CrapHammer: Google Analytics Magic

This is an ongoing series titled, "Google Analytics Magic." In part one I showed how and why to create my favorite Google Analytics (GA) report, a customized keywords bounce report with drill down. This report helps to identify where search engines like Google or Bing are leading people to pages on your site that don't answer their query. This is quite often low hanging fruit for improving your site and driving higher engagement and conversion.

In part two, I will be answering some of the questions people had and then showing how to use advanced segmentation in Google Analytics (GA). [edited]

You can read the follow-up to part one below or jump straight to the advanced segmentation section.

Part One Questions

Adam asked, "One request I would like to suggest is a "what now?" step or suggestions after identifying that a high bounce rate was actually caused by people not finding the right information. [...] I suppose my best options would be to either write a specific article based on those keywords, or to include some reference links to other sites that have info specific to a user's search."

This is dead on, Adam.

The line of thinking is to first determine whether it would be appropriate to rewrite or update the page to make it more relevant to visitors. Then I like to explore how to get the search traffic to point to more appropriate pages on the site. Below I outline three approaches to this end. Think of these as tools in your toolkit. You may use just one, or you may use all three as best fits.

1: I would pull a content report and if the page in question shows an equally high bounce rate overall (not just from search), I would consider rewriting this page. Is there a way to expand the page to address and include the search terms being used? In some cases it is not appropriate or possible to rewrite the page. A page about your product or service is likely not a good candidate to be rewritten unless the search terms relate to your product/service.

2: Can we create a callout box that is featured above the fold with links to other pages on the site that better address the search terms being used? Visitors to the page can then easily click to get to a page on the site that best meets their interests or needs. I would often create these links using Google's Campaign URL Builder as I want to know at a quick glance which links in the callout box people are clicking on. These clicks will then appear in the Traffic Sources | Campaigns report. Note that it's not necessary to create Campaign URLs as anyone clicking on a link will be a second click on your site. They will no longer be be a bounce which will help drive down your bounce rate and get people to the content they are looking for. So you will see the bounce rate dropping if the links are working you just won't be able to easily see which links are working best.

3: Callout boxes work really well in many cases, but it doesn't fix the problem that people are going from a search engine to a page only to have to click again to get to the page they really want. This extra step will always cause some attrition of visitors versus getting people directly to the appropriate page in the first place. This brings me into the realm of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The question is why the search engine isn't directing people to your other page in the first place. Is it findable by the search engines? Could you rewrite the other page with more of the terms people are searching for? I recommend working with an SEO specialist. Good news is you have identified the problem. Fixing it is just a matter of effort and resources.

Eric asks, "Have you ever used Clicky for web analytics? Check out how they calculate bounce rates: http://getclicky.com/blog/214/why-clickys-new-bounce-rate-is-the-best-in-the-biz "

I am going to be experimenting with Clicky on a project with Eric. I do like their ability to differentiate between a quick bounce and someone spending time on a page. That said, I would still want to run a report like I outlined in Part One and look for disconnects between search terms and page content resulting in a bounce.

Fred asks, "Did it Sean. Thanks. I'd love for you to blog on how a small business should be using GA and how often."

Stay tuned for part three where I will do just that. I'll also explore a simplified model for determining key measures for your organization.

Keep the questions coming!

Using Advanced Segmentation in Google Analytics

Google Analytics (GA) offers a number of quick and powerful methods to understand what is driving increased traffic to your site. In the video below, I show you how to use Advanced Segmentation to do just that. It sounds complex, but it really isn't. It's one of the most powerful and easy to use features in GA.

A big shout out to Soundstreams Canada for letting me use them as a guinea pig. If you are looking for great, one-of-a-kind concerts in Toronto, I can't recommend them enough.

Here is a direct link to the above tutorial video in case it is not showing up in your browser.

3 Comments

The video is very useful. I usually ignore my Analytics after getting the code and continue on with my link building. Google Analytics can help you see where and how many traffics your site is getting.

Posted by: seo hosting | October 21, 2011 at 12:38 AM