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Meet Google Analytics 4: What Digital Marketers Need to Know

by AnalyticsGoogleMarketing

As more businesses move online, insights from Google Analytics and other tools are crucial for understanding customer preferences, creating better user experiences, and making every marketing dollar count. In recent years, however, there have been major shifts in consumer behavior and data privacy. According to Google Marketing Platform, “current approaches to analytics aren’t keeping pace” with these changes which is why it’s “creating a new, more intelligent Google Analytics.” 

Learn more about Google Analytics 4 and key features that digital marketers should know to be ready for an evolving technology landscape.

Key Features of Google Analytics 4

As Google begins to phase out support for third-party cookies in the Chrome browser, it anticipates there’ll be data sparsity. Google Analytics 4 builds on the foundation of the App + Web property that was introduced in 2019 and relies on machine learning to fill in the data gaps. The new privacy-centric Analytics automatically provides insights and a holistic understanding of customers across devices and platforms, regardless of industry changes (e.g. restrictions on cookies and identifiers) that create data gaps. Whether you’re already using Google Analytics 4 or plan to soon, here are key features you should know.

1. Smarter insights from advanced machine learning

Analytics is now capable of alerting marketers to significant data trends, which is made possible by Google’s advanced machine learning models. These insights can help marketers improve their marketing decisions and get a better ROI.

2. Deeper integration with Google Ads

A deeper Google Ads integration allows you to build and maintain audiences so you can “reach customers with more relevant, helpful experiences, wherever they choose to engage with your brand.” Google Analytics now measures interactions across the web and apps together, including conversions from YouTube video views, Google and non-Google paid channels, Google Search, social media, and email.

3. Customer-centric data measurement

One of the biggest differences between Google Analytics 4 and Universal Analytics is its customer-centric data measurement, instead of measurement by device or platform. It uses multiple identity spaces like marketer-provided User IDs and unique Google signals from users who opted into ad personalization. Marketers will be able to gain a better understanding of the entire customer lifecycle – acquisition, conversion, and retention.

4. More granular data controls

Marketers have more granular data controls to manage how data is collected, retained, and used. They’re able to choose when to use customer data for ad personalization, and when to limit data used for measurement only. These options can help marketers adapt to limited cookies or identifiers in the future.

Evolve Your Digital Marketing

Google Analytics 4 is now the default for new properties, however, Google understands that digital marketers may need to retain capabilities before switching to the new Analytics. It’s encouraging marketers to create a new Google Analytics 4 property alongside their existing properties to start gathering data and benefit from the latest innovations while keeping their current implementation. As the technology landscape changes, it’s imperative that brands evolve their digital marketing by using responsive software products to remain competitive.

Check out our product SEO Ranker and discover accuracy powered by innovation.

SEO Benefits of Protecting Copyrighted Content

by GoogleMarketingSEO

As a digital marketer or brand owner, it’s crucial to protect the value of your copyrighted content to ensure your website reaps the benefits of search engine optimization (SEO). Not only is content important for SEO, but it’s also a valuable asset for brand differentiation and engagement. Learn more about the SEO benefits of protecting copyrighted content and how to find its illegal misuse so you can take proper action to safeguard your brand. 

Why Quality Content is Essential for SEO

In May 2020, Google released a core algorithm update to improve how the search engine assesses content in order to present the most relevant and authoritative content to users. The update essentially reinforced the importance of quality content. When content is original and fresh, it will be more relevant to the user’s search intent which will increase the chances of Google rewarding the page with higher rankings in search results.

Google’s Content Recommendations

There are two primary recommendations that Google offers to site owners – focus on content and get to know the Search Quality Rater Guidelines. Google uses what’s known as ‘E-A-T’ (which stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) to determine content quality so it can give users the best content for their search query. Here are five easy ways to improve content quality:

  1. Make it easy to read
  2. Use a visually appealing format
  3. Include quality images
  4. Add appropriate resources/links
  5. Make it easy to access

Freshness can also be a ranking factor, depending on the topic. For example, freshness is a major consideration for time-sensitive events and information like a sale, promotion, live webinar, conference, etc. By offering the best content you can, Google’s algorithm will reward your page.

What is Duplicate Content?

There’s a LOT of content on the internet and, unfortunately, there are people that will steal content from other websites, resulting in search engines detecting duplicate content. Basically, duplicate content is content that appears on more than one page on the internet. Duplicate content can impact search rankings because it’s harder for search engines to decide which version is more relevant to a search query.   

If you have duplicate content within your own site, it’s not as big of a problem. Simply add a rel=canonical tag on those pages to specify which page is the “correct” one to rank in search results. However, other websites that have your content can lower your page’s rankings and divert organic search traffic from your page.

How to Find Illegal Use of Your Content

Protecting copyright content is a must for preventing duplicate content issues that’ll lower your website’s search rankings and improve your ROI. Controlling your content’s distribution ensures that your investment and brand are safeguarded. You can manually search online for your copyrighted content, which can be time-consuming and not 100% accurate since you can miss pages that are using your content. 

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How Google Analytics Can Help Your Business Grow

by AnalyticsBusinessGoogle

Google Analytics is a free web analytics service that’s used around the world to grow businesses by allowing them to track, report, and understand their website traffic. However, there are many businesses that aren’t using this powerful tool or taking full advantage of it. Although Analytics offers a wealth of data, you don’t need to use every feature to reap its benefits. In this article, Adretreaver will highlight some of the best ways you can leverage Analytics to grow your business.  

5 Ways to Leverage Analytics to Grow Your Business

If you haven’t already done so, set up your Google Analytics account, property (i.e. website or app), and reporting view. Here’s a guide to get started with Analytics. Already have Analytics? Let’s get started on how you can use this service to scale your business!

1. Set Up Website Goals

When you set up website goals in Analytics, you’re able to track and measure performance which is crucial for improving your website. What your goals are will depend on your business. For example, an eCommerce business looking to increase online purchases will have different goals than a service-based business that relies on form submissions to generate leads. 

2. Learn What Search Queries Drive Traffic

Knowing what search queries your visitors used to land on your website is crucial for driving more traffic. With the Search Queries report (under Acquisition > Search Console), you’ll be able to create content and optimize pages for popular keywords which will help your site rank higher in search results, increasing organic traffic. It can also help you identify keywords for pay-per-click advertising.

3. Understand What Content Performs Well

The Landing Pages report (under Behavior > Site Content) allows you to see what content visitors land on and how they interact with it. You can determine which content performs well for achieving your goals and use that information to create similar content. Alternatively, you can identify ineffective content and update it to improve performance.  

4. See How Long Visitors Stay

Keeping visitors on your website increases the chances of a conversion which can be a purchase, form submission, event registration, etc. Seeing how long visitors stay is important for determining what works. In the Overview report under Audience, you can get a high-level picture of how long visitors stay (‘Avg. Session Duration’) as well as a variety of other metrics such as new users, sessions, bounce rate, and more. If you want to see the average time on a particular page, head over to the All Pages report (under Behavior > Site Content). 

5. Determine Why Visitors Bounce

Multiple reports show ‘bounce rate’ which is the percentage of visitors that leave your website without taking any further action. If you have a high bounce rate, then you’re probably not getting the conversions you want because visitors aren’t staying long enough to engage. Determine why visitors are bouncing and fix the issue which can be a negative user experience, low-quality content, irrelevant keywords, etc.  

Improve Digital Marketing with Google Analytics

It’s essential that you use Analytics to better understand your website and improve it so your business can grow. There are many ways you can leverage Analytics in your digital marketing beyond what we discussed in this article but with these tips, you can start taking advantage of it rather than letting it go untapped. Online technology is constantly evolving which is why your digital marketing needs to stay ahead by using innovative and responsive products.

See how SEO Ranker improves digital marketing’s effectiveness to scale your business.

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Metrics in Google Analytics You Should Be Tracking

by AnalyticsGoogleMetrics

Tracking metrics in Google Analytics is crucial for seeing what is and isn’t working with your digital marketing. Without that information, you’re pretty much flying blind rather than making informed decisions based on real data. These metrics are particularly helpful for measuring the effectiveness of your search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. See which metrics in Google Analytics you should track so it’ll be easier to monitor and improve your digital marketing.   

6 Key Metrics in Analytics to Track

Google Analytics provides an assortment of metrics and depending on your business, there may be other metrics besides those listed below that you should be tracking. However, the metrics outlined in this article are universal as they provide a solid starting point for understanding your website’s performance and digital marketing’s effectiveness.

Users

The total number of users who have initiated at least one session in a time frame. This metric is particularly important for better understanding dimensions like traffic source/medium (e.g. google/organic, facebook/cpc) as well as landing pages.

Sessions

A session is a group of user interactions with your website that happen within a time frame. Consider a session like a container for the actions a user takes on your site. Examples of interactions included in a session are multiple page views, events, and transactions. 

Bounce Rate

A ‘bounce rate’ is the percentage of single-page sessions that had no further interaction with the page. If a page’s bounce rate is 60%, it means that 60% of users left the page without taking any further action. Reasons for a high bounce rate can be due to the page having irrelevant keywords or low-quality content.

Pages / Session  

The average number of pages viewed during a session. When there are more pages per session, it indicates a higher level of engagement since users are exploring your site and learning about your products or services.

Average Session Duration

The average length of a session. Keeping visitors on your site longer is beneficial as it increases the chances of a user interacting with your website which can range from making a purchase to commenting on a blog post.

Conversions and Conversion Rate

Site traffic won’t matter much if you’re not getting any conversions, hence the importance of setting goals in Analytics to track ‘conversions’ and ‘conversion rates.’ You can track a variety of goals like transactions, form submissions, reservations, downloads, and more. 

Improve Digital Marketing with Real Data

Tracking metrics in Google Analytics allows you to better understand your digital marketing, monitor progress, and identify opportunities. Using real data is crucial for making better decisions whether it’s finding pages to optimize or determining the ROI on your Google Ads campaigns. Internet technology changes quickly and as data privacy changes are implemented, it’s critical for brands to take advantage of tools like Google Analytics to create innovative and responsive solutions.

An effective way to improve your digital marketing with real data is by using Ad Verification and Content Catcher. Contact us to schedule a free demo and trial to explore their unique features and benefits!