My Last Post

Halifax, NS, 17/07/16 - It's been nearly six months since my last post, thus breaking Google's cardinal rule, keep the copy fresh!

Myself and Scream Media have gone through somewhat of a metamorphosis over the last six months with a change in location from Toronto to Halifax and a new consulting position in Halifax's downtown core. I am from Halifax so returning here wasn't that taxing, but getting use to the speed that everyone operates on is.

My consulting career with my new client has gotten off to a good start, but I still feel that, deep down in my soul, that I am suppose to be doing something different, more creative. That seems to be the pitch though, everyone is looking for the perfect spot to be in, but few can find them due to a poor economy or lack of training opportunities.

I'm not sure how long my tenure will last with my current client, but I have already learned so much in such a very short period of time I feel like my brain is going to pop open and be nude for all to see. That my friend would be scary.

If you've been visiting my blog looking for something new, I apologize. There really is no excuse except that life kind of took over the driver's seat for a while and made me unavailable. But I'm back on the road again and will continue to persevere.

The people in Halifax are great. The city is great. And I'm closer to my family now than I have ever been, which is something that I value a lot. I hope that the man upstairs sees me and my efforts and looks favorably down on me and you. Here's to the next six months and a whole hell of a lot of posts, content and interaction with you.

Sincerely,

Darren.

Setting Up Google Analytics For Your Web Server

Visit the new Scream Media website and see what we can do for you!!

Setting up Google Analytics on Your Web Server

The Google Analytics tracking code collects data for your web property, and returns that data to Analytics where you can see it in reports. When you add a new web property to your Analytics account, Analytics generates the tracking code snippet that you need to add to the pages whose data you want to collect. You can use this tracking code snippet as is, or customize it to collect additional data. The tracking code snippet contains a unique ID for the web property that lets you identify that property's data in your reports.

If you want to find out if you have installed your tracking code properly, you can use the “View Source” function of your web browser. The tracking code or “snippet” will have been installed at the bottom of the code on the page. You will need to install snippets on each page you wish to track them in Google Analytics.

If you are not familiar with the code view of your website, usually the web host provider will give you a hand setting this up. Keep your eyes open though because it’s not something they’re going to do twice for you, unless your site is managed by a communications firm or a consultant, in which case they will probably charge you a fee for setting it up for you. However, if you’re going to be dealing with data from Google Analytics, it would be wise to get familiar with the back end of your site, if only for the monetary savings you’ll realize by not needing to contact your go to person every time you want to take a look. To get to the view page source option, right click on the mouse on a piece of open page and the menu will appear. Once you have the menu, click on “view page source”. 

This is what the view page source will look like in most  cases

Visit the new Scream Media website and see what we can do for you!!

Once you release the mouse you will see the code view. As you can tell with this snippet, the Google Analytics code IS NOT installed. But don’t worry. It’s a simple cut and paste job to do so, at the bottom of The HTML at the bottom of your page. Remember, this exercise isn’t about changing or moving code about on the page. You simply have to look at the code, find the tail and cut and paste the code that Google Analytics has generated for you. 

Find the tracking code snippet for your property:

The snippet of code would be placed here. The snippet of code will look like this:

Sign in to your Google Analytics account, and select the Admin tab. From the ACCOUNT and PROPERTY columns, select the property you’re working with. Click Tracking Info > Tracking Code.

This is what the tracking code for www.screammedia.ca, looks like :

<script>

  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){

  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),

  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)

  })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');

  ga('create', 'UA-59151106-1', 'auto');

  ga('send', 'pageview');

</script>

-Wait for Part 2-

Visit the new Scream Media website and see what we can do for you!!

SEO Q&A's from Scream Media

                                                 

 SEO Q&A's from Scream Media:

      - What is Internal Site Search, and why is it useful in SEO?  How do you set it up?

Internal site search is another way to gather insight as to how visitors were looking for content on your website. It is found under the “Content” section. Site Search reports can bring a number of unique insights into how visitors are using the website. For example, the “Site Search Usage” report can identify the number of visits where internal searches were used. This can comment on site layout, terminology, or navigation issues. “Search Terms” is what Google Analytics calls internal site search keywords (so as not to mix it up with Web Analytics/SEO keywords).In terms of SEO, this information may be the most important as it can tell you directly what your customers are looking for and if they were satisfied with what they found – look at exits %’s and time after search. This can give you inspiration for new keywords to target, new content to create, or new products to stock to keep your visitors happy.

The destination pages report tells you those pages which were most commonly found via a search term. This again can give you clues into some of the following questions;

• Which pages are your website visitors looking for but struggling to find?

• Why can’t your visitors find the pages they want? Are there navigation issues, or

   are you categorizing pages in subsections your visitors don’t think to check?

• Which pages do people want, and can you create more of them?

2.   - What is the difference between a Filter and a Segment in Google Analytics?

Filters allow you to limit and modify the data that is included in a view. For example, you can use filters to exclude traffic from particular IP addresses, focus on a specific sub-domain or directory, or convert dynamic page URLs into readable text strings.

A Segment is a subset of your Analytics data. For example, of your entire set of users, one Segment might be users from a particular country or city. Another Segment might be users who purchase a particular line of products or who visit a specific part of your site.

Segments let you isolate and analyze those subsets of data so you can examine and respond to the component trends in your business. For example, if you find that users from a particular geographic region are no longer purchasing a line of products in the same volume as they normally have, you can see whether a competing business is offering the same types of products at lower prices. If that turned out to be the case, you could respond by offering a loyalty discount to those users that undercuts your competitor's prices.

You can also use Segments as the basis for Re-marketing Audiences. For example, you might create a Segment of users who visit your menswear pages, and then target just those users (your Re-marketing Audience) with a re-marketing campaign that is focused on the new items that you are adding to those pages.

Segment – For a segment, every visit is checked to see if it satisfies the conditions of the segment. For sessions that satisfy the condition, all rows are returned. For sessions that do not, no rows are returned.

Filter – For a filter all the rows for ALL visits are considered, then only the rows that satisfy the conditions of the filter will be returned.

3.     - What technologies does Google Analytics use to keep track of visits and visitors to your website?

Google Analytics deploys specific tracking codes to each site to collect information on visits and visitors to the website.

  - Two ways in which website content can be changed to improve SEO.

1.    Have a well written, descriptive “description” meta tag that is easily readable by the spider:

A well written description is used by search engines to gather information on the topic or theme of the page. A well written description is phrased in two or three complete sentences with the strongest keyword phrases woven into each sentence. As with the title tag, some search engines will display the description on the search results pages, generally using it in whole or in part to provide the text that appears under the reference link.           2.    Titles should be written using the strongest keyword targets as the foundation. Some titles are written using two or three basic two-keyword phrases. A key to writing a good title is to remember that human readers will see the title as the reference link on the search engine results page. Don't overload your title with keyword phrases. Concentrate on the strongest keywords that best describe the topic of the page content.
 5.      When would you setup and measure a Goal in Google Analytics?  Give at least one example. You would setup and measure a Goal in Google Analytics when you successfully complete the planning phase of the campaign. A goal will determine the networks you target, the type of keywords, ad copy, and so much more. A branding goal is very different from a sales goal, so the approach to the account is determined by its goal.

Check out the new Scream Media website!