BUS572 Week 3 Blog: Emerging Trends and Google Analytics

During the past week, the most important topics I learned in BUS572 are emerging trends in search engine optimization (specifically usage data) and link popularity. I have been fascinated by the fact that websites can show advertisements based on products and services that users have searched for previously. Facebook is one site that comes to mind. Often, I am searching for clothing or shoes online, and then I will log in to Facebook and see advertisements for the exact clothing websites that I just visited. At first, I did not like the fact that Facebook knew what websites I was previously visiting, but after reading about usage data in class this past week, I find it a bit more interesting. According to our textbook, search engines use cookies to maintain a history of a user’s search activity. These cookies include keywords used and websites visited from the search engine. Google, for example, also uses other services such as AdWords, AdSense, Analytics, and Website Optimizer to track these metrics.  These tools help Google offer relevant advertisements to the user and also help promote business for the types of organizations that interest the user. Furthermore, I recently experienced this situation again over the weekend. Yesterday, I was searching for a Megabus trip. This morning, I opened Dr. Chung’s course blog, and an advertisement for Megabus appeared on the right side of the page. What do readers think—do you like the fact that search engines gather data about your searches and offer you relevant advertisements?

 

Megabus advertisement found on Dr. Chung's course blog. Photo courtesy of Google Ad on Dr. Chung's course blog. 

The second most important concept that I learned this past week is link popularity. Website users want others to link to their websites because doing so will help further promote the website and reach more customers. Our textbook identifies several ways to increase the likelihood that others will link to a website. These suggestions include writing excellent, valuable content; creating tools and documents that others want to use; offering games; offering software and widgets; and utilizing web public relations. My group’s client, The Thrifty Wargamer, has utilized these strategies to promote his business. The owner of The Thrifty Wargamer serves as the Editor-in-Chief of Play Unplugged, a community for wargaming enthusiasts. He then created The Thrifty Wargamer to serve as a retailer of wargaming pieces. The Thrifty Wargamer is linked to Play Unplugged’s website so community members have a website to visit and purchase wargaming pieces.

The most important skill I learned during this past week is how to use Google Analytics. The Google video that we were assigned to watch was very helpful in explaining the concept of Google Analytics and how to use its features.  My group and I are going to speak to our client about using Google Analytics. Since his business is only conducted online at the moment, it would be really beneficial for our client to use Google Analytics to track visits to his website and data about the visitors.

The past couple of weeks in BUS572 have been a good learning experience for me and my team. We have learned about how to create effective websites and how to use Google Analytics. We are looking forward to working with our client in the coming weeks and running our advertising campaign. 

BUS 572 Week 2 Blog: Generating Keywords and Webpage Layout

During the past week, the most important topics I learned in BUS 572 are A/B split testing, multivariate testing, and the basic layout of an effective webpage. A/B split testing is defined as testing two variables for statistically significant influence. Multivariate testing is defined as testing many variables to determine statistically significant influences on outcomes. I was an undergraduate psychology major, so I was very familiar with the use of A/B split testing and multivariate testing in psychology studies. Learning about these concepts from an online marketing perspective was interesting and refreshing. While these concepts still have similar meaning in both the psychology and online marketing worlds, it was fascinating to see these concepts applied to items such as email, pay per click advertisements, and online sales. What do readers think--have you seen these terms used in other fields of study?

The second most important concept I learned during the last week is the different characteristics and layout of a website. I have heard terms such as "landing page", "exit page", and "click-through rate" before, but I did not know what these meant. The explanation of these different elements of a website helped me understand the elements of an effective website. I do some website design for my job, so understanding these terms will help me at work. Furthermore, The Thrifty Wargamer's website is set up according to these guidelines. Their website is very easy to navigate and easy to place orders, therefore contributing to a positive customer experience.

The most important skill I learned over the past week is how to generate keywords using Google AdWord's keyword identifier and the basic layout of an effective webpage. Our team assignment two focused on creating ad groups and generating keywords for those ad groups. One of the first items that impressed me the most is the fact that Google offers all of these tools. I have been a casual Google user before the start of this class, primarily using Gmail, Google search, and Google Maps. I did not know that Google offered these other dynamic tools such as Ad Words, keyword generators, AdSense, etc. Using the keyword identifier tool was a really interesting and fun experience. The first ad group we created for our client, The Thrifty Wargamer, was Miniature Wargaming. Keywords generated from Google's tool included WWII miniature wargaming, wargame miniatures, and zombie miniature wargames. We then identified some negative keywords for this ad group and then generated keywords and negative keywords for our next two ad groups, Tabletop and War Games. The Thrifty Wargamer focuses on selling WWII, zombie, and foundry game pieces, so we definitely want to make sure these are included in our keywords. Furthermore, we contacted The Thrifty Wargamer to see if they had any suggestions for keywords. Ironically, The Thrifty Wargamer suggested many of the same keywords that we identified. My group and I were excited about this because we seem to be on the same level as our client.

                         Example product sold by The Thrifty Wargamer. Photo courtesy of The Thrifty Wargamer


Overall, I have learned a lot and developed some important skills during the past two weeks. I learned about A/B split testing, multivariate testing, and how to generate keywords in Google AdWords. My team and I also continued working with our client. We are looking forward to generating some ads in the coming weeks for our client.