Google Analytics
Search Engine Land is your source for Google Analytics news and content. You’ll find a variety of up-to-date and authoritative resources, including the latest news, tactic-rich tutorials, and the latest data to help you work smarter and make better decisions.
What you read here is written by our experienced in-house team, and subject matter experts from leading brands and agencies.
Don’t miss out! Get the Search Engine Land newsletter delivered daily to your inbox. Subscribe for free!
SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 25, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Google Panda Two Years Later: The Real Impact Beyond Rankings & SEO Visibility (Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles looking at the aftermath of Google’s Panda […]
Will Google Penalize Chromebooks, Google Analytics, AdWords & Google+ For Using Advertorials?
A day after warning publishers against advertorials, will Google’s search team now have to penalize parts of its own company for running advertorials? Perhaps, and if so, it wouldn’t be the first time. It’s also another absurd chapter in Google’s war on paid links. Google Says: Advertorials, Beware! After news came out yesterday that Google […]
How Account Quality Score Can Guide AdWords Optimization
Last month, I covered four ways to use AdWords Scripts to improve AdWords account management. I didn’t share any actual code for fear of geeking out too much, but people seemed interested enough in how to use Scripts to track historical Quality Score (QS), so this month, I’ll share step-by-step instructions and give you the […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 20, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: No, Google Hasn’t Released Unannounced Penguin UpdatesThe last time Google has confirmed a refresh or update to the Penguin algorithm was back in October 2012 with the 3rd Penguin update. The […]
What B2B SEOs Need To Know About Buyer Personas
While buyer personas (user personas) are an established concept in broader B2B marketing discussions, it has taken on new life in recent years. The shift organizations are making to a digital marketing strategy coupled with innovation in technology (should) allow Internet marketers the ability to deliver effective content marketing campaigns across segmented audiences or targeted […]
4 Under The Radar Keyword Research Sources You Can Use To Find Hidden Gems
If you are using the same tools and techniques as your competitors, you’ll end up competing on the same keywords, resulting in an ongoing SEO battle that will drain your resources in this zero sum game. This article will outline a number of tools and techniques that I have used to go above and beyond […]
How To Build Your Own Enterprise SEO Datastore
I hereby swear to not use the phrase “big data” again in this post. Enterprise SEO is all about the data. More accurately, it’s all about data storage. If you can look back over a year, pull out different metrics and see which ones correlate to success, you’re one step closer to repeating that success. […]
How To Get Analytics Right With PLAs
More so than any other product in the AdWords suite, managing, reporting on, and making sense out of Product Listing Ads (PLAs) extends beyond the toolsets provided in AdWords. The levers that we can push and pull exist within two unique systems — AdWords and Merchant Center — and, as a result, we need to […]
Top Tips For SEO Agencies To Find & Convert New Local Customers
While many industries and businesses are struggling to survive and grow right now, that can’t be said of the SEO or online local advertising industries. It’s boom time for our sector as more and more businesses turn to the Internet and mobile as their primary marketing channels. But, it’s not just businesses that are wising […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 8, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Confirmed: Google Removes “Not Selected” From Webmaster Tools Google has confirmed the reports of the removal of the “not selected” filter within Google Webmaster Tool’s Index Status report. Google’s John Mueller […]
Google Analytics Rolls Out Solutions Gallery
The quest for the right Google Analytics dashboard, custom report or advanced segment generally begins with a problem that you cannot solve. Until now, you searched for others with your same problem and hoped they shared the solution in a blog post so you didn’t have to figure it out all by yourself. While there’s real value […]
3 Quick & Easy Link Fixes Many Websites Still Overlook
While I hesitate to define anything link-related as being easy, there are definitely a few things that can be easily fixed, things that can make a sometimes small and sometimes major difference in how your site performs online. Link builders are certainly not miracle workers, but much of the time, links are still seen as […]
Infographic: When Link Building Turns Into A Linkpocalypse
If you want to succeed with gaining search traffic through SEO, building links is one of the most important ranking factors that can help you. But go too far, and the search police might crack down on you. How do you avoid a disaster? To help, the folks at DNA created a “Link Apocalypse” infographic summarizing some recent missteps […]
How To Do Keyword Research For Mobile SEO
As promised last month, I’ll be sharing more information about how to do mobile SEO specifically and less about why to do mobile SEO. This month, I’m going to go through how to do mobile keyword research. First, though, a brief explanation of why to do mobile keyword research. Mobile Keyword Research Then & Now […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 30, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Bing On Super Bowl 47: San Francisco 49ers Twice As Many Searches Than Baltimore Ravens If search has any influence or say in who will win the Super Bowl this Sunday, […]
Retargeting Tips For Highly-Regulated Advertisers
“Should or should I not include retargeting in a media plan?” is a regular question asked by clients. Although it is a fantastic technology and when used properly can drive huge results — clients are often oversold and promised the world — and it is ever so difficult for them to cut through the clutter. […]
Analytics For The New Social Media Manager
I have been astounded at the number of social media jobs brands large and small have created over the last year. With each month, more brands realize that Social media isn’t an afterthought; it’s something that takes time, strategy, attention and even aggression to keep ahead of the pack. With all of these new positions come a […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 21, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: The Power Of Headlines: The LA Times Gets It Right With Their Piece On The Inauguration Journalists call them headlines; SEOs call them titles and headings. Whatever you call them, they’re […]
UPDATED: Bug Affecting Optimization by Acquisition In Some AdWords Accounts
UPDATE: As of January 23, Google said it has fixed the problem and past data should be restored “in the coming days.” Google has confirmed a bug that causes conversions from Google Analytics to not be imported into AdWords properly, which can cause issues with any campaigns using this data for optimization. The bug has been reported by […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 16, 2013
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Report: PLAs Drove 28% Of Google Non-Brand Ad Clicks In Q4 Google Product Listing Ads generated 28% of Google non-brand clicks in Q4 according to RKG’s latest Digital Marketing Report released […]
How To Get Started With Keyword Research & Content Creation
Sometimes, the best path to success in SEO is going back to the basics of good old fashioned keyword research and content creation with the end goal in mind: the customer and the conversion. In this article, I’ll look at a website that was submitted for review from a “Keywords and Content” focus. The site is […]
5 Tools You Never Thought To Use For Link Building
Link building tools are everywhere, so much so that it’s safe to assume we’ve saturated the market, and it’s time to move on to building something else. While I rely on some of these as much as Instragram relies on selfies and food photos, some of the best tools I’ve found for link building were actually created […]
Google Is Hiring Someone To Find Ways To Make You Want To Search While Signed-In
Google is hiring a new product marketing manager for search with one of the key goals being to find ways to get people to sign-in while they search. The job description says: As Product Marketing Manager within the search growth team, you will be responsible to developing plans, creatives, campaigns and programs to increase the […]
Reporting Multinational SEO Performance: Difficulties & Insights
Whether you report on just two or twenty different regions, getting a centralised report on search engine result page performance by region can be a headache if you don’t have an easy — and scalable — reporting system in place. There are lots of ways to tackle the problem, but by far the easiest is […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 31, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Search Engine Land’s Most Read Stories Of 2012: Google Places Goes Google+, Panda, Penguin & More What were our most popular stories on Search Engine Land over the past year? Below, […]
Search & Analytics Year In Review
As we head into the holidays, we’re looking back at our own metrics for top posts of the year, and we wanted to share a recap of the most read stories in several categories on Search Engine Land. In the Search & Analytics column, our experts cover everything from the basic installation of tracking codes […]
How To Build A Better B2B SEO Strategy In 2013
It’s the last week of 2012. If you’re reading this column, you are forsaking at least a bit of much needed rest for some serious B2B SEO planning in 2013. For me, the few days ahead are about research, preparation, and getting milestones in place for client initiatives (and probably finishing one or two or […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 24, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is on his annual trip delivering presents to […]
The 2012 Santa Tracker Review, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps
It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is on his annual trip delivering presents to all the good little boys and girls around the world. This year, not just one but two major organizations are offering ways to track Jolly St. Nick on his flight. Below, our annual review of how to track him by the […]
Google Challenges NORAD In Tracking Santa, Launches Google Santa Tracker
Google has decided to take on the decades-old Santa tracking service that NORAD offers with its own “Google Santa Tracker.” It comes in the wake NORAD booting Google out as a partner in favor of Microsoft. NOTE: If you’re looking for the latest information on Santa tracking for the current year, see our Your Guide To […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 17, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Maps iPhone App Gets 10 Million Downloads In Two Days Just about a week ago Google’s new Google Maps iPhone app was released and oh boy were people waiting for […]
Reporting On Social Media Engagement
I was in this industry when people were starting to throw around the phrase Web 2.0. Video marketing was in its infancy, Facebook was only for college students, and MySpace was where you sold things to a 12-year-old. Along with my time in the industry, social media has grown from a conversation we had with […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 10, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: On Hanukkah Google Adds Festivus Decorations But No Dreidels This week is Hanukkah and typically Google adds holiday decorations in the form of Jewish Stars, Menorahs, Dreidels or other Hanukkah related […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 6, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Nokia Partners With Xyo To Power “Replacement App” Search For Windows Phones One of the persistent criticisms of Windows tablets and Windows Phones is that they just don’t have the app […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 4, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Take Twitter Campaigns To The Next Level With SEO Data You drive amazing amounts of traffic to your sites, grow conversions and engage with thousands of users over social media. Want […]
7 Tips To Avoid High Bounce Rates On Landing Pages
Five years ago, Avinash Kaushik famously described the sequence of the typical unsatisfied website visitor: “I came, I puked, I left.” There is a little less puking these days, but after clicking on an ad, far too many visitors are still squinting, yawning, shrugging their shoulders, or having trouble connecting their needs and wants with […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 30, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google Adds Medications To Its Knowledge Graph Searchers in need of medical information will begin seeing detailed information on medications as part of Google’s Knowledge Graph product. In today’s announcement, Google […]
How To Make Google Analytics Talk To Excel, In Plain English
I’m spoiled now. I rarely go into the Google Analytics (GA) interface anymore. You know why? There are cool Excel plugins that will pull your data right into Excel. Of course, most of them are PC-swim only. Sorry, Mac users. I’m going to be testing out the only one I know of for Mac, but […]
Updated: Google Webmaster Tools Security Bug Re-Opens Access To Old Accounts [Now Fixed]
A security bug in Google Webmaster Tools has given users access to old accounts and websites that they’re no longer supposed to be able to access. The problem was discovered Tuesday and reported on several SEO blogs and news outlets — including (first, I believe) by Dave Naylor — and was discussed pretty heavily by […]
9 Search & Social KPIs To Start Tracking Right Now
If you don’t measure what you’re doing in search and social media, how do you know if what you’re doing is working? How do you know if you’re helping or hurting your business—or having no effect whatsoever? How do you know that all those hours and/or wages aren’t being wasted? How do you know you’re […]