About this time last year, analytics under attack was one of the main subjects of concern throughout the Internet.
Google announced that it would cease providing referrer information in some instances.
In the official Google blog, Evelyn Kao made the following post:
“When you search from https://www.google.com, websites you visit from our organic search listings will still know that you came from Google, but won’t receive information about each individual query.”
This change initially affected people logged in to Google accounts and people who were using Google.com. which according to Google’s claims was only a relatively small percentage of searchers. However, according to Google’s own blog entry (below) this will likely change.
“As we continue to add more support for SSL across our products and services, we hope to see similar action from other websites.”
The following example shows what Google has actually done.
When you conduct a search for “car insurance” both logged in to your Google account and searching on https://www.google.com, and not logged in to your Google account and searching on http://www.google.com/ here are the landing page results for both searches..
- Referrer When Not Logged In And Clicking On A Natural Link:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=kjrmc&cp=5&gs_id=l&xhr=t&q=car+insurance&qe=Y2FyIGk&qesig=Eeu3hebYxgo0in9YDLhtAA&pkc=AFgZ2tkKH3Xw88yrwvHzg5MkB-5vAi8dBrAzxf3se4-a7_BaiiecMyYZt0D_3TtcaX8K2jJgbEC3Yw7qMsDB65pNgSjYWjDjlA&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=car+i&aq=0p&aqi=p-p1g3&aql=f&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=8e7fa2636e8b849&biw=1680&bih=947
- Referrer When Logged In And Clicking On A Natural Link:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CHoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.moneysupermarket.com%2Fcar-insurance%2F&ei=RoaeTuS6IY_D8QOP8fixCQ&usg=AFQjCNF-UvvfJsjMbuyeGwVVnyzkQmInRA&sig2=NaTkFkfi3cK7R1_V5TsTcg
The main difference between the two searches is that when not logged in, the query for “car insurance” is available in the referrer for Analytics to pick up and use. It provides the site owner with needed information they are looking for.
When logged in, the query for “car insurance” has been stripped.
A website owner is completely clueless about why Google sent the searcher to that landing page on their website.
When logged in, that referrer is actually a lie. The previous page visited was not the one in the referrer at all.
The search was actually conducted on https://www.google.com/ and not on http://www.google.com/.
Although this seems like a small change, it has some very large consequences for website owners.
Regardless of what analytics package you use, reports showing keywords become much less useful.
When Google removes keywords from referrer data, then all of the great keyword ideas, keyword techniques and keyword attribution models commonly used in SEO are no longer possible.
So much for making our websites better for users!
The ethical balance that once existed between searchers, search engines and website owners has been upset by Google’s move. By removing referrer information Google has apparently produced an unethical result.
Alan Perkins broke it down as follows:
- Website owners can no longer easily optimize their websites to better match the searcher’s needs.
- Site owners, instead of being treated with dignity are being treated as being “not trustworthy”. In addition, site owners are being denied a piece of essential information that Google and the searcher both have, (the search query that resulted in that searcher finding their site).
- This move by Google does not promote the “common good”. Google gains and the web site owner loses.
- This move clearly prevents full participation of site owners in something they have had available to them since the earliest days of the Web and something upon which the Web was built. Referrer data was provided in the HTTP 0.9 specification and has been there ever since.
- Google’s move alienates website owners and destroys the spirit of cooperation and teamwork among site owners and Google that had previously existed. Google’s entire service is built on the content that site owners freely provide.
The patronizing spin that Google put on their announcement; “Making search more secure: Accessing search query data in Google Analytics” would have been more truthfully stated, “We’re removing site owners’ ability to pull keywords from the referrer”.
Google originally suggested that the change was positioned to make searching more secure particularly when using insecure Wifi hotspots, however a couple of things don’t jive with this explanation.
Google still strips the referrer when users visit secure Web sites even when it isn’t necessary to do so even though they don’t do it on their Encrypted Search. It simply isn’t necessary.
When searchers click on an ad instead of getting a natural result, searchers’ referrers still contain keywords.
You can tell where Google’s mind is at from their following blog post:
“we recognize the growing importance of protecting the personalized search results we deliver. As a result, we’re enhancing our default search experience for signed-in users … [but] … if you choose to click on an ad appearing on our search results page, your browser will continue to send the relevant query over the network to enable advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and to improve the ads and offers they present to you”
In short, advertisers who pay Google get treated one way, while the site owners who pay Google by providing the content their service is built on get treated differently.
Clicking on a paid ad instead of a natural result provides the following link in example number three:
- Referrer When Not Logged In And Clicking On A Natural Link:
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=kjrmc&cp=5&gs_id=l&xhr=t&q=car+insurance&qe=Y2FyIGk&qesig=Eeu3hebYxgo0in9YDLhtAA&pkc=AFgZ2tkKH3Xw88yrwvHzg5MkB-5vAi8dBrAzxf3se4-a7_BaiiecMyYZt0D_3TtcaX8K2jJgbEC3Yw7qMsDB65pNgSjYWjDjlA&pf=p&sclient=psy-ab&source=hp&pbx=1&oq=car+i&aq=0p&aqi=p-p1g3&aql=f&gs_sm=&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.,cf.osb&fp=8e7fa2636e8b849&biw=1680&bih=947
- Referrer When Logged In And Clicking On A Natural Link:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&sqi=2&ved=0CHoQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.moneysupermarket.com%2Fcar-insurance%2F&ei=RoaeTuS6IY_D8QOP8fixCQ&usg=AFQjCNF-UvvfJsjMbuyeGwVVnyzkQmInRA&sig2=NaTkFkfi3cK7R1_V5TsTcg
- Referrer When Logged In And Clicking On A Paid Link:
http://www.google.com/url?http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=ClrXYRoaeTt7BI8We8APK543yBYrGqWP-obrkI4TN7AQQBigIUOvGl8f4_____wFgu76ug9AKyAEBqQIwM2eSHF26PqoEGk_QTdQtj7np_5xRJavQhhGPHLhFRZtF9pdvugUTCOT1h6Om9KsCFY9hfAodjzg-lsoFAA&num=9&ei=RoaeTuS6IY_D8QOP8fixCQ&sig=AOD64_10PBtIEOuf9waR5LMaPUiMrDinMA&sqi=2&ved=0CEIQ0Qw&adurl=http://pixel.everesttech.net/1816/cq%3Fev_sid%3D3%26ev_ln%3Dcar%2520insurance%26ev_crx%3D9512830502%26ev_mt%3De%26ev_n%3Dg%26ev_ltx%3D%26ev_pl%3D%26url%3Dhttp%253A//www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/insurance/%253FSource%253DGOO-003881E4%2526keywords%253Dcar%252Binsurance%252B%252BExact%2526p%253D0&rct=j&q=car+insurance
Again, advertisers who pay Google money get treated one way, site owners who pay Google by providing the content the whole Google service is built on get treated a different way and searchers’ privacy is not really protected.
With Analytics Under Attack by Google, there is not much site owners can do about it except use other search engines such as Bing or Yahoo search.
Both as of this date do not remove referrer data from their search results.
You can also make better use of social media.
If constructive use of social media can lead to regime change in Egypt, surely analytics under attack by Google should not pose much of a problem.
Blogging is one of the best social media tools we have available to us online and these six steps to get your blog up and running are easy to implement even for first time bloggers.
Blogs have been and will remain a major part of many business marketing plans for a variety or reasons, however the main reason for their popularity is the economic factor.
Businesses with small marketing budgets can gain a web presence and position themselves in any niche market as an authority in their chosen area of expertise by effectively using blogs.
Although a business blog can be up and running in under ten minutes using a hosted blog like WordPress.com or Blogger.com, we do not recommend using these sites for business purposes.
If there are any missteps or infractions of the terms of the site, intended or otherwise, your blog could be taken down without any prior notification from the entity hosting your blog.
For business purposes, we recommend downloading WordPress software from the WordPress.org site and purchasing your own web host.
This insures that your site cannot be inadvertently taken down from the web without your intention.
Here are the six steps to get your blog up and running in a jiffy.
- First you need to purchase a domain name.
Your domain is the address on the world wide web where your actual website resides. It is literally your online store front address.
Before you purchase your domain, you need to put some thought into what your domain should be named.
What is the name you intend to use for your business? Use it as your domain name if it is available.
If not, consider using dashes in between some of the words for readability and availability.
If you happen to luck out and get a domain that is the same name of your business, buy it immediately. Good domain names don’t last long.
To check if your domain name is available, you can do a Google search, use the domain checker at the top of this site or check it when you purchase your hosting.
The main reason you want your domain name to match your blog and or business name is for Search Engine Optimization purposes.
Your site will be indexed faster and attain a higher ranking in the search engine results pages when your domain matches your business or blog’s name.
- Your next step is to purchase your hosting.
Your hosting is where the data for your blog is actually stored. All the information that resides on your blog is located with the host. It is actually stored in a computer server similar to your mini tower desktop computer except in a more secure location.
You must purchase hosting when you run a “self hosted” WordPress blog or website.
1and1 Internet, HostGator, and a plethora of other hosting providers can be found online by doing a Google search for “web hosting providers”.
Look for one that is reasonably priced and provides good service.
- Step number three is to Install WordPress on your domain.
WordPress in our opinion is the best blogging software available on the Internet and almost 40,000,000 users online agree with us.
You will find that most hosting providers offer some type of fast, “one click” installation procedure for WordPress software.
There are tutorials available that will walk you through the installation process at WordPress.org if you run into trouble.
Once your WordPress software is installed on the host’s server, you can log into your WordPress ADMIN panel at “http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/” and begin tweaking your blog settings.
- Step number four requires some initial settings that need to be tweaked on your site before you start blogging.
After your first log in you will need to change the following settings:
Permalinks:
Go to settings > Permalinks
Click on “Post Names” and change your permalinks to that setting. (It should look like http://yourdomain.com/sample-post/)
Privacy Settings:
Go to Settings > Discussion > Discussion Settings and make sure you check “Before a comment appears” and “Administrator must always approve the comment”.
You should always moderate comments to your blog before you allow them to appear publicly.
Reading Settings:
Go to Reading > Reading Settings and set up a “home page” if you want one.
If you do not set up a home page, your latest blog post will be shown on the front page of your blog when it is published.
You can also decide here if you want the full text or just a summary of your latest post shown.
Writing Settings:
Go to Writing > Writing Settings and scroll to the bottom to “Update Services”.
In this box include at least the following list of “ping” services and click “Save Changes”.
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
http://api.feedster.com/ping
http://api.moreover.com/RPC2
http://ping.feedburner.com
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC
http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc/
http://rpc.newsgator.com/
http://coreblog.org/ping/
http://ping.blo.gs/
http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/
http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc
http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php
http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php
http://pinger.blogflux.com/rpc
http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/
http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/
http://rpc.pingomatic.com/
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2
http://topicexchange.com/RPC2
http://services.newsgator.com/ngws/xmlrpcping.aspx
http://blogdigger.com/RPC2
http://xping.pubsub.com/ping
http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping
http://signup.alerts.msn.com/alerts-PREP/submitPingExtended.doz
http://www.blogsnow.com/ping
http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi
http://www.holycowdude.com/rpc/ping/
http://www.snipsnap.org/RPC2
http://pingoat.com/goat/RPC2
These “ping” services will get your blog posts indexed by the search engines almost as quickly as you publish them on your blog.
All these setting changes are the minimum required for good SEO and readability. You can play with these and other settings after your blog is up and running.
- Your next step is to pick yourself an appropriate theme for your blog.
Unless you do your own coding, you will need a theme other than the generic one offered by WordPress to use as a template for your business blog.
There are literally thousands of WordPress themes on the Internet and again a simple Google search will provide you with more than enough basic or premium themes for you to choose from.
Some of the more dazzling premium themes and frameworks will require an investment on your part but in the end they are well worth the cost.
A Google search can also hook you up with a professional site builder if you decide to go that route.
- After you decide on a theme for your blog, you need to install some basic WordPress plugins to make your blogging experience faster and easier.
Since there are almost 15,000 plugins now available to enhance the WordPress user experience, we will only mention the “must have” plugins that I highly recommend.
To virtually eliminate spam from your blog, we highly recommend installing the Askimet plugin. It is free, easily installed and will stop spam.
Backups of your business blog are always necessary in case your site gets hacked. I know because it happened to me. A Google search can hook you up with a number of backup plugins for WordPress that work in the background.
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is essential to every blog and website. The all time number one SEO plugin for WordPress is the All In One SEO Pack.
Others are available and in some cases easier to implement but the All In One SEO Pack is the one I have found performs the best.
If you plan to gather customer contacts on your blog, your best bet is to use the “Gravity Forms” WordPress plugin. Others are available and work just as good.
If your business is an e-commerce site, the “JigoShop” plugin could suit your needs.
Again there are tons of other free or premium plugins for the WordPress platform readily available online by doing a Google search or by searching on http://wordpress.org/search/plugins.
Once you choose which plugins you want to include in your WordPress blog, start writing content!
As they say in the Internet marketing business, Content is king! The more frequently you write interesting posts to your blog, the more visitor traffic you will attract.
Making frequent SEO friendly posts on you blog will improve your blog’s ranking with the search engines and increase the amount of targeted web traffic you need for your business.
Since blogging is still one of the best social media tools available online for small businesses to improve their web presence, we hope these six steps to get your blog up and running will make setting up your business blog a walk in the park.
These tutorials can also help.
Addressing your customers changing needs is one of the underlying tenets of successful Internet marketing.
In order to achieve real success, you need to provide your customers with something that they actually want in a timely manner.
This tenet sounds simple and it is, however many marketers fail to fully understand that almost all of their customers are willing to try out new things either because they are naturally curious or because they have been influenced by others to do so.
The net effect is that customers are constantly ready and willing to explore other products and that customer retention is often fleeting.
Superficially, understanding and addressing your customers changing needs appears to be a simple concept.
In reality and for several reasons, it is extremely difficult for most Internet marketers to master.
Determining what a customer really wants and then addressing your customer’s changing needs is one of the most difficult tasks that marketers face.
Often, the lack of research skills prevents marketers from correctly identifying what customers want but more often than not, it is the customers themselves who are not quite sure what they want until they have it in their hands.
For this reason, customers are not always all that clear about the information they provide to Internet marketers.
Even when an organization understands and can identify what their customers really want, they may still not have the ability to address their customer’s needs.
For example; your customers may be trending towards a new technology that existing management may not have the talent or the ability to adequately provide.
Or, because of ignorance of a new technology, your organization may lack the technical expertise needed to provide trending customers with new products or services they are looking to acquire.
The products and services that organizations have been accustomed to providing their customer base can often be substantially different from what trending customers actually want.
Despite the issues that organizations are faced with as they try to identify and respond to their customers’ needs, those that are able to address their customer’s changing needs and do it well are likely to reap substantial benefits.
The convenience store retailer 7-Eleven provides a good example of how addressing your customers changing needs and responding to them can place your organization over your competition.
7-Eleven’s Indonesian franchise correctly identified that Indonesians under 30 years of age who were heavy users of social media required someplace for them to get together with other like minded individuals.
By identifying the needs of this group and providing a gathering place for them to collaborate, 7-Eleven adjusted their business model and included new products and services to address their customer’s changing needs.
The end result was a retail experience that compared to what customers in the United States and other countries have in their local 7-Eleven stores, is considerably foreign to them.
However, their business model adjustment spurred 7-Eleven’s Indonesian store expansion to rates faster than their top competitiors; Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonalds.
Addressing your customers changing needs and providing them with something they want in a timely fashion is not only one of the underlying tenets of successful Internet marketing but also the key to achieving real success for your organization.
