Google Analytics

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool that you can used to track information about the way visitors to your site interact with it. Google Analytics is now the most widely used web analytics service on the Internet. Google Analytics is a free Web analytics service that provides statistics and basic analytical tools for search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing purposes. The service is available to anyone with a Google account.

Google Analytics features include:

• Data visualization tools including a dashboard,scorecards and motion charts, which display changes in data over time.
• Segmentation for analysis of subsets, such as conversation.
• Custom reports.
• Email-based sharing and communication.
• Integration with other Google products, such as AdWords, public data explorer and website optimizer.

Google Analytics shows 5 types of visit:

          1. Direct visit

          2. Referrals visit

          3. Paid visit

          4. Organic visit

          5. Social  visit

Direct Visit:

Direct traffic is defined as URL’s that people either type in directly or reach via their browser bookmarks. Google Analytics defines direct traffic as website visits either by typing your website URL on a browser or through browser bookmarks. In addition, if Google Analytics can’t recognize the traffic source of a visit, it will also be categorized as Direct in your Analytics report.

Referral Visit:

Referral traffic is Google's method of reporting visits that came to your site from sources outside of its search engine. When someone clicks on a hyperlink to go to a new page on a different website.

Analytics tracks the click as a referral visit to the second site. The originating site is called a “referrer” because it refers traffic from one place to the next.

Paid Visit:

The goal of paid traffic is to acquire customers at break-even or better. Paid traffic comes in many forms. basically is when you pay to get visitors for a website.

Here are some common types of Paid traffic:

• Social Media Advertisement (SMA)
• Pay per Click (PPC) like Google AdWords or Bing Ads
• Pay Per View(PPV)

Organic Visit:

Paying for traffic can be a powerful tool for marketers.Paid traffic can come from more than just Facebook, though. Technically, any service you pay for that drives leads or eyeballs to you is a paid traffic source. Here are some of the big ones:

• Display ads, aka those things on the side of the page your ad blocker erases
• Paid search like Google AdWords or Bing Ads
• Social media ads, the sponsored content that appears in your Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook feeds or before the YouTube video you clicked on
• Paid discovery, or the content promoted by networks like Outbrain Amplify
• Sponsored content — a type of content marketing that looks like an article on a website or even in a print mag but is actually a piece of content marketing for a brand
• Influencer marketing, where a social media influencer promotes your product or brand for their audience

Social Visit:

Social traffic refers to traffic coming from social networks and social media platforms.

How to use Google Analytics for tracking the website?

          1. Sign into Google Analytics with your Google account.

          2. Click the admin button on the bottom left sidebar of your dashboard.

          3. Select an account or create an account.

          4. Click on the drop-down menu to create a property.

          5. Click on the website option and add your sites name and URL.

          6. Choose your industry.

          7. Choose your time zone.

          8. Click on Get Tracking ID.

          9. Install Tracking ID on your website.

        10. Paste the Tracking ID in the Analytics and Web Property of Other option of the blogger. 

        11. Also,  paste tracking code in the Theme section of the blog.

        12. Then Save the theme

If you enjoyed the post I would be very grateful if you'd help it spread by emailing it to a friend or sharing it on Twitter and Facebook. Thank You!

Also, view my last post on Google Webmaster Tools

Asha MK

Google Webmaster Tools

Webmaster Tools

Before going into details, let us firstly understand what is Google Webmaster Tools or Search Console. Google Webmaster Tools is a free service that helps you evaluate and maintain your website's performance in search results. Offered as a free service to anyone who owns a website, Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) is a conduit of information from the largest search engine in the world to you, offering insights into how it sees your website and helping you uncover issues that need fixing.

Google Webmaster Tools also allows to know if your site is infected with malware. Google Webmaster Tools is a really valuable instrument for SEO. It gives you at a glance data about all important SEO aspects of a site, such as keywords, links, crawl errors, etc. The Google Webmaster Tool (Or Search Console) is a totally free and vitally valuable service offered by Google to all website admins.

How GWT can help monitor your website's performance

1. It verifies that Google can access the content on your website.

2. GWT makes it possible to submit new pages and posts for Google to crawl and remove content          you don't want search engine users to discover.

3. It helps you deliver and evaluate content that offers users a more visual experience.

4. You can maintain your website without disrupting its presence in search results.

5. It allows you to discover and eliminate malware or spam problems that may not be easily found          through other means.

Build Structured Data

Structured data is coded using in-page markup on the page that the information applies to. The structured data on the page should describe the content of that page. You should not create blank or empty pages just to hold structured data; nor should you add structured data about information that is not visible to the user, even if the information is accurate.

Structured data is on-page markup that enables search engines to better understand the information currently on your business's web page, and then use this information to improve your business's search results listing.

Links to your site

The second very useful section of Google Webmaster Tools is the Links to Your Site section. Here you can see where your backlinks (internal and external) come from, as well as the pages they are linking to. As with other link checking tools, don't expect that every single link to your site is displayed but nevertheless this list of backlinks is useful to check from time to time. One of the advanced uses of the Links section is to disavow links to your site you deem harmful. Links from bad sites can hurt your rankings, so if you want to get rid of them, follow the instructions in this article.

Crawl Errors

The Crawl Errors section shows the errors Google bot encountered on your site. The data you get is similar to what you get when you use the Spider Simulator and it shows inaccessible pages, missing pages, server errors, and all sorts of problems that prevented Google from correctly crawling your site. You also get some other crawl stats (such as the number of pages crawled a day) that are useful to know.

Keywords

Similarly to the Search Queries section that also deals with keywords (but it is the ones users type to get to your site), the Keywords section also shows keywords. However, the difference is that here you see what keywords (and their significance) Google has found on your site. The two lists (of keywords users type and the keywords Google finds on your site) could be very different, which means you are not optimizing for what users are searching for. The Keywords section also allows to see the theme of your site, which post Panda has become even more important.

Sitemaps

A sitemap is a file where you can list the web pages of your site to tell Google and other search engines about the organization of your site content. Search engine web crawlers like Googlebot read this file to more intelligently crawl your site.

Also, your sitemap can provide valuable metadata associated with the pages you list in that sitemap: Metadata is information about a webpage, such as when the page was last updated, how often the page is changed, and the importance of the page relative to other URLs in the site.

You can use a sitemap to provide Google with metadata about specific types of content on your pages, including video and image content. For example, you can give Google the information about video and image content:

1. A sitemap video entry can specify the video running time, category, and age appropriateness rating.
2. A sitemap image  can include the image subject matter, type, and license.

       Hope you got an idea on Google Webmaster Tools and how to help monitor your website's performance.You can also read my blog on on-page optimization.

                                                                                                                           Asha MK

SEO On-page Optimization

On-page Optimization

Today’s article will focus on on-page optimization, and I will be sharing lots of good on-page SEO techniques you should implement while working on optimizing your blog posts.

On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing individual web pages in order to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. On-page refers to both the content and HTML source code of a page that can be optimized, as opposed to off-page SEO which refers to links and other external signals.

                   In search engine optimization, on-page optimization refers to factors that have an effect on your Web site or Web page listing in natural search results. These factors are controlled by you or by coding on your page. On-Page optimization search engine can serve high-quality content for their query. Examples of on-page optimization include actual HTML code, meta tags, keyword placement and keyword density.

On-page SEO Techniques

1. Title Tag

This is the most important on-page SEO factor. The reason for this is because the more attractive and optimized your title is, the more people will click. And in general, the more clicks your post gets, the higher it will rank.

                 As you probably know, title tags are used by search engines  to determine a page’s topic, and are also displayed in SERPs. A good title tag will demonstrate what the user can expect from the page before they actually click. In this way, they are a strong determiner of click-through rates.

For example, if you type “how to start a business” into Google, only six out of the ten top pages include an exact match keyword in their title tag.

                  That said, search engines will still compare your title tag to other content on your page, to ensure keyword consistency when indexing and ranking web pages, still making them an essential part of SEO.

In other words, title tags are still an important part of on-site SEO, but they are far from the be-all and end-all.

Title tags are used in three key places:

 (1) search engine results pages (SERPs)

 (2) web browsers

 (3) social networks.

  1. Search Engine Results Pages

              

Your title tag determines (with a few exceptions) your display title in SERPs, and is a search visitor's first experience of your site. Even if your site ranks well, a good title can be the make-or-break factor in determining whether or not someone clicks on your link.

2. Web Browsers

Your title tag is also displayed at the top of your web browser and acts as a placeholder, especially for people who have many browser tabs open. Unique and easily recognizable titles with important keywords near the front help ensure that people don't lose track of your content.

3. Social Networks

Social networks (including Facebook and Twitter) have their own meta tags, allowing you to specify titles that differ from your main title tag. This can allow you to optimize for each network, and provide longer titles when/where they might be beneficial.

Page Titles in SEO

1. Keep titles about  55-60 characters long. Don't use a too short title, long title, don't duplicate it.

2.Use target keyword in titles.

3.In the title describe the content of the page in the best possible way.

4.Use keywords like How, Why, What and Where.

5.Use words like best, review, ultimate.

6.Don't duplicate the title.

7.Use brand name wisely.

8.Keep it simple.

If you keep your titles under 60 characters, our research suggests that you can expect about 90% of your titles to display properly. 

2.  Meta Description

Meta description tags generally should be approximately 150-160 characters long so the whole tag fits on Search Engine Results Pages when it is displayed and people

can read it at a quick glance. Ideally every page on your site should have a unique meta description. The meta description tag should ideally target a unique keyword for each web page but again avoid keyword spamming and have the keyword only appear once. 

             Descriptions are like a short sales pitch or summary for the page. Write keyword-rich descriptions that engage visitors and entice them to click-through to your website. The meta description does not have to be a full sentence. It can include important facts relevant to potential visitors. For example, articles can list the author, date of publication, or byline information – just keep it within the character limit.

Optimal Length

Meta descriptions can be any length, but Google generally truncates snippets ~300 characters. It's best to keep meta descriptions long enough that they're sufficiently descriptive, so we recommend descriptions between 50–300 characters. Keep in mind that the "optimal" length will vary depending on the situation, and your primary goal should be to provide value and drive clicks.

Optimal Format

Meta description tags, while not tied to search engine rankings, are extremely important in gaining user click-through from SERPs. These short paragraphs are a webmaster's opportunity to "advertise" content to searchers, and searchers' chance to decide whether the content is relevant and contains the information they're seeking from their search query.

3. Body Section Optimization

For an SEO Analyst writing contents for a page is very important, content needs to be broken up into paragraphs and should be given headings. Headings should be keyword rich so that search engine can understand your content easily, focusing words should nearly appear 4 times in body section. You should include only one H1 in one page, use a relevant keyword in it, use 7 to 8 words in it. Subheadings, minor headings can be given using H2, H3.Long contents in the body help to achieve high rank.

4. Keyword Optimization

We should and use relevant keywords to attain a good traffic for our site. Its one of the hardest task and most of the site owners, bloggers don't spend enough time for it. In order to attain the traffic select and use relevant keywords. Let us see where all we need to include the keywords.

•  The title should contain the relevant keyword.
• Optimize keywords in the pictures of your pages.
  
• Include keywords in the URL structure.

A keyword is a term that is used to match with the query a person enters into a search engine to find specific information. Most people enter search phrases that consist of two to five words. Such phrases may be called search phrases, keyword phrases, query phrases, or just keywords. Good keyword phrases are specific and descriptive.

5. Keyword Density

Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page. In the context of SEO, keyword density can be used to determine

whether a web page is relevant to a specified keyword or keyword phrase.It is the percentage value of the number of times a keyword occurs in a webpage. It is very important to have the necessary keywords. But don't overuse and make your site rank low. Use keywords wisely in your content. Try to keep keyword density in the range 2-5%.

6.Image Optimization

Image optimization is using the most compressed (smallest file size) yet visually acceptable image in the proper file format for the specific role of the image.

Image optimization for SEO Techniques

1. Image Relevance
2. Alt Tag
3. Image Size and Hosting
4. File name
5. Title tag and image linking

Tips for image optimization

1. Name Your Images Descriptively and in Plain English
2. Optimize Your Alt Tags Intelligently
3. Strategize Your Image Dimensions and Product Angles
4. Reduce the File Sizes of Your Images
5. Know Which Image File Type to Use for the Right Situations
6. Know How To Handle Your Thumbnails
7. Use Image Site Maps
8. Beware of Your Decorative Images
9. Use Caution When Using Content Delivery Networks
10. Test Your Images



7.Authorship Optimization

If a single person writes in more than one blog then he/she may have more authorship. Similarly, if more than one person writes in a page, then also the Authorship of the page increase. Authorship increases the visibility of the page and leads to achieve more links to the page. It is a noteworthy process in marketing strategy.



Conclusion

On-page optimization is a part of search engine optimization (SEO). It describes the measures website operators can apply on their own website to make their pages easy to find and as usable and readable as possible for search engines and users alike. On-page optimization is a sub-sector of SEO and an important means of increasing website traffic.So this is more helpful for you. To know more details about SEO please check my previous blog  History and Evolution of SEO.

                                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                      Asha MK 

                                                                                                              

History and Evolution of SEO

What is SEO?

         SEO can be elaborated as Search Engine Optimization, it simply means, the process of affecting the online visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's results. SEO covers an incredibly broad spectrum, but essentially, search engine optimization is the name given to any activity that exists to improve search engine rankings for search engines like Google. For instance, Google ranks or references pages it considers to be relevant and authoritative. Authority is measured by analyzing the number and quality of links from other web pages, quality of content, and overall relevance to a search term.

Elements of seo 

Crawling:In the seo world, crawling basically means following your links and “crawling” around your website. When bots come to your website (any page), they follow other linked pages also on your website.

Catching:cache is a snapshot of a web page that Google creates and stores after they have indexed a page. When pages are indexed, they are categorized and filed within Google's indexers, but they do not actively search though millions of web pages every time that page is called up.

Indexing:An index is another name for the database used by a search engine. Indexes contain the information on all the websites that Google (or any other search engine) was able to find. If a website is not in a search engine's index, users will not be able to find it.

 SEO Techniques

1.White Hat:White hat SEO utilizes techniques and methods to improve the search engine rankings of a website which don't run afoul of search engine (mainly Google) guidelines.Some white hat SEO techniques include: high quality content development, website HTML optimization and restructuring, link acquisition campaigns supported by high quality content and manual research and outreach.

2.Black Hat: Black Hat SEO exploits weaknesses in the search engine algorithms to obtain high rankings for a website. Such techniques and methods are in direct conflict with search engine guidelines.Some black hat SEO techniques include: link spam, keyword stuffing, cloaking, hidden text, and hidden links.

Onpage Optimization:

Onpage optimization refers to all measures that can be taken directly within the website in order to improve its position in the search rankings.

Offpage Optimization:

Offpage optimization refers to all the measures that can be taken outside of the actual website in order to improve its position in search rankings.These are measures that help create as many high-quality backlinks as possible.

Updates

Panda: February 24, 2011

         Google panda update is a search filter.Its aim was content farming, content spinning. It also checks for content duplication, grammatical errors, spelling mistake to lower the rank of low-quality sites or thin sites, in particular.

 A content farm, also called a content mill is a Web site whose content is written for search engine bots instead of human readers. Topics on a content farm are chosen specifically for their ability to rank highly in search engine results.

 content spinning makes it possible for users to republish other people's content without concern about copyright  issues or SEO devaluation for duplicate content.

          Panda is the official name of an algorithm update developed by Google to reduce the prevalence of low-quality, thin content in the search results, and to reward unique, compelling content.At the time Panda launched, user complaints about the increasing influence of “content farms” were growing rampant.

             Google’s Panda algorithm assigns pages a quality classification, used internally and modeled after human quality ratings, that is incorporated as a ranking factor.

penguin: April 24, 2012

                   It is a link spamming update. Link spamming include  link exchange, paid link, link farming, comment spamming, wiki spamming, guest blogging. 

Link exchange: A link exchange is a confederation of websites that operates similarly to a web ring. Webmasters register their web sites with a central organization, that runs the exchange, and in turn receive from the exchange HTML code which they insert into their web pages.

Paid link: Advertisements are sometimes also known as "paid links" because someone is paying you (the website owner) to place a link on your page that points to another page. That link might be an image ad or a text ad, but it will virtually always be something on your page that links to another page.

 Link farming: A link farm is a website (or a group of websites) created only for the purpose of increasing the link popularity of another site by increasing the number of incoming links. 

Comment spamming: Trying to get links to their websites by posting links to their websites by posting links to their sites everywhere. They also give the links in the comment space.

Wiki spamming: Wikipedia is a site where everybody who can access the internet can edit the content. It is a very popular site since they are big non-profit sites. Before 2005, wikipedia.com never had added nofollow tag, so all links from it are counted as a valuable link to any site.

Guest Blogging: It also known as guest posting, it is the practice of contributing a post to another person's blog in order to build relationships, exposure, authority, and links.

              Google Penguin’s objective is to down-rank sites whose links it deems manipulative. Since late 2016, Penguin has been part of Google’s core algorithm; unlike Panda, it works in real time.

               The Google Penguin updates primarily seek to prevent various types of search engine spam  from being successfully rewarded in the form of higher-placed search engine results. Search engine spam can include activities such as keyword stuffing link spamming, the use of invisible text on web pages, duplication of copyrighted content from high-ranking web sites and more.

Hummingbird: August 22, 2013

                    Hummingbird helps Google better interpret search queries and provide results that match searcher intent (as opposed to the individual terms within the query). While keywords continue to be

important, Hummingbird makes it possible for a page to rank for a query even if it doesn’t contain the exact words the searcher entered. This is achieved with the help of natural language processing that relies on latent semantic indexing, co-occurring terms and synonyms.

  

Pigeon: July 24, 2014

                 It is a local seo based updation. Pigeon affects those searches in which the user’s location plays an important part. The update created closer ties between the local algorithm and the core algorithm: traditional SEO factors are now used to rank local results.

Mobilegeddon: April 21, 2015

                Google’s Mobile Update (aka Mobilegeddon) ensures that mobile-friendly pages rank at the top of mobile search, while pages not optimized for mobile are filtered out from the SERPs or seriously down-ranked.

Rankbrain: October 26, 2015

              RankBrain is part of Google’s Hummingbird algorithm. It is a machine learning system that helps Google understand the meaning behind queries, and serve best-matching search results in response to those queries. Google calls RankBrain the third most important ranking factor. While we don’t know the ins and outs of RankBrain, the general opinion is that it identifies relevance features for web pages ranking for a given query, which are basically query-specific ranking factors.