Search Marketing Metrics – Are You Using All of Them?
Tags: campaign performance, Google Analytics, search marketing metrics, underused metrics
For many people, one of the biggest challenges in search marketing is specifically determining how well you are performing, in terms of what changes can be made to improve your campaigns. Some recent buzz has been focused around the search marketing metrics that marketers aren’t using, but should. According to a recent study by Marketing Sherpa, measuring conversions based on key performance indicators (KPIs) and return on investment (ROI) are the two most underused metrics in search marketing. In addition, it seems there are some valuable metrics in Google Analytics that people have yet to tap into.
Key performance indicators or KPIs define a set of values used to measure a specific goal; but can differ widely based on the industry and the organisation’s individual goals. While it is important to diversify between the offline and online channels that you are using, it wouldn’t hurt to model some of your goals after your traditional marketing initiatives, as Stephanie Berliant of EyeTraffic Media summarises from the Marketing Sherpa report. Your organisation’s website activity should be closely monitored, as this can be equated to the activity in an offline store or office, and perhaps lend insight into what’s working or not, and why. Berliant gave some examples of KPIs, or things you might decide to measure on your site, such as:
- Sign up for the newsletter/email list
- Purchase items online
- Download Brocures/PDF’s
- Contact/Request Additional Information
- Complete Online Application/Form
While it seems common sense to set some measurable objectives to determine your online success, many people are not utilising these metrics as they should be and are therefore unaware of what is working or not working on their site. Without tracking conversions like the above examples, it is not possible to determine if your goals are being met.
The best part about tracking your online success is that there are ways you can gather this analytic data easily, such as through the use of Google Analytics. While many search marketers have clued in on the value of Google Analytics, there are so many metrics available that many of them are not being used. Joe Teixera of MoreVisibility does a great job of outlining this, giving us five Google Analytics metrics that you’re probably not using.
The metrics he outlined were:
- $Index – This metric tells us what the value of each page on your website is by taking the Ecommerce Revenue or the Goal Value for a certain page and dividing it by the number of Pageviews.
- % Search Exits – If you have an internal search function on your page, this is basically the Bounce rate of that search function, which may let you know whether it is working properly or not.
- Per Visit Goal Value – This metric tells us what the value of each visit to the site was, which allows for analysis of the interaction with our site at a very deep level.
- Revenue per Click – If you are using AdWords and your accounts are successfully synched together, then this metric allows you to determine the revenue from each click on one of your ads.
- Abandonment Rate – This is a crucial metric to determining the percentage of people that are leaving you Goal Funnel at some point along the way. So you are not only able to determine at what point people are leaving, but the percentage of people doing so.
Interactive Return uses some of these metrics with some of its clients, and they are certainly valuable; but it is important to determine what the best metrics for your specific company or client are, which may include only one or all five of the examples here. These are just five of the many available Google Analytics metrics, a list that continues to grow. It might be worthwhile to take a minute and seriously consider the metrics you are using, whether for your overall search marketing campaigns or your Google Analytics accounts. Chances are, there is even more detailed analytic data that you are not using, and that may help you determine action points for improving your website and essentially your business.
Emer Lawn, Online Marketing Executive, Interactive Return
Dave Callan said:
Oct 06, 08 at 5:43 pmHi Emer, decent post, but I have some views on it which are below but beforehand this blog is buried on the IR site, should be getting more than a tiny link on the right hand side of the site.
Anyhow where is the mention of cost per aquisition (cpa) / cost per conversion. I think this is a much more valuation metric to the end business owner. How much does it cost them to get a new lead or new customer etc???? Revenue per click makes them have to think
Emer Lawn said:
Oct 07, 08 at 10:32 amHi Dave,
I appreciate the advice on the site. We have been considering way to revamp the blog; and your comment will definately help us out.
Additionally, you make a good point about the inclusion of CPA and CPC in this post, as they are highly valuable metrics. I suppose I considered these as some of the more common metrics; and my hope was to explain some of the forgotten metrics, specifically within Google Analytics. Interactive Return uses Cost per Click across the majority of our reports, as one the most telling metrics.
Dave Callan said:
Oct 07, 08 at 12:28 pmI really like the model iqcontent have used. One consolidated blog, not separate blogs for MD, marketing execs etc. They also actively ‘get out’ there on other Irish blogs to increase their visibility.
As for this topic -
PPC Reports - things that matter I would think -
cost (obviously)
avg cost per click
num conversions/aquisitions
avg cost per conversion/aquisition
clicks
impressions
ctr
and maybe average ad position to allow the client to get a feel for the quality score of their a/c. Compare these with same metric for last week/month/quarter etc. If any client wants more of course make it available to them.
By the way (and if you consider this private of course that’s fine) but how do you guys issue reports? Do you manually build them by ‘hand’ or use something like the Adwords API to automate things? Using the API a lot lately and its saving a hell of a lot of time.
Emer Lawn said:
Oct 07, 08 at 1:56 pmThanks for that Dave.
For PPC, specifically, what you have outlined is of course correct. The article’s purpose is above is to note the underused metrics, like basic KPIs and ROI. Many people focus on just their PPC metrics; but what if you are running many different types of campaign for a client or brand? You have to use things like Google Analytics; which allows you to use the same set of metrics across many channels. (ppc, seo, display, off-site promotions,social media, etc)
And on the other note, hopefully you’ll see continuous improvements to the Blog and our increasing presence around the web in future months, as you mentioned commenting on other Irish blogs.
Do you subscribe to our newsletter? You can do so here: http://www.interactivereturn.com/newslettersubcribe.htm.
Dave said:
Oct 09, 08 at 12:36 pmHi Emer, I noticed the improved presense of the blog on the homepage. Not sure if I was a subscriber already but just signed up there. Perhaps you guys should consider using a sign up form box inline instead of a (or in addition to) link, it’s generally accepted that using a sign up form above the fold will out perform a simple text link in terms of number of subscriptions. You could use something like Google website optimizer to confirm what works and what doesn’t
Joe Teixeira said:
Oct 09, 08 at 2:23 pmHi Emer! Thank you for the nice words. If I had to pick 1 favorite metric out of the 5 metrics that I have listed, it would be “$Index”. There’s just something about the $ symbol, isn’t there?
Thanks again!