Search Analytics

David Boronat Founding Partner of Multiplica. Search Analytics

Search analytics, the ugly duckling of webanalytics

Is my internal search engine effective? Which words that generate traffic for me, are the best converters? ¿Which are the metrics I need to follow periodically? Which other words, with a lower conversion cost, should I buy?

Inside [2] Online [1]

Online [1]

Inside [2]

Online [1]

1# Love Google above all else

1# Love Google above all else Black and White Photography We’ll make you look deep and artistic www.hereisyourportrait.com Portrait Photography Get your portrait done right www.hereisyourportrait.com 1. 1. 2. 2.

2# Is there room to grow?

What percentage of our users find us through search engines?

How important are search engines in our industry?

Search engines 38,669 (64.92%) Direct traffic 11,580 (19.44%) Benchmark websites 9,305 (15.62%) Other 8 (0.01%) Source: Netsuus (Spain - 2007)

What is our pagerank in comparison with our competitors?

What is the sector mix between organic and paying traffic?

3# The bounce rate and the words worth buying

You invite them to your party. You are paying for it. But don't you even ask them why they are leaving without saying goodbye?

Vehicle for analysing click fraud. Other metrics worth considering: average number of clicks per day, average number of conversions per word, anomalies in evolution during the day or the week,…

4# Cannibalising with the purchase of words

What is the use of buying words in which we naturally appear in the top positions if we direct our users to the same pages?

5# The importance of the long tail in the purchase of words SEM SEO Visits

5# The importance of the long tail in the purchase of words 20gb i pod i pods ipod ipods ipode ipod a ipod s apple apples appl apple ipod apple ipods ipod apple g4 car adapter adapter car car adapters i-pod apple i pod ipod cable ipod cables ipod 15gb 15gb ipod ipods 15gb apple i-pod ipod 20 20 ipod apple ipod 20gb 20gb apple ipod 20gb ipod ipod 20gb ipods 20gb 20gb ipods ipod 20g 20g ipod ipod mini mini ipod mini ipods ipod minis ipod minies ipods mini ipodmini apple ipod mini apple mini ipod apple ipods mini apple ipod minis mini apple ipod apple mini ipods ipod 20 gb 20 gb ipod 2285 a 2285 i pod minis i pod mini mini i pod ipod car ipod 40g 40g ipod ipods 40g gb ipod ipod gb i pod batteries ipod 4g ipods 4g 4g ipod a2285 ipod g4 g4 ipod g4 ipods apple ipod 20 20g g4 ipod 20 click 20gb g4 ipod 20gb ipod g4 ipod 20gb g4 ipod g4 20gb 20 gb ipod 4g ipod 20gig 20gig ipod apple 20 gb i pod ipod-mini apple ipod 20mg ipod 20gb click wheel

6# The need to always test our landing pages.

6# The need to always test our landing pages. Combination 57 is best The original combination Bars represent conversion rate variation

7# The convenience of studying our competitors

The importance of Page Rank.

We need to assess how we are progressing on a regular basis.

Particularly against our competitors.

8# The importance of the cost of acquiring customers

What do the cost per click or the CTR we get matter if the cost of acquiring customers is too high?

The perfect balance between the number of customers you want to get and the average cost of acquisition that you are willing to pay.

Absolute figures never tell us anything. Compare them and work to improve them.

9# Always think in terms of ROI

Being at the top does not always generate the best results.

Being at the top does not always generate the best results.

10# Behavioural targeting has arrived

Here comes the intelligent Internet, with tools like...

Which, among lots of other things, allow us…

If the user came from Google using keyword X, to then show Y

If the user searched for keyword Z on the internal search engine, to then show W

Inside [2]

Inside search analytics. Why?

Because searching on our site is becoming more and more relevant compared with browsing (in e-commerce, intranets, on content webpages…). Last Christmas, half the users preferred to perform searches when they got to an online store.

Because users who search are up to 3 times more likely to become customers (WebsideStory).

Because users who can't find are up to 3 times more likely to abandon our website (Enlighten).

New function: Site Search Analysis

1# Levels of use of the internal search engine

Percentage of visits who perform searches.

Number of searches per session

2# Most sought-for words

Top 20? Top 50? Top 100?

Careful with compound words

The importance of the long tail (yet again).

3# Categorisation and seasonality

Grouping of ‘keywords’ into categories.

Analyse seasonality, geographics, segmentation.

4# Places on our website where they perform most searches

5# Places they go to after performing a search!

6# Effectiveness of our internal search engine

Leaving the site on the results page.

6# Effectiveness of our internal search engine

Is the search engine fast, intuitive and relevant?

Better still - see for yourself what our internal search engine does when faced with the most sought-after words.

Searches with too many results?

Searches with 0 results (22%)

Isn't the content on the webpage?

Is the content badly indexed?

Is it a typing error?

Do we get alerts from the webpage itself when this happens?

Don't we know how to react when we don't have the answer?

7# Does our search engine learn over time?

What criteria do we use for indexing? Can we give marks to words and results?

Can we automate our internal search engine's learning process by compiling parameters like results with the greatest rate of click-through, the best-selling products or the ones which get the best ratings?