With Google Analytics, one can divide site visitors into very granular segments including, but not limited to visitors by: device (Mobile visitors), Language, Hour of the Day, and even Days Since Last Visit. These metrics can be combined, mixed, and matched to create very specific audience segments.

Creative Design from Google Analytics

Analytical data from Google provides insights into regional consumer preferences. Examining Custom Segments of site visitors by country, state, or city, and then overlaying which products were most viewed and purchased by those segments, can guide print design. For example, if visitors from City A repeatedly view and purchase one product, then media placements in City A should feature that product. Google Analytics City segments are so localized that ad placements in City A can feature one product, while ads placed in Suburb of City A can feature another.

Another way Google Analytics can guide creative is through keywords. Keywords provide a wealth of information into how potential customers reach a website. Consumers using ‘branded keywords’ to reach a site indicate their decision to use that brand. Category keywords driving purchases on a site indicate successful SEM efforts, well structured landing pages, and weaker brand loyalty. These insights can guide offline creative by identifying where to place the creative emphasis – on the product, price, or brand.

Media from Google Analytics

Google Analytics can also guide media decisions. As previously mentioned, the device used by consumers to access your site is trackable through Google Analytics. Research may indicate a strong mobile audience that might be better reached through mobile ads, apps, or other majority-mobile outlets such as Twitter. Likewise, poor search engine traffic numbers may suggest the need for increased SEO or Paid Search efforts. How consumers reach a website is as important as what they do once there.

Clearly, Google Analytics provides a plethora of data regarding website use. However, it is the analysis of that data that generates actionable insights into consumer behavior and gives the data value. These insights are not limited to recommending modifications to a website, as they can also be used to drive a variety of decisions regarding the presentation and media mix of a brand.

More Information on Google Analytics.

Here’s a look at some of the sites Chris and Antonio turn to regularly for tips, analysis of current events and inspiration.

Search Engine News

Search Engine Land – This site has tons of valuable material covering Google, Bing & search industry news, as well as the yearlong PPC Academy series.

Search Marketing Now – This site offers webcasts, whitepapers and resources for online and search engine marketers.

Google Resources

Google Webmaster Central Blog – Google’s official blog for news on crawling and indexing websites for the Google index.

Inside Adwords – Google’s official blog for news, information and tips on AdWords.

Official Google Analytics Blog – The best source for information on updates to GA as well as tips.

Google Analytics Application Gallery – The Official Google Application Gallery featuring several great web applications built using the Google Analytics’ API.

SEM Implementation

Open Graph – Facebook recently created the Open Graph protocol to bring the rest of the Web to Facebook in an effort to rival Google’s web footprint. Additional metadata allows a site to rank within Facebook, and it also increases content share-ability by having site visitors publish site content, such as blog posts and news stories, to their friends via their News Feed.

Asynchronous Tracking – Google recently updated their Analytics Tracking Code and this blog gives step-by-step instructions on how to migrate to the new code.  The main benefit of asynchronous tracking is faster load time, which has recently become a factor of Google’s search algorithm.

LunaMetrics – LunaMetrics has accumulated a wealth of information and resources over many years of working with Google Analytics and Website optimization, and they like to share the most useful tips on this site.

Local SEO Resources

Local Search Rankings – Regionalized SEO comprises a large part of our SEO focus, so this particular blogpost offers tips for optimizing Google Places and Google Local Business Listing.

Local Search Optimization – This one is specifically for Google Maps and Google Earth.  It contains information regarding the utilization of KML within XML Sitemaps, an advanced SEO technique beyond standard issue, local SEO.

Online Marketing Resources

eMarketer –This is a go-to site for online marketing tips, trends and statistics. eMarketer typically covers topics such as social media strategy, demographic and online trending as well as industry news and opinions. eMarketer is also a great source for charts and graphs on the above topics.

Marketing Sherpa – Similar to eMarketer, Marketing Sherpa is a how-to guide on topics, such as ecommerce, email marketing and search marketing. It is also a great source for charts and graphs on Web marketing trends.

Let us know if you find these links useful by commenting below.  We always enjoy feedback.

Google’s old algorithm would take around two weeks to index a site, while Caffeine gets the job done in minutes.  To test out Caffeine’s speediness, I4U News made up a gibberish word, and included it in the title of a post.  That new word, “cyberreblaus,” was indexed in a little over a minute, and speed that was previously impossible to achieve.

Redefining Relevance

While Google was built on a foundation of relevant search results, the factors that determine relevance have shifted as Internet usage has evolved. With Caffeine, Google recognizes that “relevant” also means up-to-date. According to Google, Caffeine offers 50 percent “fresher” results, which translates to more timely updates from news sources and credible bloggers.

With the advent of constantly updating sites like Twitter, Internet users have become accustomed to a real time flow of information. Caffeine is an attempt to bridge the gap between what is traditionally relevant or authoritative and timely results.

Google search results are drawn from over 100 million gigabytes of storage – the largest collection of web content ever offered.  Before the Caffeine update, web searches pulled data from the most recent Google index of every site deemed relevant.  With Caffeine, that information is seconds old, not days or weeks.

The old Google index updated information one layer at a time, analyzing the entire web before any single layer could be updated.  Think of this as Google running a lap around the entire Web before updating its results. Caffeine takes a radically different approach, with spiders analyzing the web in smaller chunks and updating as they go, bringing the Internet closer to real time than ever before.

With all layers being updated simultaneously, users can find new content that was published seconds ago rather than days ago.  From the user’s perspective, this amazing leap forward in indexing and retrieval means users can pull up the most timely news stories with any query.

Focusing on Fresh Content

Google’s new indexing algorithm comes down to one lesson for websites: fresh content is now more important than ever.  Google already placed an emphasis on timely information, but it’s now become the focal point of the search engine.  In this sense, Google will reward more aggressive SEO tactics for continuous updates on the Web. This puts enormous pressure on websites to increase the flow of original content.

Uploading a new blog every other week or once a month used to supply Google with enough new content to keep your site bobbing along in the middle of the pack, but not anymore.  Web publishers are going to have to start paying much more attention to the way Google views output on the Web, because Caffeine’s spiders will move on within a few seconds of arriving at a site if the information is not deemed fresh enough.

RSS Wrinkle

Another interesting aspect of the index overhaul is that right around the same time Google first announced Caffeine, they also introduced an open-source RSS technology called PubSubHubbub, or PuSH.  This new RSS technology brings RSS feeds closer to real time, so when a blog or website with an RSS feed publishes something, that update reaches subscribers within seconds.

Inspired by how we work with and use the Internet, Google is constantly pushing the boundaries on how the Internet works with us. With Caffeine’s innovations in crawling and indexing, the Google Dance is a thing of the past. While it’s always great news when Google revolutionizes the way we interact with the Internet and the way it interacts with us, every change comes with a new set of rules and requirements.  Keeping up with Google is the fun part.  Making sure Google doesn’t pass you by is where the work begins.

Approach to Landing Pages

If you don’t already have an analytics solution installed on your site, get on it – analytic data will answer the who/what/when/where/why questions about visitors to a website and help create a robust, user-friendly on-page experience. If you are already working with an analytics suite, then congratulations – you’re well on your way to determining landing page success.

Within your analytics suite, you’ve no doubt identified the keywords that generate visits to your website. Whether the keywords are paid or unpaid, they represent an insight into your visitors. Some keywords result in high interactivity, while others result in high bounce rates. Regardless of the outcome, keywords help you understand the user’s mindset. With some keen judgment you can optimize the pages visitors land on through PPC campaigns and increase your customer base.

What makes a good landing page?

A good landing page should satisfy the reason the searcher clicked on your ad and also direct them to the predetermined goal – your e-commerce page, a video you’re promoting, or an affiliate link. Here’s a short list of items to keep in mind when developing a landing page:

• Web surfers are page skimmers – make sure they get the desired information by using bulleted lists (like this one) and bold, emphasized text
• Use eye-catching imagery and appeal to their senses – emotional connections are powerful
• Direction – get the user to the goal and make sure the trail is well lit along the way
• Keep it simple, stupid – no one is going to read 2,000 words about baseball equipment if they landed on your page searching for “history of baseball”

The Keyword Strategy

Separate your keywords into two groups: those with good interactivity and those with poor interactivity. Identify any trends within the two groups and try to understand what drives them.

Let’s say you run a website called Baseball Equipment USA. Chances are the visitors with good interactivity are those that click on your ad when they search “baseball equipment”. The visitors with poor engagement are those that were searching “history of baseball in America”. Take these keywords and make them “negative keywords” – words that do not generate conversions and on the whole decrease the average time on site, pages per visit and other metrics. If you’re using Google AdWords you should find it fairly easy to insert negative keywords.

Landing Page Execution

To increase the engagement and conversion rates for visitors that search “baseball cleats” or “types of baseball bats,” generate some content that will satisfy their needs but also draw focus to your other products. From the analytics data you can tell what drives these searches – whether it’s price or product differentiation. Write about the innovations of baseball equipment to draw the visitor’s attention to your product line and help differentiate your offering. Be creative, and make sure to take into consideration the reasons people are visiting. Create compelling landing pages targeted to particular search users, and direct them to the right places.

More Landing Page Tips

• Don’t limit your campaign to just one landing page – create as many as you need to target different potential customer segments
• Make sure the landing page matches the ad copy – give people exactly what they’re looking for
• Use Google’s Website Optimizer to generate landing pages with the best conversion results