Download - Metric Misuse
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Metric MisuseChris Green - StrategiQ Marketing
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
What is metric misuse?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Over-reliance on the wrong numbers
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Why does it happen?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Misunderstanding
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Just because it's a number...
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
... doesn't mean it's true
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Arguments should be supported by data
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Not moulded to fit them
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
In this webinar we'll cover
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
10 frequently misused metrics in digital marketing
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
1. Rankings
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
One of the most misunderstood “SEO metrics”
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
What we're measuring isn't so easy to measure
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Put simply -What's the weather like outside?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Now phone someone in a different timezone
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
It won't always be the same
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
It won't always be the same(Okay, so maybe that is a bit simple)
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
Rankings aren't universal:Personalisation, search location, etc
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Rankings are a good benchmark
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
They can monitor progressand trouble-shoot issues
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Why are you tracking rankings?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Because they == traffic?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Because they == traffic?Is traffic your goal?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
It can be useful, but use the data wisely
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Next, another "SEO Metric”
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
2. New/Lost links
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
An example...
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
"My rankings dropped on the 2nd"
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
"I've checked and saw we lost some links around then"
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
"That’s why..."
*sulk*
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Which tool did you use?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
How does that tool discover backlinks?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Will it crawl the same links as Google at the same time?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Probably not - and there's the problem
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
New/Lost links is a good(ish) benchmark if you check the same source
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
It's not a good way at diagnosing rankings changes over short periods
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Look for trends over longer periods
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Onto less "SEO" metrics
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
3. Ave monthly traffic (keyword)
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
From Google or Bing for example
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Presents an approximate search volume as reported
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
It can be very useful, with some caveats
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
It shows the past, but not the future
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Very, very rough numbers, lots of rounding
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Can be particularly hard to judge on lower search-weight terms
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
(Remember - these figures are from tools which help you spend your money)
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
“If I get into x position I'll get x traffic”
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Sometimes...
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
But SERPs for different keywords are different
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Click through rates are different
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
These search volumes show all the traffic, not just those who click on ads or organic listings
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
On to my “favourite”
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
4. Bounce rate
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
Probably the most commonly misused stat - it could almost have gone unsaid
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
Probably the most commonly misused stat - it could almost have gone unsaid
Almost.
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
But it's important to understand why bounce rate is misunderstood
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Not just because a "bounce" isn't always bad
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
But because the method of measurement is not fool-proof
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
"the percentage of visitors to a particular website who navigate away from the site after viewing
only one page."- Google
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Google Analytics tracking loads when a page loads
a bounce is when the code is only loaded once
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
But there are other reasons this might happen
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
"Google Analytics doesn't register multiple pageviews unless users reload that page"
- (also) Google
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Bad news for one-page sites
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
The second pageview needs to be made within the same "Session"
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Sessions, as tracked by GA can expire
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
After 30 minutes of inactivity and/or at midnight
30 mins 00:00
OR
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Spend too long inactive - that's a bounce too
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
How to making bounce rate more meaningful
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Event tracking on buttons/links, scroll depth or time on page
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
Bounce can be a useful metric, but it’s only the start of a question, not an answer
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
This moves on nicely to...
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
5. Average time on site
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Slightly less well known, but equally misused
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
Because of what it is (or isn't) measuring
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
If a bounce is when you only hit one page
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Time on site can only be measured (in GA) when you view more than one page
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
80% bounce rate with average time on site of 5mins
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
That's 5 mins for the 20% of people who didn't bounce
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Spend 4 mins on page 1, 3 mins on page 2, then exit - how long is that recorded?
Page 104:02
Page 203:18
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
4 mins
Because the time on the second page is "lost" when you exited
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
This can be solved in the same way as a bounce, you need to track engagement better
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Or at minimum be aware how limited this data can be
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
6. Pageviews
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Not a massive misuse case, but worth noting when it can go wrong
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
When do pageviews not measure pageviews?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
When you have tracking setup problems
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Common scenario I've seen...
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
GTM added without removing Universal Analytics
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Double pageviews - also very low bounce rate too
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
But it could also be related to how you track goals
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Virtual pageviews - unsurprising reallyjust be aware
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
7. Impressions
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
A stat that leaves me conflicted, here's why...
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
"120,000 people saw your ad"
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Great, but did they? What does it even mean?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
That's not to say # of impressions is a bad stat...
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
But buying impressions is cheap and pointless if done for the sake of impressions.
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
Think about what an impression means to your campaign goals - use wisely
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
8. Site Conversion rate
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
This is more as a caution to how conversions are conveyed in GA
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Any goal which triggers on your site (time on site, contact submission, pageview) is a
conversion
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
But there's a crucial difference between Macro/Micro conversions
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
A site conversion rate of 30% is great, but as Avinash Says ...
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
A "site's success is bigger than just that one number"
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/excellent-analytics-tip-13-measure-macro-and-micro-conversions/
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
So a site-level conversion rate will be woefully inadequate at telling your story
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
9. Referrals (ref spam)
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Something that catches out a casual user
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
Ref Spam ruins data - it makes pageviews/users more than they really are
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
It also pollutes user/engagement data too
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Filter it out (using advanced segments)
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Hope Google finds a better option soon!
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
10. Cost Per Click
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
An easy measurement to misuse
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
The wallet does most of the talking here
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Ever compared cost per click of adwords keywords, or Facebook and LinkedIN Ads?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Apples and oranges really - it comes down to...
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
What is an "expensive" click?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
To answer that you first need to know what a click is worth
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
"I'm not going to do LinkedIN ads because it costs ten times more than Facebook"
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
I'd rather a fraction of the clicks if each one was 10 times more likely to buy
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
An expensive click is one which doesn't give you anything back
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
But to understand the value here, you need to be able to measure what a click brings
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Contact forms, phone leads, footfall… etc
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected] marketing starts with a strategy
So how do you pick the right metrics?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Understand what your objective is and work backwards
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
We can measure a lot, success can be easy to express
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
But it's also very easy to be over-confident
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Or make big decisions on bad data
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Be just as sure of what you don't know as what you do.
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
Questions?
Successful marketing starts with a strategy. @chrisgreen87 - [email protected]
References:StrategiQ Marketing - http://strategiqmarketing.co.uk My Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/chrisgreen87My Email - [email protected]
Google Analytics Academy - https://analyticsacademy.withgoogle.com/course01Ref Spam Segments - https://loganix.net/referral-spam-solved-give-your-analytics-an-anema/ Better data from GA - https://medium.com/google-analytics/hacking-google-analytics-24762924fbf8Macro & Micro Conversions - http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/excellent-analytics-tip-13-measure-macro-and-micro-conversions/