Analytics & conversion
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Google Analytics Now Considers Bing A Search Engine
As promised, Google Analytics is now logging traffic from Microsoft’s new Bing search engine into the “search engine” traffic source category, rather than in the “referring sites” category. As a result, Google Analytics users can now see for themselves whether all of Microsoft’s Bing marketing is producing more traffic for Bing, which in turn is […]
Google Analytics To Speak Bing Soon
The Google Analytics Blog announced that they are currently adding support for Bing in the search referral reports. I actually noticed Bing showing up in the Google Analytics search referral reports this morning, on a limited basis. Google added that if you want Bing to show up now, you can add a custom configuration to […]
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
How your PPC efforts are tracked can have a significant impact on the programs performance. Javascript-based tracking systems used by most web analytics systems typically lose 10 - 30% of the sales driven by paid search. Find out why and how to plug this hole.
Study: Google Tracking 88% Of Domains In Study
A new study published by graduate students at University of California, Berkeley showed that Google is the leading footprint on the top 100 sites in their study. As you can see from the chart below, Google Analytics was found on 81% of the top 100 sites, while DoubleClick (owned by Google) was in second place, […]
Optimize Forms To Maximize Conversions
Many B2B marketers use web forms to facilitate registrations, generate leads, or to acquire customers. Improving implementation of online forms can have a dramatic, positive impact on increasing conversion rates and maximizing ROI associated with B2B marketing programs. In my last article, Six Usability Tips to Maximize B2B Website Conversion, I briefly touched on one […]
Google Analytics Adding Two Advanced Features
Against the backdrop of this week’s eMetrics conference, Google has announced a pair of advanced features that are coming soon to Google Analytics. And they’re specifically warning that these are for advanced users. The first, Pivoting and Secondary Dimensions, is described this way: “You can use these new power features to do in-depth, on-the-fly analysis […]
Yahoo Analytics Now Available To Yahoo Advertisers
Yahoo’s slow rollout of Yahoo Web Analytics continues with news today that its now available for free to certain Yahoo search and display advertisers. Here’s how Yahoo explains some of the benefits of its analytics tool in today’s announcement: “Yahoo! Web Analytics offers user insight that you’re not likely to find in other free analytics […]
Google Analytics Adds AdSense Integration
After months of testing AdSense data in Google Analytics, Google has announced on both the AdSense Blog and the Analytics Blog that all AdSense publishers can now integrate their AdSense data directly into Google Analytics. To link up your AdSense account with Google Analytics: Log in to AdSense Click the link that says “Integrate your […]
Using Analytics To Measure SEO Success
I’ve previously discussed why rankings are a poor measure of success, but only touched upon how to instead use web analytics to measure SEO success. My hope is that once you have a good grasp of what to review and how to use that info, you’ll be more inclined to wean yourself (and your clients) […]
Google Analytics Opens API
Google Analytics announced the public availability of the new Google Analytics API. The API gives developers, webmasters, and SEMs the ability to pull data from Google Analytics to use as they wish. Clearly this can be useful for SEMs who want to integrate analytics data with their SEM systems, plus developers or webmasters who have […]
Golden Nuggets From SMX Search Analytics
Generally, I’m not much of a note taker at conferences. I will jot down the occasional URL to check out later, but I’d much rather pay full attention to the speakers and their presentations than miss things as I’m trying to write down what they just said. However, at last month’s SMX Search Analytics conference […]
Google’s New Referrer String Includes Ranking Data (At Least For Now)
Your analytics software can already tell you a lot about the traffic you’re getting from natural search: which search engines are sending traffic, what keywords are sending traffic, which pages are getting the most search engine traffic. But wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly where in the search results your page appeared when the […]
Google: ‘No Immediate Plans’ To Drop Old Analytics Code Support
Despite switching to a new Google Analytics tracking code 16 months ago, Google says it has “no immediate plans” to stop supporting the old code. Royal Pingdom raised the issue when it found that 40% of the most popular web sites that use Google Analytics are still using the old urchin.js code. We contacted Google […]
Why Google Analytics May Not Be The Best Choice For B2B Marketers
Most web analytics tools, including Google Analytics, attribute online conversions to the most recent visit. Sure, you can define the funnel and see how many people enter the funnel, the visitors who abandon the funnel, and how many people ultimately convert, but only if all of these events happen in a single visit. Conversion in […]
Building An Ad Attribution Model? You Need More Than Simple Math
Increasingly, savvy search marketers believe that the traditional approach of giving conversion credit to the last ad click is a flawed attribution method. Therefore, many of you have investigated or invested in technology that allows you to track beyond the last ad that is clicked so that you can perform attribution over the team of […]
Getting Core Paid Search Analytics Right (Part 1)
If you’re a diehard search marketer, you probably find web analytics conferences a bit strange. Many of the speakers are versed in the nuances of customizing third-party analytics platforms like Google Analytics, Omniture, and ClickTracks. But many of them seemed to have learned to sprint before they learned how to walk. I’ve been struck by […]
Post-Click Marketing For Search Marketers
Over the past year, the term “post-click marketing” has come up more frequently in search marketing discussions, especially in the context of improving conversion rates and overall search ROI. At SMX West earlier this month, Gordon Hotchkiss of Enquiro unequivocally declared that post-click marketing moves the needle for their clients more than any other aspect […]
Want More B2B Conversions? Reduce Your Visitor’s Anxiety.
For the past couple of months, I’ve been writing about ways to improve the conversion rates of your search traffic. Borrowing shamelessly once again from my friends at MarketingExperiments.com, I finish up this conversion series focusing today on anxiety (not yours, your visitor’s), and some things we can do as search marketers to help relieve […]
Marin Software’s Multi-Conversion Tracking Helps Fine Tune Keyword Bidding
Marin Software has introduced a new tool that the company says is unique in the industry. It’s called “Multi-Conversion Tracker.” It enables search marketers to define various kinds of actions or “conversions” (e.g., newsletter sign up, e-commerce transactions, e-mail capture, etc.). That process then enables SEMs to determine the relative performance of keywords and ad […]
6 Usability Tips to Maximize B2B Website Conversion
B2B marketers invest a substantial amount of time, effort, and money driving visitors to websites. Making sure the site adheres to basic usability principles is critical to maximizing online marketing results and alleviating obstacles that prevent prospects from taking the desired actions. Below are six, easy to implement usability tips to ensure that visitors get […]
Segmenting Search Respondents With 2-Step Landing Pages
My earlier article, A Completely Different Kind of Landing Page Optimization, discussed the rationale for delivering segment-specific landing pages to different niche audiences in your search marketing. Instead of having a one-size-fits-all landing page that you try to continually optimize ad nauseum with different variations of content (headline, body copy, image), segment optimization focuses on […]
How To Increase Your B2B Conversion Rates By Reducing Friction
This month, I continue my series on improving conversion rates using the Conversion Sequence. The Conversion Sequence is the heuristic that was created and is being taught by the good folks at MarketingExperiments.com. Improving your conversion rates will obviously help squeeze more value from all of your diligent search engine marketing efforts. So let’s jump […]
Want Higher Conversions? Get Clear About Your Value Propositions
In last month’s article, I wrote at a high level about the heuristic introduced by Dr. Flint McLaughlin and the folks at MarketingExperiements.com that helps us B2B marketers systematically and purposefully improve the conversion rates of our landing pages and websites. For quick review here is the conversion “formula”:
Google Analytics Upgrade: AdSense Reporting, Visualization Tools, & More
A day after announcing a slight touch up, Google Analytics is rolling out what it calls a “significant upgrade” to its feature set. The new tools include AdSense integration, “Motion Charts,” advanced segmentation, an API, custom reports and an updated user interface to highlight these new tools better. Google is calling this an “enterprise class” […]
A Completely Different Kind Of Landing Page Optimization
What exactly is landing page optimization? For most search marketers, optimizing landing pages means A/B testing and multivariate testing (MVT). It means using tools such as Google Website Optimizer to experiment with different arrangements of a page – or different variations in the content of a page – to maximize its conversion rate. We may […]
Website Visitor Conversion In A B2B Environment
Last month I had the good fortune of becoming ‘certified’ in Landing Page Optimization through MarketingExperiments out of Jacksonville Beach Florida. Several times a year, their team brings a hundred or so marketers through the 2-day workshop. The material is similar to that of their free Wednesday web clinics but in a much more intense, […]
Yahoo Launches Web Analytics
Yahoo has announced that they’ll begin to roll out Yahoo Web Analytics (beta) on a limited basis beginning this week. According to Jitendra Kavathekar, Yahoo’s Web Analytics VP, the service has already been made available to select Yahoo advertisers and third-party application developers. The next “big deployment,” Kavathekar says, will be for Yahoo’s 13,000 e-commerce […]
Web Analytics For (SEM) Dummies Part 3, And More
In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today’s in-depth look, “web analytics for (SEM) dummies part 3: online resources to learn more, a free tool to double-check […]
Web Analytics For (SEM) Dummies Part 2: Three Real-World Situations
In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today’s in-depth look, Web Analytics for (SEM) Dummies Part 2: Three Real-World Situations, Setup Excel for Character Limit Counting, and […]
Social Media Marketing ROI – Metrics And Analysis
When I attended South by Southwest 2008, I had the pleasure of attending a panel where four somewhat lost panelists were (with difficulty) trying to come up with metrics to measure success from a social media marketing campaign. I was a little annoyed when they concluded that there were no metrics available right now, and […]
Is Google Analytics Integrating AdSense Metrics Into Reporting Tool?
Amit Agarwal reports that Google Analytics will soon be adding Google AdSense data to the web analytics package. Amit managed to secure some screen shots of the AdSense related reports. The AdSense specific content seems to be found under the “Content” tab and includes: (1) AdSense ad clicks per page (2) AdSense Revenue generated per […]
Web Analytics for (SEM) Dummies Part 1: Basic Terminology and a Free Geocoding Tool
In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today’s in-depth look, Web Analytics for (SEM) Dummies Part 1: Basic Terminology, a Free Geocoding Tool and this week’s free […]
Marchex Launches Platform And Tools That Seek To Better Connect Online Search And Offline Buying
One of the reasons that “local search” has struggled in some quarters has been the challenge of tracking the internet’s influence on in-store or local transactions. This is a theme I heard raised by large retailers at a ShopLocal partner event a couple of weeks ago and one that came up several times in various […]
Google’s Webinar For Webmaster Tools, Analytics & Website Optimizer Now Live
The Google Webmaster Central Blog posted a recording of the webinar they hosted along with the Google Analytics and Google Website Optimizer team. The webinar is available in a 60 minute YouTube video. In short, the webinar reviews the features of all three tools: Google Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics, and Google Website Optimizer. Here is […]
SEM News, Conversion Tracking Tools, & A Close-Up Look At SearchREv
In The Trenches is a weekly spotlight of tips, tricks, and news about the tools search engine marketing professionals use to give them a leg up on the competition. Today: News from the search engines, today’s in-depth look, “Tracking Your Conversions on the Engines,” and this week’s free tips and tools.
Invest First In Conversions, Then In Driving Traffic
Much time and energy has been devoted to improving PPC campaigns and SEO programs for B2B websites. The basic premise of advertising and optimization is to improve visibility and response, i.e., get that click! But, I’ve noticed recently that many marketers are focusing their initial marketing efforts not on getting more clicks, but rather on […]
Yahoo To Acquire IndexTools Web Analytics Service
Google offers Google Analytics. Microsoft has its "Gatineau" or recently renamed Microsoft adCenter Analytics service in beta. So I suppose it was inevitable that Yahoo get in on the web analytics action. The company announced today that it is acquiring Tensa Kit, which produces the IndexTools analytics service.
Google Analytics Benchmarking Data Now Live
The Google Analytics Benchmarking feature is now live for those users who have chosen to opt in to the program. You can access the data by visiting a site profile and clicking on “Visitors” and then on “Benchmarking (Beta).” Google said that the current list of “verticals and the quality of the data will likely […]
Google Pitches Media Buying “Dashboard” To Skeptical Ad Agencies
Many people think that Google is a search engine. That’s true, but it’s only part of a much larger story that Google is developing. Indeed, the company increasingly sees itself as a diversified media buying platform. Already print newspaper ad buying, radio and TV are integrated, to varying degrees, into AdWords. And last Thursday Google’s […]
Google Analytics Benchmarking Feature, Data Sharing & Audio Ad Charting
Google Analytics added a new benchmarking feature today. Users can now compare their site’s performance to industry benchmarks, though only if they agree to share their data to help produce such aggregate benchmarks. Another feature added is the ability to see when your Google Audio ads run, in relation to your web site traffic.