Google made some big changes this month, one of which is encrypting all of their search queries data - http://www.volume9inc.com/2013/09/26/how-google-is-leveraging-secure-search-to-fight-seo/
There has been a lot of buzz online about this, so nauturally a lot of clients have had questions about how this affects your reporting & account moving forward. This presentation gives a quick background into the changes that Google has made over time to make data more private, and outlines how it will affect SEO reporting.
2. What Happened?
Google Encrypted Search
2011 - Google began encrypting some data in
Google Analytics: http://selnd.com/oJ0KWu
2012 - Google made (not provided) the default
setting for users who were logged in:
http://bit.ly/GQKFoj
2013 - Google announced that 100% of all
keyword terms would now be listed as (not
provided): http://bit.ly/176OCTU
In short…we saw this coming
3. Why did Google Do This?
• Add a layer of security to user
information (NSA and European
Union Anti-Trust)
• Possibly to Promote the use of
Adwords
• Because it’s Google & they can
do whatever they want
“We want to provide SSL protection to as many users as we can, in
as many regions as we can…we believe it’s a good thing for
users….The motivation here is not to drive the ads side — it’s for our
search users.” - Google
4. What Does this Mean for your Data?
Google Analytics will no longer deliver the specific keywords that are driving organic
traffic. This affects:
• Measuring Branded Versus Non Branded Organic Search
• Determining your top-converting Organic Keywords
• Analyzing standard metrics based on organic keywords (bounce rate,
time spent on site, etc.)
5. Fear Not! We Still Measure A Lot
Historical Visits
and
Engagement
Keyword Mapping
and Ranking
(Eduki Reporting)
Paid Keyword
Performance
Search
Queries,
Impressions
and Average
Positions
Bing
Keyword
Traffic
6. Webmaster Tools Vs. Analytics
VS.
Designed to illustrate how
search engines see your site
Designed to illustrate how
users interact with your site
With Webmaster Tools, We can still look at:
- Organic Landing Pages (a better metric than organic keywords)
- Branded vs. Non Branded Terms
- Organic Impressions
- Overall Position
8. How Will this Change SEO Reporting?
We saw this trend & stopped relying on the flawed organic
keyword data a long time ago…
So, your reports won’t change!