{"id":39697,"date":"2016-03-03T11:53:51","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T19:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/?p=39697"},"modified":"2016-03-03T15:47:30","modified_gmt":"2016-03-03T23:47:30","slug":"analytics-reports-proving-the-roi-of-seo-smx-west-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bruceclay.com\/blog\/analytics-reports-proving-the-roi-of-seo-smx-west-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Analytics Reports & Proving the ROI of SEO #SMX"},"content":{"rendered":"
STOP READING if you’re not interested in uber-useful charts. Or proving the ROI of SEO to decision-makers. Or \u00a0insights into how Bing is thinking about search engine optimization — because that’s what you’re in store for if you read this liveblog of this analytics-minded SMX West 2016 session, featuring:<\/p>\n
“Find the 20% that will deliver 80% of results. Not everything that counts can be counted and not everything that can be counted counts.” \u2013 Albert Einstein<\/em><\/p>\n Forget big data. We need actionable data. We need data that helps us make insightful decisions. Or so says Ryan Jones.<\/p>\n When Jones was in college, the consumer journey meant the funnel. But users don’t flow through a funnel anymore. There are so many different touch points that you can’t measure it in the funnel. If the old model was a funnel, the new funnel is a crazy straw.<\/strong><\/p>\n Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n This graph is made with the free tool Gephi. With it, canonical issues are easily spotted, as are orphaned site sections:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It works for internal links, as well:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Clients don’t know what to do with ranking reports like this:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Jones prefers to show them ranking reports that look like this:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Keyword Research<\/strong><\/p>\n Try a tree sheet rather than an excel list. The colors seen in the tree sheet represent competition. This is free on Google sheets and it’s super visual.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jones made this 3D report with Sketchup:<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Google Fusion Tables<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tools to Make Next-Level Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n Data Tools Jones Uses<\/strong><\/p>\n Erin Everhart is up. Decision makers and executives may recognize SEO as important, but SEO is one of the largest underfunded channels out there.<\/p>\n It’s the SEO’s job to get the C-suite to understand what all the above means. Everhart says that this begins with setting the right expectations. First, educate the executives so they understand all the money they’re investing in quarter one isn’t going to show ROI until much later. Organic search engine optimization has an incubation period that they don’t anticipate unless you tell them.<\/p>\n Start small. Don’t tell the executives all the problems right off the bat. For example, with Home Depot, Everhart started by focusing on redirects. Focus on small chunks that can make a big impact, then pitch bigger projects later after you’ve proved the impact SEO can have.<\/p>\n Show a Competitor Beating You.<\/p>\n Nobody likes data as much as SEO. We need to be able to get down into the data.<\/p>\n Give them information, not data. Don’t just tell them traffic is down, but why <\/em>traffic is down. Next step: give them actions to do \u2013 not just a laundry list of possible tactics.<\/p>\n Stop reporting on window shoppers only. People visiting a site are just <\/em>window shoppers. Who knows what they’re doing on the site? Traffic is great but revenue is better.<\/strong> Relate everything you’re doing back to dollars.<\/p>\n Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n Derrick Wheeler of Microsoft will talk about how his team is looking at SEO.<\/p>\n Objectives<\/p>\n Audiences<\/p>\n Analytics<\/p>\n Content Management systems<\/p>\n Content Types<\/p>\n Stakeholders<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n There are two types of measurements that Wheeler cares about:<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Three What’s of Actionable Analysis<\/h3>\n
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Consumer Journey<\/h3>\n
Making Link Data Actionable<\/h3>\n
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Ranking Reports<\/h3>\n
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How to Prove the Value of SEO<\/h2>\n
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SEO at Microsoft “Insights Engine”<\/h2>\n
SEO at Microsoft: Scope, Ecosystem, Roles<\/h3>\n
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Insights Engine: Daily and Monthly Anomaly Watch<\/h3>\n
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