Google goals for Search Engine Optimization - Unknown Secrets of SEO E-Webstyle Number 41

Episode27 min2009-12-18

Google Analytics Goals let website owners track newsletter signups, file downloads, leads, and sales so they can identify what drives conversions and fix broken funnels quickly.

Cover art for Google goals for Search Engine Optimization - Unknown Secrets of SEO E-Webstyle Number 41
Key takeaways
always code as if the guy who ends up maintaining your code will be a violent psychopath who knows where you live

About this episode

We continue our discussion of Google goals. We discuss Google goals related to tracking subscriptions and coupons. We also discuss user generated content, such as review, and outline the value of having your users create content for you. Remember with Search Engine Optimization content is king. Find our facebook page at www.e-webstyle.com/facebook. Houston Search Engine Optimization. You can now watch our podcasts…

Questions this episode answers

Why can't you track podcast MP3 downloads with Google Analytics?

Google Analytics tracking code cannot be placed on an MP3 file. If listeners download the file from a platform like iTunes, that activity is outside the site owner's control. The hosts recommend moving podcast files to a platform like Podomatic.com, which provides its own download tracking.

How does tracking sales in Google Analytics help with marketing spend?

By tracking sales alongside country, keyword, and referral data, you can see which markets actually generate revenue. If all sales come from two countries out of five you are targeting, you can cut spending on the other three and invest more where conversions happen.

What is the benefit of tracking user reviews or blog comments as a Google Analytics goal?

User-generated content like reviews and comments adds content to your site without requiring you to produce it yourself. Tracking it as a goal shows how many visitors engage that way and gives you a pool of engaged users you can market to or respond to directly.

In their words

if you're selling online or making a living from online world, you simply have to track and improve on your lead tracking

Host

you're spreading your efforts. Let's say you're doing, like, Germany, Belgium, France, Portugal, and England, right? And you're spending equal dollars and effort on each of those countries, and you're not tracking your sales.

Host

anytime your website is partially, at least partially supported by user-generated content, then you're, you know, what's king? Content. Content is king.

Host
Terms defined in this episode
Google Analytics Goals
A feature in Google Analytics that lets site owners designate specific user actions, such as form submissions, file downloads, or feed subscriptions, as conversion events to monitor and measure.
Goal Funnel
A sequence of pages or steps in Google Analytics that a user follows toward completing a goal, allowing site owners to see where visitors drop off before converting.
robots.txt file
A file placed on a web server that tells search engine crawlers which pages or files they are allowed or not allowed to access, used in the episode to block an unwanted Asian spider from consuming bandwidth.
Podomatic
A podcast hosting platform mentioned in the episode as a way to track podcast download statistics that cannot be captured through Google Analytics on raw MP3 files.

Full transcript is being added.

Matthew Bertram, host of The Best SEO Podcast
Matthew Bertram
AI keynote speaker · Owner & CEO, EWR Digital · President, ModalPoint

Matthew Bertram is an AI keynote speaker, creator of DIG™ (Digital Information Governance), and owner and CEO of EWR Digital. He helps energy and industrial leaders win visibility in AI search (GEO and AEO), is President of ModalPoint and CMO of the Oil & Gas Global Network, hosts The Best SEO Podcast, and has authored eight books including LLM Visibility. More about Matthew Bertram.

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