Analytics and Marketing for TEs

Agenda

AnalyticsWhat is AnalyticsWhy Google AnalyticsInstalling GATagging and GoalsDefinitionsReporting: Top LevelReporting: SourcesReporting: PagesReporting: EventsReporting: GoalsReporting: Final

MarketingSitewide Banners and ButtonsSearch Engine OptimizationSearch Engine Optimization - ResearchSearch Engine Optimization - CopyCopy ExamplesSearch Engine Optimization – TechnicalOther Promotion – Posted LinksOther Promotion – SocialOther Promotion - PaidResourcesQ & A

Analytics:What is itHow do I get itHow do I use it

What is Analytics• Code added to your site that tracks users and

provides reports• Lets you see how users find your site• Search, referring sites, campaigns…• Lets you see how users use your site• Pages, events, navigation flow…• Prove value/ROI of marketing programs and content• Track actions on your site (Conversions)• And see what drives conversions

Why Google Analytics• Industry standard – 67% of top Websites• Versatile and robust• Easy to configure and use• Best of all: It’s FREE

Installing Analytics on Your Site• Best method: Google Tag Manager

(google.com/tagmanager)• One line of code on your site• Handles all tagging inside a Web interface• Ability of making changes without needing to touch your site• Acceptable method: Adding Code to Your Site• Quick and easy, but needs to be set on every page• Once installed, test test test and review initial reports!• Omnibug, Google Tag Assistant

Link Tagging – Anything Coming to Your Site that You Control• To tag your campaign URLs, use the following

parameters and campaign variables:http://www.nintex.com/landingpage/?utm_source=someadnetwork&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=q2_partner&utm_content=banner1

• utm_source: Identify the source of the link (google, citysearch, newsletter4)

• utm_medium: Advertising medium (marketing medium: social, cpc, banner, email)

• utm_campaign: Campaign name (product, campaign, program, slogan) • utm_content: Optional, used to differentiate ads, link placements

• Use the tool located at https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1033867?hl=en to make tagging easier!

Campaign Reports Inside Google Analytics

Setting Goals (Conversions)Anything on your site that you want a user to do

Fill out a formDownload a fileClick a link to any other siteView a specific pageSpend x amount of time on site / view y amount of pages

Can be based on events, pages or metricsOnly pages can be set up in a funnel

Limited to 20 per profile (use wisely/broadly)Can be used in reports, dashboards and segments

Reporting: Top Level

DefinitionsUser (Visitor)Defined by a cookie set on a user’s machine; usually is one personSession (Visit) Users can have multiple sessionsSessions end when they leave the site or after 30 minutesPageviewUser loads a page. Every load/reload of a page counts as one pageview

Definitions ContinuedUnique PageviewPageviews tied to users. Reload a page 5 times?5 pageviews = 1 unique pageviewNew/Returning UserIf you never had a cookie from the analytics system, you are a new user. Cookies deleted? = new userEventSomething you want to single out to track. For example, file downloads, clicks to offsite links, video engagement.

Date RangesAll reports are driven by the active date range selected in the upper right-hand corner

Select “Compare to Past” to view data compared to the previous period of equal length, previous year, or custom ranges

Reporting: Top LevelUsers and sessions – site traffic and usagePageviews – how often pages are viewedSession Duration – how long they spend on your siteBounce Rate – If the user doesn’t take an action and leaves, they bounce. Risky metric at the top level.% New Users – How many new visitors? Geo Data – where, in the world, country, city, do users come from?

Reporting: SourcesHow do users get to your site?Organic: search enginesDirect: typed in or bookmarksReferral: clicked a link on another siteSocial: clicked a link on a social siteCampaigns: links you have tagged

Use these reports to determinethe followingWhat channels drive the most traffic?Are campaigns working for you?What channels drive the most goal conversions?

Reporting: Sources example

Reporting: PagesThe most important set of reports for your siteSee your most used pages on your siteLook at bounce rate, time on site, pageviews, new/returning users hereAdd sources as a secondary dimension to see what drives traffic to pagesAdd your goals to see how pages contribute to a specific goalUse the dropdown in the conversions column to select specific goals

Reporting: EventsIf your analytics are wired up to track events, you can see how they perform

Events could include clicks to offsite links, file downloads, video plays/completes, any type of interaction on the site

Reports will show total (raw count) and unique (tied to an individual user)

Can add sources as a secondary dimension

Tag Manager will greatly simplify tracking events on your site!

Events (example: video activity)

Reporting: GoalsSee how your goals are performing, including by source/channelUsing multi-steps or funnels, you can see where users enter/exit the pages

Reporting: Final ThoughtsSet up dashboards and custom reports to make analysis easierSchedule reports to be sent to you on a regular basisSet up alerts for critical issues: 404 pages, broken links, traffic changes (more or less)Even if its just a few minutes a week, always check your site reports!

MarketingSitewide banners and buttonsSearch Engine OptimizationCopy

Sitewide Banners/Buttons

It’s a good idea to have sitewide banners with CTAs. These can be links or buttons

These can be in the header, footer, right or left rail, etc.

If your site supports testing, test different copy on the button CTA [call to action]; keep what performs best

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)SEO is the science of getting your site seen in organic search results.It is primarily content based; sites are indexed based on their content

SE’s will detect spam and remove you!They have advanced algorithms to look for spamIf they find it, they may remove your site from listings

Where to start: determine what your page/post is going to focus on; each page/post should only focus on 1 or maybe 2 (if related) topics at most

Search Engine Optimization - ResearchTake your focus keywords and search for other related termsAlso see how popular your focus terms are - perhaps people search for the same thing in a different way

Multiple free tools exist: http://keywordtool.io/, AdWords Keyword Planner (requires login)

Also run terms through Google Trends (trends.google.com) to see how popular a term is over time

Remember: your post should focus on 1-2 related terms ONLY

Search Engine Optimization - research examplesSeed Term

Related

Terms Google Trends – term growth over time

Search Engine Optimization - CopyUse your keywords in your copy WHERE RELEVANT

Copy should flow naturally

Also use the terms in the page URL, page title with dash between words, meta description (150 characters including spaces) and headings <H1> tags.

DO NOT STUFF TERMS:Good: A workflow management system (WFMS) is a software system for the set-up, performance and monitoring of a defined sequence of tasks, arranged as a workflow

Bad: A workflow management system (WFMS) is a software workflow system for the set-up, performance and monitoring of a defined sequence of workflow tasks, arranged as a workflow

Copy Examples from Nintex SiteKeyword in <H1>

Keyword in jump links

Keyword in URL and Page Title

Keyword in subtitle <H2>

Keyword in body textRelated terms in text

Search Engine Optimization - CopyWork in links to relevant content where applicablePreferably this content will have a Call to Action (CTA) on it or be a CTA

Also possible to have a bulleted list of links at the end of a postE.g.: software/connectors used in this example

Search Engine Optimization - TechnicalEvery page should have a meta description elementThis is often handled inside the content management systemCode: <meta name=“description” content=“site description here” />155 characters including spaces maximumThink about why should someone view this page?Shows up in search engine results

Keywords should be in your Title tag, most important term first, pipe-separated65 characters including spaces maximum

MUST BE UNIQUE BY PAGE!

Search Engine Optimization - TechnicalSites should have a sitemap – see sitemaps.orgOften handled via the CMS or a plugin

Images all need to have ALT textALT text can use the keywords you researched, all images are different & unique sentences

Sites need to load FASTCheck using Google Page Speed Insights, reports in GANumerous ways to fix any issues

Sites need to be mobile-friendly

Use a logical site structure:Example: /posts/workflow/title, posts/forms/title, etc.

Other Promotion - ReferralsPost links to specific blog posts on relevant sites and groupsNOTE: ONLY do this where your post will add to a discussion, otherwise this may be seen as spam

ENSURE you use UTM parameters to tag these links so that you can attribute traffic/events/conversions to your postsHint: using a link shortener like bit.ly will make your tagged links look cleaner

Other Promotion – SocialPost links to specific blog posts in relevant social discussionsNOTE: ONLY do this where your post will add to a discussion, otherwise this may be seen as spam

ENSURE you use UTM parameters to tag these links so that you can attribute traffic/events/conversions to your postsHint: using a link shortener like bit.ly will make your tagged links look cleaner

Set up a page for your site on the major networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, TwitterPost regular updates to these pages

Other Promotion - PaidWhen it makes sense, you can buy keyword ads on the major search engines and display ads almost anywhere

This may only make sense when you are directly selling something

It is CRITICAL to have analytics and goals set up so you can attribute actions to these paid campaigns

Use the same research techniques to find terms to bid on, keeping in mind broad terms will always cost more and will usually be harder to rank on the first page of the search engine for

ResourcesGoogle Analytics: https://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com/

Google Tag Manager: https://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com/course/5

Google Friendly Site: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/40349?hl=en

MOZ Beginners Guide to SEO: https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo

Q&A