Tracking and Analytics

Tracking and analytics are great tools to have when it comes to dealing with SEO. Some reasons why people may want to use these techniques are to learn how people are finding their site, how they navigate the site, and how they become customers. Google Analytics is an awesome tool to use and I highly recommend it, because I have used it in one of my other courses and found it extremely useful. Also, on the plus side it is FREE to use, which is a bonus. In addition to Google Analytics, there are some common metrics that you can track in order to better understand search engine optimization. The common metrics include:

• Visitors - People who visit your site in (typically) a 24 hour period.
• Unique Visitors - How many different people have visited the site in a set time period.
• Page Views - Each time a visitor loads a page.
• Bounce Rate - The percentage of visitors that exit your site without visiting any other page on the site.
• Time on Site - The average time a person spends on the site. 
• New Visitors - Percentage of visitors that have never been on the site before. 
• Referring Sites - Where the visitors found a link to the site. 
• Goals - To track when a visitor has completed a specific objective.
• Conversion Rate - The percentage of visits that resulted in a conversion for at least one goal. 

Search Results

In today's world, search engines use a variety of sources and web pages in order to generate a search result. Many refer to this type of search as the "Universal Search", because any given search query can generate results from a lot of different sources. For example, depending of the specific search query, it can vary anywhere from Videos, News, Images, to Google Posts as well.

These types of search results all depend on:

1. the query

2. time

3. location

Google Universal Search is a way that Google "blends" results from multiple searches that appear within the main Google web search results, instead of appearing as a separate box at the top of the search results page. The reason why this universal search is so important is because it is able to search across all its content sources and be able to compare and rank all the information in real time. Therefore, users are able to find exactly what they are searching for all in one place. 

Negative Ranking Factors

SEO is extremely beneficial to people who write content in hopes to gain more traffic on their sites. When done the right way, content optimization can help increase traffic, build lasting relationships, and be ranked higher on the Google results page. On the other hand, there are situations that may occur that prohibits SEO to be as successful as it could be. The term used for this type of situation is referred to as, Negative Ranking Factors. The most common Negative Ranking Factors include:

• Hidden text and/or links
• Keyword Stuffing
• Getting links from bad sites
• Low quality content 
• Redirecting the user with the intent to mislead
• Server down or connection problems with web site
• Linking to low quality or bad sites

Therefore, your first goal in SEO should be to avoid making these mistakes because these could
make or break your site. By avoiding these mistakes listed above, this could help your site not to get banned or penalized. Next, try to get your on-site elements optimized so more traffic will come to your site. Also, make sure to focus on continuously keeping your off-site strategies updated. The last thing you want to do is get Google mad by making the easily avoidable mistakes, because no matter what happens if you make these mistakes then the rest of your SEO efforts has truly been a waste of time.

Writing SEO Content

Google tends to be constantly changing the rules for content optimization. Therefore, it is important to stay up to date with the changes and new rules Google tries to enforce. Although there is no such thing as writing the "perfect" content for Google, it is still important to write content people are willing to look at. In order to write good content, the goal is to write clear and engaging content that will make viewers value what is being said and want to read more. The way to do this is by following the 5 simple steps that are listed below.

1. Do you have enough information about your target reader?

•    Before writing anything, picture your target audience in mind. Who are you trying to target? What do they like to read? How can you attract them to your site? All these questions will help you further engage with your audience and help create a lasting relationship with them.

2. Does the topic relate to your readers?

• Having content unrelated to your readers will make them not interested in what is being said, which is the last thing you want to happen. Therefore, make sure you are writing must-read content that will interest readers. For some ideas you can look at Google Treads or LinkedIn. 

3. Did you conduct keyphrase research?

• Keyphrase research will help optimize your page because it helps Google see your page and move it higher on the results page. Therefore, for having certain keyphrases that Google will pick up on will overall be beneficial for your site.     

4. Is your content too long?

• Sometimes it is easy to write a novel when writing something you are passionate about. However, by having too much content can actually hurt you in the long run because most people like reading stuff that is short, sweet, and to the point. Therefore, before posting anything step back and look at the content from another person's perspective, if it is too long or something they would not want to read, then do not post it. 

5. Does your content stand out?

• Lastly, SEO is important and everyone wants the top position on Google, but in order for that to occur your content needs to stand out from the rest. Your competitors all want the same thing for Google to place their content as the #1 content on the results page. Therefore, make sure you have a site that contains must-read content and will make readers want to come to the site and read what you have to offer.