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The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article:
March 2007, Volume 6, Issue 3

search engine marketing

Analyze This: Applying Analytics for your Search Campaign

by Charmaine Madamba, Search Marketing Specialist, iProspect
Tracking and measurement of your results through a reliable Web analytics system is an integral part of a successful search marketing campaign. The intelligence gained through this activity can be a powerful tool in enhancing your results and increasing your conversions, but understanding all that data can be overwhelming. In the multitude of ways you can correlate search visibility with website traffic with conversions, you might ask, “How do I avoid analysis-paralysis and efficiently leverage my data to improve my ROI?”

Drive Your Dashboard

Know where to get the information that you need and what tools are available for you to generate reports that tie your search engine marketing efforts to monetary results. Most Web analytics tools have uniform key components, but some may have additional features that set them apart from each other.
  1. Mind your own basics: First, determine what data is important to your organization to be able to complete the string from the actions you take, the search marketing results you produce, and the money that gets produced as a result. And then, make sure you know how, when and where to extract all the data that is needed to connect the dots from the beginning of that process through a calculated ROI.


  2. Customize before you analyze: Explore the data that’s available and identify the tools that allow data customization. For example, determine the steps needed in order to directly compare the conversion and ROAS (return on advertising spend) performance of a set of keyword phrases for the current month to a previous month. Uncover which areas of your website whose ROI has improved the most over the last six months. Identify which areas of your site have are highest revenue-generators, and which keyword phrases are producing the highest return.
Talk to Me, Data. Talk to Me!

Before you start the analysis, clearly define how you will measure your campaign’s ROI. Set a benchmark by selecting a reporting month or week upon which any natural and paid search campaigns or online/offline marketing efforts have just been initiated.
  1. Prioritize, but be flexible: Look for trends with the referring keyword phrases, pinpoint the most popular pages on your website, view the demographic profile of your unique visitors, and probe into the behavior of your repeat visitors. Utilize this information within your overall campaign strategy and determine what factors should be addressed first for maximum ROI.


  2. Step out of the (analytics) box: Review what your data shows in contrast to trends within the search industry and also within your vertical. Assess the quality of your top producing keyword phrases and see if they line-up with what your actual target audience is searching for. Determine the search engines people use to arrive at your site and eventually generate revenue. Look into comScore Networks, StatMarket, or Google Trends for historical information across the net on your keywords, and use Overture’s keyword suggestion tool to find search volume information.


  3. Get a little help from your friends: If you are working with an outside search marketing firm that has access to your rankings and visibility data, weigh that information against the data from your Web analytics. Know your top ranking keyword phrases and seek a list of high-performing URLs. Equate that information with your most-viewed, high-traffic pages and the ones that lead to the most conversions, and ultimately the highest revenue. Correlate what the two information avenues present to you and actively participate in the discussion with your search marketing contact on how to leverage those findings through changes to your campaign tactics or strategy.
Patience in learning to fully understand and take actions upon your analytics data can bridge the gap between your marketing efforts and a considerable return on investment. You are the one who ultimately drives your search campaign, so use your Web analytics as the roadmap to reach the highest possible ROI.

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