Posted 2/10/2011
By Angie Kilbourne, AAM

Web Wise: Understanding Analytics -
Your Keywords Report

"A lot of people cannot make decisions based on their data because they don't have context," says Avinash Kaushik, co-founder of Market Motive Inc. and official "analytics evangelist" for Google.

In other words, your website's analytics report isn't something to casually glance at every once in a while. You need to really examine what's happening with these numbers to truly understand what your next steps should be when it comes to your online marketing efforts. This month, let's take a closer look at your report's data on keywords and phrases.

Keywords and key phrases are what entice visitors to a website. But what do you know about them afterward? What are your reports telling you about their activities on your site that you can translate into a qualified lead - i.e., a new customer that becomes a repeat customer?

One way is through your analytics report's bounce rate data for specific keywords. Although your website will never be all things to all people, looking at the bounce rate for traffic brought in with specific keywords can give you some great clues:

"The keywords report tells you what visitors were expecting to see on your site," says Google in its Analytics tutorials provided through Google Conversion University. "Keywords with a high bounce rate tell you where you failed to meet that expectation."

If you find that a lot of people are coming to your website from a search engine using a specific keyword, but leaving immediately, it's time to take a serious look at the content of that page. Perhaps the terminology used on the site or page is outdated or too broad in its definition.

The best solution is to find the keywords and phrases that are working for your site. Then, armed with this new knowledge, revamp your website's content, tweak your title tags and metadata and ensure that your site's graphics include <ALT> tag data. Incorporate as much of the effective and useful keywords and phrases as you can into the content. Be specific as possible! Your goal here is to bring in more qualified leads - not lots of window shoppers.

ASA Web Ways: Need a Hand?

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