Archive: Web Metrics

Search Ranking Dropped – Why & How to Be Visible Again

Last Updated by Man Tran

Possible reasons why your website search ranking changes over time or even overnight.

Search ranking sinking

This post was originally posted several years ago and was last updated in 2017.

Search engine algorithm

Times change, people change and so does search engine algorithm. If algorithm sounds like a big word to you, as it does to me, then consider it as a giant set of complex [mathematic] formula that search engines like Google, Yahoo! or Bing develop to decide which websites are more relevant to what people search, thus will be displayed at the top, compared to all the sites indexed in their database.  Read more...


Get Your Competitor’s Web Traffic Data

Last Updated by Man Tran

Different tools to help you with your competitive website data analysis

Get your competitor's web traffic data

This post was originally posted several years ago and was last updated in 2017

In an earlier post SWOT analysis for your website, I mentioned the four elements of your SWOT analysis include identifying your website strength (S), uncovering your its weaknesses (W), identifying opportunities (O) for the site and uncovering threats (T) against it. While a decent web analytics application like Google Analytics can help you get insight into your own website S and W elements, what and how can you know about your competitor’s web performance in order to make your SWOT analysis more complete? I emphasized “web performance” as opposed to other general information that you can obtain by browsing your competitors’ websites. Below are some tools to help you get some idea about your competitors’ website performance.  Read more...


Yahoo! Homepage Re-Design and Your Homepage Re-Design

Last Updated by Man Tran

About the new Yahoo homepage and using web analytics data to guide homepage and website redesign

Recently (October 2012), the Internet, including CNET, TechCrunch and Business Insider all had articles about the upcoming re-designed Yahoo homepage under the new CEO Marissa Mayer. The responses for the new (not launched yet) homepage were mixed; while many praised the new design for its leaner arrangement and more search-focused, others thought the changes were not significant, not worth mentioning or implementing etc. This article will give you a brief overview of the said changes, but more importantly a possible explanation for the grounds for those changes as well as the strategies that Yahoo is adopting through the new design.  Read more...


What to Do When Your Website Traffic Dropped

Last Updated by Man Tran

Use fish-bone technique to diagnose causes of your site traffic changes

When Website Traffic Dropped

With the introduction of Google Panda and Penguin (mentioned in Google Updates and Your Search Ranking) many sites experienced significant drop in search ranking and web traffic. If your site is among those sites, and you’re aware of Google and other search engine algorithm changes, you can easily jump to the conclusion that the drop in traffic is due to search algorithm updates. While your judgement might be correct, it’s not sufficient. This post will give you an overview of how to uncover the issue, or more exactly the cause(s) of the issue by using the fish-bone diagram.  Read more...


Web Analytics Methods

Last Updated by Man Tran

An overview of the two methodologies used in web analytics: page tagging and web log file

Web analytics method

As mentioned in my other post about What Google Analytics Can’t Do, one of the key factors of getting your site a visible ranking is to know how well it performs with search engines and how well it meets your site visitors’ needs. To know about this, you must use one or more web analytics tools, whose function is to provide collection, measurement and reporting of web traffic data. There are different tools and most if not all of them are based on either one of the two methodologies: page tagging or web server log files.  Read more...


What Google Analytics Can’t Do

Last Updated by Michelle Sullivan

An overview about what Google Analytics can’t tell you in its reports

Google analytics

One of the key factors of getting your site a visible ranking is to know how well it performs with search engines and with your site visitors. Google Analytics (GA) is a web analytics tool that reports performance metrics of your website as well as give you insights into your web visitors’ behaviors and their activities while they are on the site. Performance metrics/indicators can vary depending on the priorities and goals of your site, but basically they include metrics like average time on site, number of page views, number of visitors and unique visitors, bounce rate, entry and exit points, goal conversion and so on. Those metrics are fundamental as they quickly let you know the overall health of your site, how it is performing against your goals. Google Analytics reports basic metrics and much more, but what can’t it tell you?  Read more...