Archive for September, 2010
So You Call Yourself an Analyst? Part 1: Asking the Right Questions
Posted by JoannaLord
Today I am going to talk about something that plagues companies and consultants everywhere–half baked analysis. It’s something we’ve all done at some point, and something a lot of us still do on a regular basis. It’s unfortunate because as online marketers we all understand the power of good data mining, but time and time again we revert to generic inquiry, at best, and default report templates.
Disclaimer: Origionally I attempted to write about the five steps I follow for solid data analysis in one post, but as I approached my 6th page of content, I realized it may be best to break up into a series.
Alas, this will be the first of three posts, tackling a five-step process toward good data analysis. The three topics are:
- Asking the Right Questions
- Identifying What is Going Wrong
- Turning Data Into Action
Yup that’s right…cancel that afternoon meeting because you my friend are going to be stoked about data analysis in 3…2..1…
Rethinking the Questions
A few weeks ago at our SEOmoz PRO Seminar I spoke on "Analyzing What Matters & Ignoring the Rest" and I challenged the attendees to rethink… Read the rest
September 23, 2010
Tags: Analyst, Asking, Call, Part, Questions, Right, Yourself
Posted in: SEO / Traffic / Marketing
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How to Convince your Boss that CRO is a Win
Posted by Jamie
Today I’ll talk about one of my favorite topics, Conversion Rate Optimization (or CRO). I won’t be speaking about tools, case studies, or tips on what layouts or buttons colors work best; Dr. Pete, Paras Chopra and Oli Gardner have written some excellent blog posts on these topics recently. Instead, over the next several weeks, I’ll be posting a few lessons I’ve learned from doing CRO successfully (and unsuccessfully) for a variety of organizations. These are things I wish I had known when I got started.
Today’s post will focus on how to convince your organization to do CRO.
Make the Case for CRO using Simple Math
CRO may be popular on online marketing blogs, but I’m always surprised to learn that most organizations aren’t doing it. At the recent SEOmoz PRO Training Seminar in Seattle, conversion rate guru Tim Ash asked the audience how many of their companies were doing CRO. Of the 300 or so in the audience, only a few dozen individuals raised their hands. Of all the things I’ve worked on in online marketing, nothing has delivered a
September 22, 2010
Tags: Boss, Convince
Posted in: SEO / Traffic / Marketing
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Google Instant: Fewer Changes to SEO than the Average Algo Update
Posted by randfish
Ugh… Part of me just wants to link to this old blog post and leave it at that.
But, since there’s actually a bit of data to share helping to show that (at least so far) Google Instant changes less than your average algorithmic rankings update, let’s share.
880,000 Search Visits Analyzed
Conductor released some nice research from anonymized data of sites on their software platform making a compelling case:
If Conductor keeps putting out this kind of stuff, they’ll be a "must-read" in no time
Hmm… Looks pretty darn similar to me. A tiny increase in 4, 5 and 6 word phrases would seem to go against many of the prognostications and fears that this move would decimate the long tail (though, to be fair, plenty of savvier search folks predicted a slight increase as Google’s "Suggest" function would be more obvious/visible to searchers and push them to perform more specific queries).
Google Search Traffic for SEOmoz & Open Site Explorer
While I don’t have as much data to share as Conductor, I can show you some tidbits from SEOmoz.
Here’s SEOmoz.org’s traffic… Read the rest
September 21, 2010
Tags: Algo, Average, Changes, Fewer, Google, Instant, than, Update
Posted in: SEO / Traffic / Marketing
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Location-Based Social Networking for Events & Conferences – An Interview with Foursquare
Posted by Sam Crocker
Hi there folks!
Today we are going to take a look into Foursquare and, more specifically, we’re going to check out how to use it for events and conferences and uncover some of the answers to the questions that aren’t as easily avilable through the Foursquare site.
Quick Background on Foursquare
So, we’re not going to waste too much time on an introduction to Foursquare, because hopefully you’ve already been focussing on ways to incorporate this into your marketing plan. The implications for any business with a storefront or actual address are fairly straightforward, though the implications for online brands are a bit more difficult to tap into.
It’s Not just for Stalking! (Image via: Geek and Poke)
I had originally prepared a post dedicated to Foursquare and its impact on local and small businesses, however it seems SEO Doctor was one step ahead of me and produced this impressive guide before I was able to get my post out of the drafts folder here on SEOmoz. His post is extremely comprehensive though, so be sure to… Read the rest
September 20, 2010
Tags: &, Conferences, Events, Foursquare, Interview, LocationBased, Networking, Social
Posted in: SEO / Traffic / Marketing
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Quit Screwing Around, Punch Your Website Visitors in the Face
4 commonsense ways to sell more stuff on your website
When people come to your site, they are looking for one thing, and one thing only.
For us, our visitors are looking for one product: Top Search Engine Rankings. That’s really it.
Sure, they might want top rankings to get more traffic, sales, or to be above their hated competitors, whatever. But, regardless of why, when they come to us it boils down to top rankings.
They wouldn’t search “SEO” or “SEO company” in Google, then click to our site hoping to find a creative advertising agency. They usually don’t initially come to our site for social media or PPC or website conversion or whatever (although those are great supplemental services for a complete search marketing strategy). And just like our visitors, your visitors are similarly looking for just one thing.
So, what’s my point?
Address the main point.
Don’t mess around.
Make it simple.
Here are 4 commonsense ways how NOT to mess around so you can sell more stuff:
1. Directly punch your visitors
September 20, 2010
Tags: Around, Face, Punch, Quit, Screwing, Visitors, Website
Posted in: SEO / Traffic / Marketing
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