Wednesday, April 16, 2014
GOMC Reflection
Reflecting on the GOMC competition, I believe our team really learned a lot about Google marketing and online marketing in general. I always pictured projects like this as out of my reach or "better left to the paid professionals", but now I feel confident that I could run my own campaign in the future. Even with all of the technological questions and learning difficulties, I felt that I overcame a lot of setbacks and that I learned that online marketing is really not as scary as it seems and that there are many free resources for people just starting out. From this class, I was able to take away a new business connection (our client Brenda Decroo) and I was able to put myself in the shoes of a real entrepreneur. This experience was invaluable and I hope to utilize my new skills in the future for my own business goals.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
BUS 572- Blog 5 Google Course Reflection
After taking the Google Analytics courses, I learned a great deal about the specifics of Analytics and how you can tailor them to fit your business needs. It really helped to have the instructor break down everything and start from the very beginning, understanding the purpose of your business. If you cannot understand that, you cannot determine your KPI's or desired outcomes. I found the different forms of data collection very useful-- I learned that "you’ll use the JavaScript tracking code to collect data from a website, but a Software Development Kit, called an SDK, to collect data from a mobile app". It is very important to specify this. The instructor also talked about how you can filter out employee data and how to collect, configure, and process data. Unfortunately, our client has not enabled Google Analytics on her site and until she does, her business will not benefit from it.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
BUS 572--Blog 4
During the past week, the most important topics I learned were cookies and website content/keywords. As defined by Tech Terms , a cookie is:
"...a small amount of data generated by a website and saved by your web browser. Its purpose is to remember information about you, similar to a preference file created by a software application."
Cookies have many different uses and functions; most importantly, they store login information from web sites. Some cookies store usernames and passwords while others store just usernames or just passwords. Every time a user clicks the option "remember me on this computer", a cookie stores that information for the next time they log in. Cookies also store user preferences in this way and can be temporary or permanent. Most web browsers store cookies in one file.
I am excited and nervous about the campaign because I think so much of our success will depend on trial and error.The most important skill I learned about these past two weeks is the importance of targeted ads and specific results. At first, our team did not have enough specific direction as to how to help Brenda Decroo. Now we know we must have 2 ad groups 1 ad in them each in order to target a 30 mile radius around Pittsburgh as well as the rest of the world through online coaching opportunities (English-speaking only).
After receiving very helpful suggestions from Ms. Decroo, we also now know she is more specifically targeting businesses through corporate coaching rather than life coaching-- this directly effects our campaign because instead of focusing our ads on after-business hours, we will be focusing them on business hours and only excluding very late hours of the night when most professionals will not be searching.
From Brenda's website:
With Brenda's guidance and knowledge of today’s business trends, I opened up to a whole new approach in organizing and marketing my business. Following her guidelines and analyzing charts allowed me to reduce costs and increase profits without compromising quality or service - I improved my bottom line substantially.
I will highly recommend Brenda's business coaching services to my professional friends and associates with confidence and know they will receive the specialized guidance to take their business to the next level.
"...a small amount of data generated by a website and saved by your web browser. Its purpose is to remember information about you, similar to a preference file created by a software application."
Cookies have many different uses and functions; most importantly, they store login information from web sites. Some cookies store usernames and passwords while others store just usernames or just passwords. Every time a user clicks the option "remember me on this computer", a cookie stores that information for the next time they log in. Cookies also store user preferences in this way and can be temporary or permanent. Most web browsers store cookies in one file.
I enjoyed learning about cookies as well as the importance of website content coinsiding with chosen keywords. This week I was brought to the realization (a little late I realize!) that our client will not be able to utilize many important keywords in this campaign because they have not updated their website to include them. It is disappointing to learn this, but at the same time I know I will now be able to implement an effective strategy based upon the keywords that are in her website.
How does the class think about their clients' progress and do you have many profitable keyword options based upon the content of the clients' website? How can your clients utilize cookies to learn more about their potential customers?
I am excited and nervous about the campaign because I think so much of our success will depend on trial and error.The most important skill I learned about these past two weeks is the importance of targeted ads and specific results. At first, our team did not have enough specific direction as to how to help Brenda Decroo. Now we know we must have 2 ad groups 1 ad in them each in order to target a 30 mile radius around Pittsburgh as well as the rest of the world through online coaching opportunities (English-speaking only).
After receiving very helpful suggestions from Ms. Decroo, we also now know she is more specifically targeting businesses through corporate coaching rather than life coaching-- this directly effects our campaign because instead of focusing our ads on after-business hours, we will be focusing them on business hours and only excluding very late hours of the night when most professionals will not be searching.
From Brenda's website:
Testimonial from an entrepreneur client
With Brenda's guidance and knowledge of today’s business trends, I opened up to a whole new approach in organizing and marketing my business. Following her guidelines and analyzing charts allowed me to reduce costs and increase profits without compromising quality or service - I improved my bottom line substantially.
I will highly recommend Brenda's business coaching services to my professional friends and associates with confidence and know they will receive the specialized guidance to take their business to the next level.
Ed Unverdorben
Mobile Vision Care
Mobile Vision Care
The concluding aspects of online marketing I learned this week are essential to starting the campaign and doing it correctly--Brenda helped us to better realize her marketing techniques and her clients. Now we must put our new knowledge to use in the beginning of the GOMC campaign.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
BUS 572-- 3 Blog
During the past week, the most important topics I learned were optimization techniques and keyword research tools. As defined by Search Engine Land, search engine optimization is:
"SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” listings on search engines. All major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing have such results, where web pages and other content such as videos or local listings are shown and ranked based on what the search engine considers most relevant to users. Payment isn’t involved, as it is with paid search ads."
(Stokes, 2013).
I enjoyed learning about optimization techniques because our text gives us concrete, measurable examples of how to optimize our web pages. It's very exciting to have such a powerful tool at my fingertips and to understand it in order to help our client. I prefer things to be broken down into "bite-sized" pieces for better comprehension, so that was definitely helpful to me. I also enjoy the concept of keyword research tools because they allow us to stay on track with our budget and to know exactly what keywords we can use, and which ones are too expensive. Keyword research tools allow us to have a concrete budget, which in turn will produce a successful campaign.
How does the class find keyword research tools and optimization techniques helpful/not helpful? Are there any other tools you'd like to see on Google and what other tools do you find useful?
I really am excited to get the ball rolling and begin the actual competition so that we can help Brenda Decroo Coaching reach new clients and help more people.
The most important skill I learned about these past two weeks is knowing how to use Google Adwords tools to help your campaign. I appreciated learning all about the Opportunities tab this week and how Adwords tools can help businesses know which step to take next and to troubleshoot any issues they are having.
"SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” listings on search engines. All major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing have such results, where web pages and other content such as videos or local listings are shown and ranked based on what the search engine considers most relevant to users. Payment isn’t involved, as it is with paid search ads."
Optimization
Techniques
o
Title tag: use the key phrase close to the title
of the page
o
H1 header tag: use KP close to the header
o
Body Content: use KP frequently in the content
of the site
o
Bold: use tags around the keyword at least once
o
Alt tag for an image: Use KP to describe an
image
o
URL: have KP appear in uniform resource locator
o
Meta Description
o
Meta Tags
o
Linked anchor text to another page
o
Use in the domain name
(Stokes, 2013).
I enjoyed learning about optimization techniques because our text gives us concrete, measurable examples of how to optimize our web pages. It's very exciting to have such a powerful tool at my fingertips and to understand it in order to help our client. I prefer things to be broken down into "bite-sized" pieces for better comprehension, so that was definitely helpful to me. I also enjoy the concept of keyword research tools because they allow us to stay on track with our budget and to know exactly what keywords we can use, and which ones are too expensive. Keyword research tools allow us to have a concrete budget, which in turn will produce a successful campaign.
How does the class find keyword research tools and optimization techniques helpful/not helpful? Are there any other tools you'd like to see on Google and what other tools do you find useful?
I really am excited to get the ball rolling and begin the actual competition so that we can help Brenda Decroo Coaching reach new clients and help more people.
The most important skill I learned about these past two weeks is knowing how to use Google Adwords tools to help your campaign. I appreciated learning all about the Opportunities tab this week and how Adwords tools can help businesses know which step to take next and to troubleshoot any issues they are having.
Learning more about Google Adwords and Analytics this week was very helpful. I learned about audience reports, content reports, traffic sources
report—organic or paid, conversions report—value of visitors, metrics, dimensions, and segments. I learned that dimensions are the characteristics of a visitor as well as their settings: geography, language, traffic source, browser technology, etc.
Metrics: measurement—bouncers, bounce rate, clicks,
entrances, exits, time on page
What is a segment— filter expression to return only specific
data—get only data from purchasers or users
from NY for example—then you can
compare side by side. There are over 80 different dimensions!
Pages are also segments you
can analyze, and every segment is automatically measured against all relevant
metrics.
 |
| Brenda Decroo Coaching Homepage |
The concluding aspects of online marketing I learned this week are continuing to help our group learn more about the intricacies of Google Adwords. The things I learned are will help us to get our campaign up and running, and running successfully to match our client's needs. The technology is a continuing challenge but our class helps tremendously to break it down into small, understandable pieces. It is also a challenge to know which strategies to choose without first trying them--sometimes you just have to jump right in!
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
BUS 572-2 Blog--Utilizing Conversion Optimization and Multivariate Testing
During the past week, the most important topics I learned were conversion optimization and multivariate testing. As defined by Qualaroo, conversion optimization is:
"...the method of using analytics and user feedback to improve the performance of your website. CRO can be used to improve any metric on your website that’s important to your business–often called key performance indicators (KPIs)–that you’re trying to improve, but it’s often associated with acquiring new customers, registrations, downloads, etc. Put another way, it increases the percentage of website visitors who experience the “aha moment” (or the must-have user experience) that turns passive browsers into valuable conversions."
Multivariate testing "...allows you to test many variables at once and still determine which version of each variable has a statistically significant effect on your outcomes. For Websites, there are a number of vendors who will host pages that are being tested in this way remotely, if you do not have the technology to do this in-house...Successful testing relies on having clear objectives to begin with, and sufficient traffic to warrant such detail" (Stokes, 2013).
I enjoyed learning about conversion optimization because it is so practical and convenient; why wouldn't a business want to know exactly how they can catch and keep more customers? I also enjoy the concept of multivariate testing because I think it's essential to look at things in a holistic, inclusive way. It does not make sense to only use one method when the right combination of methods will yield the best results. How does the class want to utilize these tools/knowledge in their professional and maybe even personal lives? Being an MBA student, I want to use these tools for my own business interests. It is so exciting, encouraging, and empowering to learn how to use these tools that are often free and easy to utilize. The opportunities are endless!
The most important skill I learned about these past two weeks is knowing how and what to test using web analytics and Stoke's three-prong approach: "Analyze behavior data that infer the intent of a Web site’s visitors, Analyze outcome metrics that show how many visitors performed the goal actions on a Web site, Test and analyze data that tell us about the user experience" (Stokes, 2013).
It makes a lot of sense to me that businesses can learn how to better serve their customers online by observing their intent behavior data, including what they search for, why, and what they hope your site will solve for them. This allows businesses to be in the right place at the right time, serving the right customers on the web. This made me think of our conversation with Brenda Decroo. As of now, she wants to directly target customers who seek leadership coaching, as well as businesses that want to have coaching for their staff. Ms. Decroo's business also has its own personality test that is a unique selling point. She helps her clients find out who they are and then direct it to their careers and personal lives; this is what makes her different than a professional development consultant.
"...the method of using analytics and user feedback to improve the performance of your website. CRO can be used to improve any metric on your website that’s important to your business–often called key performance indicators (KPIs)–that you’re trying to improve, but it’s often associated with acquiring new customers, registrations, downloads, etc. Put another way, it increases the percentage of website visitors who experience the “aha moment” (or the must-have user experience) that turns passive browsers into valuable conversions."
Multivariate testing "...allows you to test many variables at once and still determine which version of each variable has a statistically significant effect on your outcomes. For Websites, there are a number of vendors who will host pages that are being tested in this way remotely, if you do not have the technology to do this in-house...Successful testing relies on having clear objectives to begin with, and sufficient traffic to warrant such detail" (Stokes, 2013).
I enjoyed learning about conversion optimization because it is so practical and convenient; why wouldn't a business want to know exactly how they can catch and keep more customers? I also enjoy the concept of multivariate testing because I think it's essential to look at things in a holistic, inclusive way. It does not make sense to only use one method when the right combination of methods will yield the best results. How does the class want to utilize these tools/knowledge in their professional and maybe even personal lives? Being an MBA student, I want to use these tools for my own business interests. It is so exciting, encouraging, and empowering to learn how to use these tools that are often free and easy to utilize. The opportunities are endless!
The most important skill I learned about these past two weeks is knowing how and what to test using web analytics and Stoke's three-prong approach: "Analyze behavior data that infer the intent of a Web site’s visitors, Analyze outcome metrics that show how many visitors performed the goal actions on a Web site, Test and analyze data that tell us about the user experience" (Stokes, 2013).
It makes a lot of sense to me that businesses can learn how to better serve their customers online by observing their intent behavior data, including what they search for, why, and what they hope your site will solve for them. This allows businesses to be in the right place at the right time, serving the right customers on the web. This made me think of our conversation with Brenda Decroo. As of now, she wants to directly target customers who seek leadership coaching, as well as businesses that want to have coaching for their staff. Ms. Decroo's business also has its own personality test that is a unique selling point. She helps her clients find out who they are and then direct it to their careers and personal lives; this is what makes her different than a professional development consultant.
 |
| Brenda DeCroo. The Abundant Business Coach Sarver, Pennsylvania |
The concluding aspects of online marketing I learned this week are putting our group on the right track to helping our client, Ms. Decroo. The things I learned are a starting point for Google Adwords and they provide the foundation we will need for a successful campaign and continued success in the future for ourselves and for our client. It is challenging to work with all of the technology, as this does not come naturally to me and is constantly changing. But at the same time it is exciting because I am finally able to learn more about it in a positive setting. I look forward to learning about Google Adwords in more depth so that I can help Ms. Decroo more.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
BUS 572 -1 Search Engine Optimization, Pay per click advertising
Two very important topics this week were pay per click advertising and search engine optimization. Pay per click advertising is defined as "a type of sponsored online advertising that is used on a wide range of websites, including search engines, where the advertiser only pays if a web user clicks on their ad" (Brick Marketing).! Pay per click advertising allows the user to easily set up a system in which they pay every time someone clicks on their link that was found through search engine optimization. Using pay per click advertising is very time-consuming and requires constant monitoring in order to stay within budget. However, Google has parameters as well which allow the user to set a limit of what they want to spend on PPC advertising. It can be an effective marketing tool but must be used wisely to see gain. An example of pay per click advertising is the sponsored search results on the side of the organic Google search results; these adds consist of only a few lines and their placement depends on how much the company has paid for the spot--higher up spots on the search results page are much more expensive.
Search engine optimization is part of search engine marketing and its aim is to improve a Web site's ranking in the natural search results (Stokes, 2013). SEO can be much more effective than PPC advertising because it does not incur a cost to the user. Along with this, people tend to trust the organic search results more because they do not feel as if they are being sold something. It is essential to any businesses' success that it has a very visible online presence; in the age of technology, everyone gets their information from the internet. An example of search engine optimization would be a company paying Google for the ad word "shoes", which would allow consumers to easily find their business. This ad word is very expensive per click. Do you think there could be ethical or legal issues with SEO and PPC advertising?
This week, the most important skill set I have acquired is learning how to search for a web site's ranking in the Google search results. This is extremely important to any business because it allows them to assess their online visibility and accessibility. Without it, it is not possible to know where you "stand" on the Web.
I am enjoying this personal learning journey. I have learned much about how businesses market online (the basic foundation knowledge) and I already feel more empowered to pursue my own business interests and that of our client, Brenda DeCroo. This course is very hands-on and experiential, which has allowed me to learn much better than reading a dry textbook (ours is user-friendly!) For our next session, I would like to continue to be proficient in Google's marketing tools and I would like to learn more about them and what they can do for business owners. What would you like to learn? Thanks for reading!
Search engine optimization is part of search engine marketing and its aim is to improve a Web site's ranking in the natural search results (Stokes, 2013). SEO can be much more effective than PPC advertising because it does not incur a cost to the user. Along with this, people tend to trust the organic search results more because they do not feel as if they are being sold something. It is essential to any businesses' success that it has a very visible online presence; in the age of technology, everyone gets their information from the internet. An example of search engine optimization would be a company paying Google for the ad word "shoes", which would allow consumers to easily find their business. This ad word is very expensive per click. Do you think there could be ethical or legal issues with SEO and PPC advertising?
This week, the most important skill set I have acquired is learning how to search for a web site's ranking in the Google search results. This is extremely important to any business because it allows them to assess their online visibility and accessibility. Without it, it is not possible to know where you "stand" on the Web.
I am enjoying this personal learning journey. I have learned much about how businesses market online (the basic foundation knowledge) and I already feel more empowered to pursue my own business interests and that of our client, Brenda DeCroo. This course is very hands-on and experiential, which has allowed me to learn much better than reading a dry textbook (ours is user-friendly!) For our next session, I would like to continue to be proficient in Google's marketing tools and I would like to learn more about them and what they can do for business owners. What would you like to learn? Thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)