SEO Brisbane: on a need to know basis

The recent growth of SEO companies in Brisbane is directly linked to the development of Google Analytics. Google Analytics was first launched in 2005, after Google bought Urchin Software Corporation and by proxy their analytics tool Measure Map. Google subsequently redesigned Measure Map and named it Google Analytics, re-launching the web-hosted tool in 2006. This software is highly accessible and relatively affordable, which has created a gap in the market for opportunistic online marketers. In his book Understanding Visitor Behavior(2010), Justin Cutroni discusses the basics to understanding the ins and outs of Google Analytics. There are a lot of intricacies that are over most of our heads, so let us take a look at Google Analytics on a need to know basis.

“Google Analytics is sexy as hell right now!”SEO or Search Engine Optimisation and the process of online marketing is concerned with making money. Just like Cutroni puts it, “The entire goal of web analytics process is to increase our desired business out-comes.” The process of configuring Google Analytics can be “iterative” but will profit your business in the long run.

What is important to understand is that Google Analytics is a tool that provides click stream data. It does NOT describe the more encompassing term Web Analytics. “Web Analytics is much bigger than Google Analytics.” This differentiation may be understood as such.“Google Analytics is not the same as web analytics.” The difference is important for users of Google Analytics to recognise. “Web analytics is a business process used to continuously improve your online business. Google Analytics is a tool to quantitatively measure what happens on your website. Thus, while quantitative data describes what happens on your website, qualitative describes why it happens.” Cutroni explains how competitive data provides a valuable context for your own data. “Compete.com and Google Trends can help you identity simple things like whether your competitors are getting more traffic than you.”

Some key features of Google Analytics that will be proffered by SEO companies include:

• “Google Analytics provides a core set of tools that supports some of the primary tasks that web analysts perform.”
• “Google Analytics tracks many standard website metrics, like visits, unique visitors, pageviews, bounce rate, and abandonment rate.”
• Google Analytics doesn’t just track AdWords “but it can track other types of paid searches, email marketing, display advertising, social media, and any other type of ad you can think of.”
• Google Analytics generates a report in real time. “Reports are created by comparing a dimension, like the Visitor City, to a numerical piece of information called a metric.”

“A page tag is a small piece of JavaScript that you must place on all the website pages you want to track.” Google Analytics Tracking Code GATC. If there is “No tracking code, [there is] no data. It’s as simple as that.”

“Google has progressively added more data collection methods as technology has driven new and different ways of distributing content to people.”

Segmentation based on dimensions refers to the segregation of site audiences or visitors into easily distinguishable groups.The goal is to “identify the segments of traffic that are performing well and determine how to promote those segments.”

“In addition to tracking mobile and standard websites, Google Analytics can also track mobile apps.” In this way SEO companies that offer web development services must be able to deliver a product that is compatible with all devices.

Synthesising data through Google Analytics is crucial to the success of your business in the online sphere. SEO practices are integral to the viability of your business, and will determine the success or failure of your online presence. For more information on SEO in Brisbane, contact Zib Media on 1300 942 633 or visit their website http://zibmedia.com.au/.