Google Analytics: The Tracking Tool

Google analytics is a free web analytics tool developed by Google used for tracking the traffic density to a site. It is necessary to measure, collect, analyze and report the web data for the purpose of optimization. However, Web analytics is not just a process for measuring web traffic but can be used as a tool for business and market research, and to assess and improve the effectiveness of a website. Web analytics applications can also help companies measure the results of traditional print or broadcast advertising campaigns. It provides the information regarding the number of visitors to a site and the number of page views. This acts as a major tracking tool. Google Analytics is now the most widely used web analytics service on the Internet.

Types of Visit 

As said earlier, Google analytics is necessary to track the traffic to a site. This is to keep in track the number of visits to a site. There are different types of visits which a web page might receive. These are classified as;

1. Direct Visit
2. Referral Visit
3. Organic Visit 
4. Social media Visit   

Direct Visit

These kind of visits refer to the situation when the URL is readily available to the user and access the site directly without using any keywords.

Referral Visit

This happens when the site is accessed via a referral link for reference purpose while reading an article or similar materials.

Organic Visit

The visits that happen to a site when a user enters a query in the search box are called Organic Visits. These type of visits can be maximized with the help of optimization.

Social Media Visit

As the name suggests, the visits that a site receive via social media sites such as face book, twitter etc are called social media visits.

Terms to Note

There are certain points to remember while signing into Google Analytics. These steps help to efficiently manage and report the visits to a site. 

• Account Name

 Account name helps to distinguish between the client websites we are working on. Hence, it is necessary to give unique names to each account that are on the go.

• Reporting Time Zone

The reporting time zone plays a key factor to the tracking tool. The time zone of the client should be mentioned under this option in the absence of which things can get jeopardized.

• Tracking Code  

 The tracking code in Google Analytics is a mandatory factor. This acts as the unique address to track the details of a web page.

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Blog Optimization Tips

In the previous post, we have seen an introduction about Search Engine Optimization. Let's have a brief glance into some very useful, effective blog optimization tips which every SEO should be familiar with. The idea is to convey the basic steps for optimization of a blog to the reader here.

We know that optimization is related to three basic steps called CRAWLING, CATCHING and INDEXING. Each web page, blog etc undergoes through these procedures by search engines such as Google in order to get listed when an appropriate query is entered by the user. Optimization tips highlight the probability that a page will be indexed by Google and then listed in the first few pages.

Generally, a web page contains two sections; Head and Body sections. Optimization needs to be carried out to both the sections of a page. Usually the head section comprises of mainly two parts:

Title: This is the main heading of a web page or blog or post etc.

Meta description/Snippet: This is a small piece or brief of extract given under a title describing about the page.

Head section Optimization

The optimization in the head section of a page is associated with title and meta description optimization. In the case of blog optimization, meta description need not be included. The tips applicable to the title can be used for the meta description as well.

Title Optimization 

A title is the heading or name given to a post. For title optimization, carefully note these tips;

•  The number of characters in the title should not be more than 55-60.
•   Pixel width plays an important role than the number of characters. It should not be more than 512 pixels.
•  Use of capital letters should be minimized as capital letter has more pixel width.
• The title used in a blog should should be unique otherwise it can cause title duplication. 

Body section Optimization

The body section of a blog consist of the content. For better blog optimization tips, the content optimization need to be further classified into

1. Anchor Text Optimization
2. Image optimization
3. Authorship authorization

Anchor text optimization

Keywords or words to which hyper links are added are called anchor texts. These are the texts shown in blue color in a blog. It acts as a fuel to stimulate crawling. When a user encounters any term that he or she is not able to understand, the hyper links added to it acts as a reference. It can be done in two ways either by selecting the word and adding the URL of the required site to the link box or by adding the link in the HTML page as <a href="http://henaseoanalyst.blogspot.in/2016/08/introduction-to-seo.html" rel="nofollow". Some tips to note while anchor text optimization are:

• The focusing keyword should not be given as the anchor text.
• When a hyper link is added to a keyword, in case the site is of lower ranking than ours make sure to tick the 'rel=no follow' box.
 

 

 

Image Optimization

Optimized images are a key to the success of a website. If required we can add hyper links to the images used in a blog. This is more effective in the case of a supporting blog wherein the blog written is a form of marketing strategy for the service web page. In a static page such as an HTML page, image can be added as <img alt="white hat and black hat". In a dynamic page such as a blog, the file name can be given in the ALT TAG box. Some useful image optimization methods used in blog optimization are:

•  For optimization when an image is downloaded, it has to be saved under the keyword using which we want the image to be listed. Hence, selection of ALT TAG is crucial.
• The focusing keyword should not be given as the ALT TAG. If given so it will act as the anchor text and our site may not be listed.

Content optimization

Other than the anchor texts and images used in a blog, the descriptions or explanations written in the content area have to be carefully scanned to avoid keyword stuffing.

•  Keyword density has to be between 4-5% to avoid keyword stuffing.
• It is a good option to give the focusing keyword at the beginning of a paragraph. 
• Lengthy sentences should be avoided.
• Sometimes the focusing keyword can be given in bold or in gray color. Although this is just a myth, this can be one of the effective blog optimization tips.
• The focusing keyword can be given before, or. as this highlights the focusing keyword.

The font size and style in a blog is user dependent.

Authorship Optimization

This is to establish the authority of the author on his/her blog. A link is added to the author name which directs the reader to the profile of the author. Authorship ranking increases when multiple renowned authors collectively publish in the same blog.

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The above mentioned are a few effective blog optimization tips. These can come handy for every new search engine optimizer. With better experience and research skills, we can come forward with better optimization tips and tools.

  Hena

Introduction To SEO

WHAT IS SEO?

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a powerful web marketing strategy developed by search engines such as Google, Yahoo and so on. Since the time Google became an essential part of the daily life, we use it to search for almost everything from restaurants in the nearby area to the weather or economic conditions on the other part of the world. Like food and water ‘Googling’ is an essential part of the routine now. Now the moment we hit the search button for a query, a list of websites are shown which contain the query term. Users normally tend to visit the first or second website on the list to get more relevant results. The reason for these websites to appear at the top of the list is due to ‘optimization’. Optimization helps these websites to rank better than the other websites and hence they appear on the first go of the search button. It is a technique which helps search engines find and rank a site higher than that of the other available websites.

BASIC STEPS IN SEO:

In order to understand SEO, we need to study the basic steps in optimization of a content. These are;

1. CRAWLING

This is the process in which the search engine scan through a web page to check for valid contents.

2. CATCHING

As a valid content is obtained while scanning through a page, Google captures a snapshot of this and saves it in the storage location or database for future use.

3. INDEXING

This is the process of classifying the web pages as per their content. As Google crawls down through each page and catches the content, the snapshot taken is then classified as per their content for easier access on a query.

BASIC TERMS USED IN SEO:

It takes some basic steps for Google to optimize a content in a web page. The content has to be a rich one in order to satisfy the query of the user. A web page can be developed by an institution/company/person etc describing their facilities/features/abilities etc. There are some common terms used in optimization which every SEO should be familiar with in order to get an introduction to SEO. These are;

Pogo Sticking

When a user enters a query, Google checks for the matching content in its database. When a web page without valid content is found, its page rank decreases. Thus on the next search, this site is removed from the top prioritized list.

Web masters

A person or authority controlling a website or having the credentials to change the content of a web page is called a web master.

Niche Specification

Niche refers to content. A page with accurate and relevant content related to the searched keyword is said to be more niche specified. It also depends upon the number of times the keyword is used.

SEO Starter Guide PDF

This is the starter guide for every new SEO containing the basics of optimization published by Google.

SEO ACTIVITIES:

On-Page Optimization

The contents are edited or optimized live on the website.

Off-Page Optimization

The contents are worked on or edited off line and then uploaded to the website.

For easier crawling,the page should load faster. If the pages are designed with too much animations or art works, the loading time increases. This decreases its credibility and ranking.

SEO METHODS:

Search Engine Optimization can be done in two ways either through ethical or unethical practices. These two methods are;

Black Hat Optimization

These are the unethical practices used by an SEO due to which he/she can be punished under the Google algorithm updates. They can be keyword stuffing or by using a smaller pixel size such as 1 and so on.

White Hat Optimization

The ethical practices which an SEO should be accustomed to  are categorized under this term.

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