Not Provided still causing headaches for Branded / Non Branded Keywords?

I've been thinking on ways to strip out branded from non-branded organic search terms in Analytics or IBM Digital Analytics since most of my keywords are 'Not Provided'

It's well documented that you can add the page URL to the keyword (NP - /portable-walrus-cleaner/product1) and make an educated guess on the keywords that drove the visit.

If a user has landed on your homepage - chances are they have used your brand to get there. But what happens when a user tries a brand search in Google and uses a sitelink?

 

Well - I could have the solution!

If you check out the refering URL from Google, you will find the redirect URL the search engine uses to provide data about what you clicked and where it is located on the SERPs

So what are we looking for?

The parameter you are looking for is a 'ved' and a value in the parameter 'QjB'

In other words - filter your refering URL for [*ved=*QjB*]

Any refering URL's featuring this parameter in the URL are more than likely branded searches, as they originate from a sitelink (however - if your site features sitelinks for categories, they will also show here!).

Just another way you can segment your branded / non-branded traffic!

Barry Kirley

Tracking PLA and Dynamic Remarketing AdWords for IBM Digital Analytics

You've created you Google merchants product feed...
You've created a Google Shopping campaign...
You've added the AdWords tracking tags on your site to track actions like 'Abandoned Baskets'...
You've created your Dynamic Remarketing Campaign to pull the products from your feed into your display ad..
Impressions are flying, Clicks are happening...

BUT

How on EARTH are you going to track these clicks in IBM Digital Analytics?

You could add the 'cm_mmc=' tag on the link URL in the feed. That's what I first though of doing, but hang on - that will also feed through to my PLA campaign and I want to track them independently!

Well - this is the scenario I've been working on today at Scotts of Stow in the UK Cotswolds. After contacting the AdWords team in California and Singapore it was decided by Google that this was not possible... Google - please read on...

I first though about adding an 'AdWords_Redirect' in the product feed with the custom tracking outlined on the AdWords help website...

URL?cm_mmc={ifpla:pla}{ifdyn:dyn}-_-Google-_-Product-_-Click

However - I wasn't getting much luck from this either in the PLA or the AdWords campaign.

Then I discovered [c:drlp:url] !

Add a field into your product feed and recreate your product URL under this tag...
URL?cm_mmc=YOUR-_-TRACKING-_-GOES-_-HERE

Give AdWords a bit of time to figure all this out and hey presto - you can now track your dynamic clicks and PLA clicks through IBM Digital Analytics (Core Metrics)

Now - back to my cake...

Seeing Stars

Google have finally added the review organic stars that I have been chasing for months... leaving me with a question... Why now?

Brand: Gemporia Search: Diamond Rings, Cocktail Rings

Going back through the changes we have made on the site over the last few days would not suggest that this change has happened by something I've done. So I contacted the review aggregate - Feefo. They have not made any changes to the review feed going to Google for PPC / PLA adverts.

Have you had organic star ratings switched on recently? If so - could you pinpoint it to a specific change you made?

Barry Kirley
http://www.digital-marketing-expert.com

Cut the fat and enjoy a Spam Sandwich w/ Relish

How many mailing lists are you subscribed to?

Not the unscrupulous mailing lists that added you without your permission, but the ones you have picked up over the years and you may have read once of twice - but now... DELETE

I have found a great tool to clean up all the fat of the spam and condense it all into a spam burger!

http://www.unroll.me

http://www.unroll.me is a great tool for quickly finding out how many mailing lists you are subscribed to and easily managing them!

If you are using a mainstream web mail client like GMail or Yahoo just give it your credentials, let it sift through your mail and collate them into a simple list that lets you unsubscribe.

But - this is where it gets even better. If there are subscription emails there that you would still like to read, but you would like to manage better - add them to a 'roll' then unroll.me will collate them into a single, easy to use email that can be delivered at a chosen frequency - Easy!

I love this tool, apparently it's been around for some time... I only wish I had found it earlier!

Barry Kirley
Digital Marketing Expert
http://www.digital-marketing-expert.com