Linking Google Analytics to Webmaster Tools

If you use Google Analytics to track site data, you can now link your Webmaster Tools verified site to an Analytics profile when they use the same Google Account.

Not only will your Analytics profiles be accessible within Webmaster Tools, but you'll also be able to more easily access a few Google Analytics features:

• View your Google Analytics Referring Pages report directly from the Links to your site page in Webmaster Tools. This report helps you understand the overall trends in traffic volume from referrals, as well as the sites driving those trends.

• Access the Google Analytics Dashboard directly from the Analytics link in the top left bar when you’re on a site-related page.


To link a verified site in Webmaster Tools to a Google Analytics profile:

1. On the Webmaster Tools home page, click Manage next to the site you want, then click Google Analytics profile.


Select the profile you want to associate with the site, then click Save.


Note: If your site has multiple owners, each owner will need to link their own account to a Google Analytics profile.

Excel Tools for SEO

Search Engine Optimization is an activity that calls for a lot of tools. There is so much data, so many variables, and so much change, that if you tried to do everything manually over the long term then you would soon get overwhelmed.

Thankfully there are a lot of free and commercial tools out there that can help a lot. What they don’t offer though is a way to keep track of all your own vital SEO information in a centralized manner, and you have very little customization or control available.

With this in mind we have been turning our Excel talents towards building some small tools that you can customize easily and completely, and taken together give you a great deal of SEO insight.


The Excel SEO Tools

These tools should be looked at as a suite of utilities but also as a guide to the main tasks that you should be performing in your SEO work. We start with getting an idea for where you are now. What do you already rank for, and how much work will be involved in getting further ahead?


Track Your Search Positions

Over time you will need to monitor your search positions, take note of what helps you creep nearer to that coveted number 1 spot, and what impacts you negatively, driving you down the rankings? The more terms you want to rank for, the more you need to automate this monitoring work!

Generate Keyword Variations
As just mentioned, it is not likely that you will only want to target one search phrase. Generating new phrases that you want to rank for is also important. One way we generate additional phrases is to create small variations on our existing keyword choices, especially when looking at PPC and the long tail. This Excel spreadsheet helps you do this.

Monitor Backlinks
Do you know how many of your link building results are sticking and which links are getting broken or pulled? You need to monitor your links and this spreadsheet will help you automate the process. It will also tell you if the link is passing Google juice or if it has been “no-followed”.

Check Your Redirects
Redirects can have a profound impact on your search results. Ideally when a page is moved, or when you want to send a visitor to a new URL, the redirect should be a permanent one so that the search engines know what to do with it. This tool will check a link and tell you what redirect type is returned and if it is working correctly.

Predict Organic Keyword Traffic
Do you know if that keyword phrase is worth the effort? Use this tool to predict the kind of travel levels you can expect for various rankings.

SEO Competitor Research
SEO is not just you versus the search engines, as you have no doubt realized. Yup, all your competitors are going after the same search results that you are. You need to watch what they are up to and react accordingly. Step one is finding out where your direct competitors are performing.

Internet marketing insanity, and it's only Tuesday

Oh. God.

It's been one of those weeks that shakes my faith in marketing.
And it's Tuesday.
So, second day of the week, and second ranty post.

First off, if Google is so damned smart, how is this butthead exploiting negative feedback for fun and profit? This is a guy who's calling people 'bitch', threatening them, getting panned by dozens of furious customers and then using that to pillage the rankings. I've decided to call every person I've ever pissed off and have them write negative reviews about me. I'll start with pre-school and work my way up. #1 ranking baybeee!!!

Twitter will temporarily shut you down if you break wind from the same IP address more than three times in succession. But they catapult Ashley Kerekes to internet fame when tens of thousands of people follow her by accident, thinking she's a cricket match.

Google's SERPs now resemble the subject of a Clients From Hell design story:

Did Microsoft secretly take over? Come on. Can anyone out there tell me where I can go to buy a bike? Especially since I'm not IN SYRACUSE NY?!!!
Then I find some fascist dirtbag whose web site tries to tell me I'm part of a vast Zionist conspiracy that secretly runs the world. Luckily, you all responded fantastically to that, restoring my faith and getting me past Tuesday. For which you have my thanks.

Petits fours in your search results

Recently we made a change to show more results from a domain for certain types of queries -- this helped searchers get to their desired result even faster. Today we’re expanding the feature so that, when appropriate, more queries show additional results from a domain. As a webmaster, you’ll appreciate the fact that these results may bring targeted visitors directly to the pages they’re interested in.Here’s an example: in the past, the query [moma] (the Museum of Modern Art), might have triggered two results from the official site:

With this iteration, our search results may show:
Up to four web results from each domain (i.e., several domains may have multiple results)
Single-line snippets for the additional results, to keep them compact
As before, we still provide links to results from a variety of domains to ensure people find a diverse set of sources relevant to their searches. However, when our algorithms predict pages from a particular site are likely to be most relevant, it makes sense to provide additional direct links in our search results.

Like all the hundreds of changes we make a year, we’re trying to help users quickly reach their desired result. Even though we’re constantly improving our algorithms, our general advice still holds true: create compelling, search-engine friendly sites in order to attract users, buzz, and often targeted traffic!

Beyond Good and Evil in SEO

The National Association of Realtors is "real estate merely goes up." This financial fallacy fosters the belief in prospect price increases and the restricted risk of purchasing real estate. In 2006, prices in a lot of markets began to fall. By 2008, the rate of price refuse had greatly accelerated. This is staged proof so as to real estate does not forever go up. Despite this clear fact, the National friendship of Realtors still tries to entice greedy buyers with fantasies of limitless wealth in housing real estate.Buyers are by now prone to consider the fallacies of limitless riches in real estate, also these fallacious attitude lead to housing froth. Realtors should be banned from making representation about the investment possible of real estate. Since the narrow framework for this kind of rule and oversight is by now in place beneath the auspices of the Securities also Exchange charge, Congress would merely need to create Realtors subject to these system in order to solve the difficulty.

I recently heard a story about a local SEO shop whose customers, overnight, almost ALL lost ranking in Google. Apparently, the shop had been engaging in “black hat” techniques. I’m pretty sure the teller of the tale made a “tsk tsk” sound at the end to help emphasize this as another instance where people who do evil get their just desserts.

But I think there is a fundamental disjoint in even using the phrase “black hat” – as it does infer a big gap in morality. And ‘black hats’ aren’t going around stealing the life savings of pensioners, killing kittens, or committing other dastardly deeds. What they are doing is gaming the system.

In Italy, there is a word for when someone uses audacity to gain advantage: “Furbo”. And it is, in a way, considered a virtue. In many cultures, it isn’t a bad thing at all to be a “player”. So how is it, in my own circle of SEO experts, black hat is spoken of with such disdain? Mind you, I’m not advocating black hat seo tactics – as I’ll explain in more detail in a bit. But by framing the black/white hat discussion in terms of morality, we might be distorting the real meaning behind the concepts.

What IS happening in Black Hat

What IS happening in black hat is the gaming, or the attempt at gaming the system. And in this case, the system is usually Google. Now, Google, we hope, wants to present the best search results to its users. I’m not always sure about that, and not at all sure that the reality isn’t that Google wants to present the best results to its users that helps Google make the most money. If we’re going to discuss ethics, there is a whole topic for discussion in that.

In a way, as a professional SEO, what we want to do is get Google to see our page as being more relevant to a topic than our competitor’s page. And who is to say it isn’t? Google, as we know, has an algorithm, albeit a SECRET algorithm – and we can all find countless examples of where Google does not provide the best results. So, we’re asking, is Google a better arbiter of best results?

Let’s consider a black hat tactic I recently heard discussed at SMX East, the acquisition of an old well-indexed website, and then peppering it with back links to our web page. Those link’s were NOT part of the original content of the site – and perhaps not even relevant to the content of that old well-indexed site – so in essence, the black hat is using Google’s system to sort of cheat a little.

By the way; there are some interesting studies (http://blog.ted.com/2009/03/13/dan_ariely_offe/ ) that show that MOST people WILL cheat in small incremental ways if they believe that can go undetected. It’s just a little cheat. In game theory, this is an aspect of the “Tragedy of the Commons” – people will take a little bit from the group if their actions benefit themselves a lot, but only hurt the group a little. The problem is, of course, that all those little hurts to the group add up.

Now, isn’t it true that emphasizing a key phrase in meta tags, H1’s, links, etc, is ALSO gaming the system? Maybe it is gaming the system but in a lesser way than acquiring a mothballed site. But if we’re talking about ethics, can we really talk degrees of ethics, and where do we score the little measures?

Mrs. Google

Imagine a classroom where the teacher up front is Mrs. Google, and all of the students are us SEO’s. Mrs. Google asks a question, “who is the most relevant student here to answer this question”? And we all raise our hands – each one of us wants her to notice ME, we want to her to pick ME! And sometimes, to get noticed, maybe we sort of bounce up and down in our seats, to help influence her choosing. But should the student doing the most bouncing up and down in their seat be chosen? Are they really the most relevant? Now, maybe one student not only bobs up and down in his seat, but emits a small chirping sound! Is the chirper a black hat? Isn’t he using a method of getting called-on that has nothing to do with the fairness of his being chosen?

So; what I’m suggesting is that black hats are simply taking their methods of being noticed FURTHER than white hats – and in comparison to most SEO professionals, is only doing what is done by everyone, just in greater degrees.

Beyond Good and Evil
As an SEO, I discourage the use of so-called black hat techniques. Simply put, they can result in a web site’s being perceived as deserving a Google purgatory. It would be irresponsible to put a website at risk in that way. It’s a risk management issue, not a moral issue.
The SERP has been dying a long and painful death. Every so often, a new Google enhancement causes SERP to be less relevant – instant search, local results, etc. In other words, DYNAMIC results based on the searcher’s demographics or behavior. Cool. And by focusing more on creating content that is rich in relevant clouds of words and phrases, we’re not simply trying to be perceived as being more relevant, we’re focusing on BEING more relevant. It takes the entire discussion outside of the black hat/white hat.

Increasing SEO Competition and Change: Survival Not Mandatory

It’s safe to say the way search engines work is changing; but then, it’s been safe to say that since the first engine rolled out. Is SEO changing, though? Think about it:
Since people first started using the Web to advertise their business, they’ve been hiring other people to figure out how to make sure their business gets visibility.
Search ranking, and thus, SEO, is becoming more competitive. But then – hasn’t it been “becoming” more competitive each year for several years?
Choosing the right keywords to target is essential – but hasn’t it always been?
So, then is SEO, as in the whole, encompassing “Search Engine Optimization”, changing or are the number of methods just growing?

Changing SEO Methods
The number one, never changing method of SEO is the three T’s (tracking, testing, tweaking). As far as I’m concerned, Alfred Edward Perlman perfectly described the mindset of optimization almost 60 years ago:
“After you’ve done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully. After five years, look at it with suspicion. And after ten years, throw it away and start all over.” (New York Times, 3 July 1958)
In yesteryears, SEO might have been nothing more than a few reciprocal links and some on page optimization. Today, it could be a long list: article marketing, blogs and other content development, URL structures, back links, you name it. While methods may change, grow or depreciate, the same two truths hold firm. They are:
An SEO campaign cannot be thrown together. It has to be carefully planned – as any campaign should be.
An SEO campaign has to be revisited intermittently and adjusted as necessary – as any campaign should be.
This is not news. These are the basics.

A side note on SEO service providers…
If you’re starting a marketing campaign and know nothing about marketing, would you consult a professional before starting? More likely than not, you would – you’re pushing hundreds or thousands of dollars down the drain that way, and you know it.
Now consider this; how much is it costing you to keep your online business going? Hosting, website design, writing (whether you do it or hire someone, it costs time or money), marketing perhaps… Are you willing to see all that go down the drain as well? You don’t have to consult with an SEO professional, but there is a degree of risk without at least checking your campaign with someone in the industry. End of lecture.

Succeeding in a Continually More Competitive Marketplace
So what does it take to succeed nowadays? What steps can you take? Here are just a few:
1.Define your SEO strategy, content and site structure before beginning any of it. If you have a pre-existing site, define it anyway, and make necessary changes.
2.Make sure the company or person designing your website understands at least the basics of good on page SEO structure and uses it accordingly.
3.USE your analytics program. Most hosting providers have one and, if not, you can grab Google Analytics free. If you can’t see what’s happening on your site, how do you expect to know what to change and where?
4.Don’t automatically go for the high search, high competitive terms. Start with the lower ones (thusly called “low hanging fruit”) and build traffic gradually.
5.No matter what else you do, don’t ignore content. The search engines want and expect content. You have to provide it; it isn’t optional.

Lastly, understand the World Wide Web is the busiest place on Earth. Don’t believe me? In Africa, a continent full of third world countries,almost 111 million people use the Internet. In Asia, the last count was 825,094,396 Internet users. Worldwide, there’s almost 2 billion. (Statistics thanks to Internet World Stats )

It’s also the smallest place on Earth; companies in Germany can be your direct competition, even if you’re just a local online business shipping to three area codes. Be willing to change your strategy, your methods and your content to meet the needs of 1) your visitors and 2) the search engines. Survival isn’t mandatory, but it sure is nice.

In web analytics, everything is relative

What's a good bounce rate for my web site?
I get that kind of question a lot. What's a 'good' bounce rate? A 'good' time on site?
The answer, I'm afraid, is: Better than your current bounce rate. Better than your current time on site.
In web analytics, it's best to focus on your own data and on improving. Use yourself as the benchmark. This is your best strategy for two reasons:

Lack of accurate benchmarks
Accurate, internet- or industry-wide data on keyword searches, or competitors, or just about anything else, is scarce. Non-existent, really.
'Panel'-based statistics like Compete.com (which I love) and Alexa (which I'm starting to like again) sweep in an incredibly wide range of web sites. The bounce rate on your online bike shop won't compare to, say, the bounce rate on the New York Times web site.
Statistics within your own industry will include outliers at both end of the spectrum: At one end are the companies that have invested 100x your budget to become the shining pinnacle of conversion rate optimization. At the other, you'll be comparing yourself to the sites designed according to 1992 best practices. Even if you can narrow down the data in #1, it'll be inaccurate..
Keyword data from Google is about as trustworthy as a credit default swap.
Keyword data from other sources may be more trustworthy, but shows you a tiny sliver of total search traffic.

Numbers lie
Even if you could get accurate benchmarks, they still lie. Your business isn't like your competitors', no matter how similar they seem. Competitor A just fired his head of sales, so conversion rates tanked for a month. Competitor B happened to get on Channel 5 News. Her traffic tripled, lowering her conversion rate, too - but her sales skyrocketed.
Unless you've got the whole story, the numbers will lie. And you can't get the whole story.

Focus on improvement
So, if you're trying to figure out how many visitors you should be getting for 'slobber knocker', the answer is? More than you get right now.
If you're trying to figure out where your conversion rate should be? Yep. Better than what you're getting right now.That's what web analytics are for: Helping you improve. Which, as it happens, is also how you beat your competitors.