Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Chris Califf
MIST 7500
Dr. Piercy
As the World Wide Web approaches its third decade of existence, providing over 1.6
billion people access to any information imaginable, serving as a platform to deliver individuals
and businesses any product desirable, and becoming the go-to resource for connecting friends,
families, and colleagues, it is important to recognize the potential a website can offer a business
or individual (“World Internet Usage”). This potential involves an organization becoming aware
of different methods used to maximize search engine ranking, programs used to analyze visitor
behavior, and how to properly apply these two key categories for efficient and effective use of
user behavior for the purpose of formulating strategies for optimization of a website’s intention
(“Web Analytics”). Basically, web analytics means tracking information pertaining to how and
when a visitor located a website, what they were looking for, how long they stayed, which pages
were accessed, etc (“XML.com”). Organizations generally use this information when they want
to increase website traffic to specific pages, such as an e-commerce page for the purpose of
increasing the potential of purchasing products. Analytics are also a great way for organizations
to determine whether certain marketing strategies are working, such as links from Twitter or
Facebook.
Califf 2
What is Measured?
As mentioned above, web analytics measures specific data relating to user involvement
with a website. Measureable data can be applied to three specific categories: aggregate,
segmented, and individual (Burby 4). Aggregate data signifies total website traffic for a defined
period of time. For example, when comparing data, it is important to examine total visitors for
each individual month and indicating whether specific marketing strategies are working.
Segmented data is a more specific use of website traffic and applies to certain situations such as
counting the number of new visitors or returning visitors (4). Individual data is basically
measuring the actions of a specific visitor, whether it is how many pages within a website he or
she clicked or the amount of time he or she spent on certain sections (4).
information relating to visitor behavior and trends. This information includes the number of
total page views per visit, the number of page views per individual, and sources for driving
traffic to a website which include search engines, referring sites, and direct traffic (“Analytics”).
Visitor type is measured as well and is divided into four categories which include unique, repeat,
returning and new visitors (Burby 9 – 12). Organizations pay close attention to visitor type
because it can provide them information on the market to aim for when developing an
optimization strategy. The specific page a visitor enters through and exits from is also measured,
Other than visitor information, analytic data also includes certain ratios taken into
account to analyze content strategy. A bounce rate, which is defined as a single-page-view visit
divided by the amount of entry pages, is a highly useful tool when considering whether visitors
Califf 3
are reading site content or not (Burby 31). It tells whether the user is entering through a page
and the percent likely they will exit through the same page. Also, a page exit ratio, or the total
number of exits from a page divided by the total number of page views of that page is measured,
The two most common methods to collect analytic data from users are Page Tags and
Logfiles (Clifton 3). According to Brian Clifton, a search marketing and web analytics expert,
both of these methods of collecting data have certain advantages and disadvantages, which are
shown in the chart below. Although these two types of methods are different, they should be
Page Tags
Page Tags consist of a small piece of JavaScript code imbedded in each page of a website
(“Should I Use”). Each time the specific webpage is requested, the code fragment, or tag, sends
information to the web browser and is stored in the log file or database of an analytic tool
(Clifton 3). Although they are mainly considered a client-side data collection method, Page Tags
Califf 4
can also capture information from the server-side such as screen resolution and screen color
depth (“Should I Use”). Page Tags are considered an up-and-coming method of data collection
because they interact with more current Web 2.0 technologies (Clifton 4).
Logfiles
Logfiles are a form of data collected by a visitor’s server rather than by the browser
(“Should I Use”). Any requests made by a user are stored in Logfiles, which include things like
plain text file, which can be accessed easily accessed for analysis. Although considered more of
a historical method, Logfiles should still be considered as a highly beneficial method of data
Analytic Tools
There are vast amounts of tools available for organizations and individuals to take
advantage of track website performance. These analytic tools serve as the means for an
organization to collect and analyze data for the ultimate goal of constructing a website to mirror
user behavior and align with the overall marketing and organizational goals. Some of the most
popular analytic tools available on the market today are Google Analytics, Yahoo! Analytics,
AwStats, eLogic, ShinyStat, and SiteMeter (Tanson). These widely used analytic tools include
data, and some analytic tools used for data collection, we must understand some different
methods and tactics used alongside this data collection to promote visitor attraction. These
methods are generally encompassed in two different fields known as search engine marketing
Califf 5
and search engine optimization, which are used to improve search engine ranking (“Search
Engine”). Search engine ranking is how high or low a website’s position is in the search engine
results page after a user enters information into a search engine box. For example, if someone
enters the word “technology” into Google, the Wikipedia page about technology is ranked
number one.
To first understand the capabilities of these methods, we must understand how a search
engine works, which will lead us into the different tactics used to optimize visitor attraction by
increasing search engine ranking. A website’s marketing potential will depend on fair ranking in
the indexes built by search engines as they crawl the web (“How Search Engines”).
Crawling
Search engine crawling occurs when a search engine, like Google, uses a program that
visits, or crawls a website (“How Search Engines”). The crawler looks for many characteristics
within the targeted website that effect search engine ranking like content, keywords, <meta>
tags, and inbound links. It is important to remember to maintain a high frequency of search
engine crawling for best possible search engine ranking. To do this, an organization must utilize
Marketing Professional Organization, or SEMPO, North American advertisers spent $9.4 billion
in 2006, resulting in a 62% increase since 2005 (1). Search engine marketing involves exactly
that – increasing search engine ranking by using paid advertising placement and within search
prime location within search engine results (Hippsley). For example, when typing “college” into
Google, the fields at the very top and right side of the page are paid advertising. Paid inclusion
occurs when an organization pays a search engine company to include their site in their search
engine results page. Yahoo! is the most common example of a search engine company that uses
Many search engine websites use the search engine marketing method, but not without
controversy. Some consider this paid form of enhancing search engine ranking unfair to
websites that do not contain the same resources as others. Section 5 of the Federal Trade
Commission Act prohibits search engine companies, or any other company to commit “unfair or
deceptive acts or practices in affecting commerce” (Hippsley). This basically means that search
engines have to make sure websites who pay for search engine marketing must be clearly shown
on any results page. On June 27, 2002, the Federal Trade Commission made an announcement
that requested all search engine companies should make sure that companies who pay for
advertising placement and engage in paid inclusion practices are “clearly and conspicuously
explained and disclosed” (Hipplsey). The figure below shows exactly where these distinct paid
advertisements are placed when searching for “college” in Google. Note: they clearly display
Different from search engine marketing, search engine optimization refers to tweaking a
website to improve its search engine ranking as a result of organic or un-paid methods
(“Google’s Search” 1). These methods are only known by the search engine companies
and educated guesses. Considering this, an organization can enhance their website in different
ways utilizing different strategies to effect search engine performance. When executed correctly,
these strategies will result in a higher search engine ranking for an organization, as well as
Content Design
The content present on each page is crawled and indexed by search engines, so when a
user searches for a specific keyword, pages that use that keyword are more relevant than pages
that do not use that keyword (12 – 13). Keywords throughout the site’s content should be
catered to the needs of both the knowledgeable and inexperienced visitor for optimum search
Califf 8
engine recognition. The website’s content should also be relevant and reliable for visitors which
will promote a positive and well received reputation for the site (12 – 13).
Meta Tags
Meta tags serve as a summary for parts of the web application, but only the Title, <title>,
tag is readily visible to the user (4 – 6). Meta tags include things like <title>, keyword, and
description which represent code hidden from the front-end of the website. An organization
should take advantage of meta tags by remembering that search engines crawl the content within
the tags to assist with keyword requests by a search engine user (4 – 6). A website should
provide relevant keywords and descriptions within the meta tags for unique and relevant search
engine performance.
Inbound Links
Inbound links are the most important factor when maximizing search engine ranking.
These are basically hyperlinks within other websites that redirect a user to an organizations
website. A search engine crawler will essentially count the number of inbound links it finds
associated with an organization’s website and rank the site based on the link count (“Corporate
Information”). This link count is highly important because of the development of Google’s
PageRank system, which basically counts the number of links pointing to a website to determine
its importance (“Corporate Information”). This method is based on the theory that people who
produce content for the web will have the best idea about what websites are important.
information about web analytics, it is now time to apply these methods to my own personal blog,
informitivechris.blogspot.com. With the help of Google Analytics, I will show some current
Califf 9
data and graphs relating to site visitation, where these visitors are coming from, some specific
content visitors may be looking for, and make some unique suggestions that compliment this
data to better identify a visitor’s intent when searching for or exploring my blog.
Who is Visiting?
Basically, there are two main types of categories of visitors when using Google
Analytics: new visitors and returning visitors. Because new visitors represent a great of my
Blogspot audience, it is important to keep them informed and encourage them to return by
providing frequent updates and informative posts. Every new visitor I attract to my blog gives
me a greater chance of converting them to a follower, or frequent guest, which results in greater
If most of the visitors eventually become returning visitors, I should concentrate a great
deal on keeping these visitors on site through maintaining my current method of marketing, and
also potentially coming up with new material, such as providing specific RSS Feeds relating to
Califf 10
categories they can follow at their convenience. I should then focus my efforts on new visitor
attraction, making sure that the above search engine optimization suggestions are implemented
correctly.
the source of where and how visitors are accessing my blog. This data is usually lumped into
Direct Traffic
The direct traffic portion of the data consists of frequent visitors or members that type
“http://informitivechris.blogspot.com” directly into the web browser. When working with this
data, I can determine the amount of time this segment is spending on the site and the number of
pages per visit. I can then compare the statistics with other sections of the site and determine my
Referring Sites
Referring sites are links from other websites a visitor may frequent or stumble across to
access informitivechris.blogspot.com. These referring site statistics are a very important piece of
data when determining where visitors are coming from because these websites contain inbound
links. Remember, inbound links are the most important search engine ranking criteria for my
blog. I should pay close attention to the types of sites that contain these referring links and make
Referring site data is also a great way to compare and analyze if marketing strategies are
working. For example, I posted my link directly into my Facebook page and can see that is has
Search Engines
Especially when thinking about driving new visitors to my blog, I must pay close
attention to the search engine section of the website traffic. This data contains information about
Specific data within this section relates to what search engines users are typing in and the
keywords of their search that drove them to my blog. I can analyze these keywords for patterns
pertaining to the most used, least used, most unique, and numbers identifying how many visits
from specific keywords, how many pages per visit these visitors clicked, and the amount of time
they spent on site. I can use this data to alter meta tags, keywords, and possibly the content of
my website. I may even find that these search phrases are nothing of what I expected and will
allow me to prepare for future searching. Like with referring sources, I can analyze data from
week to week or month to month to determine if my strategies for search engine optimization are
working.
Search engines should serve as the platform to connect visitors to relevant content. As
mentioned in the attractiveness section of the document, there are specific ways to maximize the
potential of search engine performance. While these tactics are proven to work, it is important to
remember these strategies must be relevant to customer searches and align with content provided
within the site itself. This basically comes down to the question, “Is my blog speaking the same
language as my audience?”
Califf 13
One of the best ways to determine if my audience and I are speaking the same language is
through the use of an analytics tool like Google Analytics. These tools provide a section devoted
to the actual words visitors are typing into a search engine and accessing my blog. There is no
better way to inquire how to connect to new visitors than looking at actual data containing the
By examining these keywords, I can provide updated content to meta tags, keywords,
titles of pages, and possibly overhaul the site’s content to better align with visitor requests. For
example, by observing that the phrase “economic concepts that underlie porters five forces”
resulted in one visit to my blog, I should decide whether or not this is significant enough data to
change website content or meta tag keywords to attract visitors. In this case, since the phrase
only drive one visitor to my blog, I would say that it is not significant enough for an overhaul of
site content.
By using the above suggestions for optimizing effective search engine marketing,
optimization, analyzing and working with data, and becoming aware of analytic tools and data
collection methods, an organization will be able to effectively maximize their overall goals for
their website. Whether it be to increase new visitors, direct traffic to specific pages within a site,
Califf 14
or develop strategies to enhance a visitors viewing experience, these suggestions will provide an
organization the necessary tools needed produce and maintain valuable website.
Califf 15
Works Cited
<http://www.google.com/analytics/>.
Burby, Jason, Angie Brown, and WAA Standards Committee. "Web Analytics Definitions."
(2007). Web Anaytics Definitions - 4.0. Web Analytics Association, 16 Aug. 2007. Web.
12 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.webanalyticsassociation.org/attachments/committees/5/WAA-Standards-
Analytics-Definitions-Volume-I-20070816.pdf>.
Clifton, Brian. "Web Analytics: Web Traffic Data Sources & Vendor Comparison." (2008).
Omega Digital Media, Ltd., May 2008. Web. 11 Oct. 2009. <http://www.advanced-web-
metrics.com/docs/web-data-sources.pdf>.
<http://www.google.com/intl/en/corporate/tech.html>.
"Google's Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide." Google Webmaster Tools, 13 Nov. 2008.
optimization-starter-guide.pdf>.
Hippsley, Heather. "Re: Complaint Requesting Investigation of Various Internet Search Engine
Companies for Paid Placement and Paid Inclusion Programs." Letter to Gary Ruskin. 27
June 2002. United States of America Federal Trade Commission, 20 Oct. 2008. Web. 11
"How Search Engines Work - Search Engine Watch (SEW)." Search Engine Marketing Tips &
Search Engine News - Search Engine Watch (SEW). 17 Mar. 2007. Web. 14 Oct. 2009.
<http://searchenginewatch.com/2168031>
Janson, Bernard J. "The Comparative Effectiveness of Sponsored and Nonsponsored Links for
Web E-commerce Queries." ACM Transactions on the Web 3rd ser. 1.1 (2007). The
<http://ist.psu.edu/faculty_pages/jjansen/academic/pubs/jansen_tweb_sponsored_links.pd
f>.
SEMPO Survey of SEM Industry. SEMPO, 8 Feb. 2007. Web. 10 Oct. 2009.
<http://www.sempo.org/news/releases/02-08-07>.
"Search Engine Marketing." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 14 Oct. 2009.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_marketing>.
"Should I Use Page Tags or Log Files?" SCL Analytics Web Analytics Web Statistics PPC Bid
log-files>.
Tansun, Rick. "10 Web Analytics Tools For Tracking Your Visitors." Web log post. Sitepoint,
analytics-packages-for-tracking-your-visitors/>.
Califf 17
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/web_analytics>.
"World Internet Usage Statistics News and World Population Stats." Internet Usage World Stats
<http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm>.
"XML.com: What Is Web Analytics." XML From the Inside Out -- XML development, XML
<http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2005/10/12/what-is-web-analytics.html>.