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You may have read recent reports about Google changing the way search data is reported, which has involved the discussion of privacy. This has resulted in some hysterical reactions in certain SEO quarters.
My post has been written to dispel some of this hysteria and explain in plain English what it means for you and your SEO campaigns.
Background
So, Google has made another 'game-changing' announcement about the way search data will be reported. However, to the un-trained eye the announcement on the Official Google Blog could look quite innocuous and positive.
The post talks about privacy and how Google will now encrypt all search data from anybody who searches while signed into their Google account. This means that when it comes to the site owners or internet marketing companies, looking at their website, they will see only that the query came from Google.
While this sounds great from a user point of view, it could have a negative impact when reporting on SEO campaigns.
How We Analyse SEO Campaigns
In order to report on your campaign, I-COM SEO consultants will look into Google Analytics at which specific keywords (phrases typed into Google) drive the most traffic. The main focus is put on the valuable keywords and phrases that have converted into sales or enquiries. We then assess where these valuable phrases rank in Google, which allows us to decide which keywords are important to target in our future efforts.
How These Changes Affect This Analysis
The fact that search queries from signed-in users are going to be encrypted means that instead of specific phrases being available for analysis, it will simply say 'Not Provided'. So, the data will be there and we’ll know that it came from Google, but it will all be lumped together under that one entry.
How Much Data Will Be Affected?
Not everybody keeps themselves signed in to a Google account or indeed even has one, this means only a small portion of the data will be affected… for now.
Matt Cutts, a well respected Google employee who occasionally gives information about SEO, has said it should affect less than 1% of searches on the Internet. This figure sounds very low, and it will vary for different websites, depending on the target audience and how tech-savvy they are.
Also, as the number of people who have a Gmail or Google+ account grows, the more data will be affected. This is because users will most likely be permanently signed in, unless they make the conscious decision to sign out. But this is a gradual change and it should take quite a long time for this to become a major problem, by which point the SEO landscape may have changed multiple times again.
How This Will Change Reporting
At first it won’t change much, there will be enough data on most sites to analyse the site and let you know which keywords are driving traffic and converting well.
However, the data that is affected in the SEO campaign will need to be reported on in a more general and high level way. We will still be able to tell you how much traffic from search engines has changed and how many enquiries have been generated, it just means that we will need to use expertise to work out the strategy for the following month(s). For example, if we have only worked on one set of keywords, which are pointing towards one specific page and revenue has gone up from search engines, it’s a fair bet that this is responsible.
Conclusion
In short: it’s not the end of the world. We can still show you where that all important bottom line is coming from, and there will be enough data for the foreseeable future to keep us informed.
Remember, the affected data is in the minority. A good proportion of the data will remain and we will be able to carry on as normal the majority of the time. Our SEO Consultants have the intuition and experience to ensure that it is not a problem, and that we can continue helping you to generate return on your investment… just in a different way. This will not stop us; it will simply make us change our thinking a little bit.
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