Google Analytics Friend or Foe to Bloggers?

I have grown to both love and hate Google Analytics. As a public relations practitioner and marketer, I understand the valuable information such a tool can provide. On the other hand, I hate how Google has infiltrated everything I do on my blog. I like sharing insights and my experiences in my Digital Marketing Communications graduate program at West Virginia University. At this point in the program I can honestly say I’m no longer a novice, and I’m proud of that. Still, I’m far from an expert, and I continue to struggle with installing the tools that Google Analytics promises will benefit me, my blog and others.

I understand all too well how important data is for businesses and government agencies alike. Understanding why visitors to a commercial Web site leave before making a purchase, especially when they leave items in a shopping cart, and making the appropriate adjustments can make the difference between those businesses that succeed and those that fail in an Internet-driven economy. What I don’t understand is how this same Google Analytics tool can be used to improve government Web sites and other non-e-commerce sites that only provide information.

No doubt such sites want good visitor experiences as much as commercial entities do so it is important to track visits. That tool is a given. The use of keywords and filtering also could prove useful. Tracking sales, not so much. I am happy to say that I successfully installed mega tags and keywords on my blog as well as filters to better understand those who visit my site so that they may benefit from my experiences, both good and bad. Although I have not yet seen any results from these latests additions, I hope that I will so soon. And when I do, know that those who visit this blog will be the beneficiaries.

Goals, Funnels and Tracking, Oh My!

Until recently, if you asked me what a funnel was, I would have said it was a cone-shaped object usually used in the kitchen to pour liquids from a larger container into a storage jar. I remember my mother using one in the summer to make homemade jams and jellies and can vegetables from the garden. I even would have bought the definition that it is a cone-shaped object placed into the gas tank of a lawnmower to aid in filling it with fuel.


But I would have been wrong in both cases. In today’s technology-dependent world, a funnel is a tool marketers can use in Google Analytics, a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about visitors to a Web site or a blog like this one.

Similarly, a goal is not a personal objective or even a score in an athletic contest like basketball, soccer or hockey; it is a measurable action performed by visitors to your Web site or blog. I think both goals and funnels would be more useful if I were actually selling something instead of sharing information. In fact, I found the steps a little confusing for a non-e-commerce user.

Still, I am happy to report that I successfully installed goals and funnels onto my blog and Google Analytics account. I also enabled site search in hopes of making my blog more user friendly.

Since installing Google Analytics earlier this month, I have 25 visits, 55 page views with the average visitor spending 7:36 on my site and a 44 percent bounce rate.

I am pleasantly surprised by these numbers. I do wish, though, that I could attract more comments. Nonetheless, I hope those who visit my blog, “Come on back now, Ya’ hear!”

Google Analytics Provides Valuable Information

I want to know more about using the Internet, social media and other technology as marketing tools. That’s why I’m enrolled in West Virginia University’s Digital Marketing Communications graduate program. Today I successfully installed Google Analytics on my blog and looked at my first report.



While it doesn’t list much beyond a few zeros, getting here was a journey I won’t soon forget. I send kudos to Bilal Aslam, a computer engineering student and the creator of Blogger Basics: How to Install Google Analytics on Blogger (2009). Without the elementary step-by-step instructions in this article, I would still be struggling to install Google Analytics with my head in a fog.

I know how important this step is for a blogger or a company wanting to do business on the Internet. Google Analytics allows bloggers and businesses alike to monitor their online health. Gathering such information helps companies understand their customers and why other potential consumers may leave the Web site after only a quick visit.

The key to any effective marketing campaign begins with good research. Google Analytics can help provide such valuable information so that businesses and bloggers know what visitors like and what they don’t. Google Analytics goes even further. Thomas McMahon in a post on Online Marketing Blog (2008) outlined five lesser known advantages to using Google Analytics. Among them is that Google Analytics allows users to capture internal search statistics (McMahon, 2008). This feature allows users not only to see what visitors put into an internal search box, but what page they were on when they made the search and what page they chose in the search results.

While it is too soon to know what Google Analytics will tell me about visitors to my blog, I hope it provides insight that will help me make it a better blog to read and perhaps even teach something new to others.

Reference:

Aslam, B. (2009, June 29). Blogger Basics: How to Install Google Analytics on Blogger. Retrieved February 8, 2010, from http://bloggerfaqs.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-to-install-google-analytics-on.html.

McMahon, T. (2008, February 14). Five Lesser Known Google Analytics Features. Online Marketing Blog. Retrieved February 8, 2010, http://www.toprankblog.com/2008/02/5-google-analytics-features.

Google Thinks I'm a Webmaster. Yeah Right.

I thought I knew quite a bit about computers and technology. Then came my latest assignment in my Digital Marketing Communications class at West Virginia University, Web Analytics and Search Engine Optimization. The assignment seemed easy enough: register our blogs on Google. Got it. Then experiment with first anchor text counts. Huh? I know this is a graduate level course but when it comes to what amounts to basic computer programming I need a primer, and when I say primer, I mean step-by-step instructions.

After reading the assigned reading at http://www.seomoz.org/blog/results-of-google-experimentation-only-the-first-anchor-text-counts, I was left more confused than ever. For example, step three in tracking a fictitious Web site tells you to: Create 6 pages on the site, the homepage (A) with two links to pages (B) and (C), pages (D) and (E) - both linked to by page (B) - and page (F) linked to from page (C). It's important to make sure that (B) is the first link on the homepage (A) and (C) is the second link (Fishkin, 2008). Now consider I’ve never had any training or experience like this. So what is a researcher and writer to do? Well Google it, of course!

My search for “how to register a domain name with Google” first led me to multiple sites that wanted me to pay to register my blog. I’m a college student, remember? So I continued my search for a way to register my blog for free. And here comes the funny part. I didn’t find anything right away on Google but a search on Bing returned an eHow article that walked me through it. The instructions were simplistic, but specific, exactly what I needed.

1. Go to Google.

2. Visit the "Submit Your Content" page at Google.com. Click on "Submit a URL" located in the "Here's How to Get Started" box in the upper right corner.

3. Enter the name of your URL. Copy the captcha code. The "captcha code" refers to the funny-looking characters in the box that you must copy into another box. This ensures that people, not software, submits URLs. Software can't read these captcha codes, so this ensures that a human is submitting the site.

The eHow article also include a handy tip box that listed things needed before beginning, including a Google account and the URL of my blog.

I’m proud to say that after days, and when I say days I mean multiple days, of struggling to figure out what exactly I was supposed to do, I successfully registered my blog with Google with the help of that eHow article. And Google now thinks I’m a webmaster! Take a look at this screen grab capture that says it’s providing information for webmasters.

I can tell you that both the webmaster and assistant webmaster at the West Virginia Department of Education felt a chill run down their spines at the thought. They can rest assured that their jobs are safe.

References:

Ehow.com. Retrieved February 7, 2010, from http://www.ehow.com/how_4761630_register-domain-name-google.html.

Fishkin, R. (2008, March 16). Results of Google Experimentation - Only the First Anchor Text Counts. Retrieved February 7, 2010, from http://www.seomoz.org/blog/results-of-google-experimentation-only-the-first-anchor-text-counts.