SEO & GOOGLE ANALYTICS SUMMARY OVERVIEW By Rebecca L. Cooney, MSC Clinical Assistant Professor Washington State University
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
SEO PROCESS SEO influences popularity and relevance Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of getting visitors to websites, social media posts, blog articles and other digital content through the key terms and phrases individuals use when searching on search engine tools such as Google, Bing and Yahoo. SEO reflects free and organic search behavior by users and results are not influenced by paid efforts. Individual conducts online search key terms and phrases Ranks results according to site popularing of the websites housing the information Search engine scours through its database of content, documents, media files, etc. and does two things: Returns results that are relevant to the search details
SEO RECIPE INGREDIENTS Words Search engines account for every word that appears on a page in title, text or tag. The success of a page should be measured by one criteria: Does the visitor do what you want them to do? - Aaron Wall SEObook.com Titles: All web pages have a title. It is displayed in the browser and used by search engines to list the title of the page in the search results. Links Between Websites: Links between one web page to another (including social channels) are an indicator of recommendation or referral. Words Used in Links: Also called anchor text the words that are hyperlinked on a page can influence the outcome of SEO if used strategically. Reputation: Web page content that matriculates regularly improves search rankings.
SEO FORMULA & SEARCH RESULTS Within many content management systems (CMS) tools like Wordpress, Wix or Weebly, each page can be optimized for SEO with title, description and key terms. Here is the formula: Page title: >60 characters Page description: 160-180 characters max Key words: 10-30 per page. Separated by comma.
For example: Let s say I run a bakery in Spokane, WA. Here is what my SEO formula may look for search results to my main website Formula Element Sample Content Tips Page Title Page Description Key Words & Phrases Company X Bakery, Ltd. Downtown Spokane [42 characters w/spaces] Baking delicious, fresh and addicting treats since 1995. Ranked 1 st in Daily Paper for local bakery. Donuts, pastries, cakes and bread baked daily. Full line of coffee and tea. [176 characters w/spaces] Spokane, Company X Bakery, bakery, donuts, cakes, pies, pastries, homemade bread, Spokane bakery, cake shop, donut shop, coffee, tea, cake and coffee, coffee shop meetup, coffee shop and conference room [30 words, 204 characters w/spaces] The page title (aka page header) should have no more than 57 characters. Incorporate a few of your keywords into the page title to help improve organic search results. Some thought leaders recommend including city for added relevance. The page description should be "160 180 characters - descriptive sentences explaining the excerpt of your page content. This will be shown as a meta description in search results and important for encouraging users to click on the results." Weebly. Key words (aka meta keywords) include 10 to 30 words that are relevant and specific to that page (separate key words and phrases by commas. 255 characters max)
ANALYTICS WEBSITE METRICS Google Analytics
Goals: What are the desired main outcomes of the campaign? To generate sales? Build database? Increase awareness? Get donations? Get sponsors? KPI s: Key performance indicators are specifically attached to user behavior on the website and subsequently, social channels. KPI s are identified for activities such as search rankings, pages visited, calls to action or conversion points completed, user engagement, etc. Review & Adjust CREATING A METRICS PLAN A process. Review & Adjust: Companies should have a constant tracking mechanism for user behavior and engagement on websites, social media, email response and advertising. Adjustment for campaigns may be daily, weekly or monthly depending on how long a given campaign runs. Determine KPI's Establish Goals
WHAT IS GOOGLE ANALYTICS? Google Analytics identifies a website s target audience members for users, articulates what success means to a site s visitor, tells a story about user behavior (why they are there) It also identifies information about a website that metrics can t reveal and the types of tools companies can use to fill in the gaps. Note: There are many web analytics tools on the market all with their own solid features and tools. For a relatively comprehensive list of web analytics tools, visit AdPushup.com and their Top 31 Best Web Analytics Tools from 2015.
GOOGLE ANALYTICS THE WHAT & THE WHY What does it do? It measures Each page on a site and how users navigate through them How the user got there [keyword v. search engine v. link] When they last came and how often they come back Where they came from [geographically] Whether they achieved the goals you set for them Why does it matter? Without it, an organization is Guessing Making assumptions Working blindly Missing opportunities Not maximizing visibility on search engines Unable to tell the story about user behavior when they visit your site Unable to give any metrics about how your site is performing
GOOGLE ANALYTICS WHAT DOES IT MEASURE? Highlights: AUDIENCE ACQUISITION CONVERSIONS BEHAVIOR Who came to the site? What did they look at? Did they convert? What browser did they use? Did they use a desktop or mobile device? What path did visitors follow with each click? How did they get to the site? What campaigns are generating traffic? What key words did they use in organic and paid searches? How are my Adwords performing How is social media driving traffic? Goals measure how well your site fulfills objectives. Here individual goals are set up for specific actions like visits to at thanks for registering! page, a download completed screen, minimum visit duration, or a specific purchase amount. What pages were visited? What were the top landing pages? What key words were searched? Where did users come into the site vs. exit? How long did visitors stay on the site vs. individual pages?
GOOGLE ANALYTICS ROLE OF THE PRACTITIONER Big picture, our role is to Understand what is important [and what isn t] Put data in context Segment and analyze data Find actionable insights [what is happening in the data] We define and create KPI s [key performance indicators] OR goals for the website (what = success?) SEO items key words, key phrases, positioning statements, consistency in message throughout EVERY page Reports for your boss [monthly, quarterly] Presentations and progress reports for your boss New [re-framed] messages throughout site and materials based on analytics