by Francois Muscat | Oct 19, 2015 | Digital Media Marketing, Google
You may have an intricate digital marketing strategy and a functional ecommerce site, but how much do you know about your customers? An ecommerce site means you don’t get to physically interact with your customers and notice their spending habits and preferences. That’s where Google Analytics comes in – it gives you insight into your customers’ activity on your site and allows you to get to know them – virtually.
Detailed reports
Google Analytics generates different types of detailed reports; the most basic and most useful reports fall into the following categories: Audience, Acquisition, Real time, Behaviour and Conversion.
These reports tell you who visits your site, including their geographic location, how they got there, what devices they used to get there and whether they are new or repeat visitors. They tell you what your customers are doing on your site; which content is popular, for example, which tweets, blogs and emails get the best results; and they help you measure your sales and conversions.
This information enables you to find new customers and boost your sales – it’s priceless.
How it helps
The more you know about who your customers are and how they operate on your site, the more you can tailor it to meet their needs. For example, knowing the age, gender and geographic location of a user could open up a world of opportunity for your business. Adjusting your site to suit international visitors might generate more sales. Similarly, knowing which type of social media posts drive traffic to your site, via the acquisition report, means that you can focus on that platform.
Another useful feature is that the reports help you establish why users leave your website. It’s called a bounce rate and measures the amount of clicks users make before leaving. If you have a lot of traffic to your site, but only quick visits that don’t convert into sales, it may mean that your website needs a revamp. A keyword report analyses what words and phrases actually get users to your site in the first place.
Need some digital marketing tips? Then contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Jul 15, 2015 | Google, Social Media Marketing
If you have a highly successful Google Adwords campaign, but a failing Facebook Ads campaign, you are probably feeling quite stumped by social media marketing in general. If you have been wondering about this for some time and struggling to get your Facebook Ads working, then there is one thing you need to realise: Facebook Ads is not Google Adwords. It’s as simple as that. Forget everything you know about Adwords when working with Facebook Ads. Below are five common Google Adwords habits you should avoid using on Facebook Ads:
- Don’t focus on buying intent – on Google, consumers are searching for a specific product or service and that is why your content is displayed to them. With Facebook, the user isn’t searching for products and services and quite simply has no buying intent when on the site. Facebook shows ads to users based on their interests, preferences and demographics. Know your target audience and what interests them – then gear your ads towards that sort of content.
- It’s not all about the text – Google ads are focused on keywords and text and when it comes to Facebook ads, business owners feel the same approach is required when it’s not. Facebook offers additional advertising options such as video or images which really grab attention more effectively. Use these features.
- Choose the right placement for your ad – on Google, your placement is chosen for you and you can push it up by increasing how much you will spend. With Facebook you have five different placements to choose from. Check them all out and choose a variety of placements to see which one works best for you.
- Your advert is not designed to sell – Google will have trained you to think that adverts are designed to sell, but Facebook does things differently. The adverts are of a more “social” nature and are designed to create awareness and interest. Remember that.
- Stop expecting instant gratification – with Google Adwords you will experience instant results for your online campaign whereas with Facebook Ads, the results take a little longer to show themselves. Facebook Ads should be focused on long term benefits and not instant sales.
Better Facebook Ad results with social media marketing services from WSI
If you want to drive better results for your social media marketing efforts via Facebook Ads, turn to the professionals in the field. At WSI we provide professional and effective online marketing solutions to businesses looking to boost their online awareness and sales.
To learn more about our social media marketing strategies and services, contact us at WSI via email or telephone today.
by Marelise da Silva | May 29, 2013 | SEO, Google
Search Engine Optimisation is a very important aspect of any digital marketing strategy. On 22 May Google announced their latest Penguin update. This update to the Google search algorithm is aimed at penalising websites using black hat tactics to improve their SEO. It is estimated that 2.3% of English-US search queries are affected by Penguin 2.0. This might seem like a small percentage, but there are over 5 billion searches per day (making it a rather large number).
If you are worried that your website has been affected, take a look at the tell tale signs and find out how you can fix it.
Has your website been penalised by Penguin 2.0?
- Keyword rankings: If your keyword rankings have declined drastically since the 22nd of May it could be that your website has been affected by the update
- Link Building: Go over all the pages on your website that have received the most link building focus. If your website traffic has declined sharply this is another sign that you have been penalised by the Penguin update.
- Organic Traffic: Measure your organic traffic before and after 22 May. Has your traffic decreased from the 22nd? Check your traffic across major pages.
What to do if you see a sharp decline in traffic since Penguin 2.0
- Spam: Remove any pages that are spammy from your site. If the page can be improved, edit it so that it truly provides value to viewers of your website. If not, remove it entirely.
- Audit your inbound links: Remove any low quality inbound links. You can also make use of Google’s Disavow Links Yool for web-masters.
- Build trustworthy links: To prove to Google that your website is worthy of being ranked near the top, you need to get credible links from third parties. Start an inbound link building campaign targeting websites that rank well.
Google is making it harder for websites to rank using unethical SEO tricks. This cleans up search results ensuring that when searches are conducted only the most valuable results rank at the top of Google. If you are worried that you may have been affected by Penguin 2.0 or if you would like to launch a SEO campaign, contact WSI OMS for more information.
by Francois Muscat | Mar 15, 2013 | Google
On 13 March, Google announced that it will retire Google Reader as of 1 July 2013. The reason for this is simple: “Usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we are pouring all of our energy into fewer products,” said Google.
Google Reader was launched in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favourite websites. The web giant has urged users interested in RSS (which stands for Rich Site Summary) alternatives to export their data (including all their subscription) with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.
“Twitter and social sites have already replaced RSS feeds”
The RSS icon – a distinctive orange button – has become a familiar fixture on websites, blogs and especially news sites. Even though there are still many users, social networks and content aggregator systems like Twitter and Flipboard have already started to replace the traditional RSS subscription.
“The writing has been on the wall for RSS clients in general as Twitter and other social networks have grown better at delivering the news,” says Gizmodo.
Tech website The Verge agreed and also speculated that Google Reader’s retirement could mean the end of RSS protocol.
“The death of Google Reader could spell doom for the RSS protocol itself, which has seen waning popularity since the rise of social sharing services,” comments The Verge.
Protests and petitions
The announcement has sparked a number of online protest sites and petitions. Since Wednesday, an online petition has already reeled in 75,000 signatures. The user who started the petition, Daniel Lewis, said he started the petition because he still uses Google Reader several times a week.
“This isn’t just about our data in Reader. This is about us using your product because we love it, because it makes our lives better, and because we trust you not to nuke it,” writes Lewis on the petition site Change.org.
While users like Lewis are upset, there are a few people who are taking a more light-hearted approach. Check out this funny video that was posted on YouTube about Hitler’s reaction to Google Reader shutting down.
by Francois Muscat | Oct 11, 2012 | Google
From time to time I like to profile other consultants in the WSI network, and today I want to showcase my friend and fellow digital marketing consultant Chuck Bankoff, Director of Web Services for Kreative Webworks, an online marketing firm in Orange County California. He has written a blog for WSI OMS on the changes in Google’s algorithm.
– Francois Muscat
Google Wages War on Monochromatic animals!
Can you name their next victim?
Is it just me or am I the only one who made the connection between Google’s war on black and white animals and old time Western movies? You know the ones where you can tell the good guys from the bad guys by the color of the hat they wear.
It wasn’t immediately apparent when Google’s historic Panda algorithm was released in early 2011, but when Penguin made its debut earlier this year, I thought a blind man could see it with a cane.
In simpler times Hollywood made it easy for us to tell good from evil. Darth Vader…dressed in black from head to toe. Jedi Knights? White robes of course.
Is it any wonder search engine optimizers typically fall into two separate camps…those who pay attention to what search engines are actually looking for and actually manage their clients websites accordingly, and those who take shortcuts and look to exploit temporary vulnerabilities for short term gains.
In other words; white hat vs. black hat…good versus evil…black and white animals like Panda’ and Penguin’s.
OK, so that begs the question; what is the next black and white creature for Google to corrupt? Here is my short list:
- Zebra
- Orca
- Skunk (my personal favorite)
What did I miss? Let me know in the comments below (no fair Googling… )
Chuck Bankoff
by Francois Muscat | May 20, 2011 | Google
When searching for a local business on Google, there are 7 Google Map listings that appear. According to the big boys (Google),97% of consumers searches online for local businesses. Listings are free for any business with a physical address. Businesses that makes in person contact with customers qualify for a Google Places listing.
On Google Places, the listings are optimized for smartphones. If you don’t have a mobile site, or if your website is not mobile optimized, then this is the perfect free tool to get mobile visibility for your business.
These listings appear in addition to your normal website listings on the SERP’s (search engine result pages). Once again, Google offers this service for free so get started with your Google Places listing.
How to add your Google Places listing
- Business Name: This is your business name. Don’t add extra keywords to your name
- Location: Use your business actual address. Never use a PO Box. Don’t create multiple listings if you service multiple areas from your location. If you are, designate service areas.
- Phone: Use your local phone number for your business.
- Website: Add your website address.
- Categories: Select up to 5 categories that describes your business. Select the best categories from the drop down. You can also use your own keyword categories, but do some research by searching for those keywords first in Google with your city name to make sure a map listing will appear with that keyword.
- Description: Use the description fields to include a description about your business. You can also use keywords in your description and the custom attribute field.
When using Google Places, make your listing as complete as possible. Answer all the questions on the entry form on Google Places and include your hours of operation and methods of payment. Upload videos and images as well to make your listing complete.
Contact us if you need help in setting up your Google Places listing.
