If you've been following this blog, you've likely heard several references to the Google Analytics Keyword Sleuth that Michael Harrison wrote back in April of 2007. This is a tool that anyone in paid search should be using. Basically, it captures and displays an ongoing list of new keywords and phrases straight from your customer's mind. We're often advised to "imagine what your customers are typing before they see your ads, then bid on those keywords." With the Keyword Sleuth in place, you don't have to imagine anything. They've already told you.

For a long time, Google, Yahoo!, MSN and others would not reveal exact search queries, and still don't for the most part. They'll tell you the bid keyword, but not the exact search query. In May 2007, Google stepped up and created the Search Query Performance Report (SQPR), which now shows this data within the Adwords reporting tab. There was a wave of excitement when Google released the SQPR, and it's become a popular report for Adwords users.

Both the Keyword Sleuth and the SQPR were developed to do essentially the same thing, but in reality, they can be worlds apart for the PPC manager. In explaining the Keyword Sleuth to other PPC professionals, I'm often asked how it's different than the Adwords SQPR. There is a lot that is different. A side-by-side comparison between these two tools is long overdue.

Speed
First, I'll run Google's SQPR. When that's done, I'll retrieve the same data using Michael's Exact Keyword Sleuth. In summary, I'm gathering the same data from the same Adwords campaign and the same time frame (one month), using two different methods. My teammate Matt will time it from the moment I touch the keyboard to the moment the report is viewable on screen.

The results...

Continue reading "Google Analytics Keyword Sleuth vs Search Query Performance Report" »

You may have read my previous article on the subject of combining Google Website Optimizer with Google Analytics. With the new Google Analytics interface, of course, there are some changes I'd like to address.

First things first, the integration remains unchanged. You can refer back to my previous post for these instructions.

Finding the information, however, is now a little different. Since there is no more Dynamic Content report (*sniff*), finding the data takes a couple steps. But don't fret, it's not too bad.

Here's how:

Continue reading "Website Optimizer Integration in the New Analytics Interface" »

Ahhhh, the glory days of late spring are here in the Carolinas: sunny skies with longer days, bright green leaves filling the trees and warm breezes. You can feel the excitement in the air as summer is almost upon us.

In the next few weeks, kids will finish school for the summer and parents will send many of their offspring to summer camps...some will be recreational: swimming, hiking, crafting...while others will focus on skill development: soccer, basketball, cheerleading, etc.

Mom and Dad may need a little help this summer, too, if they are one of several thousand Google AdWords customers who successfully use PPC advertising and spend at least $1,000/month with Google.

If you've been using Google AdWords for any length of time, you know the fundamental Google AdWords and Internet Marketing strategies:

* Uncovering your market's hidden desires through comprehensive keyword research

* Getting Google Conversion Tracker and Google Analytics correctly configured to leverage the ultimate in free website tracking and ROI analysis

* Constantly split testing and improving Ad copy and landing page conversion

* Focusing your ad groups tightly around keywords and targeted landing pages

* Building comprehensive autoresponder sequences to increase conversion and visitor value

And every year a whole bunch of people make huge amounts of money just by doing these basic things consistently.

And these things aren't that hard...

And yet I'm guessing that you aren't doing them all. Maybe not even most... Maybe not even half...

For almost everyone, there's a GIANT GAP between knowing what to do and actually doing it. And that gap is the biggest obstacle to success in the world.

Continue reading "Weekend "summer camp" for an online Mom or Dad entrepreneur?" »

UPDATE: We have posted a new version of the script mentioned in this article at Exact Keyword Tracking for ga.js.

Last November, Jim Newsome of Omega Digital Media and the
GA Experts blog, posted a really clever trick on how to view detailed keyword information within Google Analytics. If you've ever searched through your AdWords Bid Terms and wondered what the actual Search Terms were, then you know why such a filter was in great demand. For PPC marketers, it's a great opportunity to weed out ineffectual broad match keyword phrases, and hone in on the most popular user search queries.

Here's an example: you've got a shoe store and you're running Broad Match AdWords ads for "shoes". When a visitor searches Google for "blue suede shoes", your ad shows up. This is all well and good, but what if you don't sell blue suede shoes?

Read on to find out how to track exactly what your visitors are searching for before they see your PPC ad and click on over to your site...

Continue reading "Exact Keyword Tracking with Google Analytics, Revisited" »

Updated June 14, 2007

Alright everyone, you may want to grab a drink and a comfy seat before we begin - this article's a whopper. So you may have heard about Google's new Website Optimizer tool that is available through Google AdWords. Google Website Optimizer uses a single metric, conversion rate, to determine which combination of variations is king.

But what about other metrics that may be just as valuable, like Page Value, Avg. Time, Conversion Rates for multiple goals, Bounce Rate, Exit %, and Full Navigation Analysis? What if you want to segment your traffic or filter out internal hits? Well, now you can find out just about everything you want to know about combinations by using Google Analytics! We're still just starting to understand how powerful this method is, but I can say that I'm extremely excited about it (hopefully not just because I developed it).

So kick back and read on to find out how...

Continue reading "Google Website Optimizer and Google Analytics: A Perfect Marriage" »

Whew! The announcement of Google's new Website Optimizer tool now gives us the opportunity to spill the beans about our experiences with the Beta test, and tell you about our free webinar for those of you who are looking for more information about the tool.

My experience with the Website Optimizer has been a little up and down, but I'm happy to admit that I've ended on the upswing. The limitations and annoyances that were present in the tool at the very beginning of the Beta have since been either removed or fixed, leaving only an extremely powerful and easy-to-use tool that no website owner should be without.

Here's the scoop:

Continue reading "Google Website Optimizer: Finally, it's for Everyone!" »

Google just launched a wildly-super-awesome-incredibly-cool FREE application, the Google Website Optimizer. Can you tell I'm in love?

The stand-up comedian Mitch Hedberg once said, "I have a cheese shredder at home. That's a positive name for a cheese shredder. They don't call it by its negative name, because nobody would buy it: 'sponge-ruiner.'"

Ok, in the same vein, the positive name for the Google Website Optimizer is 'free money', because if you use it that is what you are going to get. See why I'm in love?

Continue reading "FREE MONEY! (a.k.a. Google Website Optimizer)" »

It's easy to set up multiple ads for an Ad Group within Google AdWords, but how can you tell which ad is performing at a higher level? You may be using Conversion Tracker to make your decision, but that only tells a small part of the story using a single metric, cost per conversion.

Google Analytics allows you to get the entire story about the ads that you are testing, using multiple metrics. Here's how to get that story:

Continue reading "Testing AdWords Ads in Google Analytics" »

Click on the image to see the full report

*NOTE: This article is out of date. Please visit the updated article here.

One of the major problems with using Google Analytics is that it does not yet allow you to input cost data for your non-AdWords sources. While there are several ways to go about doing this manually, we've come up with a quick, simple tool you can use to help speed the process along.

Continue reading "Campaign ROI Calculation Spreadsheet" »

What a good point! Avinash Kaushik recently posted in his blog, Occam's Razor, about the importance and the possible impact of abandonment rates.

Think about this: have you ever seen somebody load up their cart with groceries at the supermarket, wheel up to the checkout lane, wait in line, make it up to the cashier... and just walk away? Just leave their cart full of groceries sitting there in the checkout lane and walk out the door?

I sure haven't! But that is almost exactly what happens with online shopping cart abandonment. In the online world it is a little more complicated, but putting an item in a shopping cart still indicates a serious interest in purchasing that item.

Kaushik points out that "depending on the cost of items you sell on your website each percent point of abandonment could represent tens of thousands to millions of dollars per month in revenue."

And it's true!

When people abandon their shopping cart that is money left on the table. That makes optimizing your checkout procedure (or lead capture process, download process, or any other online process) for reduced abandonment an immensely rewarding practice!

The Free Google Analytics Webinar we host has an entire section dedicated to tips on how to reduce shopping cart abandonment (We call it the 'Pure Profit' section, because that's what you'll earn more of when you reduce your abandonment rates). If you are interested in receiving some tips in addition to those Kaushik outlines in his article, stop on by and sign up for our free webinar today!

In past articles, such as Profitable Content network bidding in Google AdWords using the new AdWords Analysis report, we discuss how to use Google Analytics to conduct A/B split tests.

Google Analytics defines A/B split testing as "Testing the relative effectiveness of multiple versions of the same advertisement, or other content, in referring visitors to a site."

An excellent article was recently written by Matthew Roche in Conversion Chronicles, "Do Your Home Page Tests Flop? We Know Why...", which outlines the four major obstacles to getting your A/B split tests on your homepage to work correctly.

The fact is that most companies make their first foray into live testing by showing two versions of a home page (often one for a week, then another). And sadly, many of these folks find that both versions perform equally well (or equally poorly).

Continue reading "Nagging Problems with Home Page A/B Testing" »

In the previous article, 'Continual Conversion Rate Improvement Part I', I talked about how optimizing a website's conversion rate can have a huge impact on the bottom line. Improving your conversion rate is an on-going process, not a quick fix. Every little thing matters, and so it pays to pay attention to the details. Discount Tire found out just how true this is.

This quote is from the case study "How Discount Tire boost sales with Google Analytics" on Internet Retailer:

Discount Tire used Google Analytics to determine, for example, the most effective language to use in its checkout process. By replacing the note on its checkout button from "Purchase and make a reservation" to "Check out and make a reservation," it led to a 14% increase in sales in a single week, says e-business supervisor Mike Bolland.

Continue reading "Continual Conversion Rate Improvement Part II" »

As you may know, conversion rate is the percentage of people who complete a certain action on your site like making a purchase or submitting a form. The conversion rate is one of the ways to accurately measure just how well your site is performing its job.

Improving conversion rate has a huge impact: raising the conversion rate from 1% to 2% would represent a 100% increase in goal completion. For an e-commerce site, that would mean double the revenue! When you increase your conversion rate, you get more sales from your existing traffic which saves on marketing expenses, customer acquisition cost goes down, and the customer retention rate goes up.

Continue reading "Continual Conversion Rate Improvement Part One" »

We had the opportunity to interview Alden DeSoto, Editor of the Google Analytics Conversion University and the Voice of Urchin (so named because Alden was the
narrator of the Urchin tour on urchin.com), and asked him some questions about the move to Mountain View, the mission of Conversion University, and the importance of web analytics to sites large and small.

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ROI Revolution: It's been just over a year since the Urchin team moved from the former home of Urchin in San Diego, CA (due to Google's purchase of Urchin Software) to Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA. What's it been like over the last 12 months?

Alden DeSoto: Hard work, but fun and incredibly stimulating. I feel like we get to do really big things here. Like rolling out Google Analytics to everyone who wants it, and for free. We're helping so many businesses this way and I love meeting customers and hearing about their successes. And, Google itself is an amazing place. There are a lot of brilliant and really passionate people around here. It's one of these places where you'll sit down to lunch at a table with someone you don't know and end up having a fascinating conversation. And, we get authors and speakers doing presentations at Google all the time. Some of these people are my personal heroes--Jimmy Carter and last week, Al Gore. So, I'd say I get continually re-inspired here at Google. It's hard to imagine being anyplace else.

ROI: What's your background, Alden, and how has your role changed since the Urchin buyout by Google?

AD: My background is in communications. Before Urchin (I joined Urchin in October of 2003), I was a writer at Sun Microsystems and Siebel Systems, here in Silicon Valley. I also spent a year in Guatemala working for an NGO, developing and teaching a computer literacy curriculum for Guatemalan high school students. I basically like to use my writing ability to help people.

At Urchin, my job was copywriter-technical writer-corporate communications all rolled into one. But, my mission was to help people understand how they could use Urchin to be more successful online. And, as editor of Conversion University, that is still basically my mission here at Google. The more information that is out there on how to actually use Google Analytics to market more effectively, to build a better site, to create more compelling content, the better businesses are going to do. And, the more useful the web will be to your average person or consumer. I have to admit, I'm looking forward to the day that when I click on a search result, I can always expect to land on a landing page that shows me what I'm looking for, without having to hunt around. It's frustrating for me (and it makes me sad for the business), when I end up leaving a poorly designed site because I can't find what I'm looking for. So, I guess I'm trying to help create a better experience for myself and everyone else!

Continue reading "Interview with Google Analytics' Alden DeSoto" »

The definition of what an online 'scenario' is depends on whether you ask a techie or a marketer. Bryan Eisenberg recently wrote an outstanding article on this subject, "What Exactly is a Scenario?" that outlines the different views on what a scenario is and the key components of the persuasion scenario.

In his article, the 'techie' definition of a scenario "is a series of steps a visitor must take to complete a funnel process", and the marketer thinks "in terms of narrating how a visitor could participate in a conversion action".

Continue reading "The Definition and Importance of a 'Scenario'" »

Why is conversion rate (or the percentage of your traffic that completes a purchase) being bandied about like it is the new panacea for web analytics? Is it really all that great? The first thing to look at is there are three main ways to increase the revenue coming from your website: increase the traffic, increase spending level, or increase the conversion rate.

The main reason to increase traffic is the assumption that the percentage of people who make purchases will remain stable and so more traffic means more people making purchases, which isn't always the case. Most ways for increasing traffic cost money: pay-per-click campaigns, banner ads, promotions, public relation campaigns, etc.

Increasing the level of spending entails getting your current customers to spend more. Sounds great, doesn't it? This can be done in a variety of ways like packaging services or products or cross-selling.

Continue reading "The Conversion Rate Hype: What's the Real Deal?" »

Getting to the top of the organic or even the pay-per-click search list isn't the end of the battle - it's only the beginning. Think about the way you search online; you type in a phrase in the query box, and you click on the most promising result on the first page. Once you hit that first page, if it isn't immediately apparent that you have found what you're looking for, then you hit the back button and try the next result. So how do you get people to stop at your site, and not hit that back button for the next result?

Continue reading "Avoiding the Dreaded One-Page Visit" »

If you have set up your goals in Google Analytics, then one report that can provide some incredibly useful information is the 'Defined Funnel Abandonment' report. If you need some help setting up your goals, take a look at an earlier article, "How To Set Up Goals In Google Analytics". This report tells you what percentage of visitors that begin a defined funnel process abandon it.

Continue reading "Reducing Shopping Cart Abandonment" »