Presented on 3.29.11 to the Richmond chapter of the American Marketing Association. Covers metrics and KPI's for SEO and PPC campaigns, as well as how to track them in Google Analytics.

1. Measurable Search Andrew Miller
Engine Marketing Your Search Advisor, LLC

2. The Martin Agency
YourSearchAdvisor.com CarMax
@AndrewCMiller Hired Gun

4. Agenda
• Coffee
• Small Talk
• The Good Stuff
• Closing Thoughts
• More Coffee

5. Search Engine Marketing: A Definition
Sponsored
(PPC)
Organic
(SEO)

6. Ego Metrics
• Search Rankings
• PageRank
• Visits
• Cost Per Click (CPC)
• Click-Through Rate (CTR)
• Time on Page
• Anything else on the default
Google Analytics dashboard
So, what’s the
problem?

7. The Problem With
Ego Metrics
• Don’t measure outcomes or
results
• No direct impact on the
bottom line
• Similar to basing your retail
store’s performance purely
based on foot traffic, not sales

8. The Million Dollar Question: How to Measure Success

9. SEO Metrics
• Organic, Non-Branded Visits
• Unique Landing Pages
• Keyword Themes

10. Organic, Non-
Branded Visits
• Organic: “Free” clicks from
the main search results
• Non-Branded: Does not
contain brand or product
names
• Indicates no prior awareness,
a truly “pure” search visit
• Use Google Analytics
Advanced Segments to filter
out branded search terms

11. How To: Advanced Segments

12. Unique Landing
Pages
• The number of pages on your
site that attract organic search
traffic
• A low number may indicate
that search crawlers can’t find
your content or it’s not well
optimized
• Look for trends, not single
data points

13. How To: Top Landing Pages Report

14. Keyword Themes
• Look beyond your “money”
terms
• Group by theme, not just
keyword
• Again, look for trends
• Consider misspellings and
synonyms
• e.g. “pediatric dentist”,
“children’s dentist”, “kid’s
dentist”, etc.

15. How To: Filter Keywords

16. PPC Metrics
• Conversion Rates
• Cost Per Conversion
• Return On Ad Spend (ROAS)

17. Conversion Rates
• Percent of clicks that result in
a desired action
• Conversion: leads, sales,
downloads, signups, video
views, etc.
• High Click-Through Rates
(CTR) are sexy, but it won’t
pay the bills
• Compare keywords, ad
groups, and ad texts by
conversion rates, not just CPC

18. How To: Set Up Goals

19. Cost Per Conversion
Cost
# of Conversions
• Cost per lead, cost per
download, etc.
• Really powerful if you know
your close rates & average
order value
• Determine what to pay for
each click to remain ROI-
positive

20. How To: Conversion Values

21. Return On Ad Spend
Revenue
Cost of Ads
• Are your ads driving profitable
interactions?
• Every interaction has value, so
track them all!

22. How To: Calculate ROAS

23. Advanced Web
Analytics
• Measuring outcomes, not just
inputs
• Events
• Goals (values)
• Funnels (abandonment)
• Segmentation
• Custom Reports

24. Event Tracking
• Events can be anything:
• Video Views
• Downloads
• Click to Chat Icons
• Add to Cart Buttons
• Clicks on Outbound Links
• Flash/AJAX Interactions

25. How To: Event Tracking
Tag links with onClick JavaScript elements
Event Tracking Guide

26. Goal Funnels
• Visualization of each step in a
conversion funnel
• Analyze abandonment
between steps to identify
conversion obstacles
• Typical e-commerce funnel:
• Add to Cart
• Shopping Cart
• Payment Info
• Shipping Info
• Order Confirmation

27. How To: Set Up Goal Funnels

28. Advanced Segments
• Isolate specific subsets of
your visitors based on site
usage, traffic source, or any
combination of attributes
• Useful for comparing different
segments (e.g. New vs.
Returning Visitors) that may
yield insights
• Create your own Advanced
Segments based on marketing
objectives, personas, or even
hunches.

29. How To: Advanced Segments

30. Agenda
• Coffee
• Small Talk
• The Good Stuff
• Closing Thoughts
• More Coffee

31. CC Photo Credits from Flickr.com
• Watkins-Cottrell: griffers • Darts: craighamnett
• Measuring Sticks: kiddharma • Touchdown: situnek34
• Measuring Tape: aussiegall • Register: landofnodstudios
• Calculator: twylo • Cash: amagill
• Fog: jrodmanjr • Levitation: frankeyscreation
• Coffee: dyobmit • Tracks: 8669065@N06
• LOST: photooptik
• ?: horiavarlin
• Veggies: shantelruiz
• Landing: putradunn