Eric Gehler SEO Richmond Virginia

Google Analytics Organic Keyword Traffic Not Provided Explanation

As most SEO’s Webmasters and Business owners frequently and sometimes obsessively view their Google Analytics you may have noticed in the keyword section for traffic the now infamous “Not Provided” statement.  At times this not provided is one of the top traffic and revenue producing section.

The explanation is simple:
Google has opted not to pass on any data for it’s users that are logged into Google at the time of the search.
On October 18, 2011, Google announced they will no longer pass keyword query data through its referrer string for logged in users. This means that instead of showing organic keyword data in Google Analytics, visits from users logged into Google will show as “not provided.” At the time, Google said they expected this to effect less than 10% of all search queries.

So what does that tell you? If your traffic and conversions are high for the ” Not Provided” information, it tells you that a majority of your revenue customers are “Logged Into Google”.  Therefore it’s time to expand your Google presence in more things Gooogle  IE Google+ Google Maps, Google Places, Google Images etc…  But the biggest take away will be Google Plus or ” Google+”   More on that later.  Make sure you heed the calling..

Comments welcome

How to create an SEO Strategy

SEO ( or Search Engine Optimization) is all about picking keyword that people will search for, and apply SEO principles to rank those keywords to the top of the search engines.

Keyword Research

There are many tools one can used to find Keywords that match your niche terms.  I suggest to first brainstorm the terms in which you would want people to find your websites.  Then head on over to Goggle Adwords Keyword Tool.

Start with your first keyword.  Make sure you change the setting for “Exact Match”.  Broad Match will give you  a extremely false sense of traffic expectations. People make the mistake and use the Broad match numbers. You are in for a huge mistake in your original planing if you work with Broad Match instead of Exact Match when choosing keyword for optimization.

Next, export your results.  Rinse wash and repeat until you have gone through your brainstorm list.  Next combine all the export results into a nice spreadsheet.  Sort by Highest Traffic Results to lowest.

Tip:  Don’t take the result as being anywhere near accurate.  Based on 2006 click through habits, 42% of people click on the top1 organic result, 35% click on the number 2 organic result and the click through rate drops significantly as ones ranking drop.

With that being said, if the Keyword suggests that the exact match for a phrase results in 1000 visitors, then ranking # 1 for that term you would expect appropriately 420 visitors.  Ranking number 2 one would expect about 350 visitors.

Having several number one ranking keywords in several niches, I can honestly attest that the Google traffic expectation numbers are extremely high. Even using the 42% click through methodology, the true traffic is anywhere for 50-80 % Lower then the Google Estimation.

So if  Google  reports 1000 visitors for that keyword, it would be best to cut that number in half.  Then use the click through percentage methodology.

Example: Goggle Traffic Expectation = 1000.   1000/2 = 500  Ranking #1 Click through is 42% so ( 500 *  0.42) =  Your more realistic traffic expectation.

Copy our spreadsheet to another tab and divide all the results in half.  Pick keyword that make sense to you from a traffic perspective and a real world perspective.  Next can you rank for those Keywords and is it worth your time or Budget to attempt?

Keyword Competition Analysis

The  life and death or ROI of any SEO campaign is choosing Keyword that YOU CAN RANK for with in a reasonable amount of time and effort.

The amount of effort you put into your Keyword  Competition Analysis will determine your success or failure.  Don’t take it likely.  Attempting to rank for high traffic keywords that you will not be able to rank for with a huge budget or significant amount of time is a waste of effort.  Attempting to rank for a Keyword that has little to no traffic is also a waste of effort and ROI.

Step 1:  Find out your Websites vital statistics to compare with your competition.

Age of your site:  Do a whois check for your creation date. If you are under 5 years it could become a ranking issue.
Number of Backlink to your website:  Use MajesticSEO to find out how many backlinks you have, from how nay referring domains and how many IP addresses.
Keyword Rich Domain name?

Step 2:  Find the current search results for the keywords you are attempting to choose and rank for.

Step 3:  Compare your current stats to theirs.
Questions to ask yourself:
Do the top 10 results for that keyword have domains that are older than 5-7-10 years?
Do the Domains in the top 10 results have part or all of the Keyword Terms as part of their domain name?
How does your back link profile in terms of # of Links compare? In terms of IP’s and Referring domains?
How many pages do these top 10 sites have indexed in Google as compared to your website?
Are the top 10 results National Brand Name Companies or Brand Name Suppliers?

Tip:
To speed up the process you can purchase a Tool called Market Samurai that pulls in all this data for you, and allows you spend time on evaluation rather then data collection.

If your website is 1-2 years old and the keyword’s  top 10  results are all 5-10 years older than your site.  You will not be able to rank for that keyword, unless you can double their backlinks, and have more pages indexed then them.

If the top result are clustered with keyword rich domains and your website is not keyword rich,  you will need to do double the back link building to overcome the lack of domain keyword name.

If you website has 10K links and the top 10 result have 50k -100K to 1 Million back links.  You have an idea of the amount of links you must surpass in order to achieve the top ranking.

Pick your keywords based upon knowing you can rank those terms in a reasonable amount of time and effort based upon your budget.

Usually, I will choose 1 top traffic keyword, and 2 mid level keywords in terms of traffic expectation.  I optimize the Home Index page  of the website for those keywords.  The Home or index page usually has the most authority and links pointed toward it, therefore has the best ability to rank.

Tip:
Your back link profile must appear to be natural.  Make sure your backlinks are not all keyword anchor targeted links.

Age, Backlinks, Pages Indexed, Backlink Ips, On site SEO, On site Navigation, On site Linking, etc etc are factors in ranking.

In order to over come an Age, Backlink, Keyword Domain, or pages indexed deficiency your website must out produce your competition  in the factors you have control.  You can’t change Age or Keyword Domain, but you can produce more pages, and build more backlinks.  These two areas , of pages indexed and backlinks might have to double before knocking off the higher competition from their top rankings.

Remember the competition is also working while you are, so will you be able to double or triple your efforts to surpass theirs?

Once you have found the best keywords, determined there ability to rank, your SEO plan is ready to begin.  Optimize your site.  Build new pages, and start getting Backlinks!!!

Sounds like a lot of work doesn’t it?  Have your Budget ready and  call a professional.  Call 804.437.1606  or Email me at egehler@gmail.com

The question isn’t how much will it cost. The question is how much Budget do you have,  to get you to the top of search engine rankings.  Organic Search Engine Traffic is Free.  Getting your fair share has a cost.

The Benevolent Dictator by Michael Feuer

The Benevolent Dictator by Michael Feuer

I recently had the good fortune to pick up an advanced copy of “The Benevolent Dictator” which will be available in stores on June 7, 2011.  The Benevolent Dictator is a practical business guide that illustrates with real life examples the success factors of starting and growing a successful business from none other then former OfficeMax CEO Michael Feuer.

Success in business is one thing, but measured and repeated success is another. It is Fortune 500 CEO’s like Michael Feuer that have the spirit, desire, and most importantly insight into the practical  road maps to success. In ”The Benevolent Dictator”  CEO and Author Michael Feuer gives us a straight forward practical step by step guide or road map to the core concepts that lead to his success. Reading the chapters you explore the thought process as well as invoke your own mind to consider the implications and practical applications via this simple how to.  How to think for success. What to think about.  What steps are necessary.

With in the first few chapters, instead of  a cookie cutter 1 2 3, you learn to explore the though processes behind the decisions. You learn the practical applications. You learn what a “Benevolent Dictator”  is all about. In simplest terms, the answer is success.

If success is your only option, then pick up Michael Feuer’s ”The Benevolent Dictator” at a store or amazon near you!!.  Release date June 7, 2011