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Google Analytics - Just the Facts

Written by: Mark Brimm

Article Overview: It happened one day that I opened up my MC panel on Google Analytics and there they were, on the Keyword Tool, bright and shining....NUMBERS! Real, hard, cold search volume numbers, not just the 1-10 green bar scale of old. And I was a new man unto my Google Analytics clients....yea, verily. a man of...Google numbers.

Google Analytics - Just the Facts

What will the average SEO consultant do with these numbers? What I do with them is to show what people pay good money to get, how competitive the terms are as of the previous month, and the monthly averages for each. What's great about this is that most clients are willing to peek into their Google Analytics accounts or do already. Now they can understand the value of their consultant's choices for keyword phrases.

Will widget X be popular on my already successful widget site if I decide to add it? This is a classic example of why Analytics helps clients to discover their bottom line. The more investment is put into Analytics management, the more it should pay off dividends of greater ROI and greater reach.

There is an saying in Japanese Zen: the way to control something is to watch it. That's what web analytics were created for. The numbers arriving on Google's keyword tool essentially allow us to control more thoroughly our own SEO and AdWords campaigns and know more about how does what and why.

My prediction for the next Analytics innovation is a more thorough tracking of keyword-initiated searches along the life of the visit, multi-vendor keyword campaign tracking, and of course, more funnel Goals, which are the only things keeping Google from being a viable all-purpose search marketing metrics tool. Until then, it's a great way for clients and search marketing professionals to meet on common ground and understand each other.

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Article Tags: analytics, google, search volume



Related Forum Posts
Re: What I Enjoyed Reading This Week - June 11 - Hi Evan, Thank you for the reading material. I look forward to the general release later this month as outlined in the 'Google Analytics To Add Search Query Data From Webmaster Tools' article. Anything that helps us to understand maximise extra data from Google Analytics can only be of benefit. regards, Mal.
Statcounter / Google Analytics - Hi TheAnonymousMan, I use Google Analytics for my official stats and for my advertisers because you can slice and dice the information into almost anything you like. The only downfall I find is that the information is not live - you have to wait until the next day to get your stats. For live stats I use StatCounter. I also find that their email reports are more convenient than Google's because you get it in the actual email instead of a PDF file which saves time. StatCounter also allows you to send email reports for specific sections. I'm not sure if Google has this functionality built in yet.
*Hot Topic: Do you use your website statistics?* - Greetings All I would like to know the type of website statistics software you use to track the number of people who visit your website/s? E.g Awstats, Google Analytics, Sitemeter etc. Also, do you use this data to make changes to your most popular webpages or simply use the figures to sell advertising? If you do NOT use a statistics software package I would like to know why. I look forward to your replies. Kind regards TheAnonymousMan
Most Useful SEO Tools For Webmasters - Hi, My name is Jeff, I work for WebBizIdeas.com and we are developing an article called "50 Most Useful SEO Tools for Webmasters." We have ranked & listed our top 30 SEO Tools but want to get your opinion on what SEO Tools are most useful to you; as Internet Business Owners. Google Webmaster Tools Google Analytics Google Alerts Yahoo Site Explorer SEOBook.com Keyword Research SEOBOOK.com SEO For Firefox Tool SEOBOOK.com Search Engine Rank Checker SEOBOOK.com Back Link Analyzer SEOChat.com Keyword Difficulty Compete.com Quantcast.com Alexa.com Archive.org Stompernet Site Seer Technorati.com PRWEB.com ADDTHIS.com SHARETHIS.com EzineArticles.com Scribd.com Squidoo.com YouTube.com StumbleUpon.com Reddit.com Digg.com Del.icio.us Wikipedia.org Flickr.com NewsVine.com Yahoo Answers NOTE: When you list your answers please include a description on what the site is, why it is important to you, and your experience please....we may include it in our article. Jeff
Re: Ranked #1 in just over 7 weeks - Thanks guys. You're right GT. It's jsut a matter of doing what needs to be done. Analytics is starting to show the results a bit too.


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