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.

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Google China vs Google Hong Kong Traffic After Diversion

On the day Google decided to divert its traffic from China to Hong Kong, this website started to receive traffic from China visitors even if no content within the website is rendered in Simplified Chinese, the default language in China. Probably because there is no Chinese equivalent for the term “SEO”.

Alexa showed sharp contrast in traffic coming to Google.cn and Google.hk since March 23.

Compete's free data covers up to February, so the figure does not show sharp skew.

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9 Tips to Reduce Bounce Rate

One interesting topic in web analytics is bounce rate. Bounce rate, is defined as the percentage of web site visitors who arrive at an entry page on your web site, then leave without visiting any other pages.

We can use this metric to measure engagement of visitors. The higher the bounce rate, the less engaging our site becomes. Sometimes I come to think that bounce rates are open to different interpretations. For example, a high bounce rate means users were not impressed on what they saw on the landing page and didn’t bother to explore. But it could also mean they immediately found what they were looking for on that landing page and is therefore unnecessary to go further. Or the site simply doesn’t provide avenues for the visitor to explore further (broken navigation links, no search function available, etc).

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URL Builder for Google Analytics

Overview
Google Analytics’ URL Builder is a tool that allows us to associate offline and online marketing initiatives into our Google Analytics reports. Using this tool enables us to scientifically pinpoint an under-performing or overachieving channels and help us make better business decisions.

For example, you have promoted your products listed on your website and decided to use print media like SCMP or Apple Daily, or outdoor billboard using POAD or JCDecaux with your product URL prominently placed on these ads. Now, when someone visits your product page, how do you know they are actually readers of SCMP or pedestrians passing by the bus stop billboard at Jardine House? By using URL Builder you can figure it out!

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10 Most Read SEO Hong Kong Articles of 2009

Happy New Year from SEO Hong Kong!

Just before we put 2009 totally behind us, SEO Hong Kong presents its most read blog posts of that eventful year:

1. Giordano’s Online Shopping Site
A review of how Giordano organizes its website and implications on search engine marketing.

2. Broadway Electronics: When Competitor Steals Your Traffic
A brief examination on how a search for ‘broadway’ electronics queries displayed a competitor’s (Fortress’) website appearing on top of search results.

3. Learning from Langham Hotels Social Media Experience
A blog post that describes how a social media campaign transpired and explores how could such mistakes have happened.

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