Potentially Damaging News For SEO’s from Google

Update:  There is a petition going around to try to reclaim this valuable keyword data.  Add your name to the cause here: Keyword Transparency.

Google announced on October 18th that it would be pulling keyword data from Google Analytics reports for all users who are signed in to their Google account.  (Read the official post here).  This news has sent SEO’s into a frenzy about the quality of their analytical data.

Google has faced a lot of heat recently over privacy issues, and this latest attack on (what could be) anonymous data has got the search community fired up.

What’s the fuss?

Google, in an effort to protect privacy for it’s logged in users, has removed the search query data from organic search from it’s Google Analytics platform.  What this means is, anytime a Google search is conducted by a user who is logged in to their Google account, their search queries will not be shown in Google Analytics.  While the visit to your site will be recorded as “organic” and show the traffic source as “Google”, the most valuable information, the keyword they used to find your site, will not be available.

This is important because SEO’s use this data to help make informed decisions about the performance of keywords in an SEO campaign.  If a certain keyword phrase isn’t driving traffic that converts, then adjustments can be made. Without this data, it will become more difficult for SEO’s to accurately determine how visitors from organic search find a client’s website.

Google claims that this change “will affect only a minority of your traffic. You will continue to see aggregate query data with no change, including visits from users who aren’t signed in and visits from Google ‘cpc’. “  The real truth is that Google is encouraging more and more people to use it’s Google tools, such as Google Plus, which means that users have to be logged in.  And the more folks that are logged in, the more skewed your keyword based Google Analytics data will become.

There is a fix

We don’t have to loose this important data.  Google has the ability to pass on search query data while keeping it anonymous for the purpose of analytical research though.  Notice how Google AdWords data will not be affected.  The same technique used to pull this data without compromising user privacy could be applied to Google’s organic search.  But currently it isn’t.

Not only does this issue spell trouble for SEO’s trying to make sound decisions about keyword performance, it can have a ripple effect through every business trying to optimize their website for the end user.  Not all business owners use Google AdWords (and it isn’t a good fit for all businesses) but they shouldn’t be penalized by inaccurate organic search query data because of it.

I encourage everyone who uses Google Analytics to either comment on the Google Webmaster blog post here or comment to them through the Google Analytics Twitter account here.  Let’s try to keep valuable, anonymous data in our Google Analytics accounts.

 

SEO For Misspellings, Is It Worth It?

A client asked me recently if he should be optimizing for misspelled variations of the keywords we are optimizing for currently.  It’s a fair question, and one that gets discussed often in the SEO forums and blogs out there.

As with most things SEO, there are two schools of thought.  Some believe that it’s ‘low hanging fruit’ and should absolutely be optimized (arguing that although their are fewer searches, there is generally less competition and cheaper CPC).  Others feel it’s a waste of time and that focusing efforts on keywords that drive traffic and are properly spelled are the way to go.  Their counter argument is that search engines typically try to correct misspellings by offering suggestions of the proper spelling.

A quick search using the misspelling of mortgage, ‘morgage’ shows that Google has defaulted to the correct spelling because the misspelling was close enough to the correct spelling:

 

Below, I tried a second variation with a less common misspelling to show the “Did you mean” feature in Google. :

 

 

So depending on the misspelling, you could get completed different search results for the same intended search.

To see what type of competition and search volume misspellings could provide, I ran a quick report.

SEOBook offers a free tools which generates misspellings based on the proper spelling.  (To be honest, I didn’t think it was that useful, and I ended up just coming up with variations myself.  But the link to the typo tool is here.)  For this test I used the same keyword, ‘mortgage’, which I used in the example above.  Admittedly, this is a broad keyword in a competitive niche.

I pulled the proper spelling and then 3 misspellings to see what type of traffic and competition those keywords get.  I also wanted to look at competition levels and average CPC for the misspellings.  Here are the results:

from Google AdWords Keyword Tool

Notice that in this case, the correct spelling actually has the highest search volume, the lowest competition level, and the lowest approximate CPC!  The misspelling ‘mortgege’ has a much lower search volume but the approximate cost per click is more than double the proper spelling. If anything, this tells me that there are plenty of people out there who think it’s worth optimizing for misspellings.  But, if I’m trying to get the most reach from my SEO campaign, I’d go for the highest volume keyword with the lowest competition.  In this case, that’s the proper spelling.

Now, I’m not saying this is true in every case.  In fact, if you were to delve into mortgage niches, or long tail mortgage keyword phrases and include misspellings at that level, the results could be different. I tested adding the word ‘broker and the words ‘broker richmond va’ to the misspellings but there wasn’t enough search volume to suggest it was viable in this instance.

For PPC advertising, going after misspellings may be much more appealing.  Andrew Miller, PPC consultant and owner of Your Search Advisor says “Google is usually pretty good about correcting misspellings for common keywords in organic search results, but I typically see great results in PPC channels by bidding on misspelled brand, product, and company names. These clicks are usually much cheaper thanks to lower competition and convert as well or better than correctly spelled keywords!”

So should you optimize around misspellings?  The answer is: It depends.   As with all things in the online marketing world, it pays to do your homework first.   I’d suggest doing your keyword research first to determine the competitive nature and approximate traffic volume of the misspellings.  I’d also suggest typing in the misspellings into Google to see if Google is automatically defaulting to the correct spelling.   It seems that the greatest value from marketing online around misspellings may come from utilizing them in PPC marketing.  Again, do your keyword research first and monitor your CPC to ensure your aren’t actually paying more and getting less conversions from the misspellings.

Cheers!

10 Great WordPress Plugins for Business Owners

WordPress as a hosted solution can provide a very robust CMS for businesses of all sizes. Having the right plug-ins can help business owners track traffic, monitor conversions and insure they are getting the most from their WordPress installation.   Below are 10 great WordPress plugins for business owners and how they can benefit their users.

1.       All in One SEO Pack

The All in One SEO Pack is one of the top WordPress plugins for business owners, largely because it allows you to create SEO friendly web pages in a flash.  Wordpress is already search engine friendly, and adding this free plug-in can ensure your site has basic SEO structure like proper meta title and description.

2.       Google Analytics

Monitoring your site’s traffic is critical to online success which is why installing the Google Analytics plugin should be a must for all business owners. Google’s free Analytics software is extremely robust (and free!) , don’t miss this opportunity to easily integrate it into your WordPress based site.

3.       EZPZ One Click Backup

Any dedicated business owner should seriously consider using EZPZ One Click Backup because it backs up every bit of information stored on your WordPress blog. In the event that your blog crashes, you can get all of the information back. However, this plugin does not work on Windows-based servers.

4.       All in One Video Pack

 

The All in One Video Pack allows users to put video on their WordPress blog. Business owners can upload, record, and edit videos directly from their WordPress account. Users can also track the statistics for their videos if they want to.

 

5.       Facebook Likes You

With the Facebook Likes You plugin, business owners now have the opportunity to add the Facebook “Like” button to the end of each blog post, generating more readership and publicity for the company on Facebook.  Even cooler, Google Analytics can now track these clicks with the recent addition of their social metrics.

6.       SMSGlobal

 

If you want to alert your customers to new updates about your business, use SMSGlobal. It allows you to send SMS text messages to your site users. You can choose to send the text message to everyone affiliated with your site, or just specific groups of people. Anyone who wants to get involved in mobile marketing will benefit from this plugin. Send alerts, notifications, and more from the site, all with the push of a button.

7.       Fast Secure Contact Form

If you want your customers and clients to be able to contact you directly through your site, you will need some sort of a contact form. Use Fast Secure Contact Form in order to generate a form style that will work for you.  This free add on allows various levels of customization and multiple different forms from a single install.

8.       Under Construction

Are there parts of your website you have not finished? Use Under Construction to tell people the page is not ready yet.

 

9.       Cf Shopping Cart

Cf Shopping Cart allows you to sell products directly from your WordPress account. You can import items, manage them, allow users to pay via PayPal, and more.

10.   WordPress Mobile Pack

The WordPress Mobile Pack allows users to view your web page on a mobile phone and still keep the content looking nice.
Do you have any plug-ins you rely on?

 

Measuring Social Engagement in GA and Webmaster Tools

Measuring the impact of Social Media on business has historically been difficult.  Not impossible, but difficult. There are some very smart folks in social media are using the API’s to their fullest extent to extract actionable data from the masses of information in platforms like Twitter. For the average website owner, the effects of social media on engagement and conversion has been somewhat difficult to track and monetize.

Now Google, who recently launched the Beta version of it’s own social media platform, Google+ has integrated their Google Plus button data (confusingly different from the Google+ social network) with Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools.

In the screenshot above I’ve highlighted the new +1 Metrics sections.  You can see Search Impact which shows +1 annotated impressions and +1 annotated clicks.  This metric can be useful to see how many times your site is being shown in the SERPS based on being “+1′ed”.

The ‘Activity’ tab shows all +1′s and new +1′s.  Interestingly, it hasn’t been accurately reflecting my total +1 count, only those occurring directly on my site.  So, any +1′s I’ve received from the SERPS are not reflected in this list.

Finally, the ‘Audience’ tab shows unique users who have +1′ed pages on your site and shows ‘characteristics’ once you’ve received enough +1′s (which I haven’t as of this writing).  All of these metrics have various usefulness, but what I found most interesting and potentially useful was the +1 integration in Google Analytics.

To access the +1 Metrics in Google Analytics, you have to be using the new version.  If you haven’t used the new version yet, just click the “New Version” link at the top right hand corner next to your account settings.  Once you are in, you’ll notice the new ‘Social’ tab in the dropdown menu under ‘Visitors’. This is where I see some potential in measuring the role of social media in one very important metric: ROI.

Under the ‘Engagement’ tab, you can compare “Not Socially Engaged” traffic with “Socially Engaged” traffic, comparing metrics like total visits, time on site, pageviews, bounce rate, conversion rate and e-commerce value (where applicable). I haven’t linked this to my Facebook and Twitter site links (it’s kind of involved and I honestly haven’t had the time to implement the code yet) but my +1 traffic metrics are MUCH better than my “not socially engaged” traffic.

Under the ‘Actions’ tab, you can determine the source of the social actions and when it occurred. The ‘Page’ tab displays which page the social action occurred on. I can see this feature being useful to gauge visitor response to posts and actions occurring after the post has been “socially engaged.”

 

For internet marketers these social metrics mean being able to assign a dollar amount for traffic that has performed a social action on the site.  If nothing else, it can help us determine the pages of a site/blog that are the top performers and help us refine campaigns to increase social engagement IF the data deems the social traffic to be more valuable.  What it won’t do, however, is record the efforts of a Twitter or Facebook brand building and marketing campaign outside of your site.

I’m currently running a test to see what (if any) impact Google Plus button clicks for my site in the SERPs will have on search.  If you want to help out by +1-ing my site, you can find it in this SERP and hook me up! http://bit.ly/qJMBE7 I’ll produce a report with findings if I can get enough participants.

Webmaster Tools Plugin for WordPress Users

If you are running a self-hosted WordPress install for your website,  it just got even easier to install Google Webmaster Tools on your site.  Google announced on April 21st that there is now a plugin for Google Webmaster Tools, further simplifying the process of verifying your site.

If you are already a self-hosted WordPress user and haven’t verified your site with Webmaster Tools, here’s the link to the plugin.  You can also just search ‘webmaster tools’ in the Plugins area within your WordPress admin panel and direct install from there (depending on which version of WordPress you are running).

Once you’ve verified your site, the Webmaster Tools plugin allows you to submit an xml sitemap to Google, and also provides you information directly from Google about crawl errors, site load time, keywords, internal and external links to your site and other useful information which you can use to refine your SEO campaign and make improvements to your site for both users and bots.

You can sign up for Google Webmaster Tools here.

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