Direct traffic is a great indicator of brand strength - marketers should consider its use as a KPI
How a brand drives its traffic in the online arena is one of the most important things for any digital marketer to know. These traffic drivers can be divided broadly into these 7 segments
Direct
Mail
Referrals
Social
Organic Search
Paid Search
Display Ads
Each has its own implication on a brand’s online presence however for the scope of this article we will focus on Direct Traffic vs. Various Search metrics.
Direct Traffic is when a consumer directly types in the name of a brand’s website in the address bar.
Search Traffic is when a consumer is looking for information about a brand and its services/products via a search engine or directly inputting the name of the brand or its product/service, in a search engine.
Before we begin it is worth mentioning that a lot of the…
How to tap the potential of Google’s search Suggest for multilingual search and better understanding of online search behaviour
As SEO has evolved, so too has the process of keyword research/analysis. The days of relying solely on Google’s Keyword Tool (now the Keyword Planner) to generate simple target keyword lists has long gone with the emergence of semantic search, Hummingbird and more longtail search opportunities. SEO is becoming ever more sophisticated and therefore keyword research must do so, too.
Whilst Google’s Keyword Planner is still an effective tool, a number of other free tools can be used to understand consumer search behaviour. And now we can add a new tool to this list: Keywordtool.io.
A reminder about Google’s search suggest
As with other tools like Übersuggest, Keywordtool.io uses Google’s Autocomplete engine to generate a variety…
How do your prospects really search? New research shows the need to go beyond simplistic keyword lists
This new research from Blue Nile is aimed at helping marketers better understand how people search online and to understand the patterns in how they formulate their searches through questions. For example, do they search using single words or short phrases or through longer questions including words such as 'How', 'When' and 'Which'? The research found that such question-based queries were common:
'27% of respondents phrased their query in the form of a question, with ‘How’ being the most commonly used prefix.'
Can the Google Keyword Planner be misleading?
When using Google Keyword Planner, you need to seed the tool with one keyword or a short phrase. But the results returned often don't include the questions since they are diverse and their volumes are relatively low. So if you limit your understanding of search behaviour to this tool you could be missing out on…
New consumer insights showing the importance of search in different sectors
When I'm asked by people who are starting new businesses where they should focus their online marketing, search marketing is usually near the top of the recommendation. Of course it depends on the level of consumer intent or demand for the new service, i.e. how many people are searching for products and services.
The importance of search marketing today is shown by our new infographic created by JBH Marketing. It shows the importance of search drawing on the latest data from SimilarWeb on the level of consumer demand through searching and including practical advice and analysis from some of the top places to learn about search like Moz, Search Engine Land and Searchmetrics.
So, I hope you agree that the infographic presents a compelling case for investing more…
An example of using GWT to track changes in keyword performance through time
Since the rise of 'not provided' keywords in Google Analytics, SEOs have had to rely on multiple data sources to track the progress of on-page content optimisation. But, as our own example shows, this can only be a good thing...
When Google announced encrypted search was to be the default for all Google users, it dealt a heavy blow to SEO – as most keywords from organic search would now appear as 'not provided' in Analytics.
This meant it was much more difficult to track the efficacy of on-page content optimisation. After all, if we didn't know which keywords were bringing users to a page, how were we supposed to know if our carefully keyworded content was doing its job?
Now the dust has settled, 'not provided' keywords stands at 87% of the total, according to …
Advanced Keyword Research using Search Engine Marketing funnels
Since search is the main source of new sales and leads for many businesses who get it right, the competitive landscape has become even more aggressive. Search terms, both organic and paid, are becoming increasingly difficult to target. This is due in large part to the following factors:
Paid search traffic is getting more expensive as an increasing number of companies compete to bid for top 3 positioning.
Organic search algorithms have evolved and become more difficult to 'game'. Companies can no longer expect heaps of organic traffic just because their SEO firm has built-out a sophisticated backlink profile.
Because traffic acquisition has become such a competitive (and costly) activity, web marketers will need to place more emphasis on converting the traffic they already have. Additionally, marketers will need to start intercepting potential customers earlier in the buying process if they want to remain competitive.
These two objectives…
A 5 step tutorial on using SEMrush and other tools to improve SEO and PPC keyword targeting for online stores
When growing your online store, every bit of knowledge you can get counts. Any mistake, money spent on wrong keywords perhaps or landing pages not delivering what your customers are looking for can cost you a lot. But sometimes that knowledge lies with your competitors. They are the people who potentially have been running their business longer than you. Or at least have already tried various strategies you want to employ now.
By conducting a clever competitive research, you can tap into their experience and discover strategies that are worth considering for further use. A properly conducted competitive research offers great benefits for your online store:
It will help you keep pace with the changing market. Markets change over time. Chances are…
How to avoid 5 common keyword research mistakes for Search Engine Marketing
Choosing the right keywords for your PPC campaigns and SEO can be a real challenge. For example, do you target only niche keywords you can gain visibility for or do you concentrate on the more generic keywords that are the most competitive?
The key is balance. You should be targeting both types. To understand why, let’s first look at which metrics we recommend you use to categorize and value a keyword.
1. Volume and Difficulty
Volume : Number of keyword searches for the term within a given period.
Difficulty: Level of competition between domains for the keyword.
Types of actionable keywords:
Common: Usually a one-word keyword with very little context. Let’s look at a search for the term 'Apple'. What information can we determine from just looking at the keyword 'Apple' about what the person was searching for? Not much. He may be looking for an iPhone…
5 key features and differences of Google's Keyword Planner
As many of you know, the Google Keyword Tool has been sunset and in some accounts has already been replaced by the Keyword Planner.
There has been much discussion (and disappointment) around this, as the Keyword Tool has, for many years, been the leading keyword research tool, loved by marketers SEO’s, bloggers and copywriters
Google’s launch of the Keyword Planner brings the functionality of the veteran Keyword Tool, combined with data from the Traffic Estimator. Clearly there’s more focus on the needs of AdWords customers, and whilst it’s not perfect, it will no doubt evolve as customer needs grow.
To ease the transition between the original Keyword Tool and the Keyword Planner,we’ve listed 5 changes Google has made.
5 New Google Keyword…
In March I covered how one can start to evaluate and forecast the potential benefits of SEO by considering the possible traffic volume that individual keywords and phrases can drive to your website based on CTR in the SERPs.
Whilst it’s important to build the case for using SEO and to develop keyword lists as a result, it’s also important to understand different customer behaviours and to group them as part of your keyword strategy. This helps to set targets, audit performance and provide ideas for content development. Content may be king but it’s essential that the right content is created for the right audiences.
By establishing the type of search behaviour exhibited by consumers, you can start to consider not just the different types of content you might need to produce but also where this content will fit within your site, the necessary…
