Site Search Analytics: Checking Out What Visitors Cannot Find

To many of us search engine optimization people, helping visitors get to a client’s landing page from search engines is already an accomplishment. Yet, it’s only part of the objective most, if not all, clients have in mind.

For sites that are built to sell products, conversion rates — the ratio of orders to overall site visits — is between 2 and 3 per cent. So the question is that, where do 97 to 98 per cent of traffic go? It is easy to assume different factors such as invalid visits from site owners or web developers, visitors who were at the early stage of buying cycle, or simply those who can’t easily find what they are looking for.

Google vs Norton: Somebody Must Be Telling a Lie!

Google search engine gives us the links to sites based on our search query. But if for some reason Google deems your computer could be compromised by clicking on the link, it issues a text warning beside the link you’re about to click: This site may harm your computer or The site may be compromised. In that way, should you decide to follow your instinct and your machine gets infected, Google can only say, “I told you”.

liar

But what if you don’t only follow your instinct, you also follow someone else’s recommendation?

Common SEO Mistakes of B2B Blogs

Just like how it helps individual writers connect with readers, blogs help businesses interact with clients in a more casual, personalized way. Business-to-business blogs help expound certain products or services without necessarily altering the tone of the message within product pages. But when they’re not optimized for search engines, their prospect clients may not easily find them.

business-people
Business people. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44211617@N03/

Here are some common practices B2B blogs commit that could stunt progress on search engine visibility:

Google TV: TV Meets Web, Web Meets TV

Another visible sign that Google is out to diversify its services was out today as the search engine giant announced that it will launch Google TV in autumn (or fall, whatever suits you).

google-tv

Obviously, Google thinks television is one important aspect of entertainment that refuses to die, and therefore continues to be one source of opportunity. Google cites that 4 billion people watch television, and an average American spends five hours staring at the television set every day. The idea behind Google TV is that as entertaining as television shows are, viewers are still at the mercy of schedules that lifestyles are sometimes altered to suit a TV show time slot. Think of it as similar to “I need to go home now since Seinfeld is up in 20 minutes” or “we need to move our dinner after ‘America’s Got Talent’”.

Site Speed Now A Google SEO Priority

Google continues to look at user experience in delivering search results. In the past, we noticed results that include photos, videos or news feeds for a certain search query. Then we observed that search results are based on where the search query originated. Now, we hear Google emphasize user experience again through website loading speed, same as what I wrote late last year. It’s no brainer that we prefer to visit websites that load quickly over those that display elaborate splashy intros before we see what we’re looking for. And Google sees this as a vital element in rewarding fast loading websites with more prominent search engine rankings.

london-marathon
Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimshannon/

Why Site Speed is Important to Google
As Google’s Amit Singhal would explain,