BUS 572 - 5 Analytics Academy (Very Prestigious)

It's Been a Journey

After registering for the Analytics Academy course, I took a look at all the videos and thought the Platform Principles Course didn't look too hard. I watched each video, and then took the respective quiz afterwards. I then made it to the final assessment and failed. I looked back at each question I missed and reviewed the concept. I took it one more time and passed! I was anxious for my certificate. I took a screen capture, placed it in a Word document and reviewed the assignment directions to make sure I did everything I needed to. After playing around in the course dashboard, I realized I never did the Fundamentals. I felt defeated, but knew I had to get it done. I then began watching the videos and then, yet again, opened the final assessment. It was tougher than the last test and took me longer and more attempts to finish. I ended up getting a perfect (I'd hope so after the amount of times I took it) and then double-checked there were no other secret tests. I have succeeded!

Overall, the courses provided a ton of useful information. Although, it was a lot to remember, I know this information will become handy. It is exciting to know that after all this preparation, studying, researching and anxiety, the GOMC has finally started. Working hard and then seeing your work pay off is a great feeling. This course has had so many parts that are dependent on other parts. Missing one concept or assignment can cost a team a lot of time and anguish to catch up. I am happy our team stayed on track and worked together for this project. Hopefully our campaign will yield successful results.

BUS 572 - 4 Google Analytics Cookies

Cookies (....I hope they're peanut butter)

Let's start off by saying that the cookies aren't peanut butter, or chocolate chip, or oatmeal! What kind are they, you ask? These cookies are files that store information about you and/or your computer on the hard drive. Google Analytics assigns first party cookies (set by the domain being visited and can only be read by the website that created it) that helps the website you are on to uniquely identify you. First party cookies are used for Google Analytics tracking. Browsers don't share first party cookies across domains so when you visit another website, another first party cookie is created. When visit the website again, Google Analytics knows you have visited before and only counts you once. It sounds either really cool or really creepy, right? It can be both, but cookies help the visitor to have an experience centralized and customized around them. If you think disabling cookies will protect your privacy, you are right in a sense, but this is only limits your ability to visit websites and the time it takes to find something you are looking for may increase. Although cookies seem scary (unlike cookies we eat), they help us, the website visitor, in the long run.

Google Analytics Cookies (...still not the edible kind)

Google Analytics has 4 different types of cookies. The first cookie is the Visitor Identifier cookie. The Visitor cookie is persistent which means even if you close your browser, the cookie still remains. It expires 2 years after a visitor visits the website or until the visitor deletes the cookie.  The second cookie is the Session Identifier. The Session Identifier cookie expires only 30 minutes after inactivity on a website. This is a short life span compared to other cookies that expire after years. It determines the beginning and end of a visit so whenever you visit a new webpage, the cookie is refreshed and then set to expire in 30 minutes. The third cookie type is the Traffic Source Identifier. The Traffic Source Identifier cookie stores traffic source information for a session. It has a 6 month timeout and will only be attributed to a certain campaign for that amount of time or until the cookie is overwritten. The last cookie is the Custom Visitor Segmentation cookie. This last cookie helps in defining segments for reporting like demographics. You can do A/B testing and see if logged in visitors' actions differ from those who do not log in. This cookies expires after 2 years.

Customizing - You Can't Live Without It

I knew you could track things and they would be customized to your actions, but I never knew the detailed level this was done on. All the code that goes into customization, and everything that can be tracked! There is event tracking for things like flash, page categories, outbound links, site search, and eCommerce. You can track paid search campaigns, banner ads, e-mails and other programs. Just linking your Google Analytics to AdWords you can get auto categorized. This videos we can watch and listen to have so much information. Have these videos been helping you in fixing your campaigns? What have you learned specifically that you think enhanced your campaign?

It's Been a Journey

We are over halfway finished with the class and I am really looking forward to these last few weeks. Not because it's going to be over, but because we are finally going to be involved in the challenge! I feel like we have been talking about this challenge for months (because we have!) and today was finally the day we were able to register. Once all the details get worked out and we get our code, our campaigns can proceed and we finally get to see if our research was correct. Learning about everything leading up to this was great, but finally getting to see it in action is the icing on the cake. It's like we are in the homestretch of it all and I think many of my classmates can agree that this journey was well worth all the knowledge we received. The guest speakers also really helped us to learn and steer our campaigns in the right direction for success.

...are you still craving that cookie??

BUS 572 - 3 Understanding the Link on Links

A Link is a Link is a Link

Just look around, links are everywhere. They are inevitable. They make the internet flow from one web page to another. They are important in different ways, and are vital in the existence of the internet. As users use these links to explore the world of the next webpage, search engines do the same. The search engine spiders (don't worry, they aren't real spiders!) browse around to find websites using links. Links also help in ensuring a web page is relevant. Just because a link reads 'Buy Cars Here,' doesn't mean they are vehicles you can drive. It may mean toy cars and if you are searching for a new car to drive to work, this link and web page would be irrelevant. Search engines help eradicate these mistakes and errors.

 Why is This Important?

Links are like a lighthouse. They signal trust to navigate to the next web page. When a one web page is linked to another by a link, it's like that first web page is backing the destination page up, assuring the user that it is safe to move forward. The initial web page can transfer trust to another web page using a link. Links also help in validating that a web page is relevant. If the text of a link tells you that you are going to enter a specific web page, the destination page already sent a signal with by it's content that validates it's significance and the link confirms that. 

...And Equality for All, Sometimes

I have been talking about all the important, trusted links, but of course there are links of a lesser kind. There are always going to be websites that are more trusted that others therefore making links more trusted than others. The more significance a web site holds, the more value a link has. Search engines try to determine if links are natural or manipulative. Manipulative links are links just looking for high rankings. If a link is natural, the link will have more worth and be more trusted. Search algorithms help to determine relationships between linked websites. If similar web sites are linked to each other, it is better. I think sometimes that links may look like they can be trusted, but are manipulative. Have you ever run into any links you trusted and they were actually manipulative? The internet is so big, it is hard for search engines to determine if every link is safe. How many links do you think search engines cover? 

I've Found the Missing Link

It is interesting to read our book for class because I know about the concepts, for the most part, but have never gotten into as much detail with them. Links, they are simple, but complex. They are more than just HTML code, but really a way for a user to move throughout the internet. Looking at it from a different perspective can really change the way you think. I knew there were 'bad' links, but really digging into the why's and how's of things is just expanding my horizons. You're never too old to learn. 

...and one more thing, do you trust this link?

BUS572 - 2 Website Analytics: A Look Under the Microscope

Tracking: I Always Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me

There is more to a website than the information and pictures on the front end. Especially if your website is just informational and you are not selling anything, you have to have to have some way to track how many people are visiting the site, what they are clicking on, and analyzing important data to make your website more successful for the future. There are 2 ways to track website analytics data. There is log-file analysis and page tagging. They each have their own advantages and disadvantages. Some packages even have features of both. No matter what, tracking is important to eMarketing and staying on top of your website can affect a successful outcome.

Log-File Analysis and Page Tagging

Log-file analysis entails reading records and recording all clicks on the web server. Whenever something different happens, each new request, a new line is written. Log files are in a standard format so it is usually easy to change vendors. Page tagging is not as easy to change vendors. Data can be lost if the switch is made. They only record failed requests unlike page tagging, that records only successful requests. Page tagging reports on events (an action that has been recorded and time stamped by a browser or server) while log-file analysis cannot. Log-file analysis is more accurate overall because every, single click is recorded. Page tagging can be less accurate because of certain scripts that need to be supported and may not be. This will cause no information to be recorded. Log-file analyses are usually done in-house. This means less support from an IT perspective. Page tagging is done by third parties, so there is more of a support system in place in case any issues arise. Although they differ in many ways, they are both comprised of raw data that is being analyzed to come up with meaningful numbers. Measuring a marketing campaign is important as data doesn't lie.

You're Asking What I Learned?

As this GOMC project progresses, I am being exposed to so many different aspects of a website that I have never seen before. Ad Words is an amazing tool. Actually putting into practice what we are learning about is so effective. Creating campaigns, Ad Groups, ads and keywords is important to learn. I may have my own business someday and if I don't have a website, I am missing out on a lot of opportunity. Then when I get a website, I need to analyze. Dig deep into the raw data and make some sense of it. What keywords work? Which keywords do not? How much is my campaign going to cost me? What's my strategy? As a business owner, this might be a lot to handle. Guessing cannot be apart of a campaign. Research needs to be done and learning that now is extremely useful. Going into something with the knowledge of how it needs to be done is such an advantage. Many people are probably not aware of all the tools Google offers and why would they be? There is no one there telling them what to do. I can't imagine how much more there is to learn.

Looking Back

This class is harder than I expected. I am being challenged because I am unfamiliar with the new tools and features we are learning about. I have coded websites before and made them look appealing, but I never really thought about the data behind it. Impressions, clicks, click through, conversion, these are all important elements of enhancing a website. There is always data behind everything. I want to become better at Ad Words, like Sarah Peduzzi. Even though it might not be critical in my day-to-day job now, it could someday. Even creating a campaign as practice, after this class, would be helpful. Do you agree on the importance of this subject? Are you gaining as much from these classes an I am? Why?

BUS572-1 Searching: The Continuous Pursuit

Searching: The Continuous Pursuit

Organic and Paid for Search Results

There are two types of search results that appear when we search for something in a search engine. There are organic search results and paid search results. But what does 'organic search results' even mean? Is it a healthier version of a search result? Organic search results are just the primary results of the search engine that are displayed on the left-hand side of the search engine results page. They are not influenced by money which is the main differentiator between organic and paid search results. Paid search results, also known as pay-per-click (PPC) display paid results on the top and right-hand side of the search engine results page. Below I have examples of both organic search results and paid search results. For the organic search I searched for I Made It! Market and they do not pay for any results to come up. With the paid search results, I searched for shoes and the results at the top highlighted in yellow and the results on the right are sponsored. They are meant to be first and jump out at your more so you are more inclined to use their website since there are many shoe websites.

Organic Search Results

Paid Search Results

Search Results and Digital Marketing

So what is the importance of knowing about different search results? They have nothing to do with me. They might not now, but what if you start a business someday? Your business will need a website to survive. Knowing how to get your website to come up effectively in search engine results is critical. If you want people to visit your website, they have to be able to find it. Your website also needs to be high-ranking in order to populate in search engine results more often. Sometimes not paying for your website to come up in the paid search results is better. Research shows people actually trust organic search results since they are more relevant than the paid search results. It all depends on how well known you already are and how you want to approach your target audience. 

The website for I Made It! Market was ranked 4/10 on Page Rank. It is a good tool to use to see where your website is ranked and how to improve it so more traffic comes through.

There's More to Life Than Searching 

You can't focus completely on search engine results to make your website have high volumes of traffic. I do think it is very important to focus on the different types of search results, which one is best for your website, and the ranking, but what else could enhance traffic through your website? Maybe your website is ranked high, but still doesn't come up in search results like you want it to, where do you go from there? In your opinion, which search results are better, organic or paid? I personally always click on organic search results. I feel like I will get the most useful information that I am looking for in those websites. You'll never really know what else is out there if you never click on that second page of search results. I think there are vital keywords that people type into search engines that will bring your website up in their search results. That's how I found art in Pittsburgh that I didn't even know existed!

Reflection

I have taken information sciences classes before, but this class and book are putting things in a different perspective. I never knew how search results were ordered or what made one come up more than another. Of course it has to do with keywords, but that is all I thought it was based on. I think it's interesting that there is so much more that goes into search engines and the results they display. I didn't even know there was a website that could rank your website! These are all critical in creating and publishing a website for a business. You could have a website for years and not even understand why there is no traffic coming through. I feel better knowing this information because it is useful in everyday life.