how i solved not provided
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HOW I SOLVED (NOT PROVIDED) There’s way too much data out there for us to be crying over it. So I went ahead and solved it for you.
@iPullRank
DOWNLOAD THIS DECK http://slidesha.re/solve-not-provided
@iPullRank
@ipullrank
QUICK ANNOUNCEMENT
I HAVE RECENTLY
MOVED ON FROM
IACQUIRE. RIGHT
NOW I’M WORKING
AS AN
INDEPENDENT
CONSULTANT &
TRAINER.
HISTORY OF KEYWORD DATA What’s this not provided thing all about?
@iPullRank
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Keyword referrers
When a user searches the keyword is passed from Google in a the referral string in the q= variable to the website and
the site’s analytics strips this query and tracks it.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
In October 2011 Google Announced a move to secure Search
Using the Secure (HTTPS) protocol no referrer is passed. Head of WebSpam Matt Cutts said that there would only be a
single digit percentage of searches that would be affected.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Immediately seos knew what they should expect
The single digit promise of not provided was a joke and we all knew it.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
@iPullRank
Google says it’s due to privacy. Really it’s to protect their monopoly. They are really obscuring keyword referrers to make Adwords more valuable from
both an explicit intent standpoint and to make it so no other service provider can
provide their Search Remarketing product. Seriously, if it’s an invasion of privacy
for Organic than it’s an invasion of privacy in Paid as well.
3/2012 FIREFOX WENT SECURE SEARCH The view of the Earth from the Moon fascinated me—a small disk, 240,000 miles away. It was hard to think that that little thing held so many problems, so many frustrations. Raging nationalistic interests, famines, wars, pestilence don't show from that distance.
@iPullRank
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Googlers were incentivized to encourage more logins into Google+
It’s part of people’s job description to keep users logged in to Google. http://searchengineland.com/google-is-hiring-
someone-to-find-ways-to-make-you-want-to-search-while-signed-in-144523
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
1/2013 CHROME WENT SECURE SEARCH The view of the Earth from the Moon fascinated me—a small disk, 240,000 miles away. It was hard to think that that little thing held so many problems, so many frustrations. Raging nationalistic interests, famines, wars, pestilence don't show from that distance.
@iPullRank
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
September 2013 Google moved to secure Search for all users
Citing “privacy” in the wake of the NSA scandal Google announced a move to Secure Search for all users whether they
are logged in or not. Meanwhile Adwords advertisers still get keyword referrer data. http://iacq.co/19I0u15
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
THIS IS MY REACTION.
@iPullRank
WHAT ABOUT BRANDED VS. UNBRANDED?
@iPullRank iacquire.com
@iPullRank
WHAT ABOUT IDENTIFYING LONG TAIL SEARCHES?
@iPullRank iacquire.com
@iPullRank
WHAT ABOUT DYNAMIC TARGETING BASED ON KEYWORDS?
@iPullRank iacquire.com
@iPullRank
NONE OF THAT CHANGES MY ABILITY TO KNOW WHETHER SEARCH MADE US MONEY AND WHY
@iPullRank iacquire.com
WHY I DON’T CARE Roll with it.
@iPullRank
REASON #1: KEYWORDS WERE ALWAYS JUST A PROXY Granted they were an awesome proxy, but you could still be the wrong piece of content for that user. Consider the keyword “subway,” the search means something completely different to a 25 year old in new york city than it does to 40 year old in topeka, kansas. Just knowing the keyword you searched for does not necessarily tell me what you want. Knowing who you are helps a lot more.
@iPullRank
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
…And I have looked to understand the people behind the search (reason #2)
We leverage market segmentation from Experian and Nielsen in context with Social PPC APIs to build robust personas
with user stories, demographics, psychographics and engagement insights to drive our SEO programs.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
…and google is making it easier (Affinity segments)
Google also jumped on the segmentation train a few months back offering what they are calling “affinity segments” where
they have identified 80 different personas for targeting in Display channels. http://iacq.co/1aoVg9k
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Reason #3: my keyword research methods are persona based
Rather than just putting together a list of keywords and search volumes we run surveys to understand where users are at
in the Consumer Decision Journey with their search. http://iacq.co/16a34zJ
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Persona keyword surveys
You will have to pre-determine your audience with your persona research and then ask them specific questions about
your keyword selections with in-depth Skip Logic so each persona only responds about relevant searches.
Set Demographics Layout Questions with Interest-based Skip-Logic
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
The keyword portfolio
We pull all of these data points into our keyword research to have a very robust understanding of the users behind the
searches. This influences our content strategy and ultimately measurement planning.
Keyword
N-Gram Count
Avg. Monthly Broad Match Search Volume
Avg. Monthly Exact Match Search Volume
Mobile Broad Match Search Volume
Mobile Exact Match Search Volume
Previous Period Traffic
Previous Period Share of Voice
Previous Period Conversion Rate
Current Google Ranking
Target Persona(s)
Need State(s)
Keyword Category
Keyword Sub-Category
Current Landing Page
Target Landing Page
Conversion Rate
Rank Zone
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Reason #4: my content strategy is kpi-driven
Certain content types work better for meeting certain business objectives and targeting certain types of users. We’re
already creating the right things to meet what makes sense in the given stage of the consumer decision journey.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Reason #5: Our Messaging resonates with the audience and need state
Our content strategy includes messaging that is focused on the needs of the people and messaging is optimized for the
given need state to encourage conversion.
Awareness Message
Consideration Message Loyalty Message
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Reason #6: I’ve already developed methods for measuring people
I developed a methodology called Keyword-Level Demographics that leveraged keyword referrers in context of
demographic and psychographic data from Facebook to measure and validate personas http://iacq.co/11EED4u
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Leverage user profiles for measuring segments
When sites have user profiles we can leverage them in context with analytics to understand which segments are
performing best and why.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
I wrote about this on moz
I wrote an in-depth post about the insights that can be gained from user profiles and how they can be leveraged for
cohort analysis at Moz. http://iacq.co/1fLvCUj
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Reason #7: I can already get plenty of data on the user
If you can get an email address or social login you can build a complete profile of a user using FullContact or RapLeaf.
Knowing what type of user goes you’re dealing with allows you to have the right messaging
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Reason #7: We can already do awesome stuff.
We can already do a lot of great things with all this data about our users even though Google is killing the ability to do
keyword arbitrage through Organic Search.
Predictive Modeling Dynamic Targeting Keyword Arbitrage
IN OTHER WORDS… I AM ALREADY DOING MARKETING. And that’s what google is forcing everyone to do now.
@iPullRank iacquire.com
CONTENT STRATEGY FOR MULTIPLE PERSONAS
How to do content strategy for several cohorts
@iPullRank
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Not provided has effectively set us free
Google has essentially killed all awards for publishing awful content. Now with keyword-level measurement dead we have
more opportunities to create things people actually want to read. http://www.iacquire.com/blog/not-provided-sets-you-free/
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
What are cohorts?
Cohorts are the same as personas, but it’s generally the terminology used when applied to statistics and refer to people
that have experienced the same behavior or event during a given timespan.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Create content specifically with personas/cohorts in mind
Each piece of content for iAcquire was presented and reviewed with regard to which of our personas we were targeting.
If the content did not meet one of those personas it was often denied or re-tooled.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
When we don’t focus on the user…
When we only go after keywords based on search volumes we often get very unqualified traffic as seen here.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
When we do focus on the user we got results
Focusing in on personas allowed us a 65% improvement in conversions YoY.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Oh yeah we g0t traffic too
At iAcquire from employing this process we’ve seen growth in Organic Search alone of over 1300% YoY.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
GOOGLE GIVETH MORE THAN IT TAKETH AWAY
New Data means new ways to measure users
@iPullRank
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
This is the strategy most seos are using
Most smart SEOs have moved to landing page level reporting. Looking at traffic to the site, the ranking keywords, their
position and search volume to reverse engineer the performing keywords. http://www.searchmetrics.com/en/url-traffic/
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
i believe that’s shortsighted Google has given us a lot more data to get more in-depth understanding of users coming to our site via Organic Search. Why are trying to use muddy data to meet and old way of thinking?
iacquire.com @iPullRank
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Cohorts in Google Analytics
Recently Google gave marketers the ability to set up cohorts in Google Analytics and therefore let us measure types of
people far more specifically. http://iacq.co/GR0S4u
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Demographic data and affinity segments in google analytics!!!
Google also rolled out the ability to measure against affinity segments. Google Analytics now has the ability to track
demographic data (Age, Gender, etc) and Affinity Segment type. http://online-behavior.com/analytics/demographics
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IMPLEMENT THIS CODE TO GET THE MOST DATA http://www.analyticsresults.com/2013/03/doubleclick-remarketing-and-adblock-our.html
<script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push( ['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXXXX-1'],['_trackPageview'] ); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://' : 'http://') + 'stats.g.doubleclick.net/dc.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); window.onload = function() { if(_gaq.I==undefined){ _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'tracking_script', 'loaded', 'ga.js', ,true]); ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; gaScript = s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); } else { _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'tracking_script', 'loaded', 'dc.js', ,true]); } }; </script>
IMPLEMENT THIS CODE TO GET THE MOST DATA http://www.analyticsresults.com/2013/03/doubleclick-remarketing-and-adblock-our.html
<script type="text/javascript"> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push( ['_setAccount', 'UA-XXXXXXX-1'],['_trackPageview'] ); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://' : 'http://') + 'stats.g.doubleclick.net/dc.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); window.onload = function() { if(_gaq.I==undefined){ _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'tracking_script', 'loaded', 'ga.js', ,true]); ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; gaScript = s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); } else { _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'tracking_script', 'loaded', 'dc.js', ,true]); } }; </script>
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Google+ as an identity platform suddenly makes sense
I predict that Google will supplant many market research providers such as Nielsen, ComScore and Experian by
providing robust end to end market research, targeting and measurement built on the back of Google+.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Cohorts based on demographics & affinity segment
Now you can track and analyze personas/cohorts directly in Google Analytics WITHOUT any other data sources.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
@iPullRank
It’s time to move from explicit intent to implicit intent You still know the page the user has landed on, you now know what type of user it
is, you know which keywords rank for your landing page so now the real question
is “does my message and content fulfill a need that resonates with my target?”
Understand what makes your audience tick and determine the best way to
convince them your product or service is right for them. Conversion is still the
best measure of that.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Implicit intent vs. explicit intent
Explicit intent tells you specifically what someone is looking for, but it does not give you content around that user. Having
more complete context around actual visitors gives you better insights into how to tailor your messaging
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
Explicit Intent Scenario
Users Lands on the “men’s reading
glasses” landing from Organic search
on the keyword [reading glasses]
Time On Site: 00:01
Bounce Rate: 100%
Implicit Intent Scenario
Cohort Lands on the “men’s reading
glasses” landing page from Organic
Search
Age: 25 – 34
Gender: Female
Location: Reading, Pennsylvania
Affinity Segment: Do It Yourselfers
Time On Site: 00:31
Site Action: Visits Souvenir Reading
Glasses for Women page
Bounce Rate: 50%
This doesn’t tell me much about the user except that they were looking for “reading glasses,” but if we’re based in Reading, Pennsylvania that could be ambiguous.
This tells me that I need a better title and meta description to tell female users this is not right choice for them and some users are looking for souvenirs for Reading, Pennsylvania not eyeglasses for reading.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO RIGHT NOW The view of the earth from the moon!
@iPullRank
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Understand and segment your audience
Build personas and use the affinity segments as your base and then set up filters and segments in GA so you can track
accordingly. Enable the code to get the demographic data into your analytics.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Use the keyword planner to discover what google thinks
Dropping your landing page into the keyword planner quickly tells you what keywords Google would consider for pages.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Track internal search
On site search becomes your hyper-relevant source for long tail keywords in context with your audience where you can
determine what opportunities your missing out on.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Infer search intent from site actions
Track the user’s first action in context with the channel they came from to infer intent. Carmen Mardiros wrote an
excellent post on this subject http://www.clearclues.com/not-provided-behavioural-analytics/
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Measure Organic search as a channel
Organic Search is one channel of many. You should be reporting it as such, but in context of the audience searching and
their rate of conversion. Optimizations should be made based on landing page performance.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Track your rankings and search volumes
STAT is my favorite rankings tool due to accuracy, search volume data and ability to tag keywords with the segmentation
we’ve developed in our keyword portfolio. http://www.getstat.com
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Leverage google webmaster tools data
While its precision is questionable Google Webmaster Tools’ search queries section is a good way to get a sense of what
keywords are landing where if you still want to leverage explicit intent for optimization.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Understand your landing page conversion rates from Organic Search
Look at the conversion rates of your landing pages for traffic coming from Organic Search (Non-paid Search segment
and google filter) in context of your cohorts. This tells you where to A/B test your messaging.
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
IPULLRANK.COM @ipullrank
Optimize against implicit intent and cohorts
There’s a tool called Nudgespot which allows you to easily setup dynamic targeting for different segments. A/B test to
improve conversion from Organic Search http://www.nudgespot.com
As with many features and products Google has
rolled out over the years adoption is the main
barrier to usage.
www.ipullrank.com
Thank you / Q&A Michael King marketing consultant & trainer @iPullRank
Download this deck http://slidesha.re/solve-not-provided