jones ryan seo-performancemetrics
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From SMX East 2012TRANSCRIPT
1@RyanJones
Ryan Jones | SMX East. October 1, 2012Slides Online at www.RyanMJones.com
SEO Performance Metrics
@RyanJonesManager – SEO AnalyticsSapientNitro
www.SapientNitro.com
www.RyanMJones.com
2@RyanJones
“ How do you measure your SEO
recommendations? ”
- One of My Favorite Interview Questions
Note: If you want to hear more of my interview questions, We’re hiring a Sr. Manager in Chicago, Detroit or Toronto. Send me a resume.
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Lots of People Say This:
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Even More Say This:
Note: I took this from an actual e-book being sold online. If this is YOUR ebook, let’s talk.
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These are NOT the Metrics You’re Looking For...
Pagerank – Alexa Rank – Hits – Rankings – MozRank – Number of Links – Any “Score”
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So What IS the answer? The best answer is to ask another question.
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What’s Your Goal?Sales? Conversions? Leads? Awareness? These are all valid goals depending upon your business.
Goals Not Goals
Sales Visits
Leads Video Views
KPIs / LFAs Rankings
Awareness or Engagement
Facebook Likes, Twitter Followers
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“ Measure what makes sense, not
simply what’s measurable.”- Use your goals to create actionable KPIs that measure
success.
- Good KPIs should serve as reliable indicators and predictors of your goals.
- Statistical modeling and correlation can help – but be careful.
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“ I need search volumes on
Macbook Air And Macbook Pro.”- Your Boss
Sure Boss…MBA gets 4 million searches/monthMBP gets 9 million searches/month
Why?We’re marketing a newsletter to Mac ownersWell, you should use sales numbers then.Really?Yes! There’s more Macbook air owners than Pro owners
Let’s look at an example….
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Reporting vs. Analytics.Looking Deeper than Visits over Time
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“Reporting shows what the number
is. Analytics tell why and what we
should do about it”
Act * tion * able adj \ˈak-sh(ə-)nə-bəl\ 1: Capable of being acted upon
“What’s happening and what should I do about it?”
- your boss or client.
Rule of Thumb: If it doesn’t contain words, insights, actions, or recommendations it’s NOT analytics.
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Reporting: Actionable Analysis:
Down: 4Ball Location : 36 yd line
“It’s 4th and inches from the 36. Our RB is averaging 2.3 YPC and our kicker’s range is 42 yards.”
Reporting vs. Actionable Analytics.Referee Rhea Demonstrates the Difference.
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Quantum Measurement: The Observer Effect
Correlation is NOT causation. Optimizing toward one variable MAY change your correlation.
Example: YouTube Views Correlate To Sales.
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You Can’t Have Half of a Funnel
If you don’t fill the top, nothing comes out at the bottom.
Bad things also happen if you plug the hole at the bottom.
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That Same Funnel Can Be Used For Keywords
Home Page
Category Pages
Sub Category Pages
Product pages
Long Tail Keywords
Head KeywordsUFAs – Upper Funnel Activities
LFAs – Lower Funnel Activities
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The SEO Process Revolves Around Analytics
Discovery
StrategyExecution
Maintenance
Analytics
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Tips & Tricks You Can Use Today
Let’s Look At Some Examples
Apologize: we’re about to get all bulleted lists up in here
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Looking at SEO Visits and LFAs.
Ideally, Visits & LFA trends should mirror each other.
If they’re converging, build more high funnel terms.
If they’re diverging, it may be a conversion rate issue.
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“ Tip: Don’t just look at keywords,
look at upper and lower funnel
actions.”- Bucket Keywords into user intents
Keyword Bucket
Cost Paid Rank
SEO Rank
Paid Visits
SEO Visits
Paid LFAs SEO LFAs
Navigational
$1596
1 1 752 986 125 400
Blue Widgets
$396 1 1 600 250 481 49
Conquest $250 1 0 250 0 42 0
Red Sprockets
$860 4 12 1004 12 816 3
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Is That New Title Tag Working?Paid Search measures click through rates. SEO
can too!
Use Google’s Webmaster Tools for Impressions.
Calculate theoretical CTR, compare to actual
When launching new titles, did your CTR go up too?
Position % of Clicks0 0.0%1 36.4%2 12.5%3 9.5%4 7.9%5 6.1%6 4.1%7 3.8%8 3.5%9 3.0%
10 2.2%11 2.6%12 1.5%
• Get Impressions from GWT with PHP script at http://tiny.tw/9UI
Crazy Conspiracy Theory: Learn to Use WMT data now – if trends continue it may be all we’re left with!
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Tips For Analytics SuccessAnalytics involves words, insights, and actions – not just numbers.
If you can automate it, it’s reporting not analysis.
Measure what matters, not what’s easily measurable.
Correlation doesn’t mean causation. Optimizing for one of the factors may even change that correlation
Develop your goals first, then choose metrics that effectively measure those goals
There’s a forest behind the trees. Don’t forget to look at the big picture.
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* Download These Slides at www.RyanMJones.com
Thank You!
Thank You!@RyanJonesManager – SEO AnalyticsSapientNitro
www.SapientNitro.com
www.RyanMJones.com