsor each year. 

Traffic Source

Looking at the Traffic Source report will give you an excellent view of where your visitors are coming from in terms of other websites and the type of medium (referral, search, or direct). If my blog is receiving a lot of traffic from referrals, then that could mean I am doing a good job at building relationships with other publishers or developing good content others find resourceful and beneficial. The other dimensions on this overview report will show you if the content you are producing is valuable to others and reaching the right audiences. These dimensions include the Average Visit Duration, Bounce Rate, and Pages per Visit. You can make several conclusions by looking at the combination of these metrics. For instance, an average bounce rate of 40% may not seem too bad, but if you look at the traffic source from search traffic and the bounce rate is 85%, then it is most likely time to re-evaluate your search engine optimization strategy.

Are visitors engaged and reading my content?

You are publishing content and you have visitors to your page, but is that really all you want to become? Wouldn't you like to get visitors to subscribe to your blog and come back for more. . . and more. . .and more? Using Advanced Segments in Google Analytics’ Audience Overview report will show you if your visitors find your material worth their time and you can see this instantly by looking at New Visitors and Returning Visitors. 

Think about this for a moment. The Audience Overview report and filled with beneficial information to help you identify trends and irregularities in traffic and you could be more than pleased to see an uphill climb of New Visitors. That is encouraging, but what if you chose Returning Visitors advanced segment to compare against New Visitors segment and you found that the Returning Visitors trend was increasing at a far greater rate? I bet you would certainly want to have this information! 

This example is a good thing, but you could also discover that  New Visitors are outpacing Returning. It could be that you are spending money in the right places to attract visitors, but your content is not engaging. This of course is one example and there could be other reasons when this is a good thing. Maybe your advertising is highly effective and reaching just the right people at the perfect time, and with a little time, New Visitors will transform into Returning Visitors.

These are just a few of the reports available in Google Analytics, but they are reports you will most likely use for as long as you measure your blog. A key benefit of the Internet is that the activity that takes place online is highly measurable. It affords us with the opportunity to get to know an audience and to evolve into an identity they grow to love and value. Explore analytic tools. Get to know your blog. Get to know your audience. Become loved. Become valued. Become indispensable. Good luck!

Google Still Out Performs Facebook In Advertising Effectiveness

There are fundamental difference between Google Adwords and Facebook Ads. Let us put the discussion of effectiveness aside for a moment and look at what each different channel provides to advertisers.

Messaging:

Google Adwords are text-based and usually the second option users click when they cannot find what they are looking for in the organic search results. To help advertisers, Google has made it increasingly difficult for consumers to differentiate between Adwords and organic search results. This makes the advertising less interrupting and more a part of natural search.

Google Adwords do not allow for creative, which is not necessarily a bad thing because this type of messaging is consistent with the Google interface and the very thing that differentiates the website from other major search engines. Simplicity and lack of clutter is a major factor that contributes to usability and the reason Google continues to hold the top position in the Top 15 Most Popular Websites (eBizMBA, 2013).

Facebook enables brands to implement creative and engaging call to action elements creating a better opportunity for brand awareness and leveraging brand recognition that has been developed through other forms of advertising. It allows for companies to better leverage brand equity.

Audience Reach:

Although Facebook reaches more than one billion users, Google’s audience is in a different mindset—they are looking for answers, valuable information, and not necessarily to connect with friends and family. So depending on your business, target audience, and advertising goals, Google Adwords is an excellent solution for reaching thousands of individuals who are researching information online looking to discover solutions to their needs and connect with brands rather than their best friend.

Adwords enable advertisers to target audiences based on location and keyword search terms. This type of targeting is not offered when using Facebook Ads, however, Facebook Ads allow for more precise psychographic targeting and allow brands to make clear decisions based on the segmentation criteria they select. 

For instance, as you narrow down your audience, the estimated reach is presented in real time. This can be extremely valuable for marketers who are looking to better optimize their budget through highly segmented, precision targeting.

Measurement:

The data that is offered to marketers from Google Adwords can be tied directly into the brand’s site analytics through the Google Analytics platform. This provides a single source to measure ads, Web traffic and consumer behavior. These metrics are useful, but they do not give insight into the bits of content your audience finds engaging. 

For instance, a user can click on an Adword and stay on your Web page for three minutes, but you have no way of knowing if the time spent was the result of a positive experience. Google does not have tools integrated on your site that allow users to interact and share information. You are required to build that on your own and work to integrate that development into the Google Analytics platform.

Conversion rate using Google Adwords or Web analytics can be several things including a form completion, video play, and sometimes even feedback.  

Now in terms of Facebook Ads, 

Conversation Rate = # of Audience Comments (or Replies) Per Post (Kaushik, 2011). 

You have the opportunity to better understand your audience and engage with them instantly and creatively. 

Conversion on Facebook also means increased word of mouth—a person’s action is viewed by their network. A conversion on your website is viewed by, well, that individual and maybe a family member that pokes their head in the room. 

Kaushik’s Amplification Rate metric can be applied to the insights provided by Facebook and other social media networks showing the amplification of the advertising message or shared beyond the boundaries of the intended audience.

On Facebook, Google Plus: 

Amplification = # of Shares Per Post (Kaushik, 2011).

Now I encourage you to continue to read about all the other valuable metrics Kaushik offers in this blog post. Not only is the information valuable, his personality and sense of humor that shines through always makes the time spent well worth it.

In looking back at the points covered in this post, the obvious answer might appear to be Facebook Ads. So now it is time to talk about effectiveness. For most brands, it is extremely difficult to implement a Facebook Ads campaign that is successful. And some research attributes the failure of Facebook ads to what we have discussed earlier, consumer intent. 

Consumers are just not in the mindset to interact with brand messaging in the same way they are when they are actively seeking information about products and services.

We can’t continue with the same ad models, in a space that doesn’t support them; a solution is out there, it just hasn’t matured yet, (Clark, 2012). Social media platforms must think differently and work towards a model that leverages word of mouth and engagement rather than click-through rate.

Clark, S. (2012, October, 13). Why Google Ads Work & Facebook Ads Don’t. Retrieved on February 4, 2013, from, http://seanclark.com/pay-per-click/why-google-ads-work-facebook-ads-dont/

eBizMBA (2013). Top 15 Most Popular Websites | February 2013. Retrieved on February 4, 2013, from http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/most-popular-websites

Kaushik, A. (2011, October). Occam’s Razor. Best Social Media Metrics: Conversation, Amplification, Applause, Economic Value. Retrieved on February 4, 2013, from, http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/best-social-media-metrics-conversation-amplification-applause-economic-value/

A royal crux: who or what is king?

How many times have you heard that content is king? Do you believe this to be true? The thinking here, and I won’t elaborate, is that brands can no longer simply broadcast advertising messages and hope a target audience will retain the message and make the decision to purchase the product or service. In order for ads to succeed, they need to be engaging. In a world where technology changes every minute of the day, marketers must strive to adapt ads for the consumer. Draw your audience in with more than just an offer, logo, and a link (Beck, 2012).

Although engaging content is highly effective, it certainly is not king.

Brands are wise to invest in content development, but it is not the only strategy that needs to exist to reach conversion goals. Greenberg described the importance of “pages that are optimized for given content” (Greenberg, 2009, para. 9), meaning that you cannot simply develop the content, you need to also publish information on an optimized Web page. This will help to increase traffic to your site, and without the right platform, there may be a disconnect between the content and your website. This is an important piece, and it certainly will help to increase the number of people to your site, but it is not the only thing to consider. It is much more complex and integrated.

You need to think through the entire consumer decision journey, that is, each stage of the purchase life cycle. A consumer’s mindset is different at each stage and it takes methodical, meticulous strategies to retain and continue winning beyond the initial purchase.

The Internet has upended how consumers engage with brands. It is transforming the economics of marketing and making obsolete many of the function's traditional strategies and structures. For marketers, the old way of doing business is unsustainable (Edelman, 2010). What has changed is when—at what touch points—they are most open to influence, and how you can interact with them at those points (Edelman, 2010).

Hey kingdom, this is the golden key to the castle.

Knowledge of the different stages of the journey, touch points, and consumers' mindset at each stage is what opens the gates. But you still have a lot of work to do, so your customers are not intimidated or dissatisfied with the interior decorating of your fortress.

Take a moment to consider this idea. Let us imagine that you have developed highly engaging content and have a clearly defined target audience and understand the touch points to reach them. You implement your content marketing strategy at each stage along the consumer decision journey and increase engagement among the target audience. Now there is a conversation. The conversation is the drawbridge that gets them across the moat.

Conversation is vitally important. It is your brand’s response, its persona, and it creates the opportunity to build a strong brand connection. But, it is still more than content marketing along every stage and more than timely engaging responses to your audience. It is about the relationship and of the long-term kind. Now it may seem in the beginning that you have butterflies in your stomach, but we all know, relationships are not easy. It is incredibly easy for consumers to become influenced, changing their decision at any moment along every stage of the journey, including developing remorse after the purchase.  

• Brands must first define its persona to guide content development and tone.
• Content needs to be developed with the stage of the journey in mind and specific goals and desired conversions need to be established for each major piece of content.
• Brands need to respond to the audience in a way that builds trust and affinity while continuing to keep the stage of the consumer decision journey at the core of the conversation.
• The customer experience needs to be a seamless transition that is consistent with the romance that took place prior to the marriage. Do not give up. Do not let them down. You must continue the positive experience in the service you provide and the resources that become available to new customers. And for the greatest impact, brands should integrate opportunities throughout the customer experience to create advocacy and increase word of mouth as they continue to impress. 

Content is not king. Conversation is not king. It is the love story. It is about trust. It is about not letting go and working hard to make it work. Relationship is king.

References:

Beck, A. (2012, November 15). If content is king, make brand advertising your kingdom. Retrieved on February 3, 2013, from, http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2224983/if-content-is-king-make-brand-advertising-your-kingdom

Edelman, D. (2010). Branding in the digital age: you’re spending your money in all the wrong places. Retrieved on February 3, 2013, from, http://hbr.org/2010/12/branding-in-the-digital-age-youre-spending-your-money-in-all-the-wrong-places/ar/1

Greenberg, M. (2009). Content is king of social marketing. Retrieved on February 3, 2013, from, http://multichannelmerchant.com/social-media/1020-content-social-marketing/