Rankings Based Reach (RBR) is a methodology developed by First Rate, which provides a simple way to compare a website’s search engine rankings with its competitors.
RBR is an estimate of the percentage of available search traffic a website is getting for a set of phrases – its market share or reach.
It is weighted based on the popularity of each search phrase and the relative click through rate (CTR) of each ranking position.
Search Trends: Search demand for “Daily Deals” over time
Source: Google, November 2011
This chart illustrates the number of searches carried out for the term “daily deals” on Google in Australia since the beginning of 2009.
The recent rapid growth in daily deals sites is reflected in the number of searches being performed, with peak search demand occurring at the end of August 2011.
Sites & Searches : Which are the most popular websites and search phrases?
Source: Google, November 2011
The chart reveals that, for daily deals & group buying related searches, “deals” is the most searched for phrase on Google in Australia. We took the 15 most searched for phrases related to these websites for our analysis.
The second chart lists the 18 websites included in our study and shows the number of visitors they receive each month.
The Importance of Top Rankings: Traffic received by Google ranking
Calculating Online Market Share: Using Rankings Based Reach
Rankings Based Reach (RBR) provides a simple way to compare a website’s search engine rankings with its competitors. RBR is an estimate of the percentage of available search traffic a website is getting for a set of phrases – its market share or traffic reach. It is weighted based on the popularity of each search phrase in terms of traffic generation and the relative click through rate (CTR) of each ranking position
For example, being number 1 for “deals” will reach more than 10 times as many people as being number 1 for “bargain”.
Search Inventory: What do the results look like when you search for “Deals” in Google ?
Rankings Based Reach: Organic Search Results – Google Australia
Source: Google, March 2012
All of these websites would benefit significantly by optimising their sites for Google using highly relevant and popular search phrases
AdWords positions change frequently so this is just a snapshot of how advertisers were ranked when the data was analysed. However, it does provide a good insight into those websites who are advertising aggressively and competing for top Google positions.
“Research shows 60% of Mobile Web users had a problem in the past year when accessing a website on their phone”
In a study by IDC 494.2 million Smartphone units were shipped in 2011. During 2012, worldwide shipments are forecasted to grow 33.5% and at a average growth rate of 18.6% through to 2016 [1]. The rising demand for Smartphone’s is causing a fundamental shift in the way people are accessing the internet. As the world moves more towards mobile devices and away from desktops, an important question that all businesses and organisations are having to address is: “are you maximising your mobile opportunity?”.
If the mobile opportunity is something relatively new to you or something you want to discover more about, then this post is for you. The following outlines five [5] key steps for getting your business/organisation presence in the mobile space by first understanding current trends in mobile user behaviour, particularly in terms of direct mobile-attributed conversions (i.e. purchase) and testing your mobile-friendly site.
Mobile user Behaviour
Below are some of the key findings related directly to mobile internet usage and mobile generated conversions published in a study conducted by Google – “The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Users” [2].
27% of Smartphone shoppers purchase via Mobile Websites.
74% of Smartphone shoppers made a purchase as a result of using a Smartphone.
76% in-store.
59% online using a computer.
35% Smartphone.
95% of users have looked for local information and a result, 88% of users took action within the same day of which; 77% contacted the business and 44% had purchased.
Among various types of websites, search engine websites were ranked as the most visited website.
From a conversion point of view, these findings suggest people are highly likely to take action as a result of using their Smartphone. In addition to this, given the growing popularity of using mobile payment systems like Google Wallet and PayPal Here, we’re likely to see a growing trend in purchases made via mobile (Smartphone) devices.
From a search perspective, the results suggest people typically engage the same type of behaviours as they would if operating a desktop when searching for information (but in some cases more localised). In turn this is likely to mean that the majority of your non-direct mobile visitors are arriving to your website via a search engine. But just how many of website visitors are mobile visitors? Below we outline steps in Google Analytics to discover how much of your traffic is attributed to mobile.
Analyse
Generate a report in Google Analytics (GA) to identify the trend in mobile visits to your website. In GA you can do this by following the steps below:
Navigate to ‘Standard Reporting’.
Click the ‘Audience’ tab.
Click ‘Mobile’ then ‘Overview’.
Set a date range you would like to see traffic and/or conversion data for. Depending on how long you’ve had Google Analytics installed on your site, we suggest looking at relatively long time periods i.e. six or twelve month periods. Then,
Choose the type of metrics you wish to compare in the chart i.e. Visits vs. Transactions (if you have an eCommerce site).
Reviewing & Analysing the mobile data:
If you want a visual overview of the percentage of mobile attributed visits contribute to total website visits for the date range your have set, click either the percentage icon or the performance icon. From the menu in the top right hand of the table.
In the Mobile Overview Standard Report, the Primary Dimension should be set to Mobile with two line items in the table below with No and Yes. To see only mobile data, next to the search filter click Advanced and enter the following filter settings and click Apply.
You should now only see traffic for mobile data only. In the chart, you will be able to see whether or not mobile data (i.e. visits and conversions) have increased.To drill down a step further, include as a Secondary dimension – Operating System.
To drill down a step further, include as a Secondary dimension – Operating System.
The purpose of this report is to identify what type of mobile devices/operating systems are being used to access your website (e.g. iPhone, Android, and Windows powered mobile devices).
Website Optimisation for Mobile Devices
Purpose: Is a move to add/include a mobile site version into the mix a good idea and why? Are you able to state and clearly justify the benefit a mobile version of your site will bring to your business and to your users? [1] Identify a clear purpose for why you think a mobile site will be of benefit and what reliable data can back this up?
Objectives: Before adding or optimising your website for mobile traffic, it is important to determine what exactly the objectives for the mobile version are. For example the objectives might be to improve number of conversions attributed to mobile traffic, to increase number of mobile visitors to the website, or to simply improve website experience for mobile users. By determining what the specific objectives are, you should then be able to put in place a strategic plan of action towards achieving those objectives.
Make it super simple: Compared to a PC, mobile devices are smaller; therefore display screens are smaller and perhaps with that so are the patience and attention spans of your mobile visitors. Cramming a content filled page fit for a PC-sized web browser into a smart phone display is not much fun for many. So when optimising your site for mobile, based on the objectives for the mobile version, simplify the navigation, minimise the content (text and images), and only put what’s absolutely necessary. The easier your mobile site is for users to use the more likely they will use it.
Call to action: If your mobile site is geared towards increasing online conversions, ensure the call-to-action signals are clear and obvious to users.
Mobile redirects: Whether a visitor from a mobile device is redirected to your website via a search or is referred to as direct, speak to your developer about implementing automatic redirects to the mobile version of your site. Implementing this function will also avoid the effects of either carrier or Google Transcoding your webpages and the possibility of a user having a poor experience with your site through their mobile device
Other alternatives:
If you don’t want to invest significant time/resources into developing a mobile-friendly site, there are a number of hosted platforms you can use to help you stay up to date and manage all the devices and technology for you (e.g. Mobistro.com and Unitymobile.com).
Tracking mobile site activity
It’s important to note, from a tracking perspective, mobile devices essentially fall into two different classes. These can be referred to as “low-end” (i.e. mobile phones with WAP enabled browsers) – mobile devices that do not support JavaScript and “high-end” (i.e. Smartphone’s with full HTML browsers) – mobile devices that support JavaScript.
When tracking visitor activity on your mobile site, if your site has the standard ga.js script and _trackPageview calls then GA should be able to collect data from high-end mobile users. If however you want to ensure your mobile site also tracks activity from low-end mobile users, you will need to implement custom script depending on your server-side language. For details on this see the Google Analytics for Mobile Websites help page.
Whether you decide to have the mobile version of your site on its own .mobi domain or as a sub-domain, and in particular have links on the mobile site to the full site, given the way GA is designed to track single domains, you will need to implement cross-domain tracking.
Resources for testing your site for mobile traffic
GoMo: A Google driven initiative, provides a free tool for testing how your mobile site renders on a Smartphone device. The full report also provides useful advice for further optimising your mobile site.
Mobile Emulators: Test whether or not your current site renders properly using the Gomez Mobile Readiness Test.
Android SDK (testing for Android powered devices only) device emulator shows how your site will appear on Android devices.
W3C mobile checker: is a useful resource for checking how mobile-friendly a specific URL is. The detailed report provides a comprehensive breakdown in order of severity of particular errors that occurred with recommendations to fix the issue.
Take action
The mobile movement is picking up momentum. It’s no doubt with the growing number of mobile/Smartphone devices being activated everyday so will website visits from these devices. If you’re interested in finding out more about how mobile visits are contributing to your overall traffic volume, including understanding mobile visitor behaviour and interaction with your site, speak with us. We can help with providing an in-depth mobile Web Analytics analysis with actionable insights tailored to fit your digital marketing strategy.
On 2nd March, I had the opportunity to attend a huge DJ gig in Auckland, gathering Porter Robinson, the freaky Die Antwoord, the impressive 24-years-old-Grammy-Awards-winner Skrillex and last but not the least the legendary Fatboy Slim.
I don’t say that for his age, don’t take me wrong because although his “great” age, Fatboy Slim manages to use the most of the DJing technology extremely well and wisely.
In the video below, Fatboy Slim explains how DJing evolved since his debut in the 90’s with software and hardware that allow DJs to ‘hang around’ without having to carry on a whole orchestra! Fatboy Slim also tells us how he imagined DJing performance when he was a kid, with videos on big screens synchronised with the music.
This is now possible thanks to solutions such as Serato Video. Serato Video is a plug-in for Scratch Live and ITCH enabling you to mix video, just like music. This allows an augmented experience for the audience and for the DJ it is a better way to share their universe through music, video and light DJing.
The result is a crazy-hypnotised-dancing crowd, just like the one at the Fatboy Slim gig in Auckland!
First Rate is proud to work with Serato on their SEO, SEM and Analytics projects and we hope our contribution will make more gigs like Fatboy Slim’s one possible!
One of the biggest online marketing failures we see organisations make is the lack of importance placed on tracking marketing activities, analysing results and then acting on insights gained.
Do you realise and understand that Analytics data can be your most valuable marketing asset?
In fact, CMOs are well aware they will have to be much more financially accountable in the future. In fact, 63 percent of respondents believe marketing ROI will become the most important measure of success over the next three to five years.” (IBM Global CMO study, 2011).
Through analytics analysis and acting on insights you can gain
A better understanding of your customers
Increased results
Higher ROI
Smarter systems for decision making
You are likely to be using Analytics to measure the performance your website as standard, but are you also using analytics to measure:
your social platforms (Facebook, YouTube etc) and social marketing
Ongoing Analysis of your Analytics will help you to understand
What content is most valuable to users – to then develop more valuable content
How various market segments differ in behaviour – to then tailor the asset / website / marketing to these audiences
How customers use of multiple channels by customers before purchase (including offline and mobile) – to ensure visibility and encourage conversion through the whole process
How you can improve conversion and return from your marketing dollar, giving you more to reinvest and grow, as well as ensuring you are providing a great product and service.
What marketing channels should take priority when budgets are limited – both to achieve growth goals, and ROI metrics
Customer trends around products and preferences – allowing a faster response to changing needs.
Analytics tools are constantly evolving and providing valuable new insights, which also should be quickly explored and utilised. For Example – are you using Real Time Analytics, Visitor Flows, Multi-channel Funnels, Assisted Conversion Paths?
A Caution… it is possible to drown in data, and Analytics data is absolutely useless unless it is acted on. Appropriate resource (internal or 3rd party) and a process must be put in place where insights from the data is regularly evaluated to influence business decisions, marketing tactics, and development decisions.
A Secret.. We have found that the secret to effective analytics implementation is the planning and requirements capture. Only once you have evaluated your business and marketing goals, objectives and KPIs can you develop an appropriate measurement framework to deliver the intelligence needed. Additionally, a more advanced custom solution may be required to maximise commercial benefit. Then you can be assured your marketing is on a solid foundation and can evolve as quickly as your customers do.
Should you be leveraging your Analytics more?Contact Us – we would love to help!
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First Rate is Google’s first trans-tasman Google Analytics Certified Partner. With a smart team of more than 15 Google Analytics Qualified individuals, you can be sure of sound advice, great technical expertise and brilliant actionable insights that will make a positive difference in your marketing strategy.
We are looking for experienced developers who are passionate about technology and digital solutions. The sort of person we typically hire is smart, analytical, and passionate about online, and keen to grow and push boundaries.
Experience working with large companies (client or agency side) is a huge plus. Our team is driven by performance, and understand online marketing is marketing, but has a big technology component. If you want a fluffy agency, we’re not for you. We’re all about business results.
The Role
Based in our Auckland CBD office and reporting to the Head of Agency, you will take the technical lead for our clients, working alongside our fantastic team of smart online marketing consultants. This is a vital role as we expand our technology offering and are looking for someone who can work autonomously and make the role their own.
What You Will Be Doing
Seeking to understand client business requirements
Helping clients achieve their goals through the development of technology-based solutions
Leading and implementing those solutions across multiple platforms
Writing technical specifications where required
Working with both internal and external teams.
Delivering advanced Google Analytics implementations (we are a Certified Google Partner and you will gain access to partner-only tech forums and support channels).
because although his “great” age, Fatboy Slim manages to use the most of the DJing technology extremely well and wisely.
