Google Analytics

Definition: A service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about a website’s traffic and traffic sources and measures conversions and sales. The product is aimed at marketers as opposed to webmasters and technologists from which the industry of web analytics originally grew. It is the most widely used website statistics service.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Analytics

Recommended Article: 5 Things You Shouldn’t Do With Google Analytics

Link: http://padicode.com/blog/analytics/5-things-you-shouldnt-do-with-google-analytics/

Notes: This blog post emphasizes the fact that Google Analytics is a tool that needs to be used and analyzed, not taken at  face value.  It emphasizes what uses Google Analytics should not be put to, such as not using it to calculate actual time spent on your site.  Although Google Analytics seems to be the be-all-end-all of web analysis, this article puts it more in perspective in pointing out areas where you need to find data on your own or keep in mind the data you’re seeing may not be 100% complete or accurate.

 

Bounce Rate

Definition: Bounce rate is the percentage of visits that go only one page before exiting a site.

Source: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/1009409?hl=en

Recommended Article: 16 ways to cut your bounce rate

Link: http://www.brafton.com/blog/16-ways-to-cut-your-bounce-rate

Notes: There are about a billion articles on how to cut your bounce rate, so I picked one that looks like easy suggestions (which aren’t necessarily easy to pull off) and those “d’uh” pointers, where it seems obvious and yet some people still don’t do it, like making navigation easy.  This is a huge thing for me: I go to a website and can’t find the one thing I’m looking for.  I use the website’s search functions, and it takes me to many pages, but still not the one I’m looking for.  I hate trying to find a product on a website in order to purchase it, and I have no idea which heading it’s under, it doesn’t show up in search, and I just can’t find it!  I usually give up or try somewhere else (or go to the physical store) when this goes on for longer than a minute or two.

 

Geo-Targeting

Definition: The method of determining the geolocation of a website visitor and delivering different content to that visitor based on his or her location, such as country, region/state, city, metro code/zip code, organization, IP address, ISP or other criteria.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotargeting

Recommended Article: Google Ad-Words Geo-Targeting: Have We All Been Doing It Wrong?

Link: http://searchengineland.com/adwords-geo-targeting-have-we-all-been-doing-it-wrong-169049

Notes: This article suggests that instead of opting-in to geo-targeting, we should opt out.  Specifically, it looked at a Colorado campaign where they wanted to run something specifically for Denver.  So they took Denver out of the state-wide campaign and ran a Denver specific one, but this resulted in Denver clicks dropping way down and costs per click going way up.  It seems counter-intuitive since the Denver people were seeing Denver-specific ads, so it’s an interesting observation (graphs are included in the article).

 

Slacktivism

Definition: Actions performed via the Internet in support of a political or social cause but regarded as requiring little time or involvement, e.g. signing an online petition or joining a campaign group on a social media website.

Source: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/slacktivism

Recommended Article: Slacktivism: ‘Liking’ on Facebook may mean less giving

Link: http://news.ubc.ca/2013/11/08/slacktivism-liking-on-facebook-may-mean-less-giving/

Notes:  This article helps give a good understanding of Slacktivism and its impacts, stating that people will use “liking” a charity as a replacement to actual monetary donations.

This is a concern for fundraisers who want both the attention but also require the money in order to keep functioning.  If people begin seeing “likes” or “retweets” as legitimate alternatives to donations, then charities will see a lot of monetary shortfalls in the future.

 

Social Media Audit

Definition:  Answers questions like: Do you know how you measure up against your competitors? Have the fans in your social media communities changed their expectations or needs since you started? Are you still using the right social networks and tools?

Source: http://www.ragan.com/Main/Articles/Conduct_a_social_media_audit_in_4_easy_steps_47138.aspx

Recommended Article:  How to Perform a Social Audit [Infographic]

Link: http://socialmediatoday.com/mlewis1/785426/how-perform-social-audit-infographic

Notes: Gives a break down of what to look for when doing an audit of Facebook and Twitter pages.  Includes things like Engagement Ratio, Frequency, and Types of Posts.  Quick, easy, and it makes sense.  Perhaps not as detailed as the one we did in class, but it’s a good starting point and a quicker overview which doesn’t require much time.

Adwords

Definition:

AdWords (Google AdWords) is an advertising service by Google for businesses wanting to display ads on Google and its advertising network. The AdWords program enables businesses to set a budget for advertising and only pay when people click the ads. The ad service is largely focused on keywords.

 

Businesses that use AdWords can create relevant ads using keywords that people who search the Web using the Google search engine would use. The keyword, when searched for triggers your ad to be shown. AdWords at the top ads that appear under the heading “Sponsored Links” found on the right-hand side or above Google search results. If your AdWords ad is clicked on, Google search users are then directed to your website.

Source: http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/adwords.html

Recommended Article: Lesser Known Adwords Quality Score Facts

Link: http://www.seroundtable.com/adwords-quality-score-facts-17114.html

Notes: Be exact, be clear, be lean.  Don’t stuff words to increase likelihood, and remove ads that aren’t performing well in order to raise your quality score.  Less is more.

 

Adwords Campaign

Definition: Keyword Advertising placed into Pay Per Click search engine result pages (SERPS). These ads link to specific pages or content that is relevant to the user search phrase. You only pay for the ad when it is clicked on and a potential customer reaches your website.

Source: http://www.canzdesign.com/info/Glossary

Recommended Article: Google Adwords for Dummies Cheat Sheet

Link: http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/google-adwords-for-dummies-cheat-sheet.html

Notes: Gives you a list of both adwords lingo and campaign optimization tips.  Very useful for those of us going in blind.  All the information is boiled down without any extra fluff; just a list of terms and meanings, and easy to follow pointers.  There are also some all-around good definitions to know like what a landing page is and what PPC means.  This would have been a useful cheat sheet going into the the internet marketing class!

 

Recommended Article: 8 Things Wrong With Your Google AdWords Campaign

Link: http://www.inc.com/hollis-thomases/8-things-wrong-with-your-google-adwords-campaign.html

Notes: A good starting point to avoid common mistakes.  “Choosing the wrong keywords” seems to be at the top of everyone’s list that I’ve looked at in what to avoid.  Having too many keywords seems to be just as bad as having the wrong ones.  I also like the fact that she addressed the issue of ads being boring; people think ads should just convey information and that people will magically click just because it’s a relevant topic.  You can’t rely on the topic itself to draw interest but rather need to connect with potential customers to increase their interest in clicking your ad.

 

PPC (pay per click)

Definition: an internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites, in which advertisers pay the publisher (typically a website owner) when the ad is clicked. It is defined simply as “the amount spent to get an advertisement clicked.”

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_per_click

Recommended Article: Pay Per Click Advertising

Link: http://www.stepforth.com/services/pay-per-click/

Notes: Really brief overview of PPC describing what it is, how it works, and deciding if your company is ready to use it.  It also suggests ways to make a successful ad campaign and also what happens behind the scenes on the publisher’s end.  It doesn’t go into much detail because this site is essential an ad itself to get people to use their consulting services, but they give a good overview in the meantime.  I also liked the screen capture of Google which explains visually the difference between paid and organic listings

 

 

Click-Through Rate

Definition: The percentage of individuals viewing a web page who click on a specific advertisement that appears on the page. Click-through rate measures how successful an ad has been in capturing users’ interest. The higher the click-through rate, the more successful the ad has been in generating interest. A high click-through rate can help a website owner support the site through advertising dollars. Because Internet users have become desensitized to ads on web pages, a typical click-through rate is only about two to three users per 1,000.

Source: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/clickthroughrates.asp

Recommended Article: What Is a Good Click-Through Rate for PPC?

Source: http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2186867/click-rate-ppc

Notes: Explains the differences in CTR depending on the type of ad, the website/platform used, as well as the target audience.  Gives numerical trend examples for Search vs. Facebook vs. LinkedIn to show the variance in CTR.  You need to keep all the trends in mind in order to determine if you have a good CTR or not; there’s no universal benchmark to judge by.

 

Conversation Prism

Definition: The Conversion Prism is a visual map of the social media landscape. Different social networks are organised according to how they are used on a day-to-day basis.

Source: http://www.buzzoutsource.com/blog/the-2013-conversion-prism

 

 

Recommended Article: Brian Solis’s New Conversation Prism: Useful or Just Confusing?

Link: http://socialmediatoday.com/richardstacy/1585661/brian-solis-and-his-new-conversation-prism-useful-or-just-confusing

Notes: This article really hits on my first thoughts when seeing the Conversation Prism: Woah, that looks complicated.  As much as it’s pretty and seems to cover most social media, it’s also intimidating and quite confusing.  I’m still trying to figure it out!  In a world where everything is being simplified, I’d love to see someone explain the above prism in 140 characters or less!  This article tries to boil down the prism to make it more understandable.  It’s really not as complicated as it appears at first, it’s just been blown to confusing levels in order to cover everything.  In a simplified world, they need to simplify the problem, not make you feel like there’s no way to understand social media all by yourself (or at least without an expensive consultant).