Introduction

These step-by-step guides will help you perform a basic LinkedIn advertising account audit. Your ultimate deliverable for the audit may take the shape of a powerpoint, spreadsheet, or something else entirely.

Master Checklist

Account & Campaign Settings

Account Settings

Linkedin account settings are where you configure items like user permissions and automated email alerts. When reviewing these settings, it is also worthwhile to observe how existing campaigns have been built and organized, as well as how these items get tracked.

The Big Idea Behind Account Settings

Common Problems with Account Settings

The following problems tend to occur:

• User permissions are out-dated and include individuals who don’t work on the account
• Conversion tracking is not set up

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Account Settings

1. Ensure the user permissions have been set up properly
   User permissions are found at the top of the page, by clicking the gear icon – as illustrated here:

   Ensure that only campaign managers and clients are listed in the ‘manage access’ window.

   Further, ensure that the levels of access for each individual make sense according to your strategy & the client’s needs.

2. Ensure Linkedin contact settings are up-to-date and meet the business’ needs
   To check contact settings, click the option from the same gear dropdown in step 1. Depending on the client’s needs and your preferences, determine what alerts are most important and recommend removing the others from the list. This way, only the essential updates are sent to your inbox.
3. Ensure a clear and intuitive structure exists across the account
   Now, turn your focus to the list of campaigns and understand their current structure. Knowing what you do about the client’s business goals, do the existing campaign make sense? Is the account currently setup to scale in the future, or would that be difficult with the way things are organized?Take note of this. By addressing this type of issue early on in the management process, you can avoid having to backtrack and re-organizing campaigns later down the line.
4. Ensure conversion tracking is set up
   Linkedin does not offer any native conversion tracking (such as a conversion pixel). Instead, Linkedin activity can be tracked using Google Analytics goals & UTM tags on URLs.Ensure ad URLs include UTM_Source, UTM_Medium, and UTM_Campaign tags. Next, ensure you have access to the client’s Analytics account. Then, confirm that your LinkedIn campaign conversions are configured as goals within the Analytics account.

   Lastly, make sure these URL tags make sense, and are consistent across ad units to ensure reporting is clean in the future.

Outcome after Checking Account Settings

Consider…

• How important attribution is for paid media! Is the correct tracking in place to prove ROI on Linkedin?

Campaign Settings

The Big Idea Behind Campaign Settings

Campaign settings help with organization and scalability. The campaign settings can affect how and when ads are being shown, which can mean cashing in or losing out on opportunities.

Common Problems with Campaign Settings

The following problems tend to occur:

• Budgets need to be adjusted
• Incorrect end-dates
• Only one active ad

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Campaign Settings

1. Ensure campaign budgets are adequate
   Is the campaign consistently depleting its budget? Graph the amount spent to see if campaigns are ever being capped by the budget.If campaigns are consistently being capped, it may be worthwhile to raise the campaign budget.
2. Take note of auction type (CPC or CPM)
   While in a campaign, select the “Bid and budget” tab from the top menu. While here, take note of whether the campaign bid type is CPC or CPM.
3. Ensure campaign end dates are setup correctly
   While still in the “Bid and budget” section, scroll down to see the End Date option (may have to click “Show more” for this to appear).

   Not every campaign will have an end date specified, but if it does, make sure it reflects the intention for the campaign duration.

4. Ensure campaigns have more than one active ad
   Keeping multiple ad variations in a campaign makes it easy to test them.Click into each campaign (if more than one) and take note of the number of active ads within the campaign.
5. Check how ads are being rotated
   While in a campaign, click the campaign settings gear at the top, and select “Rotate ad variations” from the drop-down. Take note of whether ads are being rotated evenly or if optimized for click-through rate.

Outcome after Checking the Campaign Settings

Consider…

• Are campaigns organized for on-going success?
• Would scaling campaigns be easy or hard given the current campaign structure and bid strategy?

Targeting, Ads & Landing Pages

Targeting

The Big Idea Behind Targeting

LinkedIn audience building is very advanced and provides very granular targeting options. You can get ads to show to the right people, in the right businesses, at the right time.

Common Problems with Targeting

The following problems tend to occur:

• Not targeting the right audience
• Not targeting large enough audience

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Targeting

1. Are campaigns targeting the right audience?
   Navigate the the “Audience” tab and review the targeted audience. Identify how audiences are being selected (e.g. location, job titles, company size, etc.). Take a close look and make sure that the audiences being targeted are appropriate to the business. Are locations within the businesses service areas? Do job titles make sense for the ads being served? And so on and so forth.
2. Ensure audience size large enough to make an impact
   Within the “Audience” section, find the “Your estimated target audience” box on the right hand side.
3. Is Audience Expansion enabled?
   At the bottom of the “Audience” section, take note of whether the Audience Expansion feature is enabled. This setting is enabled by default and allows ads to be shown to similar audiences you’ve selected. If disabled, investigate the reasoning behind the decision. See screenshot below.

Helpful Resources for Checking Targeting

• How-to Target Linkedin Ads to your Audience
• Targeting Options and Best Practices
• Audience Expansion

Outcome after Checking Targeting

Consider…

• Who the ideal customer is on Linkedin
• How have they been targeted in the past
• What could be improved to generate better ROI

Ads

The Big Idea Behind Ads

Creative ads with compelling copy are key to getting people to click and ultimately convert. Ads need to stand out to attract attention of LinkedIn users. The messaging needs to speak to the audience and entice users to click the ad.

Common Problems with Ads

The following problems tend to occur:

• Copy is not enticing — does not generate click-throughs
• Same ads have been running for a long time

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Ads

1. Analyze the elements of an ad – ensure good quality
   Analyze the ads that are being served. Check to see that headlines are compelling and the copy is not too wordy. Also, read the copy itself. Is it free of typos or grammar mistakes? Does it relate to the audience?
2. Ensure all ads have a clear call-to-action
   Ensure that each ad has a clear and relevant call to action. Whether it is “Call now”, “Get started” or other language. Make note of any ads that do not have a clear call-to-action.
3. Ensure new ads are being served to avoid ad fatigue
   Have new ads been created in the past month? LinkedIn seems to favor fresh, new ads over older variations. Check to see when active ads were created. Take note of ads that were created months ago and are still active.
4. Ensure Sponsored updates are being used (if applicable)
   Sponsored updates can have much higher engagement than standard ads, and can be a great way to expand the reach of the messaging.In the campaigns view, check to see that there is a campaign for Sponsored Updates.

   

   If sponsored updates are being utilized, analyze the performance of the sponsored updates and identify types of updates that lead to the best performance.

Outcome after Checking Ads

Consider…

• The types of ads used in the past and evaluate their performance

The Big Idea Behind Landing Pages

Landing pages are all about relevancy and conversion mechanisms. When a user clicks on an ad, they should arrive on a landing page that aligns with the ad they clicked. Landing pages should also be design to get users to convert. Forms or other conversion mechanisms should be present on landing pages.

Common Problems with Landing Pages

The following problems tend to occur:

• Messaging does not align with the ad
• Landing page is not mobile-friendly
• No conversion mechanisms in place

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Landing Pages

1. Ensure LinkedIn company page is up-to-date
   If ads are tied to the branded LinkedIn page, review the page and ensure contact info, descriptions, etc. is all accurate. The client’s credibility can take a hit if their own brand page is not up-to-date.
2. Ensure landing pages are free of errors
   If ads are pointing to designated landing pages, ensure that the page loads correctly and is not broken. Also ensure that there are no typos or grammatical issues on the landing pages.
3. Ensure landing pages are mobile-friendly
   If ads are being served on mobile devices, it is crucial that the landing page is mobile-responsive, to provide excellent user-experience.Navigate to a landing page that is being served on mobile devices and collapse your browser screen to check for mobile-responsiveness.
4. Ensure landing pages are relevant and optimized for conversions
   Ensure that landing pages are relevant to the ad message. If advertising for a specific product/service/solution, ensure that ads point to that specific page on the site. The headline and body copy should be enticing to get users to convert.Also, check that landing pages are set up with a form or other conversion mechanism. Without a conversion mechanisms, it will be nearly impossible to generate results through LinkedIn Ads.

Outcome after Checking Landing Pages

Consider…

• Landing pages should be optimized for conversions
• Messaging needs to align with the ad

Master Checklist

Account Settings

Mini Checklist

Account Settings

The Big Idea Behind Account Settings

Accurate account settings are crucial for managing Facebook ads efficiently. Account settings cover everything from Facebook properties you have access to, to levels of permission and billing info.

At Webmechanix, we handle all Facebook activity through the Business Manager (Facebook’s version of the AdWords MCC).

Follow the steps below to make sure you are setup for Facebook ad success!

Common Problems with Account Settings

The following problems tend to occur:

• Read-only access granted when advertiser permission is necessary
• Access to Facebook page was never granted

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Account Settings

1. Ensure you have access to the Facebook Ad Account
   After logging into Business Manager, look for the Client’s Facebook Ad Account in your list of Facebook properties. If it is listed, you’re in good shape. If not, confirm that access was requested from/granted by the client.
2. Ensure you have at least Ad Account Advertiser permissions
   In the same Business Manager view, look right above the ad account name for ‘role’. Ensure the ‘role’ you’ve been granted is ‘Ad Account Advertiser’ – if you are in a management role. If you are not in charge of Facebook ad management, and ‘Ad Account Analyst’ analyst role will suffice.
3. Ensure you have access to the linked Facebook page with correct permissions
   If you are in charge of management, ensure you have access to the client’s Facebook page (this is necessary, if you will be running News Feed Ads). If you have been granted access to the page, it will appear in the same list as the ad account, in the main Business Manager view.

Confirm you have ‘page advertiser’ access by looking in the same ‘role’ section, just above the Facebook page name.

• Ensure that billing information is up-to-date
  Now that you’ve confirmed that you have access to the client’s ad account and page (with the proper permissions), visit the client’s Facebook ad account.

Once inside the account, visit the ‘billing’ tab, and ensure payment info is up-to-date – this mainly involves checking the credit card is not passed it’s expiration date.

• Ensure the brand Facebook page is up-to-date with all pertinent business information
  Check the brand’s Facebook page and ensure that all contact and business information is up-to-date.

This is important since people may search for that brand on Facebook after seeing an ad. If the information is not accurate or is not available, the customer may not find that brand credible or trustworthy.

Helpful Resources for Checking Account Settings

• Advertiser Help Center

Outcome

Consider…

• The permissions that have been granted and how these may need to change if/when ad management begins.

Tracking & Audiences

Mini Checklist

Tracking

The Big Idea Behind Tracking

Tracking is the key to attributing success to Facebook ads. With the help of the ‘Facebook Pixel’, each account has the ability to set up event-based and URL-based custom conversions.

Take the following steps to ensure the right actions are being tracked, and they are doing so accurately.

Common Problems with Tracking

The following problems tend to occur:

• Facebook pixel is not placed

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Tracking

1. What are the account goals?
   What are the client’s goals? Do they want more appointment sign-ups? Are they interested in selling products?

With a better understanding of these goals, you can better evaluate current tracking configuration to ensure it makes sense based on the client’s needs.

• What are the KPIs?
  This could be form fills, phone calls, purchases, or a number of other things. If you know what individual metrics are the most valuable to the client, you can check to see that these items are being tracked adequately.
• Ensure conversion tracking is set up and working correctly
  Actions that occur on the Facebook interface are already tracked by Facebook & reported on in the interface.

For on-site conversions, we want to ensure the ‘Facebook Pixel’ exists on every page of the client’s website. Visit ‘Tools’ > ‘Pixels’ > ‘Domains’ and confirm, at the very least, that the correct client domain is listed as an option. Next, visit the ‘URLs’ tab from the same view, and ensure the correct thank you pages are being tracked for conversions, and data is being counted. Lastly, visit the ‘Events’ tab of the same view to confirm that the right type of events are being tracked – if event tracking is necessary.

Helpful Resources for Checking Account Settings

• Google Tag Assistant: If the client is using this service to deploy the Facebook pixel, it can be helpful for finding the code on their site.

Outcome after Checking the Tracking

Consider…

• How client’s bottom line goals can be achieved through Facebook ads
• Where conversion tracking is already set-up, and where else it may need to be added

Audiences

The Big Idea Behind Checking Audiences

Audiences are used to target Facebook users, and serve ads to a client’s target market. Facebook allows marketers to create audiences based on current client data, as well as tailored audiences based around users’ online behaviors.

Common Problems with Audiences

The following problems tend to occur:

• Audiences are not saved
• Audiences are hand-picked based on Facebook interests/demographics only

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Audiences

1. Ensure custom audiences have been created
   Custom audiences can be used for remarketing and audience expansion within Facebook.

To ensure custom audiences are being leveraged, visit ‘Tools’ > ‘Audiences’ and look for ‘custom audiences’ listed under the ‘type’ column. Does the audience name shed light on who is included in this specific audience (previous converters, people who have purchased, etc)?

If so, take note of who is included, and think about additional custom audiences that could benefit the client’s bottom line.

• Are lookalike audiences being leveraged
  Look-a-like audiences reference custom audiences in order to find more, new users to target with your ads. They often align more closely with a client’s target market because they are typically derived from lists of users who have converted, purchased, etc.

Under the same ‘Audience’ view, look for ‘look-a-like’ under the ‘type’ column. At the very least, a 1% and 2% lookalike audience should exist in the account. Be sure to take note of which custom audience(s) these are derived from so you understand the nature and purpose of the lookalike.

• Ensure ads target large enough audiences
  In the same audience view, sort audiences by size, and take note of how many contain 1000 users or fewer. Be sure to also take note of their names (which should help you understand their purpose, if a naming structure exists – standard targeting, remarketing, etc)

Typically, you want your audience size to be at least 1,000 people for standard (non-remarketing) campaigns – Reach should be high, frequency should be relatively low (1-2/day) as a rule of thumb. This is because a large audience will provide you with more valuable ad performance data than an ad which serves 2-3 times a day to the same 500 people.

Helpful Resources for Checking Account Settings

• Facebook: What is a custom audience?
• Facebook: What are look-a-like audiences?

Outcome after Checking Audiences

Consider…

• What audiences are being created and used and how this could impact performance (in good and bad ways)
• What additional audience options the client could take advantage of to benefit their bottom line

Structure & Campaign Settings

Mini Checklist

Account Structure & Campaign Settings

The Big Idea Behind Campaign Settings

Campaign settings & account structure are all about organization and scalability. By understanding account nomenclature and account types, you can have a better idea of how the account has been run to date.

This is when you should take note of the account nomenclature and campaign types, as well as determining budget allocation. Follow the steps below to ensure campaigns are setup for success in the long & short term.

Common Problems with Campaign Settings

The following problems tend to occur:

• Client’s are not leveraging valuable campaign types
• No nomenclature exist to keep campaigns organized and scalable

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Campaign Settings

1. Is there any nomenclature in place to keep campaigns organized?
   Is there a clear nomenclature being used to keep campaigns organized? At first glance, do campaign names provide any indication of what campaign type(s) is/are being used?
2. Take note of which campaign types are being leveraged in the account
   If a nomenclature does not exist, you may need to dig into each campaign to understand which campaign types of being used. This information will be important because the campaign types will shed light on how Facebook has been leveraged in the past.

Take note of the campaign types being used, and think of how these impact the client’s bottom line. Do the campaign types make sense when you consider the business’s KPIs?

Outcome after Checking Campaign Settings

Consider…

• Which campaign types have been leveraged and how this impacts the big picture for the client
• Which additional campaign types could be useful for improving numbers

Ad Sets, Ads & Landing Pages

Mini Checklist

Ad Sets

The Big Idea Behind Ad Sets

Facebook Ad sets are equivalent to ad groups in AdWords. Ad sets are your home base for controlling audiences, placements, and other crucial settings that are important to serving and testing ads.

Common Problems with Ad Sets

The following problems tend to occur:

• Unorganized
• Multiple active ads within single ad set
• Targeting preferences are inaccurate/inappropriate

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Ad Sets

1. Is there any nomenclature in place to help keep ad sets organized?
   Check the names of the ad sets. At first glance, do the ad set names provide any indication of the ad set purpose? Can you easily differentiate between two ad sets in a campaign by their names?
2. Ensure there is only one active ad per set
   If more than one ad is in a given ad set, Facebook will determine the better ad and will only show that ad. Make note of any ad sets that have more than one ad active.
3. Ensure that ads are serving on both Desktop and Mobile newsfeeds
   In order to gain the most impressions, ads should be served on both desktop and mobile newsfeeds.

To find this information, go to the “Edit Ad Set” view and scroll to the “Placements” section. Are desktop and mobile newsfeed placements checked? Make note of any ad sets not serving on both mobile and desktop newsfeeds.

• Ensure location targeting is accurate and appropriate for the ads being served
  While in the “Edit Ad Set” view, find the “Audience” section. Is location targeting leveraged for this ad set? If so, ensure that the locations being targeting are correct.

Ad sets may not be using location targeting. However, if targeting specific locations, ensure that the locations listed seem accurate and appropriate for the ads being served. For example, if the client’s local business serves the DC Metro area, check that locations outside of the service area are not being targeted.

• Ensure the appropriate age ranges are being targeted
  While still in the “Audience” section, make note if age targeting is being leveraged. If so, are the age ranges appropriate for the particular product/service being advertised.

Again, not every Facebook campaign will utilize age range targeting. However, if it is being used, ensure that the appropriate age ranges are being targeted. For example, are the ads home repair targeting teenagers? Or is it targeting people between the age of 30 and 65?

• Are ads optimized for leads or clicks?
  While in the “Edit Ad Set” view, scroll to the “Optimization & Pricing” section. Make note if the ads are being optimized for leads or clicks.
• Ensure the ad set budgets are adequate based on performance metrics
  Are the high performance ad sets receiving the budget they need to continue performing? Think about the client’s KPI goals (High lead vol, low CPA, etc) when evaluating.

Are these KPI goals being met by any specific ad sets? Consider how additional spend can help these ad sets perform even better, and how spend may be going to waste in other areas of the account which are not performing up to par.

Outcome after Checking Ad Sets

Consider…

• Are ad sets organized in any logical and scalable way?
• Who should the ads be targeting?
• How are ads being optimized?

Ads

The Big Idea Behind Ads

Creative ads with compelling copy are key to getting people to click and ultimately convert. Ads need to stand out to attract attention of Facebook users, and the messaging needs to speak to the audience and entice users to click the ad.

Common Problems with Ads

The following problems tend to occur:

• Low ad relevancy score
• Misalignment of CTA and offer

Step-by-Step Instruction for Checking Ads

1. Ensure no ads have been disapproved
   Just like AdWords, Facebook has strict advertising policies and guidelines. Ads must meet these guidelines in order to be served to users.

Navigate to the Ads section of the account. Once there, check the “Delivery” column for “Not Approved.” If an ad has been disapproved, make note of Facebook’s reason for disapproving the ad.

• Ensure ads are free of typos/grammar issues and have relevant CTA
  Ads should not have any typos or grammar issues. You lose all credibility and trust with the audience if they see any mistakes. Also, the CTA should be relevant to the offer. For example, if the goal of the ads is to get people to call the business, the CTA should be “Call Now.”

While in the Ads section, preview the the ads that are running and check for any typos or other grammar issues with the copy. While previewing ads, check the CTA and ensure that they are relevant to the offer the ad is promoting.

• Check Ad Relevancy Scores
  Ad Relevancy Score is the equivalent of AdWords Quality Score. Scores are given on a scale of 1-10; 10 being the highest. Here is some more information on Ad Relevancy Scores.

While in the Ads section, check the “Relevancy” column. Make note of ads with a relevancy score below 5.

• Ensure that ads are being tested against one another
  Testing ads ensures that you will be serving the best performing ad to your audience. You can test images, offers, copy, etc.

The best way to test Facebook ads is to attribute one ad per ad set and set up multiple ad sets to run experiments. Determine if ads are being test. If so, make note of what is being tested and the performance of each ad – if one is clearly outperforming another.

• Entire ads have been updated in the past month to avoid ad fatigue
  Ad fatigue occurs when your audience is being shown the same ad too many times. Updating ads each month can help avoid this.

Check the start date of the active ads. Make note of ads that are currently being served, and have been running for over a month. These ads may need to be updated.

Outcome after Checking Ads

Consider…

• Are ads relevant?
• Are ads free of errors?
• Are new ads being tested frequently?

Landing Pages

The Big Idea Behind Landing Pages

Landing pages are all about relevancy and conversion mechanisms. When a user clicks on an ad, they should arrive on a landing page that aligns with the ad they clicked. Landing pages should also be design to get users to convert. Forms or other conversion mechanisms should be present on landing pages.

Common Problems with Landing Pages

The following problems tend to occur:

• Messaging does not align with the ad
• Landing page is not mobile-friendly
• No conversion mechanisms in place

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Landing Pages

1. Ensure no landing pages have errors or load issues
   Any issues with landing pages, including grammar mistakes or load issues, can lead to a loss of trust and credibility with the users.

To view the landing page: preview the ad, then click “View Post Permalink” at the bottom of the ad preview. This will take you to the Facebook ad post. From there, click the ad to view the landing page. Check to ensure that the page loads properly and is free of typos and other grammar issues.

• Ensure landing pages are responsive/appropriate for each device you are serving ads on
  If ads are being served on mobile devices, it is crucial that the landing page is mobile-responsive, to provide excellent user-experience.

Navigate to a landing page that is being served on mobile devices and collapse your browser screen to check for mobile-responsiveness.

• Ensure the landing page content aligns with the ad messaging and goal for your campaign
  When someone click an ad and arrives on a landing page, they should see the same offer and messaging on the landing page that they saw on the ad. If the messaging significantly differs, that could lead to a lost conversion.

While previewing the landing pages, check to ensure that the content aligns with the messaging on the ad itself. Is the offer/messaging on the landing page the same as the ad? Does the ad headline match the Landing page headline? Also, is there a conversion mechanism in place that allows a user to complete the action, such as a form, click-to-call button, etc.?

Outcome after Checking Landing Pages

Consider…

• Are landing pages free of errors?
• Are landing pages mobile-friendly?
• Is the messaging relevant to the ad?

Introduction

These step-by-step guides will help you perform a basic paid search account audit. Your ultimate deliverable for the audit may take the shape of a powerpoint, spreadsheet, or something else entirely.

The paid search account audit guides provide you with a) step-by-step instructions and b) important tools that will help you complete your analysis.

Master Checklist

Account Setup

Mini Checklist

Account Settings

The Big Idea Behind Account Settings

The account settings section is the top most level of a paid search account. As such, the configuration of these settings can make or break a paid search account.

This area is also the home of all paid search billing settings. Further, other options in this section dictate how Search Engines pass performance metric data through to other platforms.

View Change History

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Account Settings

1. Ensure you have access to correct AdWords account
   Confirm the Account ID with the client before beginning the audit. This ensures the account you are about to audit is the correct one. The ID can be found on the top-level navigation of the adwords interface, next to the “Google AdWords’ logo
2. Ensure billing information is accurate
   Check the billing information to ensure that if the account is billed via credit card, the name and billing address associated with the credit card are accurate, and the credit card is still valid. If the credit card is going to expire within the quarter, be sure to mention this to the client.
3. Ensure correct permissions are set up
   Go into the account settings within AdWords and ensure that the correct email address has been given the appropriate permissions.

If this is a ~6 week audit that was sold, you should at least have “read-only” access to the account. If this is an audit for a full-time client, you may have either ‘admin’ or ‘standard’ access.

• Ensure auto-tagging is set up (if not, ensure ads are tagged)
  Visit Account Settings > Preferences. Make sure auto-tagging is set to yes. This allows data to move from AdWords to Analytics without additional manual tags. Further, you may only import Analytics goals and transactions into AdWords with auto-tagging enabled.
• Ensure Google Analytics is linked to AdWords
  Visit Account Settings > Linked Accounts > Google Analytics. Are there any properties listed? If so, then we’re in good shape!

Outcome after Checking Account Settings

Documents

• Prepare a notes/observations document, and mention any highlights and (more importantly) all the issues that need to be addressed in the account settings and all other areas you will be auditing.

Account Structure

The Big Idea Behind Checking the Account Structure

Account structure is crucial for paid search, as this dictates the types of results clients will see through AdWords.

By performing a few intuitive checks on the types of campaigns being used (search, display, shopping, etc), the way budgets are set, and the way campaigns are organized, you can pinpoint high-level issues that can snowball into underwhelming results for the client.

Common Problems when Checking the Account Structure

The following problems tend to occur:

• No brand campaign (address in more detail below)
• Campaigns limited by budget

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking the Account Structure

1. Is this account leveraging the logical campaign types for it’s business?
   Adwords offers a number of campaign types that can be valuable for different types of businesses.

Put yourself in the client’s shoes and put the situation in context. Is the client currently not happy with results from another agency? Bad results could be due to a poor choice in campaign type.

If it were your business, which ad types do you think make the most sense for your bottom line?

If you wanted on-site conversions, you may be best served using search only ads. If you had a powerful brand, you’d leveraging display to increase brand awareness. If you were e-commerce focused, shopping may be the way to go.

• Does a Brand Campaign Exist?
  Brand campaigns should be leveraged by nearly every AdWords client. Clicks are cheap, traffic is typically high-intent, and results are usually better than the account average.

Ensure the account has a brand campaign intended for the search network. If it doesn’t exist, be sure to recommend this!

• Is there a nomenclature in place to keep campaigns focused/organized?
  When you first logged into this AdWords account, was it easy to understand the purpose of each campaign by its name? Could you clearly spot a Display campaign vs a Search campaign?

Further, knowing what you know about the client’s business… Do the distinctions between campaigns make sense? For example, it would never make sense to create campaigns for individual keyword match types (one campaign with all exact match keywords, another with all phrase, etc) as this does not make it easy to manage performance, optimize the account, or even report on what’s working.

• Is the account using campaign budgets or shared budgets?
  In the account tab, look at the “status” column. Are some campaigns ‘limited by budget’ while others are not? If so, this may be a sign of improper allocation of spend. A recommendation here would be to create shared budgets which lump individual budgets together, and allow it to be spent by whichever campaign needs it most.

Outcome after Checking the Account Structure

Consider…

• The missed opportunities when it comes to account organization, budget allocation, and chosen campaign types.

Campaign Setup

Mini Checklist

Tracking

The Big Idea Behind Checking Tracking Settings

Without tight tracking, the client may never tie results back to PPC. Tracking provides clear evidence of Paid search’s impact on the bottom line (conversions, revenue, etc)

Without tracking, we cannot know what’s working in an account, or really even begin to optimize in an efficient way.

Common Problems when Tracking Settings

The following problems tend to occur:

• No conversions setup
• Tracking pixels placed incorrectly
• Trivial conversions configured (such as page views)

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Tracking Settings

1. What are the client’s goals?
   At the end of the day, what is the focus of the client’s business? The client will make clear what they expect out of PPC. The key is to ensure the client expectations can reasonably be met through the capabilities of PPC.
2. What are the KPI’s?
   Does the client expect form fills and phone calls? Keep these ideas in mind as you consider what is and is not worth tracking within the account.
3. Ensure conversion goals are set up
   From the top navigation of AdWords, select Tools > Conversions to view all trackable goals for the account in question. Do the configured goals match the KPIs?

Take note of both the goals that do and do not match these key indicators. And ensure the key goals are not paused!

• Unless importing from Google Analytics, ensure conversion tracking scripts are placed correctly
  In the same Conversions view, ensure any goals configured within AdWords (look for ‘website’ in the source column) are recording conversions (in the ‘Tracking Status’ column).

If not, visit a landing page, and test the conversion mechanism in order to observe the adwords conversion code fire. If it does not fire, you have your recommendation. If it does fire, and you see no conversions being recorded, it could be a sign that optimization is necessary.

• Ensure URL tracking is in place
  For data to push to systems other than Analytics, manual URL tagging may be required. If this is the case, ensure URL tagging exists on one or a few of the following levels of the account: Account, Campaign, Ad Group, Ad, and/or Keyword.

Outcome

Consider…

• Any conversion actions that should also be tracked
• Which irrelevant conversions are being counted
• Brainstorming some initial thoughts on how you can help improve KPIs

Campaign Settings

The Big Idea Checking Campaign Settings

Campaigns are typically the main ‘topics’ or ‘silos’ your client is focused on. These could be specific geographies, the different products or services lines they offer, or something else entirely.

A Campaign’s settings affect the performance of each ad group, ad and keyword within it. Because of the large impacts campaigns settings have on overall performance, the following checks ensure things are configured in a reasonable way.

Common Problems with Checking Campaign Settings

The following problems tend to occur:

• Ad scheduling is incorrect because the account time zone is different from you/your client’s time zone
• Campaigns are set to Search & Display select (AdWords default)

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Campaign Settings

1. Ensure budgets aren’t being constrained
   Double check that no campaigns are ‘limited by budget’ in the main campaign tab.
2. Ensure there are no campaign end dates
   From the main ‘campaign’ tab, jump to ‘settings’ to see a list of settings for all campaigns. In this view, confirm that no campaigns have end dates, unless there is a reasonable explanation for why they would.

If campaigns have end dates, but shouldn’t, be sure to take note and address this in your analysis.

• Make note of bid strategy
  In the same ‘settings’ view, look under the bid strategy column. Take note of the bid strategies. Typically, campaigns are set to CPC, but clients can leverage ‘Target CPA’ or ‘Max CPA’ as well. It’s important to understand how a client is being charged within each campaign. This can impact the strategic approach to the account.
• Ensure ad delivery is set to “standard”
  Add the ‘delivery method’ column to the view.

Typically, campaigns are set to standard delivery to allow for evenly distributed ad placement throughout the day. If it is set to ‘accelerated’ it may be impacting performance. Take note of this, and keep it in mind when digging into keyword and ad performance.

Especially for campaigns set to ‘accelerated’ review campaign performance by hour of day (over a 30 day window) in the dimensions tab. If performance is underwhelming or poor and ads are only serving for a few hours a day, accelerated could be a reason why.

• Ensure geo-targeting is setup for location-specific campaigns
  From the main ‘Campaigns’ tab, under ‘settings’, review the geo-targeting of each campaign. Do they make sense based on the client’s business goals and the KPIs?

If not, it would be worth considering some better ways to leverage geo-targeting.

• Ensure ad scheduling is setup for time=specific campaigns
  In the same view, look at the configured ad schedules. Remember the metrics from the dimensions tab? If they were poor, individual campaign ad schedules could also be a reason why.

Sometimes ad schedules are based on the client’s business hours. Think about their business and confirm this is a reasonable consideration for paid search.

• Are mobile bid modifiers being used
  Visit the main ‘Campaign’ tab, and segment the data by device. If there is a significant portion of mobile traffic clicks ads, mobile bid modifiers may be worth applying or updating based on the performance data you will be reviewing shortly.

Outcome after Checking the Campaign Settings

Consider…

• How these settings could play a role in overall campaign performance

Ad Groups & Keywords

Mini Checklist

Ad Groups

The Big Idea Behind Auditing Ad Groups

Ad group structure dictates campaign performance in the same way campaign performance impacts overall account performance. The goal here is ensure a distinction can be made between ad groups. Most importantly, the distinction between ad groups should play a role related to strategy in some way.

Common Problems with Auditing Ad Groups

The following problems tend to occur:

• Ad Groups are separated by match type only
• Ad Group names are not descriptive (example: Ad Group 1, Ad Group 2, etc…)

Step-by-Step Instructions for Auditing Ad Groups

1. Ensure ad groups are relevant to the parent campaign
   Typically, search ad accounts are built based on the structure of a website. For example, a brand campaign would be the ‘about us’ directory of a website, a non-brand campaign would be the first Product or service line. Within that non-brand product campaign, the ad groups would be the individual products within that product line.

Do the names and contents of the ad groups closely relate to the parent campaign? If not, investigate other campaigns to see if ad groups are better suited elsewhere in the account using the methodology above.

Otherwise, it may be worthwhile to propose new campaigns to house orphan ad groups with no existing campaigns to associate with.

• Ensure a logical default max CPC is in place
  
  If a large number of keywords rely on a default max CPC and this default is too low, you run the risk of serving ads in poor positions, or below first pages bids (which you want to avoid unless the cost is extraordinarily high).

If those same keywords rely on a default max CPC that is too high, there is a chance that terms are earning top position during each auction which is not necessarily the best position to serve every keyword in.

If this is a brand campaign, a default max CPC of $2.50-$5.00 is typically enough to maintain position. For non-brand campaigns, an ideal max CPC can change based on competition, industry type. For additional help, reference the keyword planner or other accounts to best understand a logical default max CPC.

• Take note of how ad groups are structured
  Can a logical and meaningful distinction be made between ad groups? Look at the ad group names, and review the keywords and ad copy associated with each to best understand their differences.

If no meaningful distinctions can be made, it can affect campaign efficiency and organization and in some cases lead to over inflation of CPCs due to duplicate keywords in the account.

• Is there a nomenclature in place to keep ad groups organized?
  Similar to campaigns, a nomenclature should exist to help keep ad groups organized, easily distinguishable. In many cases, ad groups are named after their seed keyword. If this isn’t the case, it’s worth investigating the reason for existing naming structure.

Outcome after Auditing Ad Groups

Consider…

• What makes a campaign’s ad groups mutually exclusive
• How the ad groups are organized to maintain efficiency

Keywords

The Big Idea Behind Keywords

Keywords are the building blocks of a PPC account. They should be relevant to: 1) the client’s bottom line in a reasonable way & 2) the other keywords within their ad group.

If the keywords don’t relate to the bottom line they are likely contributing to wasteful spend. If they are not related to the other terms and ad copy in their ad group, quality scores will be lower. Low quality scores can prevent certain terms from serving ads at all – regardless of bid amount.

Common Problems with Keywords

The following problems tend to occur:

• Keywords are not relevant to one another or ads in their ad group
• Keywords are below first page bid

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Keywords

1. Check keyword status
   In the keywords tab, ensure keywords are set to eligible within the ‘status’ column. Take note of any additional status comments such as: disapproved, below first page bid, rarely shown due to quality score.

Statuses other than ‘eligible’ should be addressed as part of the optimization plan.

• Ensure negative keywords are being added
  In the keywords tab, review the negative keyword section to ensure terms are being added to the ‘black list’. Similarly, review search term reports to understand how much additional, irrelevant traffic may be matching to keywords in the portfolio.
• Ensure negatives aren’t blocking ads from serving
  When reviewing negatives, also ensure that keywords have not been added as negatives as this can prevent ads from being served at opportune times.

Outcome after Analyzing Keywords

Consider

• Keywords are set to “eligible”
• Prepare a plan to address keywords with other statuses
• Ensure negatives are being added
• But make sure keywords are not accidentally negative matched

Ads & Landing Pages

Mini Checklist

Ads

The Big Idea Behind Auditing Ads

Ads work in relation with keywords to serve the right message under the right context.

Each ad is a representation of the client’s brand and should send a focused message which relates to the terms being searched for.

Common Problems with Ads

The following problems tend to occur:

• Ads have no calls to action
• Ads are not related to the keywords or landing page

Step-by-Step Instructions for Auditing Ads

1. Ensure no ads have been disapproved
   In the ads view, look under the status column to check for disapproved ads. Disapprovals will prevent specific ads from serving entirely, this prevents the ad group from driving more conversions.
2. Ensure all ad groups have ads associated with them
   AdWords will typically inform you if ad groups do not have ads associated to them by presenting a message near the top navigation of the page.

If you would like to take this a step further, you can filter to ad groups which have 0 impressions over the last 30 days, and see if they are missing ads.

• Check for ad copy relevance
  You can ensure ad relevance by ensuring the ad group’s keywords are appearing in the ad copy itself. Also confirm the message in the ad aligns with the offer on the landing page.
• Analyze ad performance
  Sort ads by: 1) Conversion 2) CPA 3) CTR and 4) Avg Pos. to find deficiencies.If ads are not converting, converting with high CPAs, have low click-through-rates, or poor avg position ad-landing page alignment may be a cause.
• Check if ads are being tested
  Do at least two ads exist in each ad group? If an account has a large number of ad groups, a random sample of distinctly different ad group ads can help identify if ads are being tested.
• Is the account leveraging ad labels?
  When in the main ‘campaign’ tab, move over to the ‘dimensions’ tab and sort by Labels > Ads. With labels, it is easy to review ad level data across multiple campaigns. This can be helpful when evaluating the performance during an ad copy test.
• Are mobile optimized ads being used?
  Does a significant portion of traffic come from mobile devices? If so, it is important to include ads intended for mobile devices. Ensure these exist to avoid the truncation of traditional desktop ads. Truncation prevents the entire desktop ad message from showing to users which can set poor expectations and lead to poor performance.

Outcome after Auditing the Ads

Consider…

• Ads are relevant, tagged and being tested!

Landing Pages

The Big Idea Behind Landing Pages

Landing pages are where the deal is closed – where users take desired actions which contributes the bottom line. While ads set the expectation, the content on the landing page makes or breaks the campaign which can result in a drop off in lead volume and an increase in wasted spend.

Common Problems with Landing Pages

The following problems tend to occur:

• Landing pages don’t relate to ads or keywords in an ad group
• Conversion mechanisms do not exist or are not clear

Step-by-Step Instructions for Checking Landing Pages

1. Check landing page relevance
   Check that the keywords in an ad group match the terms on the landing page. Similarly, ensure that the ad copy aligns with the content of the page. These checks ensure higher quality scores and higher ad ranks.

Without this alignment users may be confused and unready to convert.

• Check page responsiveness
  Google may serve desktop optimized ads if mobile ads don’t exist in a particular account. If a mobile user clicks the ad, they should be sent to a responsive page to ensure the user can easily convert on the page in order to take advantage of every opportunity.
• Ensure conversion mechanisms exist, are visible, and are working
  Conversion mechanisms should exist on each ad’s landing page. This way leads can easily be captured, and account efficiency can be maintained. With paid media, it is essential to provide an intuitive conversion mechanisms to make the ad dollars worth it.

Be sure to test the functionality of the conversion mechanism as well to count out any extraordinary issues impacting account performance and the bottom line.

• Ensure dedicated landing pages are no-index
  If dedicated landing pages are used for paid search, ensure they are no-index so users cannot find them through organic search. Indexing landing pages can skew page data and lead to issues with lead attribution down the line.

Outcome after Checking the Landing Pages

Consider…

• Landing page relevance & responsiven design
• How conversion mechanisms can be optimized

Extensions & Advanced

Mini Checklist

Ad Extensions

The Big Idea Behind Ad Extensions

Along with bids, CTR and ad & landing page relevance, ad extensions play a crucial role in determining ad rank. This is because extensions serve a valuable purpose – enhancing the ad experience and providing more valuable information to users.

This level of expectation setting helps generate leads, sales and other important activity in an efficient and sustainable way.

Common Problems with Ad Extensions

The following problems tend to occur:

• Extensions relevant to the business aren’t being used.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Auditing Ad Extensions/h3>

1. Ensure ad extensions are relevant
   Do the enabled ad extensions make logical sense for the client’s bottom line? There’s no need for a call extension if the client never wants calls. Consider the value added by each extension when reviewing the available options.
2. Ensure sitelink landing pages have conversion mechanism(s)
   If sitelinks are being leveraged, their pages should have conversion mechanisms in the same way as landing pages. Sitelink clicks cost the same as a normal ad click would. Because the cost is the same, the return should be equivalent as well. The only sustainable way to generate that return is by using conversion mechanisms.
3. Ensure location extension addresses are accurate
   Ensure users aren’t being sent to the wrong address!

Outcome after Auditing Ad Extensions

Consider…

• How the available extensions fit with the client’s goals.

Dive Deeper into the Keyword Performance

The Big Idea Behind Keyword Performance

Using the WMX PPC audit tool, we can take a deep dive into performance metrics and pinpoint particular areas of opportunity within the account from a high level.

The metrics calculated with this tool are most insightful when reviewed in tandem with the AdWords account itself.

Common Problems with Keyword Performance

The following problems tend to occur:

• ???

Step-by-Step Instructions for Diving Deeper into Keyword Performance

1. Open up PPC Audit Document and follow step-by-step instructions
2. Ensure at least 80% of keywords have clicks
3. Ensure at least 90% of keywords have impressions
4. Ensure at least 75% of keywords are converting
5. Analyze match type efficiency
6. Ensure majority of keywords have Quality Score of 6 or greater

Outcome after Diving Deeper into Keyword Performance

Documents

• PPC Audit Doc

Consider

• How the observations made when reviewing all other areas of the account play into the metrics seen in through the audit tool.
• The order of priority when providing recommendations. The most impactful recommendations should always be the main headlines.

CRO Audit Guide

The purpose of a CRO audit is to highlight user behavior patterns and then make suggestions for improving visitors’ experiences and conversion rates based on the data. Depending on the type of audit being completed heatmaps, user recordings, user polls/surveys, and engagement data from Google Analytics are utilized. There are two types of audits, with slight differences between them:

• Pinpoint: Includes five key findings with supporting evidence and recommendations for each. Heatmaps, user recordings, and form analytics are incorporated to substantiate conclusions.
• U/X Diagnostic: Limited to three specific pages on the website which the client usually chooses. Includes one heatmap for each page, five user recordings total, and a two question user poll. Also includes a review of existing Google Analytics configuration and engagement data for each of the three pages. An example report is accessible here.

Guide to Configure Hotjar and Gain Access to Google Analytics

The Big Idea Behind Configuring Hotjar

Configuring Hotjar correctly is essential as it collects the data you’ll use to draw conclusions and interpret user behavior. While setup is generally simple, there are a few issues that can arise to complicate the process. Configuring Hotjar includes the following:

• Creating the client account
• Creating heatmaps
• Turning on user recordings
• Filtering out internal IP addresses
• Developing a user poll/survey

Gaining access to Google Analytics is simple and included in this guide only as a reminder.

Common Problems When Configuring Hotjar

The following problems tend to occur:

• Parallax scrolling: This is an effect where the background of a webpage moves at a different rate than the foreground. (Look at Wells.edu for an example) Hotjar cannot accurately display this type of page and so elements are often out of place or do not appear at all.Looking at the site’s styling should tell you if parallax scrolling will be an issue. You can also check the page source for “overflow” within the CSS, which can indicate that this is in place. However, the best way to know is to simply make the heatmap and check it after a few pageviews.
• Heatmaps not rendering correctly: Can be related to parallax scrolling (mentioned above), how the page displays on other browsers (Hotjar uses Firefox for snapshots), other CSS issues, etc.
• User recordings not showing the entire page: Often the result of infinite scrolling, but again, the only way to know if recordings will work on the site is to set them up and comb through to make sure you can see the page footer in multiple recordings.

Examples of Correct & Incorrect Hotjar Configurations

Correct

Code installed properly

IP addresses filtered

Poll/survey created and collecting data

Heatmaps created

User recording turned on

Incorrect

Tracking inactive/not installed

IP addresses not filtered

Heatmaps not created

User recordings not turned on

Poll/survey not created or launched

Suggested Tools for Configuring Hotjar

• Hotjar

Step-by-Step Instructions for Configuring Hotjar and Requesting Google Analytics Access

1. Make sure client site has been added
   Log in to Hotjar, then navigate to the Site and Organizations menu in the upper left corner.
   Search for your client’s website. If it does not come up, it must be added to the account. Click here for Hotjar’s instructions on adding a new site. If the client’s site does appear, click it to open the site’s Hotjar dashboard (example below).
2. Check that tracking has been installed
   Once you’re in the client’s Hotjar account, look in the upper right corner, just below the Help menu. It will either say “Tracking Inactive” or “Tracking Active.” If it is inactive, the code has not been installed and data will not be collected.
   
3. Ensure heatmaps have been set up
   On the left sidebar, click “Heatmaps” which has a flame icon next to it.
   
   On the Heatmap page, it will list heatmaps that have been created and if they are recording (see the “Correct” heatmap image above) or it will contain the introductory video if no heatmaps have been configured (see the “Incorrect” heatmap image above).If heatmaps have not been set up, click the green +New Heatmap button toward the top of the page.
   Then choose how many pageviews you’d like the snapshot to contain, name the heatmap and add the URL you’d like to track. It’s best to navigate to the page in your browser, copy the URL from the address bar, and then paste it into the field. This ensures that the correct page will be tracked. *Note that Hotjar considers pages with a trailing slash as separate, e.g. /example is not the same as /example/
   The “Simple match” type should work for most pages. However, check the other URL match types to be sure that you select the best option for your needs.

   The “Advanced Options” section can be ignored unless you have a specific screenshot you’d like to use for your heatmap or there are elements you’d like to exclude.
   

   Note: It is important to check that heatmaps have been generated correctly and are gathering data soon after they have been created to avoid any errors.
4. Check that user recordings are enabled
   To ensure that recordings are enabled, click “Recordings” in the left sidebar, next to the video camera icon.
   
   If recordings have been enabled and are being collected, there should be rows of recordings on the page and the heading should have an open green circle next to it with a button saying “Stop Recording” (as in the “Correct” image for recordings above). If recordings are not being collected, there will be a green button near the heading saying “Record Visitors” (as in the “Incorrect” image for recordings above). Click it to start capturing videos of user movement.
   Note: It is important to check that recordings allow you to see user activity all the way to the bottom of the page. Check several videos to be sure that you will have all of the data you need.
5. Filter out internal IP addresses
   In the upper right corner, under the Help menu, click the gear icon. Then click “IP Blocking” under the “Account” section.
   
   Select the organization under which the site is housed. Name the IP addresses that will be filtered out, e.g. “Client – Internal Traffic.” If there are multiple IPs or a range, use a Regular Expression rather than adding them individually.
   
   To set up the Regular Expression for IP blocking, it’s important to note that each set of numbers separated by a period is in a range from 0 to 255. For example, you may be given a range that looks like this: 199.8.16.x – 199.8.27.x. This would translate to the following: 199.8.16.1 – 199.8.27.255. You can then enter that range into this tool, which will populate the Regex for you. In our example, the Regex would appear as follows:
   ^199\.8\.(1[6-9]|2[0-7])\.([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1([0-9][0-9])|2([0-4][0-9]|5[0-5]))$Private IP addresses do not need to be filtered. If you are given a subnet, the process is slightly different. You will need to enter the subnet into this tool to convert it to a range. You can then use the tool mentioned in the previous paragraph to get the final Regex. If you have questions, as the development team for assistance. It’s very important to be sure you are filtering out internal traffic.
6. Determine if the user poll/survey has been created
   In the left sidebar, click “Polls.”
   
   If a poll has been created it will be listed on the page (see the “Correct” image for user polls above). To determine if the poll is active, look at the toggle on the left side of the screen. If it is green, the poll is active, but if it is gray the poll has been turned off.
   
   Check the number of responses to be sure that data is coming through correctly.
   If no polls have been created, click the green “+New Poll” button toward the top of the page.
   On the next screen you can develop your poll. Be sure to complete the following:
   • Add the questions you’d like to include and type of answer that may be provided (free form text, radio button, etc)
   • Give the poll an internal name so you know its purpose
   • Click to remove Hotjar branding
   • Ensure that the poll appears on the proper devices and pages (typically desktops, and for U/X diagnostics, only on the three pages included)
   • Choose what triggers the poll to appear (e.g. exit intent, time delay, etc)
   • Select how often someone should see it

   When complete, save the poll and make it active. It’s generally a good idea to complete a test submission as well.

   Note that the same steps apply for surveys. To access surveys, click the “Surveys” button in the left sidebar.

   
   With surveys, you also have the option to invite users to complete the survey through a popup. Surveys tend to be more detailed and require more time to complete, so be sure to consider whether a survey or poll is best for your target audience.
7. Request Google Analytics access
   To complete the Google Analytics review, you will need to request that the client provide full Google Analytics access to the house account: [email protected] It’s best to gain access as soon as possible so you can start working on that portion of the project while data is collecting in Hotjar.

Outcome after Configuring Hotjar

Asana
Make a task to check in on data collection to ensure everything is functioning correctly.

Documents
No documents result from this task.

How to Analyze User Movements

The Big Idea Behind Analyzing User Movements

Heatmaps and recording data provide key insights into user behavior. By looking at visitors’ movements, you will be able to identify patterns that can influence your recommendations for improving their experiences. It is crucial to focus on suggestions that could have a significant impact, rather than smaller or aesthetic changes.

Common Problems When Analyzing User Movements

The following problems tend to occur:

• Making suggestions based on personal preferences rather than data
• Gaining a true understanding of the reasons behind users’ movements

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing User Movements

1. Evaluate distribution of clicks, mouse movement, and scroll depth on heatmaps
   First, select the heatmap that you would like to analyze. It’s best to start your analysis when the heatmap has a significant number of pageviews (200+ is typically the bare minimum). How quickly data accumulates depends on traffic levels to the site. When the heatmap appears, notice at the top you can select desktop, mobile, or tablet devices and you can toggle click data, mouse movements, and scroll depth. When analyzing user behavior, don’t just take note of the hot zones, pay careful attention to cold zones as well, especially if they are around key conversion mechanisms.If you are analyzing click data, identify what users are clicking on the most and least when they are on the page. Areas with a significant amount of clicks clearly draw users’ attention and engage them enough to encourage them to explore the site further (see below).
   If you are analyzing mouse movements, again, identify what which parts of the page are getting the most and least attention. People’s mouse movements tend to reflect where their eyes travel on the page. Therefore, you can identify if users are ignoring conversion mechanisms, are scrolling over elements but not actually clicking, etc. This can highlight usability issues, such as poor visibility for important CTAs, obstacles that are discouraging users from actually clicking (eg vague language), or a lack of interest in the information (see below).
   Use scroll depth heatmaps to find whether or not users are reaching important CTAs, forms, or content. Low conversion rates may be due to the fact that information and conversion mechanisms are too far down a page for most users to see.
   Follow the same process for each device. You may find usability issues that are more common on a particular device. Note that it’s common for mobile and tablet clicks/taps to be highly concentrated on the hamburger navigation icon. Unfortunately, we can’t see their taps on items within that menu.
2. Review user recordings to identify behavior patterns
   Similar to the heatmap data, it is important to identify potential usability issues and behavior patterns that highlight areas for improvement. Pay special attention to where users move their mice, sequences they tend to follow (e.g. Homepage, to Academics page, to Majors and Minors page), elements they try to click but can’t, etc.As you view user recordings, star, tag and take notes on videos that reveal key usability issues. Once you have tagged and/or starred many recordings, you can then filter all of the recordings by specific tags or by starred videos, making it easy to find and re-watch them later. Remember that only 5 are to be included in the report.
   To the right of the list of user recordings, use the filter options to view recordings that meet specific criteria. These options make it easier to find recordings that include the exact URL of the pages included in the diagnostic.
   In the Visited Page option, select Exactly Matching, and paste the page URL in the field below. Generally, it’s helpful to select recordings that are more than 30 seconds long, are on desktops, and include multiple pages. These users tend to be more active, so you can observe activity patterns more easily. Some recordings will include very little user activity, and should not be included. You can determine how active a user was in a recording by looking at the progress bar at the bottom of the page. A significant amount of red, yellow, and white dots, as well as white bars indicates that more actions were taken. An example progress bar and legend are below.
    
   
   Note: You should make notes on your ideas and findings as you look through the heatmaps and recordings. This makes it easier to assemble the report and remember the reasoning behind your recommendations.
   IMPORTANT: Don’t forget to share the heatmaps and videos so the client can access them. Be sure to use these links in your report.

   To share a heatmap, navigate to the heatmaps tab. Then, to the right of the down arrow next to View Heatmap, select “Share.”

   You’ll then see a screen where you can toggle sharing on and off, as well as a public URL to use.
   To share a user video, click on the video you’d like to share. From within the player, click on the “Share” arrow toward the upper right corner of the screen.
   Again, you’ll be taken to a screen where you can toggle sharing on and off, as well as access the public facing URL.
   

Outcome after Analyzing User Movements

Asana
Keep tasks to check in on new heatmapping data and user recordings every couple of days, depending on how much traffic the site gets.

Documents

• Use a templated doc to make notes. This will likely be provided by client, but you can use the outline presented in this doc.
• For Ruffalo Noel Levitz, make a copy of this document and use it for your notes and final report.

How to Analyze User Feedback

The Big Idea Behind Analyzing User Feedback

Running user polls allows you to get information about pain points directly from site visitors. They can highlight specific issues among different user groups (e.g. potential students versus current students), as well as technical glitches and other usability problems. Polls are also helpful for making and supporting recommendations.

Common Problems When Analyzing User Feedback

The following problems tend to occur:

• Expletives in the poll responses (yes, seriously)
• Getting very granular answers rather than those that point to high level issues
• Getting generic, vague, or generally unhelpful answers

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing User Feedback

1. Identify trends in user responses
   This process really only has one step. Navigate to Polls in the left sidebar in Hotjar, and then click View Responses for the poll you are running.There are two tabs in the top left corner of the page: Replies and Results. The Replies section provides exact user answers, whereas the Results section uses word clouds and graphs to summarize the data.Read through the answers to the poll and identify major trends. For example, if users said they had difficulty finding information, that the navigation was confusing, etc. Look for higher level patterns as well as specific difficulties. For example, visitors may say that a particular page wouldn’t load or that they could not log in to the site.Also, try to distinguish if different user groups have different issues. For example, current students might be more likely to note technical problems, such as logging in, whereas new visitors or potential students might have difficulty knowing where to find specific information.

   A word cloud can be helpful for determining which terms were commonly used in responses, but it is much less valuable than actually reviewing the responses. If a multiple choice question was asked, Hotjar represents the answers in a graphical format as well.

    
   Select 3-5 responses to include verbatim in your report to support your findings.

   Many users will try to interact with the poll as if it were live chat. Therefore, a recommendation to deploy live chat is often included in this section.

Outcome after Analyzing User Feedback

Asana

• N/A

Documents

• Add a summary of trends in user feedback and a few supporting examples to the diagnostic.
• Include a formatted export of all poll responses when sending the project to the client. To export the responses, navigate to the poll section. Then click on the down arrow next to “View Responses” and select “Download responses as XLSX.” Remove the following columns: Number, User, Device, Browser, OS. Format the column headings so they are easier to read and the responses are client-facing.
  Note that you should use stars (**) to remove expletives.

How to Analyze User Interactions

The Big Idea Behind Analyzing User Interactions

How users interact with a site provides insight into the features and information they like, and those they don’t, as well as the purpose of their visits. Once you have this data, you can leverage it to create a site that meets their needs. This, in turn, can boost conversions.

Common Problems When Analyzing User Interactions

The following problems tend to occur:

• We only see the numbers in Google Analytics and while we can infer what they mean, we can’t be 100% positive. Therefore, providing fully plausible explanations can be difficult.
• Bot traffic or inaccurate tracking can skew data.

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing User Interactions

1. 1. Interpreting user engagement metrics in Google Analytics
      The UX Diagnostic typically includes a review of the following for each of the pages in the report:
      • Sessions
      • Average session duration
      • Bounce rate
      • Exit rate
      • Reverse goal path membership – Whether the page was one of the three visited prior to any goal completions, and if so, how many

In Google Analytics, navigation to Behavior > Site Content > All Pages, and make sure that the table is sorted by pageviews (highest to lowest). Here are some potential patterns to look for, as well as potential interpretations:

1. • Sessions – The amount of traffic to a page indicates its value.
     • Higher tier pages tend to have higher levels of traffic, which makes sense as they are “directories” to more specific information.
     • Sometimes, a top tier page will have very few sessions. This could be because links to the more specific information are widely available throughout the site, so people don’t feel they need to go to the parent page.
     • If a lower tier page is one of the most trafficked, it’s clearly valuable to users. To improve users’ experiences, it could be worthwhile to make it more clearly visible, for example, by adding a link in the main navigation.
   • Average session duration – The amount of time users spend on a page will depend on the elements included, as well as how interested they are in the content. For example, it’s expected that users would spend more time on pages with interactive elements, such as videos or photo galleries, and less time on a page with a few bullets of text or a long list of links that lead them elsewhere.When assessing if it seems like users are spending an inappropriate amount of time on a page based on its place in the site hierarchy, review its contents. Looking at user recordings of activity on the page can also be helpful for explaining how they are spending their time.You can look at how many events occurred on a page as well, but that is not typically included in the diagnostic due to the limited time for the project.
   • Bounce rate – A page’s bounce rate is a good indication of a) if the right users are landing on the right pages, and b) if the content is engaging enough to encourage them to spend more time on the site.Higher bounce rates (60+%) could reflect that the visitors landing on the page were not part of the target audience, or that they did not find the content useful. It’s also possible that they weren’t sure what to do or where to go next, so they simply left the site.On the other hand, low bounce rates (below 40%), show that engaged users are landing on the page and its content captures their attention. It’s also important to see if pages with low bounce rates are geared toward returning users. For example, pages focused on current students will likely have a lower bounce rate since the visitors are already involved with the school.
   • Exit rate – Similar to bounce rate, exit rate can be a reflection of a page’s value to users. If a high proportion of visitors are leaving a site from a specific page, it could mean that something in the content adversely impacted their interest. However, it could also reflect that they simply didn’t know where to go next and so they left.If a page has a low exit rate, it indicates that either the content encouraged users to explore the site further by visiting another page, or they had to navigate to another elsewhere to get answers to their questions.
   • Reverse goal path membership – In Analytics, navigate to Conversions > Goals > Reverse Goal Path. Then use filters to show previous goal steps 1 – 3 for the page slug. For example, make a filter for Goal Previous Step – 1, that includes the page slug (using “ends with” as the criteria makes sure you use the correct page rather than those with query parameters, etc.). Then repeat the process for Goal Previous Step – 2 and Goal Previous Step – 3.Take note of how many goal completions include the slug more than once so you don’t double count them.This information is important for understanding how the page contributes to conversions. It’s possible that it might not seem like a key page but that it’s part of a common path that leads to conversions.

     The more goal completions a page contributes to, the higher its value and importance. Look at what the page contains and its role in various goal paths to determine how other pages could be adjusted to improve their performance.

2. Evaluating events in Google Analytics
   UX diagnostics do not provide an in-depth analysis of which events occur most often and on which pages. The focus is on how the events are configured and what they measure.In Google Analytics, navigate to Behavior > Events > Overview. Examine the types of events that are set up as well as their value. Is the client tracking key conversion actions, or only UI interactions? Do they follow a scalable, easy to understand nomenclature? Do the events have values? Are they configured to pull in button text dynamically and show the page where the event occurred as the label?For example, this client’s events are not named in a clear, scalable manner. There are also no events for significant button clicks, submissions, etc.
3. Assessing goals in Google Analytics
   Again, UX Diagnostics do not provide an in-depth review of goal tracking. The report focuses on a) if goals are set up, b) what the goals measure, and c) if they appear to be firing incorrectly, what needs to be done to fix the error.For example, this is the only goal configured in this client’s Analytics. It measures the number of sessions that last more than four minutes. This says nothing about site performance, conversion rates, etc. and so is not very valuable for measuring conversions.In the Google Analytics recommendations section of the report, be sure to include if the client has the right types of goals configured and if they are implemented correctly. Explain the value of setting up these goals and provide a few examples to help them understand what’s possible.

Outcome after Analyzing User Interactions

Asana

• N/A

Documents

• N/A

Steps for Performing an SEO Audit

At the end of this lesson, you’ll know:

• What a website’s biggest SEO opportunities and challenges are
• How to make recommendations for a website’s SEO opportunities and challenges

Introducing the SEO Audit Process

These step-by-step guides will help you perform a basic SEO audit. Your ultimate deliverable for the SEO audit may take the shape of a powerpoint, spreadsheet, or something else entirely.

The first 2 components of the SEO audit process require you to 1) crawl the website to create an inventory of content and 2) verify the website in search engine monitoring tools. You’ll then be referencing the data from these sources for the remaining components of the audit.

The audit then consists of assessing 5 elements of a website:

• Access & Indexation:
  Can search engines find your website? Are your rankings in search engines’ indexes affected by problems or penalties?
• Metadata Formatting:
  Are you properly describing your site to search engines (and other networks)?
• Content Optimization:
  Are you overlooking opportunities to increase the relevancy of your content for popular search queries by ideal visitors?
• Tracking & Reporting:
  Are you monitoring your site’s performance and relevance?
• Technical Configurations:
  Can you make life easier for search engines and give them more confidence in your site’s value?

The SEO audit guides provide you with a) step-by-step instructions and b) important tools that will help you complete your analysis.

But remember, who the recipient of the audit is can affect the sequence of events and depth of analysis — technical knowledge of recipients, industry the recipient is operating in, existing/ongoing efforts by recipient, and recipient’s anticipated next steps/resources can all impact your SEO audit process.

Tools Needed For The SEO Audit

Listed below are important tools for completing foundational SEO audit activities.

Just like there’s more than one way to skin a cat, there are countless other tools (and services) that might help you complete the individual components of our SEO audit.

Our guides will reference the default tools listed, but feel free to substitute your own.

Master Checklist

Crawling Your Website

The Big Idea Behind Website Crawling

Search engines find new and updated content by periodically sending out bots to “crawl” the web (i.e. locate and save content for future referencing).

Performing your own website crawl allows you to simulate what search engines see. A website crawl can show you: lists of pages, status codes, metadata, page speed, and a great deal more.

Using the results of the crawl, you’re then able to quickly size up areas of opportunity.

Common Scenarios Where Your Website Needs To Be Crawled

• Website recently redesigned
• Website recently changed domains
• You do not have crawl results < 6 months old

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Website Crawling

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Website Crawls

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Step-by-Step Instructions for Performing a Website Crawl

1. Specify criteria and perform the website crawl
   Open Screaming Frog and enter your website’s domain into the box at the top of the program. Then, click the “Start” button next to the domain you entered.
2. Export crawl results into spreadsheet
   Once your crawl is finished, go to the ‘Internal’ tab and filter your results by ‘HTML’. Then, Click ‘Export’, and you’ll have the full list in CSV format.

Tool Tip
If you have the paid version of Screaming Frog SEO Spider, you can expedite the crawl process (and eliminate irrelevant data) by configuring your “Spider” settings under the “Configuration” menu.

To do this, from the “Spider” menu, deselect “Check Images”, “Check CSS”, “Check JavaScript” and “Check SWF”.

You can save your configuration settings for future audits by going into “File” and “Default Config.” and saving the current setup.

Referencing Your Website Crawl Results

The results of your website crawl will inform several components of your SEO audit.

Activities where you’ll be referencing the crawl results includes:

• Checking status codes
• Assessing title tags
• Assessing meta descriptions
• Checking URLs
• Assessing copy quality
• Assessing internal links
• Assessing keyword usage
• Checking page speed

Be sure to keep your crawl results in an accessible, easy-to-manipulate file. This will make many of the activities in this audit far easier to complete.

Webmaster Tools Implementation

Ensure Google Search Console Is Verified

The Big Idea Behind Google Search Console Verification

Search Console is a free service offered by Google to monitor your site’s presence in Google Search results.

Verifying your site in Search Console provides you with access to valuable search engine optimization data that would otherwise be unavailable.

And similar to your website crawl, Google Search Console will inform several other components of your SEO audit.

Common Problems with Search Console Verification

• Website property not listed in Search Console
• Website property listed but inaccessible in Search Console

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Search Console Verification

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Search Console Verification

• Google Search Console

Step-by-Step Instructions for Ensuring Google Search Console Is Verified

1. Ask website owner if they have access to Search Console.
   The easiest way to tell if Search Console has verified ownership listed for the property would be talking to the website owner (or the person responsible for managing the website).
   If the website owner (or website manager) doesn’t know if the site is verified, odds are the website is not verified.And even if the website has been verified by another party, you’ll be able to easily verify again via an action consistent with website ownership (e.g. uploading a file, accessing Analytics, etc…).
2. Log into Google account for managing Search Console properties.
   Alternatively, you can log into the Google account used to manage the website and see if the property is listed: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/home.If the website is verified, you should be able to click into the domain and manage the property. If the website is not verified, it will be grayed out and tell you that you don’t have access and need to verify.

What To Write On Audit for Search Console Verification

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  Google Search Console is verified AND accessible.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Google Search Console is NOT verified and/or NOT accessible.

Ensure Bing Webmaster Tools Is Verified

The Big Idea Behind Bing Webmaster Tools Verification

Bing Webmaster Tools is a free service offered by Microsoft to monitor your site’s presence in Bing Search results.

Verifying your site in Search Console provides you with access to valuable search engine optimization data that would otherwise be unavailable.

Common Problems with Bing Webmaster Tools Verification

• Website property not listed in Webmaster Tools
• Website property listed but inaccessible in Webmaster Tools

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Bing Webmaster Verification

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Bing Webmaster Verification

• Bing Webmaster Tools

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Bing Webmaster Verification

1. Ask website owner if they have access to Bing Webmaster Tools
   The easiest way to find out if Bing Webmaster Tools has verified ownership listed for the property would be talking to the website owner (or the person responsible for managing the website).If the website owner (or website manager) doesn’t know if the site is verified, odds are the website is not verified.And even if the website has been verified by another party, you’ll be able to easily verify again via an action consistent with website ownership (e.g. uploading an HTML file, etc.).
2. Log into Microsoft account for managing Bing Webmaster Tools.
   Alternatively, you can log into Webmaster Tools with the Microsoft account used to manage the website and see if the property is listed: https://www.bing.com/webmaster/home/mysites.If the website is verified, you should be able to click into the domain and manage the property. If the website is not verified, it will be grayed out and tell you that you need to verify.

What To Write On Audit for Bing Webmaster Verification

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  Bing Webmaster Tools is verified AND accessible.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Bing Webmaster Tools is NOT verified and/or NOT accessible.

Access & Indexation

Ensure Robots.txt Is NOT Blocking Search Engines

The Big Idea Behind Robots.txt

Robots.txt is a file that can tell search engine crawlers to not access parts of a website (therefore denying search engines the ability to add the website to their index and show it in search results).

If your robots.txt file is erroneously overbroad, it’ll completely prevent search engines from finding, indexing, and displaying your website.

Webmasters commonly use robots.txt files to do things like:

• Prevent staged versions of website redesigns from being accessed (and confusing search engines with duplicate content)
• Prevent gated content from showing up in search engine results

Common Symptoms of Robots.txt Issues

• No traffic from search engines
• Unable to locate any website pages in search engines

Examples of of Correct & Incorrect Robots.txt Usage

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Robots.txt Issues

• Google Search
• Search Console

Step-by-Step Instructions for for Analyzing Robots.txt Issues

1. Perform a “site:example.com” search.
   Go to Google and perform a “site search” by prefacing the website’s URL with “site:”. This should retrieve all of the pages on the website known and indexed by Google.If your search returns no results, then your website may be blocking search engine access with a robots.txt file. But note, there are other potential problems that may be causing Google to leave your website out of its index (like penalties).
2. Use the Robots.txt tester in Google Search Console.
   Log into Google Search Console and access your website’s profile. Then, click on “Crawl” then “robots.txt Tester”.At the bottom of robots.txt Tester page is a box to test robot.txt files on URLs you specify. This will tell you if your site is either:
   • allowing search engines to access your site’s content, or
   • blocking search engines from accessing your site’s.

   To test if your site’s homepage has a robots.txt file, simply leave the URL box blank and click “Test” to see if the site’s content is “blocked” or “allowed”.

3. Review your robots.txt file permissions.
   View your website’s robots.txt file either in Google Search Console (as shown above) or by adding “/robots.txt” to your domain (e.g. https://www.webmechanix.com/robots.txt).The line for “Disallow” then specifies which URL strings should prevent search engines from accessing the content.For example, disallowing “/” means that all URLs on your site are preventing search engine access because every URL follows that pattern. Similarly, if you’re disallowing “/blog” then any page with “/blog” somewhere in the URL will not be accessible by search engines.

What To Write On Audit for What To Write On The Audit for Robots.txt Issues

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  Robots.txt is not blocking search engines from accessing website content
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Robots.txt is blocking search engines from accessing some important website content
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Robots.txt is blocking search engines from accessing any website content

Verify XML Sitemap is Updated and Submitted

The Big Idea Behind XML Sitemaps

A sitemap helps search engines better understand your website. Rather than have them stumble through your site’s links and form their own map, you can provide them with one that prioritizes your most important pages.

Providing search engines with a sitemap helps:

• determine which pages are crawled,
• describe the content on the page
• gives clues about which content you want to prioritize

Common Symptoms of XML Sitemap Issues

• No record of sitemap in Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools

Examples of Correct and Incorrect XML Sitemaps

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing XML Sitemap Issues

• Search Console

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing XML Sitemap Issues

1. Visit yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml
   The quickest way to ensure your website has a viewable XML sitemap is to try to access it from the browser.Simply add “/sitemap.xml” to the end of your domain (e.g. webmechanix.com/sitemap.xml) and see if it leads you to the sitemap. If you receive an error, then the site is most likely missing an XML sitemap.
2. Check in Google Search Console
   You also want to ensure that XML sitemap has been submitted to search engines. To do this, log in to Search Console and click into “Crawl” then select “Sitemaps”. From here, you’ll know if a sitemap has been submitted and if there were any major errors. Similarly, you can also check your sitemap for Bing via their Webmaster Tools.

What To Write On Audit for XML Sitemap Issues

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  XML Sitemap exists and has been submitted to Google and Bing
• ！= Needs Improvement
  XML Sitemap exists and has not been submitted to Google and Bing
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  XML Sitemap does not exist

Check Status Codes For Major Issues

The Big Idea Behind Status Codes

URLs that return status code errors (i.e. 4xx and 5xx) prevent search engines and users from accessing those locations on your website.

The more errors your website has, the more frustrated search engines become when crawling your site (because you’re making them use more resources). Additionally, unaddressed status code errors will lower search engines’ confidence in your site’s ability to provide a good user experience.

Common Symptoms of Status Code Issues

• High volume of visitors hitting your 404 page
• Messages in Search Console indicating errors

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Status Codes

Correct
???

Incorrect
???

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Status Codes

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
• Search Console

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Status Codes

1. Identify 4xx and 5xx errors
   Reference your Screaming Frog website crawl and find the column labeled “Status Code”. Are ~10% or more of your status codes 4xx or 5xx (note: view a list of status codes and explanations here)? Are these issues appearing for important pages (e.g. service pages)?Double check your findings in Search Console. Log in and click into “Crawl Errors”. Are there a similar number of status code errors are listed there? If you find yourself with different numbers, you’ll want rely on the Search Console numbers as they’re the ones that are recorded and referenced by the search engines ranking your web pages.
2. Identify soft 404 errors
   Similar to above, log in to Search Console for the website property and click into “Crawl Errors”. Are there are URLs listed as returning soft 404 errors (i.e. URL doesn’t exist but your server is not returning a 404 error)?
3. Investigate redirects
   Return to your Screaming Frog website crawl and look again at the “Status Code” column. Be sure the site is using 301 HTTP redirects (and not 302 HTTP redirects, meta refresh redirects, or JavaScript-based redirects) because they pass the most link juice to their destination pages.
4. Identify instances of Flash
   Turn again to your crawl in Screaming Frog SEO Spider (not your export). On the default “Internal” tab, you can filter your results by “Flash” (if it found any instances).Is important content in Flash? Search engines can’t access content in Flash so it’ll be ignored.

What To Write On Audit for Status Codes

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  Status code issues are affecting few to no URLs.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Status code issues are affecting some important URLs.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Status code issues are affecting a big percentage of URLs and/or important URLs.

Check for Search Engine Penalties Affecting Rankings

The Big Idea Behind Search Engine Penalties

Attempts to manipulate search rankings can get your domain penalized. Examples of manipulative tactics include: buying links, hiding keywords with white text on a white background, and publishing duplicate content.

Website penalties will often linger until addressed. You’ll need to remedy the situation (e.g. remove the duplicate content) and then you may need to request reconsideration from the search engines.

Penalties are either specifically communicated by search engines (uncommon) or silently applied to the domain (common).

Common Symptoms of Search Engine Penalties

• Sudden and steep drop in organic traffic
• Messages in Google Search Console

Examples of of Correct and Incorrect Search Engine Penalty Assessments

Correct
???

Incorrect
???

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Search Engine Penalties

• Search Console
• Google Analytics

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Search Engine Penalties

1. View messages in Search Console
   Log into Search Console for the web property and click into “Messages”. In some instances, Google will send a message to the webmaster informing them a penalty has been applied to the website. Bing does something similar, so you should check Bing Webmaster Tools for messages about the website.But note, not all penalties are communicated to the webmaster. Sometimes you can only infer that a penalty has been applied to the website by comparing traffic patterns with algorithm updates.
2. Match traffic patterns in Google Analytics with algorithm updates
   Log into Google Analytics, access your web property, and then view all organic traffic for the past 24 month period, or as far back as you can. (Click: Acquisition → All Traffic → Channels → Organic Search).Are there any major organic traffic dropoffs? If so, note the date(s) the traffic began dropping. If you’re lucky, there may be annotations around those dates noting website changes that made the traffic drop may be attributed to (e.g. website redesign launches).If you notice an organic traffic drop but don’t have any communications indicating the cause, you’ll have to match the date of the traffic drop in Google Analytics with a search engine algorithm update. If it approximately matches one of the penalties (in both timing and anticipated impact) then you can assume there was a penalty applied.

What To Write On Audit for Search Engine Penalties

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  Search engine penalties do not appear to be affecting organic traffic.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Search engine penalties may be affecting organic traffic.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Search engine penalties are definitely affecting organic traffic.

Metadata Formatting

Verify Title Tags Are Present and Optimized

The Big Idea Behind Title Tags

Title tags describe the content on a webpage.

Search engines rely on title tags when assessing the relevancy of a page for a searcher’s query. Additionally, title tags also determine what shows up in preview snippets for a given page.

For example, the blue title text on search engine results page is drawn from the page’s title tag.

Similarly, when sharing a page on social media, title tags will show up as the page name/title.

Common Symptoms of Title Tag Issues

• Website’s listings in search engines are inaccurate or non-descriptive
• Page name/title in browser tab is inaccurate or non-descriptive
• Page name/title inaccurate or non-descriptive when shared on social networking sites

Examples of Correct & Incorrect Title Tags

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Title Tags

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Trends

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Title Tags

1. Identify Missing Title Tags
   Reference your Screaming Frog website crawl and find the column labeled “Title 1”. Do all URLs have a title associated with them?Every URL should have a title tag; otherwise, Google has to infer their own page title (and they’re not perfect). Plus, you’re missing an opportunity to control the copy being displayed and the ability to increase search engine’s confidence in the relevance of a page for users’ searches.
2. Identify Under-Optimized Title Tags
   Again, look at your Screaming Frog website crawl and find the columns labeled “Title 1” and “Title 1 length”.Are the title lengths frequently in excess of 60 characters? Going slightly above the character limit is okay if those first 60 characters make sense on their own.What about the keyword usage in the title tags? Do they accurately describe the page and incorporate keywords the page should be targeting?Keywords the page should be targeting can be deduced by identifying the main topic(s) of the page and entering it into Google Keyword Planner to find high volume keywords (that you stand a chance to rank for).

What To Write On Audit for Title Tags

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  All URLs have concise, compelling, keyword-rich title tags.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Some URLs do not have title tags and/or title tags are under-optimized.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  All URLs are missing title tags.

Verify Meta Descriptions Are Present and Optimized

The Big Idea Behind Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions allow you to provide a brief description.

Your meta description is displayed in search engine results. While it won’t influence the relevancy of a page for search terms, a compelling, well-formatted meta description will assist in your quest to get searchers to click on your website’s search result.

Similarly, meta descriptions will also display on social networks when your content is shared.

Common Symptoms of Meta Description Issues

• Descriptions of web pages in search engines are inaccurate or non-descriptive
• Descriptions of web pages inaccurate or non-descriptive when shared on social networking sites

Examples of Correct & Incorrect Meta Descriptions

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for for Analyzing Meta Descriptions

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
• Google Keyword Planner

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Meta Descriptions

1. Identify Missing Meta Descriptions
   Reference your Screaming Frog website crawl and find the columns labeled “Meta Description 1”.Do all URLs have a description associated with them? Every URL should have a meta description; otherwise, Google has to supply their own summary (and they’re not perfect). Plus, you’re missing an opportunity to compel users to click on the results by controlling the copy displayed.
2. Identify Under-Optimized Meta Descriptions
   Again, look at your Screaming Frog website crawl and find the columns labeled “Meta Description 1” and “Meta Description 1 length”.Are the description lengths frequently in excess of 160 characters? Going slightly above the character limit is okay if those first 160 characters make sense on their own.What about the quality of the copy for the descriptions? Do they accurately describe the page and compel a user to click on the result?

What To Write On Audit for Meta Descriptions

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  All URLs have concise, compelling, meta descriptions.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Some URLs do not have meta descriptions and/or meta descriptions are under-optimized.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  All URLs are missing meta descriptions.

Verify Image Alt Text Is Present and Optimized

The Big Idea Behind Image Alt Text

Alt text provides alternative information about the image for users who have disabled images in their browsers. This is commonly used by visually-impaired users.

Optimizing your alt text to be accurate, descriptive, and concise provides a better user experience for anyone who needs to browse with images disabled.

Search engines that see alt text will then have more confidence that a) the search engine understands what the page is about, and b) users will have a good experience if they visit the site.

Image file names function similarly. Naming them something short and descriptive provides search engines with something to gain confidence from.

Common Symptoms of Image Alt Text Issues

• Browsing a website with images disabled shows images as empty boxes without any text

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Image Alt Text

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Image Alt Text Issues

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Image Alt Text Issues

1. Identify missing alt text in Screaming Frog
   First, if you’re using a paid license, you’ll want to make sure you crawled the site with “Check Images” selected in Screaming Frog’s Spider Configuration menu.After ensuring you included images in your website crawl, go to the “Images” tab in the Screaming Frog SEO Spider program (not your export) then filter by “Missing Alt Text”.You can find the pages where any image is located by clicking on the “Image Info” tab at the bottom of the program; the page locations will be listed in the “From” column.
2. Identify under-optimized image alt text
   Like before, you’ll need a website crawl that checked image information.When you have image information, go to the ‘“Images” tab in the Screaming Frog program (not your export) and filter by “Alt Text Over 100 Characters”.You can find the pages where any image is located by clicking on the ‘Image Info’ tab. The pages will be listed in the ‘From’ column.

What To Write On Audit for Alt Text

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  All images have appropriate alt text.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Some images do not have alt text and/or alt text is too long or nonsensical.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  No images have alt text.

Check If Structured Data Is Properly Utilized

The Big Idea Behind Structured Data

Structured data provides additional details about the content of a page. Search engines are able to use those extra details to provide richer search results.

For example, a website featuring recipes can use structured data to provide search engines with extra information that can be displayed directly in the recipe’s search result — user ratings, cooking time, calories, ingredients, etc.

Incorporating structured data into your web pages will help you enhance your search results (and click through results) as well put your site’s content in contention for showing up in knowledge panels.

Common Symptoms of Structured Data Issues

• Errors in Google Search Console
• Strange or unusual information displaying alongside search results (e.g. star ratings)

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Structured Data Usage

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Structured Data

• Search Console
• Structured Data Sniffer

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Structured Data

1. View the “Structured Data” report in Search Console.
   Log into Google Search Console and access your website’s profile. Then, click on “Search Appearance” and select “Structured Data”.Look at this report and note two things: a) if there are recognized instances of structured data, and b) if there are any implementation errors.
2. Spot check pages with Structured Data Sniffer.
   Alternatively, you can spot check implementation with the Structure Data Sniffer for Chrome.First, make a list of pages that should have structured data — e.g. product pages with pricing and reviews, recipe pages with calorie counts and preparation time, events with a time and place, etc. You can view a list of common uses for structured data on Google Developer’s site.Next, click on the the Structure Data Sniffer extension to check if those candidate pages have the necessary structured data markup. Does the tool identify any structured data?For an example of a webpage that properly uses structured data, you can use the Structured Data Sniffer on this page.

What To Write On Audit for Structured Data

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  All pages that support structured data markup have implemented it.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Some pages that support structured data markup have implemented it.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  No pages that support structured data markup have implemented it.

Ensure URLs Are Short And Feature Unique Content

The Big Idea Behind URL Formatting

It’s critical to avoid having URLs that fail to inform:

1. people (e.g. unable to remember and return to “yoursite.com/llaksjdklafsafgsag”), or
2. machines (e.g. site.com/i-hate-soup and web.com/i-love-soup link to the same exact content).

To make things easier for both users and search engines, URLs should be descriptive, logically structured, and linking to unique content.

Common Symptoms of URL Formatting Issues

• URLs contain very long strings of characters
• URLs do not contain any nesting (e.g. Blog is at “/blog” but blog post URLs DO NOT look like “/blog/my-blog-first-post”)
• Multiple URLs lead to the same content
• Crawlers get stuck in endless loop when inventorying the URLs on the website

Examples of Correct and Incorrect URL Formatting

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing URL Formatting

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing URL Formatting

1. Identify non-descriptive URLs
   Reference your Screaming Frog website crawl and find the column labeled “Address”.Can you guess the content for each page based off the URL alone? Are the URLs excessively long? Do the URLs contain keywords the page should be attracting traffic for?If the URLs are clear, concise, and contain keywords, then little to no tweaks will be necessary. But if they’re ambiguous and unoptimized, then resolving this should be a priority.
2. Identify poor URL structure
   Again, look at your Screaming Frog website crawl and find the column labeled “Address”.Do the URLs appear to follow a logical structure? Are the URLs for child pages nested properly (e.g. all blog post URLs prefaced by “/blog/)?Alternatively, you can go to the ‘URI’ tab in Screaming Frog, then filter by ‘Underscores’, ‘Uppercase’ or ‘Non ASCII Characters’ to view URLs that could potentially be rewritten to a more standard structure.Properly structuring your URLs helps search engines better understand your website, which helps them gain confidence that your site should be ranking highly in search.
3. Be aware of duplicate content issues
   One last thing to note is that multiple URLs leading to the same content can create issues with search engine rankings. This is because crawling your site can consume much more bandwidth than necessary, rendering the search engine unable to completely index all the content on your site.To check for this issue, go to the ‘URI’ tab in the Screaming Frog SEO Spider program (not your export), then filter by “Duplicate” and you’ll see all pages that have multiple URL versions. You can also filter by “Dynamic” and you’ll see URLs that include parameters that may be interfering with indexation.Alternatively, you can find these issues by using Siteliner. It will crawl your site to find duplicate content, broken links, and more.

What To Write On Audit for URL Formatting

Based on your findings, input one of the following into your SEO audit deliverable.

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  All URLs are descriptive, logically structured, and linking to unique content.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Some URLs are NOT descriptive, logically structured, and/or linking to unique content.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  No URLs are descriptive, logically structured, or linking to unique content.

Content Optimization

Copy Is Not Low Quality

The Big Idea Behind Copy Quality

Website copy is one of the most important factors for ranking in search engine results.

Pages with rich information (e.g. words, images, videos, etc.) that include relevant, appropriately-used keywords do a better job at communicating the relevancy of a page than pages with thin content that adds no value.

So what counts as high quality content? Here are 5 of 23 suggestions listed by Google in their advice for “building high-quality sites”:

• Would you trust the information presented in this article?
• Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
• Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
• Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
• Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?

Common Symptoms of Copy Quality Issues

The following symptoms may indicate an issue with a site’s copy quality:

• Message in Google Search Console indicating low-quality or shallow pages have been detected on your site
• Word count on critical pages < 300

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Copy Quality

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Assessing Copy Quality

• Google Search Console
• Screaming Frog SEO Tool
• Copyscape

Step-by-Step Instructions for Assessing Copy Quality

1. Ensure content is not hidden
   Content that is hidden cannot easily be seen by viewing the page (or by using any of our suggested tools), so you’ll have to manually check for this.Look for anything that’s not easily viewable by visitors of your site (e.g. tabbed modules).In the tabs, are there any text or links solely existing for search engines rather than visitorsHidden content can be seen as deceptive and is a violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. Other examples include white text on a white background, text with font size 0, etc.But know that not all hidden content will harm you website — tabbed modules (like those housing product information) can be a user friendly way of condensing multiple types of information into a small space.
2. Check that there are at least 300 words/page
   Crawling the site with Screaming Frog will reveal the word count for each URL.View your exported Screaming Frog crawl and apply conditional formatting to highlight URLs in red if the word count is less than 300.
3. Check if geographies (if applicable) are mentioned
   If applicable, check to see that the web pages reference the physical areas the business is targeting (e.g. Baltimore, Virginia, USA, etc.).Appropriately incorporating geographies (e.g. city, state, country, etc.) into a website’s copy is important for ranking in those geographies.
4. Ensure there is no duplicate content
   As mentioned before, the same content at two different URLs on the same domain can be problematic. Even more problematic, however, is the same content at two different domains.That’s why it’s important to ensure that your website’s content hasn’t been copied word-for-word from another source (e.g. manufacturer’s product description).To check this, you can spot check content on your site using Copyscape or Siteliner. These tools will tell you if the content on your site is duplicate.

What To Write On Audit for Copy Quality

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  All content is unique, valuable, and non-duplicate.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Most content is unique, valuable, and/or non-duplicate.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Little to none of the content is unique, valuable, and/or non-duplicate.

Internal Links are Properly Utilized

The Big Idea Behind Internal Links

An internal link is a link from on part of your site to another. Search engines use these links as a way to identify the relative importance of the page being linked to.

If you’re not linking internally to important pages then you’re missing an easy opportunity to signal to search engines about what you want users to view on your website.

On the flip side of the coin, search engines do not believe that excessive links lead to a good user experience, so they’ll avoid serving up webpages with excessive internal linking.

Common Problems of Internal Link Issues

The following symptoms may indicate an internal link issue:

• No internal links listed in Search Console
• Important pages only accessible with 4+ clicks from the homepage
• Ratio of linked text to non-linked text is nearing, at, or above 1:4

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Internal Linking

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Internal Links

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
• Search Console

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Internal Links

1. Identify pages with too few or too many links
   List out 10-20 of the most important pages on the website.Next, reference your Screaming Frog website crawl. Locate the 10-20 important pages you listed and then look at the column labeled “Inlinks”.Are the important pages receiving the most inlinks?Similar to finding pages with too few links, you should identify pages receiving too many links (which are erroneously signaling to search engines that you really want users to find that content).Are your important pages at the top of the list or are less important pages receiving more links?
   Note: You can also access a list of internally linked content in Search Console by viewing the “Internal Links” report under “Search Traffic”.
2. Spot check important pages
   Visit important website pages and look at the ratio of linked to non-linked content. This can quickly give you a good idea if a site is properly using internal links.Another thing to investigate is how the anchor text (i.e. blue words in a link) used when internally linking.Does the anchor text accurately describe where the user will end up? Using descriptive, keyword-rich anchor text helps inform search engines about the content on the page being linked to and the relationship between the pages linked together. But being overly keyword-optimized (e.g. all anchor text uses same keyword) can also appear to suspicious to search engines, so you’ll need to find a balance.

What To Write On Audit for Internal Links

• ✓ = SatisfactoryAll of the important pages have a high number of internal links, reasonable ratio of text to link, and use descriptive anchor text.
• ！= Needs ImprovementMost of the important pages have a high number internal links, a reasonable ratio of text-to-links, and/or descriptive anchor text.
• ❌ = Needs AttentionThe pages with the highest number of internal links are the least important, there is an unreasonable ratio of text-to-links, and/or non-descriptive anchor text is commonly used.

External Links Appear Natural

The Big Idea Behind External Links

When Google first started, the quantity and quality of external links was the central premise behind their search engine algorithm.

External links remain an important factor to this day, so you need to make sure the site a) has authoritative websites linking to it and b) does not have excessive links from low-quality sites.

Common Symptoms of External Link Issues

The following symptoms may indicate an external link issue:

• An “unnatural link” warning in Search Console
• Unusual linking domains and/or anchor text appearing in Search Console

Examples of Correct and Incorrect External Linking

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing External Links

• Search Console

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing External Links

1. Check Search Console for warnings.
   Log into Search Console for the website property and click into “Messages”. Are there any historical messages referencing unnatural links directed toward the site?
2. Check Search Console for other issues.
   While in Search Console, click into “Search Traffic” then select “Links to Your Site”.Are the externally linking sites authoritative or do they seem spammy? Is the content most commonly linked what you would logically expect? Does the anchor text for the links follow any suspicious patterns (e.g. no diversity, “too” keyword optimized, etc.)?

What To Write On The Audit for External Links

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  There are external links from a diversity of authoritative sites with varied anchor text.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  There are some external links from a handful of authoritative sites, the anchor text is somewhat varied, and/or there are some links from low-quality domains.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  There are no external links from authoritative sites, the anchor text is not varied, and/or there are an excess of links from low-quality domains.

Keywords Properly Targeted On Landing Pages

The Big Idea Behind Keyword Targeting

Search engines revolve around keywords; users type in a keyword or keywords and search, then search engines return the most relevant results for the keyword(s).

You can dramatically improve many pages’ rankings in search engine results by explicitly including the keywords that you want the pages to rank for.

First, you need to research which keywords your target audience uses to search. Then, you can include those search terms (i.e. keywords) on the page where users would expect to land after clicking on your search result.

Common Symptoms of Keyword Targeting Issues

The following symptoms may indicate a keyword targeting issue:

• Few visits from organic search traffic
• High bounce rate from organic search traffic

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Keyword Targeting

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Keyword Targeting

• Google Trends
• Google Keyword Planner
• The Keyword Tool
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
• Tota11y

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Keyword Targeting

1. Identify good keywords to target
   Use one or more keyword tools to figure out the most relevant keywords to target on your web pages. Google’s Keyword Planner provides plenty of data to inform your analysis.Then, make a list of relevant keywords with high search volume. Once you have a list, you can spot check the competition of the keywords by using an “intitle:’example’” advanced search to see how many websites already use that exact keyword in their page title (as that’s a good indicator that the page is optimized/relevant for the term).
2. Assess keyword usage on the page(s)
   Take a look at an important webpage on the website — a service page, the homepage, etc. Do you believe the words on the page sufficiently explain what the page is about? Remember, these pages are viewed by robots reading lines of code, so everything needs to be clearly spelled out.Next, take a look at the page’s headers — the HTML markup for the headline and the subheaders — do they use keywords that clearly communicate what the page is about? Search engines pay particular attention to headers because they’re prominently featured first and throughout a page. To get a quick list of headers on a page, you can use Tota11y. Otherwise, reference your Screaming Frog export and analyze the H1s, H2s, etc.Lastly, spot check certain pages to make sure they’re not “stuffed” with too many keywords. Google’s robots can identify suspicious patterns in copy (e.g. keyword overuse) that is commonly done to manipulate search rankings, so you don’t want to overdo keywords.

What To Write On Audit for Keyword Targeting

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  High volume, low competition keywords appropriately used in all headers and copy.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  High volume, low competition keywords missing or inappropriately used in some headers and/or copy.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  High volume, low competition keywords missing or inappropriately used in all headers and/or copy.

Tracking & Reporting

Website Analytics Platform is Installed

The Big Idea Behind Website Analytics

Website analytics allows you to monitor and manage your website’s traffic. Without tracking traffic, you’re stuck using less accurate indicators of success (e.g. anecdotal mentions about more phone calls).

Common Symptoms of Website Analytics Installation Issues

The following symptoms may indicate a website analytics issue:

• Visits not registering in Google Analytics
• Tag Assistant shows tracking error

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Website Analytics Installations

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Website Analytics Installations

• Tag Assistant
• Google Analytics

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Website Analytics

1. Check for tracking code with Tag Assistant
   Enable Tag Assistant on a web page to see if it includes any Google Analytics tags for tracking. It will tell you what tags are enabled and if there are any issues with them.
2. Access Google Analytics
   Once you’ve verified that your website tracking tags are implemented on the site, you need to make sure the analytics profile is accessible by logging into Google Analytics and locating the property.Once logged into the web property, make sure that the profile is collecting data on visits, bounce rate, etc. You may sometimes run into an issue where the tracking code is present but data isn’t being properly recorded.

What To Write On The Audit for Website Analytics

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  Analytics installed and all data being properly recorded.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Analytics installed but some data isn’t being properly recorded.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Analytics NOT installed and/or data isn’t being properly recorded.

Website Analytics Goals Confirmed

The Big Idea Behind Website Goals

Every website has a goal — it might be selling you things, entertaining you, etc. By tracking and measuring visitor sessions that complete your goal, you’re able to identify more things that lead to goal completions.

For example, you might find that visitors from search engines are far more likely to convert (i.e. complete your website’s goal) than visitors from social networks. Knowing this, you might want to increase the resources you use to attract search engine visitors and decrease the resources used on social media.

Common Symptoms of Website Goal Configuration Issues

The following symptoms may indicate a website goal configuration issue:

• Goal report not set up in Google Analytics
• Goal completions not being

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Website Goal Configurations

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Website Goal Configurations

• Google Analytics
• Tag Assistant

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Website Goal Configurations

1. Check Google Analytics for goal configurations
   Log in to Google Analytics and locate the website property. Then, click into the Goals Overview (Conversions → Goals → Overview) in the standard “Reporting” tab. Is the Goal report enabled? Is data being properly reported?After verifying Goals are enabled, click on “Admin” tab at the top of the page and then click” “Goals”. This will show you a list of all goals for the website. Is the logic for a goal completion properly configured? Are all the necessary goals enabled to record?
2. Test Goals with Tag Assistant
   You can also test Goal tracking configurations using the recording feature in Tag Assistant. To do this, simply click on the extension and select “record”. Then, perform the website interactions that should trigger a goal completion. Finally, you can view Tag Assistant’s Google Analytics report detailing the hits (e.g. Conversions) that were recorded.

What To Write On The Audit for Goal Configurations

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  All major website interactions are properly tracked with Goals.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Most major website interactions are properly tracked with Goals and/or some tracking is not working properly.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  No major website interactions are properly tracked with Goals and/or tracking is not working properly.

Search Console Linked to Google Analytics

The Big Idea Behind Linking Search Console to Google Analytics

Google Analytics records how people interact with your website; Google’s Search Console records how people interact with your website in search results. By linking both data sources together, you’re able to get a fuller picture of your website’s performance.

Common Symptoms of Not Linking Search Console to Google Analytics

The following symptoms may indicate Search Console is not linked to Google Analytics:

• Unable to access “Search Engine Optimization” tab in Google Analytics

Examples of Correctly and Incorrectly Linking Search Console to Google Analytics

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Linking Search Console to Google Analytics

• Google Analytics
• Search Console

Step-by-Step Instructions for Linking Search Console to Google Analytics

1. View “Search Report” in Google Analytics
   Log into Google Analytics, expand the “Acquisition” section, click on “Search Console”, and then select any of the reports below (Queries, Landing Pages, Devices, or Countries).Were you able to access any of the Search Engine Optimization reports? Do the numbers seem accurate or might there be a problem with the data that’s being reported?
2. Verify Search Console is associated with Google Analytics profile
   You’ll also want to verify that the proper Search Console property is associated with your Google Analytics profile.Click “Admin” at the top of the screen, then click “Property Settings”. Choose “Adjust Search Console” at the bottom of the options. From here, you can verify that the right Search Console is associated with the website and ensure that the right views in Google Analytics have access to the data.

What To Write On The Audit for Linking Search Console to Google Analytics

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  Search Console is linked to Google Analytics.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Search Console is NOT linked to Google Analytics.

IP & Spam Filters Enabled

The Big Idea Behind Filters

Misleading data is a dangerous thing. That’s why it’s crucial to filter out erroneous website data that might skew your analytics reports (like spammers, traffic from your web developers, etc).

For example, imagine a company where each employee’s browser defaults to the company’s website when first opened; every time an employee opens their browser would register as a visit to your website. These “visits” from employees would artificially inflate visits from your actual audience. Anybody using the visit data to support a decision would then be unfairly misled.

Further, imagine if somebody in IT decided to suddenly change each employee’s browser start page from the company website to something else. This would trigger a sudden “drop” in traffic and would spur the unnecessary use of resources investigating a simple data collection error.

Lastly, imagine the most terrible human being you’ve ever encountered. Now, imagine if they had diverted the majority of their energies into learning how to spam people online. Sadly, these people exist and they can cloud your analytics with their junk. So, you need to make sure you’re filtering out as much spam as possible.

Common Symptoms of IP & Spam Filtering Issues

The following symptoms may indicate IP and/or spam filtering issues:

• Unusually high bounce rate
• Strange domains in your Google Analytics referral report

Examples of Correct and Incorrect IP & Spam Filtering

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools for Analyzing IP & Spam Filtering

• Google Analytics

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing IP & Spam Filtering

1. View referring domains in Google Analytics
   Log in to Google Analytics and click into the “Acquisition” section. Under Acquisition, click on “All Traffic” and then select “Referrals”.Are the referring domains from sites you’d expect to link to you? Do any of the domains seem particularly spammy (e.g. traffic2cash.xyz)?
2. Check filter settings in Google Analytics
   Click on the “Admin” tab at the top of Google Analytics. Then, click on “Filters”. Are there any active filters for the company’s IP and other internally-facing organizations?If you need help finding your IP, you can search “what is my IP” in Google and it will tell you.

What To Write On The Audit for IP & Spam Filtering

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  Filters actively excluding traffic from company IP(s) and removing referral spam
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Missing some filters for actively excluding traffic from company IP(s) or removing referral spam
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  No filters actively excluding traffic from company IP(s) or removing referral spam

Technical Configurations

No Major Page Speed Issues

The Big Idea Behind Page Speed

Google worships speed. It’s been one Google’s company beliefs since they were founded.

If long website load times are making your visitors wait, then Google will look to send those visitors to other websites.

Common Symptoms of Page Speed Issues

The following symptoms may indicate a page speed issue:

• Website loads very slowly

Examples of Good and Bad Page Speed

Good

Bad

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Page Speed

• Screaming Frog SEO Spider
• GTmetrix Analyzer
• PageSpeed Insights
• Pingdom Website Speed Test

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Page Speed

1. Test your website on GTmetrix
   Go to gtmetrix.com and enter your URL into their analysis tool. It will then generate a basic page speed report for your site.Did the report return good PageSpeed scores (A-C) or were they poor (D-F)? What about the page load time — does it seem too long?
2. Double-check page speed in a second tool
   Each tool’s definition of “speed” means something slightly different (e.g. Google’s PageSpeed Insights emphasizes images far more than others). So, you’ll want to rerun the analysis through another tool to verify the results.Your Screaming Frog website crawl should have individual page speed numbers under the column “Response Time”. Check that out and see if there are any important pages with a slow response time (i.e. >4 seconds).You might also want to consider clicking through the website on your own and noting your gut feeling. Page speed tools aren’t perfect so they might not overturn issues that people can quickly find.

What To Write On The Audit for Page Speed

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  Website and all important individual page speeds are near 2s response time/5s load time.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Website and/or important individual page speeds are above 4s response time/8s load time.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Website and/or important individual page speeds are well above 8s response time/10+s load time.

Website is Mobile Friendly

The Big Idea Behind Mobile-Friendly Websites

More visitors access the web from mobile devices than desktops. That’s why Google made major changes to their mobile search results, favoring websites that are mobile-friendly.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean most websites should get the majority of their traffic from mobile. But it does mean that mobile is incredibly important and your website needs to show that.

Common Symptoms of Mobile-Friendly Issues

The following symptoms may indicate an issue with the website’s mobile-friendliness:

• Page doesn’t automatically resize on desktop if window is resized
• Horizontal scrolling required when viewing pages on mobile
• Text appears small on mobile and requires pinch and zooming to view
• Links hard to click on mobile

Examples of Good and Bad Mobile-Friendliness

Good

Bad

Suggested Tools for Analyzing Mobile-Friendliness

• Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test
• Google Search Console

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Mobile-Friendliness

1. Verify with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool
   Visit Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool, enter the website’s homepage, and then click “Analyze”. Did Google consider the page you tested to be mobile-friendly?
   
   Note: Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool isn’t foolproof. Robots.txt can block resources needed for the tool to effectively crawl the site. You can read more about the issue here.
2. Resize your desktop browser
   If your website is built with responsive web design (which is Google’s preferred method for mobile-websites), then it should resize based on screen size and regardless of device.If you believe you have a responsive website, you can simply resize your desktop browser window and see if the website adjusts accordingly. If it does not automatically resize (e.g. you have to scroll right) then it’s not a responsive website.
3. Visit on mobile device
   A quick and easy way to determine if a site is mobile-friendly is by visiting it on a mobile device. Does it pass your eyeball test? Is it easy to navigate?
4. View mobile usability report in Search Console
   You can log in to Search Console to discover pages with mobile errors.Click on “Search Traffic” then select “Mobile Usability.” Here, you’ll have a report of pages with mobile usability issues that may be directly impacting your rankings in mobile search results. Are there any errors? Are the errors on a small handful of pages or virtually every page?

What To Write On The Audit for Mobile-Friendliness

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  All webpages pass Google’s mobile-friendly test and there are no errors in Search Console.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Most webpages pass Google’s mobile-friendly test and/or there are very few errors in Search Console.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Most web pages fail Google’s mobile-friendly test and/or there are many errors in Search Console.

Website Compatible Across Browsers

The Big Idea Behind Browser Compatibility

Web browsers work differently. This means that a website might look very different on Internet Explorer then it will in Chrome. In the worst case scenario, parts of a website can break in certain browsers, rendering large segments of your audience with a below-average browsing experience.

Good developers will perform browser compatibility tests, but even those aren’t guaranteed to uncover all bugs and glitches. And sometimes, small changes on one part of the site can create problems on a seemingly unrelated part of the site. So, it’s best to periodically audit browser compatibility.

A good practice to be in would be to have monthly reports on visitor engagement segmented by browser type.

Common Symptoms of Browser Compatibility Issues

The following symptoms may indicate a browser compatibility issue:

• Poor engagement metrics (e.g. bounce rate, page views, etc.) from specific browsers

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Browser Compatibility

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tool for Analyzing Browser Compatibility

• Google Analytics
• BrowserStack

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing Browser Compatibility

1. Check browser report in Google Analytics
   Log in to Google Analytics and find the “Audience” section. Click into it and then click on “Technology” and then “Browser & OS”. The default report should show you acquisition, behavior, and conversion data segmented by browser.Are there any browsers where bounce rate, pages/session, and/or avg. sessions duration is particularly low?
2. View website in multiple browsers
   Spot check important pages on your website in different browsers and see if there are any issues displaying the content. We’d suggest testing the most popular browsers: Internet Explorer 8+, Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. You can do that on your own computer or by using a service like BrowserStack.You can also look at your Google Analytics report and test the website’s performance in the top 5 browsers (or the browsers accounting for 80%+ of traffic).

What To Write On The Audit for Browser Compatibility

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  No issues on any browsers.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Some issues on older and/or less popular browsers.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Lots of issues on most browsers.

SSL/HTTPS Properly Working (If Applicable)

The Big Idea Behind SSL/HTTPS

Website security is vital for visitors — nobody wants to run the risk of losing control of their computer (or worse) because they decided to visit your website.

And because Google and other search engines favor websites that provide good user experiences, they’ll favor websites in search rankings that use SSL/HTTPS to provide website visitors what they want — peace of mind via additional security protections.

SSL/HTTPS is the most common way to provide website visitors additional protection.

Common Symptoms of SSL/HTTPS Issues

The following symptoms may indicate an SSL/HTTPS issue:

• Unable to prefix web address with “https://”
• No lock in browser address bar next to domain name
• Lock next to domain name in the browser address bar is red, has a cross, or other warning
• Visiting site triggers security warning from browser

Examples of Acceptable and Unacceptable SSL/HTTPS Implementation

Acceptable

Unacceptable

Suggested Tools for Analyzing SSL/HTTPS Issues

• Your browser

Step-by-Step Instructions for Analyzing SSL/HTTPS Issues

1. Type the URL into your browser and visit the website
   Type the website URL into an incognito browser and try to visit it. Are there any warnings preventing your from visiting the web page?
2. View site information in browser address bar
   While on a page on the website, look at the icon on the left-hand side of your browser’s address bar — it should either be a document, a lock, or a red cross. Click on the icon and note if there are any issues listed (e.g. security certificate not valid).

What To Write On The Audit for SSL/HTTPS

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  Website uses SSL/HTTPS and there are no issues.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Website does not use SSL/HTTPS and/or there are issues with implementation.

Getting Started With A Google Analytics Audit

This step-by-step guide will show you how to perform a basic Google Analytics audit. We have a sample deliverable demonstrating what a completed audit may look like, but take the shape of a powerpoint, spreadsheet, or something else entirely.

This Google Analytics audit consists of 5 different sections:

1. Installation
2. Goal Configuration & Tracking
3. Event Configuration & Tracking
4. Filters, Segments, & Annotations
5. Reports, Dashboards, & Integrations

And to help you with your analysis, each section of the audit guide provides you with:

• A checklist
• A brief explanation
• Step-by-step instructions
• Important tools
• Common problems & examples
• References for further reading

Good luck!

Master Checklist

Guide to Auditing Google Analytics Installation

Ensuring Google Analytics is on Every Page

If your tracking code is not on every page of your site you could be losing out on valuable data. It will also provide you with incorrect data that could cause you to make a poor decisions.

If you are on the hunt for your GA code you are really on the lookout for your “UA” code. If you find this you can be assured that analytics is installed.

Common Issues

• The code was stripped out during a website update.
• The wrong UA code is on the site.
• Other JavaScript is blocking you GA code from firing.
• Tag Manager container is not published.
• GA code incorrectly installed on other websites.

Examples of Correct & Incorrect Google Analytics Installation

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools

• Tag Assistant by Google
• Ghostery
• Inspect Element

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Use Tag Assistant to see if tag is green & installed correctlyTag Assistant by Google will allow you to look & see if Google Analytics installed correctly on your site. It will also allow you to see many other tags that could be installed on your site.

   Once you have downloaded this extension & navigated over to the page you are ready to see if you Google Analytics is installed correctly. The next step requires you to click into the Tag Assistant then click the “Enable” button. Now you have to refresh the page.

   After you refresh the page & wait a few seconds simply look at what is present in the screen.

   Review this page to see exactly what each indicator means.

2. Double Check other sources to ensure Google Analytics is installed correctlyReview website code looking to find “UA -” (If GA is deployed through Tag Manager you won’t find “UA-”)
   Make sure your Tag Manager container is published
   For common installations issues. Check out the further reading section.

Auditing Google Analytics Goal Configurations

Mini Checklist for Auditing Google Analytics Goal Configurations

Guide for Auditing Goal Configurations

The Big Idea Behind Goal Configurations

Nothing matters more to your client than leads and sales. Goals (also referred to as conversions) in Google Analytics allow you to track form submissions, and even phone calls. Insight into these metrics, and which channels are delivering the highest ROI is a core component of strategic planning. Without properly auditing those metrics how can you be sure you are accurately depicting what the client is actually seeing in terms of business performance?

That is why it is critical that you understand how each and every goal is being tracked. This guide will provide you with insights into how each goal is fired & help you to identify possible overlap or missing goal completions.

Common Problems

Destination Goal Configurations

• You think two goals are counting the same desired action
• Make sure you are using the right match type
• Make sure Google Analytics is on the desired thank-you page
• You are rewriting goal urls with a filter

Event-Based Goal Configurations

• The event is not configured incorrectly (wrong category, action or label)
• The event is configured to specific.
• The event never fired.
• You think two goals are counting the same desired action
• Make sure you are using the right match type in your goal for example

Examples of Correct & Incorrect Goal Configurations

In order to do this you must click into the individual goal you are testing. Then edit the “Goal details” area of the goal. There you will see a “Verify this Goal” link. Click this and it will provide you with one of the two options below.

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools

• Tag Assistant by Google

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Accessing and Viewing Current GoalsAll goals are specific to an account view. It is critical to be inside of the right account view to ensure you are auditing the right goals.

   Walk through what goals are currently recording and what goals have received goal completions in the last 7 days. These are the KPI that have been set up for the client and should be your focus for the remaining steps

2. Understanding Current GoalsThe main point of this step is to understand exactly how and why these goals are being fired. We want to really understand what the point of each individual goal is and how it is being measured.

   Here are some key elements you want to review: goal name, goal setup, goal description and goal details. Some important things to be aware of are the naming nomenclature and the type of goal being used.

3. Verifying Each Goal is UniqueThis is perhaps the most critical part of this entire guide. We must ensure that each goal is only fired once. Start by reviewing all goal completions triggers in the event details. I would suggest writing each of them down as you go through. Mark any that have similar or the same triggers. I would then create individual segments for each potential duplicate goal & compare them. I would be looking at the same time period & then perhaps digging into a specific day & hour to see if they are both counting at the same time for the same session.

   We typically see this more often that not in a destination based goal. For this type of issue I would suggest appending a url parameter onto the end of it or moving to event based goal to make it unique.

   However, we have also seen this happen when the goal is not specific enough. For example it is firing on an event category that is way too broad and the action or label need to be added to the goal.

4. Ensuring your Goals have a ValueA common thing that we see with our goals is that they do not have a value associated with them. This is technically a dollar amount attached to each individual goal. The way to look at this would how far down the sales funnel is the person who is filling this out?

   At WebMechanix our standard operating procedure for adding values to goal completions is as follows (unless otherwise specified.)

   • Low Funnel Goal (contact form submission) = 1,000
   • Middle Funnel Goal (gated content download) = 100
   • High Funnel Goal (newsletter signup) = 10
5. Does this effectively measure a KPIAs you have the opportunity to audit more and more analytics accounts you will notice a variety of goals for a variety of reasons. However, the best practice is always keep your goal slots to Key Performance Indicators, preferably those that involve an exchange of contact information, such as form submissions and phone calls.

   These are what our performance is typically evaluated upon and we want to align our goals with what the business’s goals are. We also only have 20 goal slots so by utilizing them for things other than KPI’s we cloud our data which may cause issues later on.

What To Write On The Audit

Auditing Google Analytics Events

Guide to Auditing Google Analytics Events

The Big Idea Behind Google Analytics Events

Google Analytics Events allow us to track user interactions with the website (such as clicks, form field focus, form submissions, pop up impressions, etc.) The way we are able to do this is by adding code to fire on these elements that communicate directly with Google Analytics.

Event tracking codes are broken down into 5 different pieces of information that is passed to analytics. We typically only concern ourselves with 4 but knowing how all 5 work is key. Here they are in hierarchical order:

• Category
• Action
• Label
• Value
• Non-Interaction

Common Problems of Event Tracking

Events present but not organized
The most common issue with Event Tracking (other than no events being tracked at all) is a lack of organization or clarity into what the Categories, Actions & Labels mean.

Here’s what we mean by a lack of clarity, take a look at this Event Label report from Google Analytics — can you understand what is happening or where these goals are firing?

Events not firing

• Another very common issue with event tracking is that events are not firing properly. With a variety of different ways to fire event tracking it is important to confirm you can actually see the event fire.

I would suggest using network activity or tag assistant for most cases. However, if you are using Google Tag Manager the debug or preview feature is a great way to test this.

• • • Watching Events Fire through Network Activity (2 scenarios)
      • A major issue with event tracking is how to watch an event fire. Sometimes we can’t see if with other tools so you need to know how to watch this event fire in network activity.
        • Open “Inspect” by right clicking on your page and navigate to the “Network” tab (1)
        • Hit the “stop image” to removal all old activity (2) & now tigger your event.
        • Once network activity has hit 3000ms click the “Filter” bar and type “event”. (3)
        • See images below based on your Analytics Code (Universal or Classic).
      • Google Analytics Universal Code: Event Breakdown (Scenario 1)
        • Category = (4) Action = (5) Label = (6) Value = (7) Interaction = (8)
          
      • Google Analytics Classic Code: Event Breakdown (Scenario 2)
        • Category = (4A) Action = (4B) Label = (4C) Value = (4D) Interaction = (5)

• • • Watching Events with Tag Assistant
      • Tag Assistant is a great tool for event tracking it does an awesome job of telling you what events fire. The issue is that it doesn’t provide you with real time updates. You must turn Tag Assistant on, record your session then review what tags or events you have fired. However below is a screenshot of the awesome report that is provided & how to find your events
        • You first must navigate to the “Google Analytics Report” (top arrow)
        • Click the “Events hits” on the sidebar (middle arrow)
        • Scroll through and it will show you each event you fired (example in the box)

Events fire results in a 0% bounce rate

• • This is likely caused by an issue with how your events are configured. When you configure your events to interaction vs non-interaction this with skew your bounce rate. The way this typically works is that your events are all set to interactions when they should be non-interactions. If you would like to read more on this check out this blog post.

Examples of Correct & Incorrect Event Tracking

Correct Event Tracking Display

Correct Code

Incorrect Event Tracking Display

Incorrect Code

Incorrect Events in GA

Suggested Tools for Auditing Events in Google Analytics

• Event Tracking Code Generator
• Tag Assistant by Google
• Event Tracking Matrix Template

Step-by-Step Instructions for Auditing Google Analytics Events

1. Look for EventsIn order to properly audit analytics events you must first ensure that events are firing inside of GA. In order to do this navigate to the “Behavior” tab on the left sidebar in GA. There you will see an “Events” drop down that will allow you to look through all current events.

   Notice how in the “Overview” tab these events are broken down by category, action & label. Inside of there should be clear understanding of what is being tracked and how.

2. Are Current Events Tracking Properly?How can you ensure that your events are properly tracking? Take what you are seeing inside of analytics for a specific goal that has a category, action & label. Then recreate this event on the website using the Event Tracking Tracker.

   Spot check several different events keeping in mind to use the lowest level events (typically named Conversion or Form Submission) these are the most important events. After you have spot checked several and feel confident that most events are recording correctly.

   Drag back your date range to see if you can identify any major drops in events fired over the past 90 days. If you see any strange outliers dig to identify the specific event causing this change.

3. Using Non-Interaction Events?We typically use non-interaction event tracking for most of our events. When an event is recorded that is marked as an interaction it counts towards that page’s and the site’s bounce rate. We only want to increase our bounce rate if the user is leaving our site not because they filled out a form. Here are some examples:
   • Non-interaction:
     An example of this would be a form submission or a button click
   • Interaction:
     This would be when a user clicks on a link and navigates away from the site.
4. Values Associated with All Events?
   Values can be exact values for when a customer buys on an ecommerce site or they can be weighted numbers attached to the event simply to help us score the types of events firing.In order to more effectively evaluate the success of a page or group of pages on the website, it is important to have a weighted value for each event that makes sense.
5. Review Event Tracking Matrix
   Typically for clients we create an event tracking matrix to show how we have effectively planned out what we want to track on the site. If you are able to use this document it will provide you with a clear picture as to what is being tracked.If you are not able to find this document or one has not been created I would suggest doing so. This could help to outline areas of opportunity that we are currently missing.
6. Identifying Areas of Opportunity
   Google Analytics, and your Event Tracking Matrix paints a retroactive picture of your event tracking. But since websites are updated frequently with new pages, call to actions, pop ups, functionality, etc. it’s important to also revisit the website to ensure that new elements that should be tracked, are being tracked.

Guide to Auditing GA Filters, Segments & Annotations

Are you sure you understand what is going on inside of your current Google Analytics instance? This guide will help you understand & utilize some of the advanced functionality that will extract data before it is in Analytics, show you how to splice data more effectively within Analytics & how to document major changes to the website or Analytics.

Filters

Google Analytics Filters are can be created at the account or view level to remove data permanently before it enters Analytics (not retroactive). It is important that you understand the difference between filters and segments.

In an ideal world, your Google Analytics will have two views, one with no filters and one that includes filters (IP addresses, referral spam & more).

Common Problems when Auditing Filters

• Filtering our IP Address. This means when you are testing pages you will not show up in the real time view. That is why it is always important to leave an unfiltered view available.
• Too many filters can easily skew your data and prevent you from getting a clear picture. That is why it is important to use advanced segments as well as filters.
  • Specifically this tends to happen when you use multiple “include” filters and not exclude filters. Read this article for more details.
• Account filters are blocking things you should be seeing in that view. That is why understanding the difference between account filters and view filters are important.

Examples of Correct & Incorrect Filters When Verifying

Correct

Incorrect

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Account Level FiltersAs a company WebMechanix is no longer using Account level filters. It is too easy for them to block or easily skew data at the view level. It is also important to have an unfiltered view that we can always revert back or use for testing purposes.

   So if you are seeing Account level filters encourage the account owner to move those to the view level and annotate properly.

2. Review the View Level Filters & Verify ThemNow take the time to walk through your view filters. This will provided you with a full understanding of what is being filtered out of this view entirely.

   After you have a firm grasp on what is supposed to be blocked from this view. Click the “Verify” link to see what information is being directly pulled out of this view. This will ensure that nothing you would want to view is in here.

3. Ensure Client’s IP & WebMechanix IP’s are excludedThis is standard operating procedure for all WebMechanix clients but ensure that these are filtered out is one of the only key ways we can be positive that our data is clean and we can make sound analysis and strategies from it.
4. Ensure Referral Spam is Filtered OutThis is another standard operating procedure for WebMechanix. However, it is one that is constantly changing with new hostnames. So we typically run a combination of the filter as well as an advanced segment to prevent this data from showing up in our views.

   Your goal is to make sure that this is working properly and helping to filter out some of the major contributors to this.

5. Ensure Filtering for Correct CapitalizationThis is another new standard operating procedure that we will be adding for all of WebMechanix. We typically see that sometimes things like capitalization can cause our data to be differentiated when we don’t want it as such. This is shown in the screenshot below.

   

   In order to prevent this review this article which discusses how to create the following filters.

   

6. Are There Any Custom Filters?Custom filters can be helpful to digital marketers. However, they can also provide extremely negative results. If you find a custom filter inside of your account or view it is paramount that you dig into this filter and understand what it is.

   We typically use advanced segments to dive deeper into data and it would be concerning to me to only be viewing half the picture when you want a full shot.

Ensure Segments are being Utilized Properly

• When in a Google Analytics view, you’ll see the “Add Segment” at the top. Click this to see custom segments.
  
  • Typically we label all custom segments by client code – segment name
• Are segments setup to track the data you want to see, whether user based or session based?
  • Review Google’s About Segments article
• Are you currently using Advanced Segments?
  • Conditions: These are segments based on multiple conditions that you determine inside of the conditions of the segments. (Review this article for more information)
  • Sequences: These are segments based on multiple conditions & required actions. The above article discusses these.

Segments

Segments allow you to filter and splice data within Google Analytics. At WebMechanix we use many different segments for specific to each client. For example, you can view Analytics through a lens that just displays data originating from “Non Paid Traffic”.

The customization behind what you can use to pick a subset of users is truly what is most beneficial about segments and advanced segments. Specifically conditions and sequences which allow you to pick users who have done multiple things or fit multiple groups. Multiple segments can be applied to allow you to compare data.

Common Problems with Segments

The following problems tend to occur

• You have saved your segment to multiple accounts and views. Due to the fact that all our clients are attached to the same email address it is paramount that when saving a segment you apply the right naming structure ([Client Code] – [Reason for filter]) & only save it that specific client’s account or view.
  • In the screenshot below you can see what appears in the upper right hand corner when you are editing your view. THAT IS WRONG. It should say “Segment is visible and shared in current View”

  

• When applying the filter you are accidentally select “Include” when you really mean “Exclude”.
• Your advanced segment is blocking more than you think and this makes your reporting incorrect. Typically we are only looking for a minor subsection of users to discuss. Make sure you have clearly thought through any other possible thing you could be excluding.

Examples of Correct & Incorrect Segments

There is really no incorrect segment as long as you are confident that it has been build correctly. It is important to think through all aspects of what you are looking for & who else could possibly be included. However, as long as you have done this then your segment should be properly set up.

Suggested Tools

• Analytics Solutions Gallery

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Reviewing Current SegmentsIn this first step we are going to be reviewing the current segments set up for that client. I would encourage you to search using the client code to see what custom segments are already being used.

   The main goal of this is to try to understand what exactly are the current initiatives that this account is really focusing on by the segments in that view.

2. Are they using advanced segments (both condition & sequence)?Advanced segments can take reporting and strategy to the next level is through. It is a great way for us to use multiple pieces of criteria to identify a subsection of users and analyze how they are using the site.

   For example we should always be looking at the way our leads interacted with the site. So reviewing people who came to the site organically & then filled out our contacts form could lend to some really cool insights.

Annotations

Google Analytics allows you to leave notes that display beneath the timeline graph, so that you can better understand when major changes were made as a reference point for your analysis.

These annotations make it easy to understand what influenced spikes and dips in the numbers for anyone that views the account.

That is why it is critical for us to ensure we are recording any and all changes to the site (as well as Google Analytics) that will impact the data. Everything from a site redesign, to launching a new paid campaign, to website outages, to new filter additions, to modifications to goal tracking, etc.

Common Problems with Annotations

The following problems tend to occur

• Unable to see who made the annotation. When multiple people are using the same email address it uses the email address associated. (House Analytics = sembywebmechanix)
• Not effectively describing the changes made. When the annotating you need to be short and to the point. This makes analysis of large date ranges easier.
• Lack of annotations.

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Annotations

Correct

Incorrect

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Review Current Annotation
   Simply look back at the past years worth of sessions. Note any major changes in sessions or goal completions. Then make sure there are annotations to describe those changes.
2. Add AnnotationsIf the above task you noticed multiple areas where you have seen jumps or severe declines in sessions or goal completions note those dates.

   Use either your client knowledge or CSM’s client knowledge to ensure that they place some sort of annotation in there to describe what happened to cause this change.

Guide to Auditing Google Analytics Custom Reports, Dashboards & More!

Custom Reports

Custom reports are another way for us to effectively splice data points together to give us a clear picture of a campaign or initiative that we are currently running.

This can be anything that you would like to review from how is your current content strategy performing to what are your best keywords for paid. These reports are completely customizable & make large data points easy to digest.

Common Problems

Problems When Building Custom Reports

• Adding filters to the report that prevent seeing the whole picture of your custom report.
• Adding in custom reports under a “View” that has some of the data already filtered out based on a view filter previously set up.
• Confusing metrics for dimensions and not properly building your custom reports.
• Poor naming structure which makes it difficult to identify what a report is.

Examples of Correct & Incorrect Custom Reports

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools

• Google Analytics Solutions Gallery

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Review Current Custom ReportsThe first thing to look at is whether you have any custom reports configured in the “Customization” section of Analytics. If they do then we want to dive into those reports to identify the key elements that those reports are tracking.

   This should be easy to identify based on the naming structure. If it is not then change the name to make it more descriptive.

2. Analyze how to use Custom ReportsAre the custom reports inside of this account and view targeting any current initiatives for that account or view (KPIs). If not I would encourage you to dig a little deeper into recent initiatives to provide the CSM with a way they should be utilizing custom reporting.
3. Are the custom reports attached to a dashboard or sent out?Another important thing is ensuring these custom reports are being utilized to their maximum potential. A great way to do this would be to create a dashboard off of this custom report.

   We can send these out as weekly emails to clients if they are really interested in digging into the data. This saves us from having to rebuild something every week & send it to the client.

Dashboards

Dashboards are a great way to pull many data sources (in the form of widgets) into one easy to digest and highly visual view. They are great for reporting, and monitoring site performance at a glance.

Dashboards have the ability to display data in different styles using widgets. Here is a screenshot showing them off:

Common Problems

Problems when building dashboards

• There can only be 12 widgets on an individual dashboard. One way to address this is to ensure your dashboards align to tight themes, i.e. Social Media Performance Dashboard.
• Dashboards can be adjusted by date range. Make sure you’re looking at the right time period.
• An accidentally activated Advanced Segment may skew your data.
• Dashboards use different terminology for “include” and “exclude”. They call it “Only Show” or “Don’t Show” when utilizing this tool it can make things a little confusing.
• Transferring a dashboard from one account to another may not seem possible but it is using the “Share” button and sharing a template link.

Examples of Correct & Incorrect Dashboards

Correct

Incorrect

Suggested Tools

• Google Analytics Solution Gallery
  This includes reports, dashboards & segments

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Review Current DashboardsThe first thing we need to find out is if they have any current dashboards in their analytics profile. If they do dig into what exactly each dashboard was created for and how they are named.

   This should provide you with some insights into what current initiatives the client would like them to focus on. They should have some shared and nonshared reports.

2. What Dashboards are they missing?Hopefully they have many dashboards in their analytics view and they are currently using custom reporting to build some of these. If they are not how can they make the dashboards they do have more useful? What types of widgets, dimension or metrics should they be showing?

Analytics Integrations

Google Analytics itself is an outstanding tool but what if I told you with a few simple clicks you could open up so much more. Google Analytics allows you to provide direct integrations and send additional data from outside sources to Analytics.

In this section we will walk through some of the key integrations that we want to make sure every Google Analytics account has. For example we must make sure that Search Console is integrated with analytics or we will not see any keyword data inside of analytics.

Common Problems

Problems with Adwords Linking:

• Make sure you are selecting the right account & MCC.
• Make sure that all campaigns and adgroups will be added to analytics.
• Adwords can only be linked to one Analytics property at a time.
• Ensure that you linked to the right view

Problems with Optimizely Integration:

• Have the integration activated on the Optimizely account and the experiment.
• Only run one experiment at a time unless you create multiple custom dimensions in analytics. Otherwise they have the potential to overlap.
• Make sure to change your GA code to include the optimizely call (can’t use Tag Manager’s templated GA tag).

Problems with CallRail Integration:

• All that is done on the analytics side is that a goal fires based on the event of phone call. So ensure that you goal is properly set up based on the event and you are good to go.
• On the CallRail side you must make sure that your Google Analytics integration is enabled in the settings section of CallRail.

Problems with Search Console Linking:

• You must be logged in as an owner of the search console account. That means for any WebMechanix client you must be logged into our “House Analytics” account in order to link the two.
• A Search Console property can only be associated with one Analytics property. However, that data will be accessible inside of all the views of that property.

Problems with Site Search:

• This can only be used if the website has an internal search capabilities. If there is no internal search capabilities then this won’t work.
• Not enabled.
• Search query parameter setting configured incorrectly.

Problems with Custom Alerts:

• As long as this is turned on and pointing to an email address there is no issue here.

Examples of Correct and Incorrect Analytics Integrations (In Admin Tab)

Correct
Anything on the below page is correct
Site Search and Adwords Linking (In “View Settings”)

Custom Alerts (In “Custom Alerts”)

Search Console (Under “Property Settings”)

Optimizely Link (In “Custom Definitions” then “Dimensions”)

CallRail Link (In “Goals”)

Incorrect
Any screenshot on the page are incorrect
Site Search Linking (In “View Settings”)

Custom Alerts (In “Custom Alerts”)

Adwords (In “Adwords Linking”)

Search Console (Under “Property Settings”)

Optimizely Link (In “Custom Definitions” then “Dimensions”)

CallRail Link (In “Goals”)

Suggested Tools

• Optimizely
• CallRail
• Adwords
• Search Console

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Is Search Console Connected to Analytics?Take the correct screen shot you have reviewed and compare it to what you are seeing in “Admin” tab under “Property” in “Property Settings”. Once there you need to scroll all the way to the bottom to the section that says search console.

   After clicking the button “Adjust Search Console” you will see exactly what was shown in the screenshot. This will let you know if what search console site they are linked to & if it is correct.

2. Is Adwords Linked to Analytics?Take the correct screenshot from above and compare it to what you are seeing in “Admin” tab under “Property” in “AdWords Linking”. Once there you should see the exact account it is linking to as well as the client code for that account.

   Make sure to match this client code in AdWords to ensure it is not looking at the wrong account (VA Mortgage currently has two analytics accounts).

3. Is CallRail a goal in Analytics?CallRail does not really integrate with Analytics. Instead what it does is send events to Google Analytics based on when a call is received. This allows us send information about where that user came from.

   To check this, look for an event that is firing with a category of “Phone.” If it is not, check inside of CallRail to ensure the integration has been turned on there. Check out this article as it walks you through step by step how to integrate on the callrail side.

4. Is Optimizely passing data to Analytics?Optimizely will only start passing data to Analytics if it has been told to, it has a place to go and it knows what to push. That is why it is required to set up a custom dimension, modify your analytics code and tell the experiment to pass data.

   With so much required of these two systems we have a number of ways to ensure that this is set up. However, to ensure it is effectively passed data takes some additional steps.

   The easiest way is to go to the “Admin” tab under “Property” and click “Custom Definitions” then “Custom Dimensions”. If there is an Optimizely dimension you can assume it is set up.

   Now to ensure that is passing data you take that custom dimension name and create a segment that only checks for people using that custom dimension (advanced segment set up [custom dimension name] contain 1).

5. Is Site Search set up?
   First confirm that your site has an internal search function.If you do review the screenshot above and navigate to the “Admin” tab under “View” and go to “View Settings”. Once there toggle the switch for site search and enter in your custom search parameter (this is simply a way for you to identify these searches in your reports).
6. Do you have custom alerts set up?To review this look at the screenshot above and navigate to the “Admin” tab under “View” and go to “Custom Alerts”. Once here simply review what custom alerts they have set up. A good one to suggest would be sessions = 0 for a day.

What To Write On The Audit

• ✓ = Satisfactory
  All of the above settings are configured in a way that makes sense and providing value.
• ！= Needs Improvement
  Only some of the above settings are configured properly. Others need work.
• ❌ = Needs Attention
  Nothing is linked but everything is being used. Specifically Adwords & Search Console are not linked and they are in use.