The process of sniffing out the right keywords that lead to strong, cost-effective leads requires the skillset of a top-notch detective. You must ferret out the right mix of short- and long-tail terms, scan for negative keywords to use, and determine the proper mix of exact match, phrase match or broad match. And you must do it quickly so you aren’t paying for prospects that aren’t likely to convert into leads and sales.
What you need are the super-sleuthing skills of Sherlock Holmes. The famous pop-culture character could quickly scan a crime scene, see beyond the obvious and, through his famous deductive reasoning, discover what was (at least to him) quite obvious and elementary.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could possess the power of Sherlock Holmes, so you could solve the mysteries of your paid search advertising? Actually, you can. And you needn’t don a checked cap or puff on a curved pipe – though you can, if you’re into that sort of thing.
In “Five Ways Google Analytics Turns You Into the Sherlock of Paid Search,” which originally appeared in Marketing Profs (June 19, 2015), I describe how analytics applications help you dig deeper into Web visitor behaviors to gain a better understanding of whether your paid search/digital marketing efforts are bringing the right prospects to your site.
In that post, you will learn how to examine the difference between the information you get from Google Analytics and what analytics packages add to the mix. Both tools can be valuable. But while most analytics packages come with a cost, Google Analytics is free. I put the microscope on the key performance indicators you can get from Google Analytics and help you determine if the best solution for you is, indeed, elementary.
