Apr
30
Website Usability Paid Versus Organic Search Engine Visitors Analytics
Filed Under Website Usability | 1 Comment
There is a vast difference in a visitor that has arrived at your site from either a paid ad or an organic search. Looking through analytics data from a couple of years and spanning several types of industries and website types, I have found that there is a startling difference in the quality of traffic from these different types of traffic sources. At first glance it seems that there wouldn’t be that much difference, after all a keyword phrase is the same whether the SERP link is paid for or natural, right?
WRONG. There is actually a lot of evidence that suggests paid ad traffic is almost entirely made up of less experienced users. This statement is even more apparent with Google and its AdSence ads. Before Google became a word in the dictionary and the behemoth search monster that it is now, it was mainly the source of information for mostly technical oriented users. That still rings true today. In fact most experienced users know that the top of the searches are paid for, and that anyone with some money can obtain high placement in Yahoo or Google by paying for it. They also know that the listings within the organic SERPS have been placed their because Google (and now Yahoo since it has unleashed its updated Inktomi based search engine), believes the site is an authority on the subject the visitor is interested in.
That would suggest that these ads are often ignored by experienced users. Check out my post on Website Usability Testing for more info on what qualifies a user as experienced. As that post explains more experienced users have much less patience when initially visiting a site, but also spend less time on pages since they are more familiar with navigation and other website functionality. That means that the visitors that arrive through paid search are less experienced and require a simpler website format.
Paid Search Visitor Usability
Through custom landing pages (both Yahoo and Google allow for custom entry pages as long as they are relevant to the search term) it is possible to optimize your paid search pages. As I mentioned above most users that are not experienced online don’t recognize the “sponsored” listings for what they truly are - paid advertising. This being said, it is key to arrange and optimize the landing pages for your paid search visitors. I can’t stress it enough, having custom pages not only allows you to separate your paid visitors for analytics, but gives you the opportunity to not waste time getting across the whole point of your website, just the meat of the subject relating to the keyword or phrase that you are paying for.
Another critical mistake often made in the actual creation of a paid listing is to use either the same title and description used on your general pages. If you know anything about SEO than you have optimized your meta tags to follow the guidelines laid out in my Meta Tags SEO Tips post, in other words you are walking that line of what a person needs to see to click on your listing in the SERPS, and what the search engines need to see to put your page IN the SERPS!
With paid or sponsored listings, you don’t have to worry about what the search engines think about either your listing or the optimized landing page.
*Note: Due to increasing pressure both Google and Yahoo take careful steps to NOT give any organic value to paid listings. I have run several experiments over time with pages that were linked in from Google and Yahoo sponsored listings to see if they received any benefit at all outside of normal spidering. Up to a couple of months ago pages within Yahoo sponsored searches DID get a boost, but never in Google, Ever! Yahoo has tightened this up quite a bit lately.
Back on subject now, the title and description that you use for your listing must clearly and succinctly give the use exactly what they need to click on your ad. The description should be short and sweet, preferably with a hook that will separate yours from the plethora of other ads.
Paid visitors are less experienced and are more likely to not understand a complex website. Be sure to utilize optimized and simple landing pages for your paid campaigns.
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Apr
27
Website Usability: Get The Most Out Of Search Engine Visitors
Filed Under Search Engine Optimization, Website Usability | 1 Comment
Getting the most value out of your visitors is the goal of website usability. There certainly is a difference between paid search visitors and those that arrive at your site through the natural or “organic” SERPS. Using data gathered from your website analytics is the best way to harness the power of the Internet. Knowing your visitors and what they need or want, and then providing that product, service, or information is the formula for success online.
Gain Value From Your Search Engine Visitors
Having gone over ways to best optimize your home page for usability, as well as internal page usability in deep link navigation sites, I’m not going to go over it again. I suggest you read the above articles for in depth opinions. The fact is we have to utilize advanced tactics if we are going to succeed in gaining ground over our competitors. This is especially true in paid visitors. You are actively shelling out real money for a throw of the dice in paid ads. One of my clients is a data recovery company and some of their terms go for $5.00 to $15.00 a click. We employ optimized landing pages to track the conversion of their paid visitors. You should too!
The fact is unless you represent only a couple of products or services, you have very little time and screen real estate to get your message across, let alone get the first time visitor to the page with the product or service that they are searching for. I use some distinct tactics to get out what must be said, here are some of my tried and true methods of conversion:
- Flytrap Content - one of my most successful SEO initiatives is to create simple yet succinct pages that have a clear headline and a clear message as to what the page is about. Using the same headline in an unordered list on the home page allows the first time visitor to scan the list and find what they are looking for. These type of landing pages are optimized with specific content and often do well in the SERPS since they are highly focused, keyword dense and utilize proper heading tags.
- Related Topics - also knows as the good ole “see also” embellishment, I often employ sidebar linking that clearly shows related topics to the subject matter of the page the user is on. You must keep in mind that most visitors could care less about your site and what it has to offer outside of what it is going to do for them, NOW! If you have succeeded in getting into an interior page, then it is your next step to show them other parts of your site that might interest them. Having clearly defined “see also” links give the visitor an understanding that your site has more to offer that was expected. I have often seen experienced site publishers (this is especially rampant in the real estate blogging community) that say you shouldn’t “sell” in a blog. What BS, most visitors are more turned off by Google AdWords all over the place then self promotion of products. I often employ “see related products” at the end of blog posts to educate visitors on the fact that we offer more than free information. Again my data recovery client has gotten great results from this practice.
- Insight & Analysis - often times information is dry. A website that has not only information but a perspective and an analysis of the raw information will always do much better than a purely informational site trying to sell a product. One of the things I love most about Web 2,0 apps and social network marketing in general, is the flow of data from author to visitors. This allows for a vibrant and interactive environment that can turn a visitor into a prospect!
- Newsletter - old tried and true, the e-newsletter has been around for a long long time and is still one of the most potent forms of marketing. Of course I am only referring to opt-in readers. If a visitor freely gives their email address then you can be assured of an attentive audience. This goes hand in hand with the last item “insight and analysis”, since a visitor that signs up for a newsletter is obviously interested in your opinion. If you have read any of the content on this site then you know of my use of RSS and Feedburner for syndication. While this is in fact the strongest indication of visitor loyalty for a blog, it isn’t as personal a triumph as is having scores of newsletter subscribers. An e-mail newsletter sets up a closer and more personal relationship than mere page viewing.
In my last post about analytics and website usability I wrote about unique visitor tracking as being an important part of the statistical package. While I stand by that statement, I also want to drive home that the tracking of your visitors loyalty is of utmost importance. This is particularly true when it comes to search engine acquired visitors. Knowing the keywords they typed in to find you and seeing that they came back is the best way to know if your content and linking structure is solid and working.
Apr
25
It has been a while since I last posted. Since most of my readers are SEO or other types of Internet presence managers, I am sure that they and you will understand what it is to be so busy you can barely breathe. With the changes that both Google and Yahoo are implementing it has taken a couple of weeks to install a solid plan for my clients. The key is not to be in reactionary mode all the time, to try and grasp the big picture of what the search engines’ true goals are.
In this case Google’s continued steamrolling into the portal space along with its continued commitment to personalized search, has led me to make severe changes to much of the way I have been displaying content. I am happy to report that the initial results are fantastic!
Traffic Reports and The Art of Analytics
If you are reading this, you probably have a web site or manage one. You also are tracking that websites traffic. If you are not, then I suggest you immediately set up Google Analytics for tracking. Rather than explain how to set up the analytics here, visit my post on Website Usability and Analytics on Active Rain. In the comments of the blog there is a detailed tutorial on how to setup, configure and install Google Analytics.
Analytics is a detailed look at your site visitors, how they got there, and most important: what they are doing on your site! These statistics are usually broken down into different categories:
- Visitors - these reports focus on your site users. It tracks all visits to the site, and if you don’t have filters installed or configured to eliminate your own company’s IP’s and search engine user agents, it is likely that your stats are skewed. The most important stat is the “unique” visitor. That tells you how many people actually came to your site. It will also tell you if they came back. Visitor loyalty is extremely important. If you have a blog and your loyalty index is below 10% then you might want to consider a writing tutorial. Some analytics programs will also give you visitor tracking within the visitor package. This gives you an idea of where they went on the site, how they entered the site, and where they exited the site. Another important stat is how long they were on any given page, and how long they were on the site.
- Marketing - these stats make up the second most relevant pieces of info: what keywords the user typed in to reach your site. It will also separate organic from paid clicks. My next couple of posts will be concerned with e-commerce and paid versus organic traffic.
- Technical - this grouping tells you important facts about your visitors like screen resolution which is important if you have a fixed width website. Knowing the average screen resolution of your visitors tells you if your site might be too wide. Platforms and browser types are also good things to know so you can insure your site is browser compliant. These days cross platform usability isn’t as important as it used to be, since most people are using IE or FireFox anyway and they are both easily updated. Another important stat in this grouping has to do with broken links, 404 error pages and dropped forms. Knowing where your site has problems can help in resolving basic usability issues.
One of the coolest features of Google Analytics is its site overlay. This gives you a clean look at what links on your site users are clicking on to get into your site.
Next up are looks at different types of visitors and how they behave.
Apr
5
How To Design Usability Specific To Visitors From Search Engines
In my last post we talked about search engines and how Google is getting into the portal marketplace. Today I am going to go into detail about how people are using search engines, and how their user patterns have changed over the last couple of years. You might wonder how users search can effect your site usability, but believe it!
The fact is more and more users are turning to search engines for direct answers, not for links to websites. Furthermore as we delve into online behavior it is clear that search engine users are NOT looking for sites to explore and use in depth, but looking directly for an answer to a problem, or a product or service. Sites like Google and Yahoo have extensive e-commerce and shopping features built in, that means that more and more users are dealing direct with the search engines and not the website!
Taking these facts into consideration makes it even more important to get your messages across as clear and as fast as you can. The primary way to accomplish this is by controlling what the search engines say about your site in the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages). The title and description are the primary means for identifying your site and what it is about. Read my article about Meta Tags for detailed instructions.
The meta title is the most important aspect of your pages. When a user does a search they will scan the SERPS for what they are looking for and more time than not they are looking at the titles. Here is the catch; the search engines themselves use the title to determine what your page is about and how relevant the page is. How many inbound links there are to that page with the keywords that are in the anchor text and how they relate to the meta title and the keyword density of the page is part of the algorithm that determine placement within the SERPS.
Walking the thin line between giving a human what they need to see to click on your site and giving the search engines what they need to place your site is the real challenge. It is important to find a combination that appeases both. When looking at your keywords it is important to isolate you most important keyword phrase and THAT needs to be the beginning of your title!