Want to be a Top Notch Analyst? Add these Skills to your Repertoire

If you are looking for a career in web analytics and want to establish a solid foundation of skills as a part of your overall analytics training, then I recommend adding the skills below to your tool-set to help you become a very well rounded analyst before you enter the field. Taking a course on web analytics, reading a book on web analytics or subscribing to a web analytics blog are a good start, but frankly, are not good enough by themselves.
 

Search Marketing: I always think of Web Analytics as a tool to help your search marketing strategy. Without an [...]

Interview with Jill Whalen: SEO Myths and Scams

Search Engine Strategies (SES) will be held in Toronto, Ontario next month featuring a number of our industry’s thought leaders. A topic that sprung my interest was on day 2: "SEO Don’ts, Myths, & Scams" featuring the CEO of High Rankings, Jill Whalen. To get some insight before SES Toronto, I was able to catch up with Jill Whalen to ask her a few questions on the topic of SEO Don’ts, Myths, & Scams. Below is how our conversation went:
[Manoj]: On the topic of SEO scams, is this something that is still rapidly growing?
[Jill Whalen]: I wouldn’t say [...]

Web Analytics: Wasting Your Time

Web Analytics is not easy and can take up much of you time so it’s important to concentrate on the things which have the most benefit to your business. Below I have outlined the types of things you shouldn’t measure as well as some areas where you could potentially end up wasting time rather than focusing on tactics and metrics which will actually help your strategy to succeed.

Trying to Achieve 100% Accuracy

In a JavaScript and Cookie model, web analytics will never be 100% accurate. In a web analytics test performed last year by Stone Temple consulting where they [...]

How to Optimize your Web Analytics Process

Having frequently been involved with the web analytics process I have noticed some consistent issues with web analytics both from an agency and in house perspective. I am not talking about data quality or even vendor selection, I am talking about how web analytics strategically fits in within an organization.

Analytics is not a priority: In many cases web analytics is often an afterthought and is not implemented during a site launch or during a sponsored/email campaign. Web Analytics needs to be given more priority and should be thought of before any marketing campaigns are implemented so that you can actually [...]

How to Develop a Stronger Search Marketing Training Program

Recently I have been involved in creating a search marketing training program which some very clear objectives: help new search marketing strategists get up to speed quicker, allow them to work on billable client work sooner/more efficiently and get them prepared to participate in high-level brainstorming strategies. As much as I can teach the new strategists, I have learned it’s as important to learn from them to continually tweak and improve the program. Below I have outlined 3 steps to creating a stronger search marketing training program.
 

Constantly Reading, Sucks: Providing course material to your trainees is important but don’t overload [...]

What Factors Should be Considered for an Online Competitive Analysis?

Coming from an agency, there are often times when there is need to perform a competitive analysis for a client in order to better understand the client’s position in the competitive landscape. The main purpose of a competitive analysis should be to gain awareness of the competitive factors analyzed and to leverage the client’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) to their advantage. So what kind of factors should be included in an online competitive analysis? Below are a few that I feel should always make the competitive analysis list:

Domain Age: The age of your domain can have an affect [...]

Search Marketing Trends 2008

Last week I was able to catch up with Jeffrey Pruitt, EVP, Corporate Partnerships at iCrossing, to discuss his thoughts on search marketing trends and paradigm shifts in 2008. We also discussed some useful sessions people should check out while attending Search Engine Strategies in New York. Here’s how our conversation went:
[Manoj]: Can you give me a brief overview of the trends you think the search marketing industry will see this year?
[Jeffrey Pruitt]:
1) Convergence of Search and Display
As advertising becomes more and more digitized, we will see a changed landscape over the next few years. Non-Premium inventory (not on [...]

Am I Missing Anything in my Video/Image Strategy?

Image optimization and video optimization are not secondary organic strategies anymore, they are essential in creating a well-rounded online presence. There are numerous resources you can turn to help perfect your strategy but I wanted to take a look at some techniques you may never thought of as well as some additional questions to ask yourself before applying any tactics. 

Leveraging high image rankings: You may have top rankings for your images in both the image results and universal/blended results but what are visitors doing when they arrive at your site? Search Engines such as Google show the exact page where [...]

Where Can I Look for a Career in Online Marketing?

Karl from Victoria, BC asks: Where Can I Look for a Career in Online Marketing?
Karl, from what I have heard and read there are a plethora of Search Marketing Jobs available at this time. For both Employers and Job Seekers it can be quite overwhelming to figure where to post/look for jobs in search marketing. Below are a list of resources to Find the right person or to Find the right online marketing career:
 

CrunchBoard (from TechCrunch): The CrunchBoard job board gives you access to millions of technology and business savvy readers of TechCrunch and other top technology blogs. CrunchBoard is [...]

What Are Some Useful Video Optimization Resources?

Last week we gathered some useful link for Optimizing Images for Search Engines and this week we discovered some great resources for Optimizing Video for Search Engines. With Google introducing Universal Search earlier this year (and other engines closely following behind), search results are more and more likely to have video results integrated within natural search listings. Titles, Descriptions, Ratings, Average watch duration and Views are all factors contributing to the likelihood of videos (from YouTube, Google Video, MetaCafe, Yahoo Video) found within search results. Check out the sites below for detailed tactics on how to leverage videos in your [...]