RE: Google Analytics keywords metric and appropriate keywords
-
Greetings,
When running Google Analytics' keyword report, I see that the over 85% of the top 100 keywords used to find us include a word in our name (Eagle's Nest Foundation and Camp -- with "eagle" or "eagle's nest" being the most frequent) or the name of one of our programs. Does this mean that most folks searching for summer camps in North Carolina already know about us and that we therefore need to optimize for broader keywords, to cast a wider net for folks who don't already know about us?
Thanks,
Dave
-
Saibose, thank you for your input. I'm chagrined to say, though, that I don't know what an SEM campaign is, but I get your gist that it would really tell me if my interpretation is correct. So I have some research to do. We do have some very generic keywords working for us (summer camp north carolina, southeast, etc.) It is just that the actualy words folks are using to find us do include our name or some portion of it, or one of our program names -- it's not that we optimized for those words but of course we did use them.
Again, thanks for your help and for pointing me at SEM campaigns. I will try to research and figure out if we can afford to do that process (although you might be asking, Can you afford not to do that.... -- but we are a small nonprofit and I only work 16 hours a week. Anyway, I appreciate your insights.
Thanks,
dave
-
Thanks for your thoughts Martin. We are a regionally known summer camp but want to expand the universe of folks who know about us. I knew about the #10 ranking on google, but that has fallen -- we once were #6 at our highest. I will revisit the keyword tool to see if I can glean some new relevant kwyrds. I like your suggestion about investigating our landing pages relative to what keyword drew the person; I would hope they are relevant but there just might be something not sticky enough to keep them there, as our bounce rate is pretty high.
Thanks again, I appreciate your help!
Dave
-
Dave,
That isnt a good way to look at it. I would actually run a SEM campaign with the brand name and its variants to see impressions and then judge.
Also, I would start building up traffic for more generic keywords with the brand keywords. People generally dont search for brands, rather they search more for generic terms (North Carolina summer camps as an example).
-
It's hard to give specifics without seeing the data itself, but yes, your assumption is a fair one. Do you use traditional marketing methods like leafleting, newspaper/magasine adverts etc? Is your brand a fairly well known one locally, or nationally? If so, this would fit in with what you are seeing.
You're not, for example, ranking for summer camp carolina, and are only in the 10th slot for [summer camp north carolina](summer camp north carolina).
As I'm not sure of your SEO experience, I think it's fair to point you toward Google's keyword tool which can give you lots of ideas of what key phrases to target, as well as their rough search volume and competition.
summer camp nc is one such example that it threw up at a glance.
So yes, in an effort to increase traffic and leads, you almost certainly want to focus on the broader, less brand-orientated phrases (though this can be said for almost any SEO campaign).
It may also be worth making sure you are meeting the requirements and expectations of the demand you are already experiencing. If people are searching for "the name of [...] our programs", make sure you're making every effort to provide them with a relevent page.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Why No Goal is recorded in Google Analytics
Hello, I am not sure if i made an error. Can someone please point out. On our sales form, when a user submits the form, the URL displayed is - https://x-y.com/thank-you-2/ I created a Goal like this - 1 ) Under Goal set up, i choose Template option 2 ) Under Goal description, i choose Type > Destination 3 ) and finally, in Goal details field, destination equals to /thank-you-2/ But, no Goal is being tracked. In the first step, should i have selected 'Custom' instead of 'Template' Thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | Johnroger0 -
Would updating Meta Titles affect Google analytics tracking?
Hi All, I need a little bit of help. We need to optimize our blog's articles Meta titles for SEO which all exceed 100 characters. I was told that if we change the titles, google analytics would split the tracking pages and count the data as 2 pages (old title and new title). Has any of you have this experience before and if so, is there a way to avoid google analytics counting this as two pages? Thanks in advance! Viviana http://analyteguru.com/ http://analyteguru.com/ http://analyteguru.com/
Reporting & Analytics | | mchoi0 -
Funnel Problem in Google Analytics - Please help
Hello, I did set up a several funnel steps in my analytics account to get the funnel visualization report. But it's look fishy, something's clearly wrong that it shows only 10 visitors at the first step but actually more than 5k visitors has visited first goal page and followed through the another all steps. Everyday we are receiving 5k to 10k goal conversions but it not showing in the entire funnel steps through first step to last step. Please see the attached screenshot URL for funnel setup (Admin) and funnel visualization report comparing last two months traffic. Total goal conversions received 3,605 in last two months but in funnel chart (report) it showing only 2% conversions in last step. Anybody can tell me what is the problem with that or analytics not tracking properly?si65Y
Reporting & Analytics | | flightcentre200 -
How do I track a primary domain and a subdomain as single site in Google Analytics?
Our website consists of a primary domain (marketing focused) and subdomain (ecommerce platform). The two sites look and function as one site even though they are using different technology. I would like to track the primary domain (example.com) and the subdomain (shop.example.com) as a single site in Google Analytics. The subdomain will be set up with GA ecommerce tracking as well. Can someone provide an example of the GA snippet that each would need?
Reporting & Analytics | | Evan340 -
Google Analytics Set-Up for site with both http & https pages
We have a client that migrated to https last September. The site uses canonicals pointing to the https version. The client IT team is reluctant to put 301 redirects from the non-secure to the secure and we are not sure why they object. We ran a screaming frog report and it is showing both URLs for the same page (http and https). The non-secure version has a canonical pointing to the secure version. For every secure page there is a non-secure version in ScreamingFrog so Google must be ignoring the canonical and still indexing the page however, when we run a site: we see that most URLs are the secure version. At that time we did not change the Google Analytics setup option to use: "https" instead of "http" BUT GA appears to be recording data correctly. Yesterday we set up a new profile and selected "https" but our question is: Does the GAnalytics http/https version make a difference if so, what difference is it?
Reporting & Analytics | | RosemaryB1 -
How to track in Google Analytics
Hello, I am helping a client track traffic using Google Analytics. We recently just signed an agreement with a publisher and they have given original credit using a canonical link. How can I track this? I believe it is showing up under direct/ none and I don't know to measure the success of our new partnership.
Reporting & Analytics | | rmazur0 -
When javascript is disabled, does a visit register goal completion in Google Analytics?
I'm looking for reasons why Google Analytics goal completions would appear to be fewer than the actual known number of online sales for a company, and I'm wondering if disabled javascript is likely to be the primary cause of a discrepancy. Thanks for any insight you have.
Reporting & Analytics | | williammarlow0 -
Google Analytics session update question
Hello, With reference to seomoz blog post - http://www.seomoz.org/blog/panda-24-and-analytics-session-update-rolled-out-simultaneously#jtc151292 , i would like clarification about the following - User searches Google for "Product Name" and clicks on your AdWords advertisement. User leaves site and searches a few more times, click on competition and comparing prices and features. User ultimately decides to with your product, Googles "Your Brand + Product Name", clicks your organic listing, and buys the product. This whole process takes less than 30 minutes. "Your Brand + Product Name" will appear in your organic keyword report with 1 visit. My question is whether "Product Name" will also appear in organic keyword report with 1 visit if the visitor is not signed in. ( as search won't be encrypted ) Thanks
Reporting & Analytics | | seoug_20100