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Part of User-centered content

Analytics and keyword research

Understanding what data and metrics are saying about the content and how to optimize content for search engines.

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User-centered content

Overview

Alberta.ca uses Siteimprove to pull analytics reports. Siteimprove also monitors accessibility and quality assurance, such as broken links, spelling and readability. The sections below called ‘Analytic report terms’, ‘Learning from the metrics’ and ‘User behaviour’ all generate from the Siteimprove software.

The ‘Search Engine Optimization’ (SEO) section uses Google Trends and Google Ad Word Planner for keyword research.

Analytic report terms

  • Visits

    A visit is defined as a series of page requests from the same uniquely identified visitor with a time of no more than 30 minutes between each page request.

  • Page views

    Number of times a page has been looked at by a visitor. All page views are counted even if it is the same visitor looking at the page repeatedly.

  • Unique visitors

    This metric shows the total number of individual visitors no matter how many times they visit a page within a certain time frame. For example, one person may visit a page 7 times during a month. That equals one unique visitor.

  • Bounce rate

    Percentage of users that land on a page then leave Alberta.ca without visiting another page.

    Low bounce rate – 40% and lower

    A low bounce rate is usually better for pages with multiple links and tasks and navigational pages, such as landing pages.

    High bounce rate – 70% and higher

    A higher bounce rate is better for pages with one main call-to-action or pages that are information-rich.

  • Entry rate

    Percentage of visitors who entered Alberta.ca through a specific page. Entry rate is calculated by Total Entrances/Total Visits.

  • Exit rate

    Percentage of visitors who exit a page through either an internal or external link. Exit rate is calculated by Total Exits/Total Visits.

Learning from the metrics

  • Navigation ratio

    Dividing the ‘Visits’ metric by ‘Unique visitors’ averages how many times a page was viewed during a visitor’s session.

    A ratio above 1.4 indicates users are coming back to a page during their session. This could mean users are looking for something and could not find it. If it is a content page, it could mean the page is acting more like a landing page.

    It is good to investigate the navigation to and from the selected page at this point and look for possible navigational issues.

  • Understanding bounce rates

    High bounce rates

    Bounce rates depend on the type of page you are analyzing. A high bounce rate (70% or more) on a landing page indicates poor performance. Landing pages should navigate the user to a child page or another page on the site. It could also mean the SEO, such as keywords, Title tag and/or Meta tag, that brought a user to the page is incorrect.

    A high bounce rate on a content page is not necessarily bad. Users may find the page, get what they want, and end the session. However, if you have links to forms, call-to-actions, or tasks that are being missed then a high bounce rate is considered bad for a content page.

    Low bounce rates

    As indicated above, low bounce rates (25 to 40%) are a good sign for landing pages. Low bounce rates are also good for content pages where there is a call-to-action or a specific task the page is supposed to help the user accomplish.

  • Pages that need to be optimized for search

    If a page has a low entry rate but high traffic, this shows users have a need for the page, but it is not coming up when they search for it on a browser. Optimizing for search will help bring the entry rate up.

User behaviour

This report breaks down the journey by percentage of how visitors get to a page and where they exit a page. Below are the terms used in the ‘Behaviour Tracking’ report.

  • Visit ended

    The user did not take any further actions on the website. A visit includes all paths taken throughout the website. It is defined as a series of page requests from the same uniquely identified visitor.

  • Path ended

    The visitor ended a path taken on the website. To put it another way, the page visited was closed, but the visit did not end. A path is a single sequence of links followed.

  • Search referrers

    Refers to visitors who find a page directly from a search engine. This is how most users get to our pages.

  • External referrers

    Refers to visitors coming from any domain (website) that is not our own. Links from other websites are called inbound links.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

We use keyword research to optimize how people find our content. The following instructions and tools are not the only way to find keywords, but these tools provide an affordable alternative to other keyword finding software and platforms.

Google Ads Keyword Planner

Try Google Ads Keyword Planner as a starting point to see what users are searching on Google. This is a free service if you do not set up a campaign.

You will need to register with Google Ads to use Keyword Planner:

  1. Go to Google Ads.
  2. Click ‘Start now’, then ‘Create an account without a campaign’.
  3. Confirm billing information (you will not be charged if you do not set up any campaigns).
  4. Click ‘Tools’ from the left menu, and then ‘Keyword planner’ under the ‘Planning’ heading.

To search for a term:

  1. Click ‘Discover new keywords.’
  2. Begin by entering a keyword in the search field.
  3. Make sure results are filtered to Canada – the area is shown next to the keyword search bar on the results page.

Google Trends

The Keyword Planner shows ‘Average monthly searches’ within a range (100 to 1K, 1K to 10K, 10K to 100K). Use Google Trends to compare results between different keywords. You should choose keywords with varying ranges to see the ‘interest over time’ for the different keywords.

Optimize your content

Once you know the keywords for your audience, use them in the most important sections of your page to make your content easier to find:

  • Title
  • Lead sentence
  • Headings
  • Opening paragraph
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