If you are tracking clickthrus, events, conversions using Google Analytics here are a few tips, ideas and hints for tracking and then later on improving your webpage using Google tools : analytics, adwords and Google website optimizer.

New to Google Analytics is something called event tracking. Google events are slightly different than goals in Google analytics and while Google suggests that you track using events – I could find no easy way / interface to see which keyword is generating a desired event – like a click thru or a sale with events. This leaves  us with a  doing both tracking events and generating goals to have the best desired result.

1. Here are some ideas for best practices for click tracking on an affiliate website.

1. Install Jquery – this is easy to do ( 1 line of  lightweight javascript) . Why ? Because you can use jquery to track all similiarly named outgoing links. See how tiny jquery is by clicking here.
2. Redirect / rename all affiliate link simliarly -  I am using a plugin called gocodes - it seems pretty good and I am sure their are others. But the point is that you want to track every click thru and you want all the links you are tracking to look the same.  So you want all affiliate links to look  like /recommends/ or /go/ , etc. To be consistent but also because of the tracking code provided below and because of Tip number 3
3. Setup goals for click thrus on Google Analytics – If you are following point number two above you can easily set a goal for all links that match  /recommends/.+ ,  /go/.+ or whatever syntax you use.
   

   analytics goals

   Even better if you can track both click thrus and goals but for right now – just do clickthru tracking -  An article to reference — http://analytics.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-setup-goals-in-google-analytics.html

4. Install this tracking code to track all click that match  your syntax.
   jQuery('a').click(function(){
   var $a=jQuery(this);
   var href=$a.attr('href');
   if(href.match(/go\//))
   {var category='outgoing';
   var event='click';
   var label=href;
   pageTracker._trackPageview(href);
   pageTracker._trackEvent(category,event,label);}}
   );

   This kind of tracking code matches all outgoing links with the keyword /recommends/ and will generate a goal proivded you did the previous steps for 2 and 3. To change this syntax to another naming convention is easy enough. This code also generates both a goal and an event in analytics.
   Thanks to  these contributers listed- for this idea — rebeccamurphey , think2loud and css-tricks
   If this is too complicated then manually insert page tracking – http://www.johncow.com/google-analytics-creating-goals/

5. To track conversions in adwords or to assign conversions to click thrus you could just click add this code snippet below
   var image = new Image(1,1);
   image.src = "http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/XXXXXXX/?value=1&label=Purchase&script=0";

   This just initiates an image pixel so that a conversion in adwords is generated.

   So now you have tracking for goals, events and possibly adwords conversion events setup for your website done easily provided that you name , cloak and redirect your links in all the same fashion

6. Now if you want to try and improve your webpage - you might try this - Counting a conversion when a link is clicked with website optimizer Here is the essential code
   <!-- function ConversionCount() { _uacct = 'UA-xxxxx-x'; urchinTracker("/yyyyyyyyyy/goal"); return true; } // --><a onclick="return ConversionCount();" href="http://www.example.com/file.pdf">Download the file</a>
7. If you are looking to improve , decrease page bounce rates – then you might try optimizing pages using webiste optimizer for a version that keeps people on your website longer — Here are the details – http://www.google.com/support/websiteoptimizer/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=74345
8. Stuck with how to setup a landing page ? Here is a simple optin idea for lead pages – landing page generator - very simple but you get the idea here or even better monitor adwords campaigns that are working with a tool like traffic travis.

By implementing these tips you should be able to track and improve your webpage’s effectiveness with Google tracking tools.  Leave a comment below if this helps you!

Here are Five Simple Things you can do to backup your WordPress blogs

1) Install WP – Database backup plugin. They are always improving this so its Highly Recommended. A must for a wordpress blog. –> Download WP- database backup plugin here

2) Use a database backup script - You want to use this one –> http://sourceforge.net/projects/automysqlbackup/

3) Once a monthly do a complete Cpanel backup – It looks something like this.

4) Once you download that Cpanel backup – Install a service like Mozy.com to backup your cpanel backup. Its a bit redundant but Mozy is a great service and cheaper that Amazon S3 for me as I have backed up 42 Gigs for $5 / month.

5) This may not be as simple but if you have two hosting accounts – you can rsync the data to another machine (including the output from number two above Automysqlbackup.) See related posts below for information on how to backup with rsync.

This may sound like overkill but you’ll sleep better knowing that you have a backup strategy for your digital life. Without a backup plan you could EASILY lose MONTHS OF WORK!!

Any other suggestions ?

For those of you who dont know what WinnerAlert does – Its simple – it send you an email when you have a winning adgroup.  They have recently added additional functionality so that you can test which adgroup converts to sales better instead of testing click thrus.

Here is a screenshot of my personal adwords account:

Yes I know the red indicates I haven’t setup my adwords account correctly on my first campaign. Its on my todo list .

Anyways, Why would you need this ?

If you are have a large adwords account or managing other google adwords you want to be notified when there is a winning ad so you can write another one.

This way you keep making continual improvements. They offer a free trial here.

If you signup through my link – I get a small comission – let me know and I will take a quick look at your adwords account to see if its setup correctly.

Im using it myself and finding it helpful in keeping me organized with my adwords campaigns.

It also works with Yahoo and MSN

WinnerAlert – Worth Checking Out.

This is good news! I didn’t think google would do this actually but this helps the advertiser / PPC marketer out.

How to remove your Domain Ads from the Content Network

• http://adwords.blogspot.com/2008/03/category-exclusion-for-content-network.html
• http://www.komarketingassociates.com/blog/google-adwords-parked-domains-and-error-page-ads/
• http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3628755

For the Google Search network, how you rank on a page is determined by your Adrank. You can refer to Google for the answer here ( http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hlrm=en&answer=6111 )

But briefly Adrank is a number that is determined by your minimum bid times your quality score.

Google mentions that The Quality Score for Ad Rank on the search network is determined by:

* The historical clickthrough rate (CTR) of the ad and of the matched keyword on Google; CTR on the Google Network is not considered
* The relevance of the keyword and ad to the search query
* Your account history, which is measured by the CTR of all the ads and keywords in your account
* Other relevance factors

Aside from keeping your ad relevant to your keyword and keeping your page relevant to your ad, you need time and clicks to establish a good CTR for your ad.

If you are competing for someone against the same display URL then you will need to bid more initially until you establish account history. Also *very important* start split testing 2 ads against each other right away so you can establish work on a good CTR right away so that with a good CTR and ad history you can start dropping your bids.

I believe Adrank is new as of 2007 – before your position was determined by your bid times your CTR ( Click Thru Rate).

Regardless the Google Quality score is here to stay as they focus more on the user experience. So remember to start split testing ads against each other right away and keep your ads relevant to your keywords and landing pages.

As an example, say you are selling “power transformers” and are bidding on the keyword “transformers”. In this case, you will be getting lots of matches for people doing searches for the toy robots.

Therefore you will want to use a negative match keyword such as “toys”, “robots” and “games” , etc.

Developing a negative match keyword list will have a positive effect on your click thru rates, google will make more money and they will reward you with lower bid prices.

Google uses the example of tennis shoes here:

If your keyword is tennis shoes and you add the negative keyword -red, your ad will not appear when a user searches on red tennis shoes. Negative keywords are especially useful if your account contains lots of broad-matched keywords. It’s a good idea to add any irrelevant keyword variations you see in a Search Query Performance Report or the Keyword Tool as a negative keyword.

http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6100

One strategy is to put negative match keywords into an adgroup and split test the adgroup against a similar one without the negative matching thereby verifying if CTR has been improved.

Improving your CTR or Click Through Rate is essential part of lower your bid price and keeping your Return On Investment high.

Redfly Marketing has a great post about how to find negative keywords
http://www.redflymarketing.com/blog/how-to-build-a-negative-keyword-list/

SoftwareProjects.com had a good post about negative keywords http://www.softwareprojects.com/resources/traffic-attract-customers/t-ppc-negative-keywords-1496.html

Google explains it here:
http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6635

as does Lorelle Smith
http://www.keywordsmith.com/seo-articles/adwords-matching.htm

And another link from Jennifer Slegg
http://www.jenniferslegg.com/2008/02/18/building-your-list-of-cheap-and-free-negative-keywords/

In this article we take a look at three ways to keep tabs on your google adwords campaigns when they are outside of your personal geographic location:

• Google Ads Diagnostic Tool
• Redfly Marketing’s Google Adwords Extension For Firefox
• Proxy Server in your desired Geographical Location

The first option would be the google ads diagnostic tool which is found under the campaign management tool. The ads diagnostic tool has a nice interface which can help you figure out why your searches may not be working.

Ads Diagnostic Tool

Adwords Extension For Firefox

Second as mentioned we have Redflymarketing’s extension for Firefox that can enable you to view your search results from any geographical location. This is highly recommended if you are serious about PPC in other parts of the world.

More Information : Google Adwords Firefox Extension or just the download here.

Proxy Server For Seeing Google Adwords

These first two tools will give you a lot of information about campaigns running remotely but really nothing can be better than a proxy server in terms of final accuracy.

I have tried a lot of proxy servers and proxy software but for affiliates I would recommend Hide The Ip – Download A Trial Version Here. The good thing about Hide The Ip is that you can choose the select the country that you want to be in and it will find a proxy server in that country.

Sure you find proxy servers manually by searching list but Hide The Ip saves you A LOT of time and I mean a LOT you can waste hours trying to find good proxy servers.

Finally, in addition to hide the ip, we have pickaproxy.com. Pickaproxy.com uses the tor network and select an exit network in a specified geographical location. This is a very new service but worth checking out.

Any comments or questions let me know.

Typically its is either one of two scenarios either you ads are not running or you need your account limits raised.

If you are having problems with your ads then before you call google you might want to try the ads diagnostic tool found under the campaign management tool. The ads diagnostic tool has a nice interface which can help you figure out why your searches may not be working.

In addition to the keyword diagnostic tool from google I would recommend Redflymarketing’s extension for Firefox that can enable you to view your search results from any geographical location.

Highly Recommended : Google Adwords Firefox Extension or just the download here.

Finally if you really can’t sort out why your ads aren’t running — maybe they don’t like the kind of ads your are running – aka ringtones/mobile subscription services, etc. They have a list of ads the google doesn’t like – check it out.

Anyways, if you can’t figure out whats going on with your ads then by all means give google adwords customer support a call.

How to Contact Google Adwords details:

To speak with an AdWords Specialist:

1. Call 1-866-2-Google (1-866-246-6453) and press 2 to access AdWords.

2. To expedite your call, press 1 to enter your Customer ID. This number
is located at the top of every page in your AdWords account, next to your
name and email address.

3. Press 2 if you don’t have your Customer ID available and you’ll be
transferred to the next available AdWords Specialist.

4. Press 3 if you’d like to start an AdWords account or want to learn more
about the AdWords program.

AdWords Specialists are available by phone Monday – Thursday, from 7 a.m.
to 7 p.m. PST (U.S.), or on Friday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. PST (U.S.).

If you have additional questions, please visit our Help Center at
https://adwords.google.com/support to find answers to many frequently
asked questions. Or, try our Learning Center at
http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter/ for self-paced lessons that
cover the scope of AdWords.

That was cut and pasted from an email that they sent me.

Hope this article helped someone out, if so let me know and be sure to install that extension from Redfly Marketing.

Here is the link again Google Adwords Firefox Extension or just the download here.

If you are serious about making the most out of your website or thinking about buying traffic via Pay Per Click then you to be optimizing what happens when a visitor comes to your website.

The best way that I have found to optimize a website is to use Google’s Website Optimizer which is free by the way if you have a google adwords account.

There in the lower right we see Google Website Optimizer – just click and then create a new experiment.

I suggest you get started by doing A/B testing.

That is, start testing one version of a webpage against another version of a webpage to see which version is best.

Google has some suggestions about how to start using their website tool but I would recommend to just get started with simple a/b testing until you get familiar with their website optimizer.

If you have gone through the effort of making a website then you, no doubt, want to make it work well. So do try google optimizer out and starting improving various page on your website.

Here is an example taken from one of my websites where I am testing the use of audio on an opt-in page. Here are the results: Notice that the statistical margin of error has been calculated as well. Pretty nice, eh ?

Click on the image to see it better ..

After a few more weeks you will start to see better statistical results. Click on the image below and notice how my website signup form with audio is becoming more and more statistically valid with more traffic.