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 GoogleYahoo 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. 


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.