aimClear® Search Marketing Blog

This post shares new and traditional measurement options to sooth the savage SEO.  We’ll also offer a different take on organic keyword tracking, based on page level semantic cluster analysis using Webmaster Tools to mash in keywords, missing as a result of Google’s encrypted search. SO… read the whole post or skim down now for the sexy stuff. OK, let’s get started solving the new success measurement riddle-SEO, brothers and sisters! We’ll start with the most basic solutions like ranking reports, Bing data and new vs. returning organic keyword visitors + conversion. Then, we’ll progress to more radical approaches using Webmaster Central, you may not have thought of yet. Read the rest of this entry »

With seventeen years of industry experience under his belt, it’s an understatement to say Thom Craver knows what’s up with the World Wide Webz. Currently working as Web and Database specialist for the Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology, Thom’s responsible for all Web and social presences. From client consulting to guest lecturing at RIT to piloting one of Rochester’s first Web marketing firms he’s seen the spectrum of search marketing up close and personal. You’ll find his expertise showcased in Search Engine Watch as well as  a monthly column for ComputerLink Magazine, not to mention various training manuals published by SVI Training Products and Technical Learning Resources.

Next month, Thom will lead marketers through the Introduction to Analytics on Day 2 of Search Engine Strategies San Francisco. aimClear’s Matt Peterson attended this same session in the New York installment of SES earlier this year, remarking, “Elementary essentials of analytics were addressed, but there were deep technical chestnuts that would pique the interest of even seasoned marketing vets.” In other words, don’t let the “Intro” angle of Thom’s session fool you; attendees should saddle up for a seriously deep dive into the core technologies of analytics every deep marketer should master.

aimClear had the pleasure of sharing a candid interview with Thom a month outside of #SES SFO. Topics of conversation ranged from shop-talk to dream dashboards and metrics in need of some TLC. Read on for the full effect. Read the rest of this entry »

Facebook Ads, “Advertising Performance Reports” are the primary analytics marketers use to optimize FB Ads campaigns and create reports. Over the last few weeks, and through the May 25th UI update, our aimClear team thoroughly researched available optimization metrics,  what they mean, where they appear, and at what access points they are editable live in various screens. The process reminded us of reverse engineering an octopus. Simply stated, some of the most insightful analytic attributes available, are not available at a point where FB Ads account are editable for optimization. Therefore, knowing what metrics are available, where to access them, and what they mean, is crucial because you’re going to have to build spreadsheet applications to figure things out.

The results of our study, along with tons of insight and optimization recommendations, are detailed for release in our upcoming Wiley/Sybex book about Facebook Ads (“Killer Facebook Ads”), which is scheduled for release at SES San Francisco. As SMX Advanced Seattle and All Facebook Summit approach, we want to share top line results with the online marketing community, by way of this handy guide.  Below the chart, we explain what data screens comprise the chart, how to read the grid, and what each Facebook metric basically means.

For advanced marketers, we think the, “Connections” metric is the biggest takeaway, because it’s a new internal metric, which can be used for tracking internal conversion to internal FB assets. Also, we should mention that other Facebook Ads reports, “Responder Demographics” and, “Responder Profiles” can be very useful for optimization purposes. This post focuses on the, Advertiser Performance Report, because it is the root data for the FB Ads Manager UI. Read the rest of this entry »

The types of marketing conversations that dominated #SESNY 2011 demonstrated a turning-point of analytic maturity for the industry. From the complexities (to some, futility) of attribution modeling, to the advertising implications of Do Not Track legislation, to borderline existential discussions of user intent & behavior, it’s easy to forget just how far our interpretation of web analytics have evolved. Some analytics packages and logfile analyzers (such as IPRO) will be turning 17 along with Justin Bieber this year. Just because we’ve gone from summing “hits” from a single web page to cross-channel user attribution, are we beyond revisiting the basics for refreshed perspective?

In the session Introduction to Analytics at Search Engine Strategies New York, we looked at differences between the core technologies of analytics, uses, as well as advantages & drawbacks of each. Don’t let the “Introductory” angle of this session’s title fool you. Elementary essentials of analytics were addressed, but there were deep technical chestnuts that would pique the interest of even seasoned marketing vets. Read on for a recap of the insightful discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

More analytics mavens are becoming aware of Woopra, a relatively inexpensive software package, available on the web and as a desktop application.  Woopra is best known for its gorgeous daily dashboard (pictured above) and extremely useful real-time analytics features (below).  For this post, we’ll use the desktop application.

What’s less known are Woopra’s killer KPI reporting capabilities, using custom segmentation features Woopra calls “Filters.”  This post extrapolates on my previous SearchEngineWatch article, “Google Analytics, Conversion Tracking & Single Segment Reporting Power,” bringing the powerful conversion tracking technique to Woopra, one of the most intuitive analytics UIs in the world.  Let’s get started building our KPI dashboard. Read the rest of this entry »