Searchs Lost Metric - Total Retail

By Larry Kavanagh

Web Exclusive: Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Search Programs

Most retailers use the wrong metric to measure the success of their search programs. They focus on tactical measures, such as return on advertising spend or the number of keywords moving up and down in rankings.

I recommend tracking sales from nonbranded keywords with Google Analytics. To help you get started, here are straightforward steps to access this data.

Getting Started
Starting from your Google Analytics dashboard, click "Traffic Sources" followed by "Keywords" from the left navigation panel.

From there, follow these steps to first identify revenue generated from branded keyword searches — i.e., shoppers that type in your company's name in a search engine:

1. Set a date range in the upper right-hand corner, then click "Apply."

2. Once the data loads, select the tab labeled "Ecommerce."

3. Just above the tabs, click the link labeled "Paid."

4. At the bottom of the page, select "containing" from the "Filter Keyword" drop-down menu, type in the most appropriate keyword for your company name in the box, then click "Go."

5. Google then provides details on your paid keyword visits, including the amount of revenue generated from them.

6. To determine the revenue generated from search engine optimization traffic, click the "NonPaid" link just above the tabs.

7. Again, select "containing" from the "Filter Keyword" drop-down menu, type in the most appropriate keyword for your company name in the box, then click "Go." Use a keyword that best defines your company in a narrowed search. A company called “Tiki Hut,” for example, would narrow the search using only “Hut.” Using a reference to “Tiki” could inflate the results due to search terms including that word, such as tiki torches.

8. Google then returns details on your nonpaid keyword visits, including the revenue generated from them.

Now, take the following four steps to determine revenue by key traffic sources: Paid Search Traffic, Nonpaid Search Traffic, Direct Traffic:

9. From the left navigation, click "All Traffic Sources."

10. The date range already will be set from your previous search above.

11. Select the "All Visits" drop-down for "Advanced Segments" found in the upper right corner of the page.

12. Select "Paid Search Traffic," "Nonpaid Search Traffic" and "Direct Traffic" from the "Default Segments" list, then click "Apply."

13. Select the "Ecommerce" tab to locate the revenue generated from each traffic source, as well as total revenue from all visits. Keep in mind, though, that Google bases reporting on sampled data, which means report results are estimates from a statistical sample of site visits. To determine your nonbranded revenue results, subtract your revenue from branded search traffic from these total revenues.

You also can determine your nonbranded keyword search revenue by following steps one through five. Instead of using “containing” to filter your company name, however, select “excluding” your company name. —LK

Most retailers use the wrong metrics to measure the success of search programs. They focus on tactical measures, such as return on advertising spend or keywords moving up and down in rankings. These measures are like sports statistics — they explain the final score but don't decide success or failure. The final score does that. In business, profits are the final score and sales tell you how good or bad the blowout can be.

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On the Web: Searchs Lost Metric