Search Engine Optimization Improvements

    What are your findings?

    How would you improve the SEO of your blog?  Use the data & techniques to prove your recommendations..

Custom Reports

The data I chosen was returning/new visitors. The visitor’s type I focused on is average visit duration. This will help me determine how long and how much of my material is getting reviewed. The results I received from returning visits were 65.38% visits at 8 min, 17 sec avg. visit duration. Results from new visitors were 34.62% visits at 3 min, 15 sec avg. visit duration. Overall total 26 visits total. To improve my chance if getting more views is to input more keywords that are more relevant to the topics. The most views I would get of course would be from the class.

SEO optimization

    What data did you look at?

I looked directly at the overall traffic source which has search engine information for search traffic, referral traffic, and direct traffic.

What techniques did you use?

I used the basic concepts of Google analytics to find out more information of how my blog website is going and how the percentages are working out.

What are your findings?

Direct Traffic:                                           

Visits

Direct: 6

 Referral: 20                                                                            

  Page/Visits:

Direct: 8.33

Refferal: 13.15  

 Avg. Visit Duration:

Direct: 1 min, 48 secs.

Referral: 7 mins, 58 secs

% of new visits:

Direct:  83.33%  

Refferal: 20.00%

bounce rate: every category  0.00%

Searches are zero in each and every category

How would you improve the SEO of your blog?  Use the data & techniques to prove your recommendations.

The best thing to do at this point is to dive further into improving this websites. I can do this by setting up specific Keywords and maybe even linking them to some of my social networking websites. This would probably increase the hits and number of page visits.

Custom Reports

The data I chosen was returning/new visitors. The visitor’s type I focused on is average visit duration. This will help me determine how long and how much of my material is getting reviewed. The results I received from returning visits were 65.38% visits at 8 min, 17 sec avg. visit duration. Results from new visitors were 34.62% visits at 3 min, 15 sec avg. visit duration. Overall total 26 visits total. To improve my chance if getting more views is to input more keywords that are more relevant to the topics. The most views I would get of course would be from the class.

Landing Page Improvements

Here are something’s that I think will improve this website.

Categorizing by brand- Even though this is Amazon, they have a broad range of different brands of shoes that has a “purple boot option.” Categorizing by brands will help determine popularity through clicks. Also it will help determine which shoe is selling the most. 

Low price to high price option- This would be a great improvement.  Customers like this as an option because it gives them direction as to what they are aiming for price wise and what they are willing to spend as far as quality is concerned. You can measure what low price shoes are having the most clicks as well as popular high priced shoes. Most websites that sells any kind of  merchandise has this low/high price as an option anyway. It is very helpful.

Suggestion options- Some sites have it set up to where you purchase an item (like a purple boot for example) they have other accessories or clothing that will go well with or match the boot. I think this will also help in sales and it also shows trends or popular items go well with the shoe. I know as a customer I would like to see some suggestion options as well instead of having to search for other items to match a purchased item on my own.

Root Cause Diagnosis

Personally, when I went on to the website, it was easy for me to find it because it was already pointed out for me when Professor Worsam gave directions. Even when she gave us direction to where the tab was located it still took me a while to find the red circle. First thing I saw that was red was the “customize your car” tab right in the middle of the page. Therefore, the reason why customers are not using the request a quote tab is probably because of two reasons: its visibility on each page and other sources they may use.

Visibility: As a customer, they want to get straight to the point with efficient service. Sometimes it makes customers frustrated when they have to look around for things they need to find on websites. Webpages work more efficiently and service customers better when it is user friendly.

Other sources: Some customers like to actually go to the dealership and see the actual product (like myself) test it out, and talk to a sales man about the price before making decisions online. They like to actually see what they are about to invest in. On the internet you don’t have that luxury to test a product out. You just see images and that is it. I used to work for a dealership and we have had customers come in all the time and say they want to test drive. They will make comments like “I am glad I came in first before I made a purchasing decision online” or they may say that the in-store pricings are more reasonable then the ones online. Customers might also have other ways of finding out about prices online.

SouthWest Airline

Why are press releases important to Southwest's business strategy?

Press releases are important to SW’s business strategies because it helps customers receive the information they need in most efficient and direct way possible. SW’s modified their press release in a way to make there searches more visible by key word and word matching edits.

How does Southwest track sales directly attributable to their press releases?

They kept track of sales by monitoring and installing direct URL’s, keywords etc. into the press release which transferred their customers to more information resources and eventually influence them to make sales.

Why are search keywords important to press release campaigns?

Key words are important because It simply helps get straight to the point for customer wants & needs. It also helps alleviate difficulties and help customers understand what is being conveyed from the information that is published.  

How did Southwest optimize their press releases for search engines?

They focused on the title of the press releases and the keywords used so they can be easily searchable and they also catered to those that spoke Spanish so searches can be easily found for them as well.

How did Southwest measure the success of their PR campaigns?

They measured effectiveness by keeping track of the ticket counts sales and kept track of the dollar amount made for revenue.

How can PR campaigns influence or be influenced by other events involving the company?  Give an example outside of the Southwest case.

I would use a simple example of an iPhone vs. a regular iPod. In my opinion, I would choose an iPhone over an iPod just because an iPhone is promoted to have more available features, picture quality, and usage space rather than just listening to music or playing a few games on a iPod.  

Guidelines for measuring relationships in PR

Now I am using the Target Corporation. I am a little bit more knowledgeable about Target being that I used to work for them a few years ago. Target was really good with customer services and supporting their audiences. Take a look!

How does the organization maintain good relationships with its audience?

Target maintains a good relationship by strive for the goal of and training employees down the ladder from corporate to the retails store to stay positive and focus on urgency.  Giving a helping hand out for its customer base, offering different sales and incentives is also maintained for relationships. Also making them feel welcomed, being personable, and friendly.

How might it measure those efforts to maintain its relationships?

One method Target uses is survey based measures for feedback. Target offers their customers incentives for taking surveys about the services. It shows that we care and honest feedback will let them keep doing what they are doing or improve upon the services.

Why is it important to measure those relationships?

I think it’s important because maintaining a strong customer base Is key. It also will help the customer pool expand as well.

What is the value of those good relationships to the organization?

Definitely an increase in revenue and sales is a great value and it establishes a steady reputation for the organization itself.

What might be the organizations appropriate goals? Explain why they would be appropriate goals.

I think an appropriate goal for Target is to stay green (stay high in sales) in customer service areas and feedback and to make sales goals monthly. That is the only goal for target that I know that would satisfy the corporation as a whole. Another goal is to have a set number each month for red cards (Target Credit/debit). That also plays a role in sales.

What might be the outcomes of these successful relationships and how might they be measured?

Target’s outcomes from successful relationships will equal out too great positive feedback. They can be measured through social media channels and in store team member recognition. Each target store in the district kind of competes with each other to be on top in sales and service. If everyone in the district is on top of their game as a whole that will double up the positive outcomes.

Content Analysis

Do a content analysis for your chosen company and share your results in a blog post.

How is your company currently perceived by its publics?

I used a quick tweeter observation to see how Pepsi is viewed publicly and overall it is viewed quite fairly. I did a quick observation on how many followers Pepsi may have over its competitors and Pepsi had 1,044,300 followers so far and Coca Cola had 610,765.

What messages are being conveyed?

The messages that are conveyed to me are that Pepsi is a very popular product and seems that most people are pretty happy with what they are doing. Pepsi had a lot of re-tweets and mentions. Pepsi facts are also posted throughout twitter by different users. Overall, Pepsi products seem to be customer’s favorites.

Are these in line with what is being sent from the company itself?

We think of Product Development and Quality and these seem to measure up well from what I have seen.

Do you think the PR & marketing is effective? Why or why not?

I think they are effective. Pepsi tries to keep up with the trends and tends to have ways of keeping the public involved through their marketing strategies. Whether it’s having a celebrity do a commercial, or through other engaging promotions, they tend to have a niche in keeping people involved.

Sodexo Case Study

Why might potential employees find Sodexo's content engaging?

If I were a potential employee, I would say Sodexo’s Facebook and twitter page is engaging. What caught my eye is how they labeled all the teams on top the page and asked you to vote on your favorite sports team. Another thing that caught my eye was the pictures that were posted on twitter and Facebook. Posting pictures will gain interest because if I was a customer or potential employee, I would be curious to see what is going on with the company. Therefore I would go through those social media channels like Facebook and twitter to see what type of information I can gather about the company.  I think the available resources like interviews tips and job descriptions will also keep potential employees engaged as well. Colors and design also has to be an attention grabber, If the page is dull, that can deter a customer or potential employee from be interested. Personally, when I see dull pages, the first thing that comes to mind is the webpage being a “knock off” page. Sodexo needs to improve their published design and content.

In what ways is Sodexo using social media to reach their target audiences?

Sodexo target audience ranges from young adults to middle aged. Most people of that age range are more prone to having twitter accounts, blogging accounts, etc. I think this is an excellent way to use the social media and reach out to target audience. Social media is popular for learning about different things or trends that are going on in the world today and for jobs and networking as well (e.g. LinkedIn).

How might Sodexo measure the effectiveness of their individual social networks?

They can measure the comments and the liking of pictures on Facebook. Also the re-tweets that are posted on Twitter by their users and how many followers they may have. This will show how much they are getting themselves out there publicly and it also builds image. 

Measurement Program

I choose a different company each time. It makes it more interesting to me. So for this specific assignment, I am going to use the Pepsi Co.

Step One: Define your goals and objectives: why are you launching this plan or pursuing this strategy? What is the “R’’ in the ROI that you are seeking to measure?  

A goal for Pepsi might be to maintain product development and product quality and keep an increase in revenue through national and international operations.

Step two: Define your environment, audience, and your role to influence them?

The defined environment for Pepsi will be those that make up the social network channels and throughout our communities. Our target audiences will be those of the company itself, our customers that are continuously engaged in Pepsi products, and our international customer base. Our role to influence them is to definitely maintain a good relationship at all times through high performance and showing that we work with a purpose.

Step three: Define your investment? What will it cost? What is the “I” in ROI?

I will assume that Pepsi has a set budget for all of their marketing campaigns. Pepsi seem to do quite well to keep their customers engaged .so I would hope there investments will include spending at least 5-7% of the marketing budget on measuring tactics to ensure that they are following suit.

Step 4: Determine your benchmarks?

This would be a great opportunity for Pepsi to compare themselves to other companies like Coca Cola or The Faygo Company as far as bench marking is concerned. I would say Coca Cola would be a head to head competitor for Pepsi and Faygo would be like an underdog.  This can help compare all market share data that will help Pepsi in the present and near future.

Step 5: Define KPI’s

For Pepsi we will see what production quality and development strategies will be labeled as KPI’s. These would ideally stand out the most because these help the process of production run smoothly and they would run in the most efficient amount of time. We can also determine KPI’s through market share data.

Step 6: Select the right measurement tool and vendors to collect data

I think by Pepsi being a food and beverage product all three ways of collecting data will apply well. Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, and the actual Pepsi Co website to observe what people are saying through reviews and other factors for social media. Phone survey or research online will also be a good factor.

Step 7: Turn data into action:

 Pepsi should closely watch their data periodically. A thorough watch will help draw them to better decision and possibly help come up with more KPI’s

Couple questions of measurements:

what are your objectives?

FedEx main business objectives maybe to provide top customer service and deliveries in the most efficient time as possible.

Who are your programs target audience?

FedEx target audience maybe Large to small companies, travelers, or pretty much anyone who needs deliveries.

What is important to your audience?

Fast delivery, loyalty, dependability, customer satisfaction, decent expenses. 

What motivates them to buy your products?

I would say it is based off the productive services in order for customers to engage in using fedEx as their ways of getting things to their end users.

Social Media Trends

Why are the major trends important?

Online business is constantly emerging each day.  Our customers, consumers, research etc. are relaying on social media to promote their business or products to gain an image and handle business. I think major trends are important because of the emerging technological stances and how efficient it works for these businesses with addition to actually going out in public to build these networking relationships.

What do you think will be the trends for the next 6 months?

I think it will still be in the same stance. Twitter is very popular in my opinion and everyone is using it. Craigslist, Amazon, and LinkedIn are some other ones. People use these entities to monitor some aspects that come with their business. I think it will remain the same unless they come up with another social media source.

For your chosen company, how are the trends important? Will they affect their current marketing?

I think trends are important with FedEx because people are always posing reviews about them due to their type of services. I think they would not affect the current market as long as they focus on their level of service and keeping customers satisfied.  FedEx is definitely in the spotlight.

PR MEASUREMENTS AND GUIDELINES

What are their current PR activities?

I have chosen McDonalds Corporation. After some research, some of McDonalds PR activities include charity events that related to education for children due to the fact that McDonalds target audiences are children. They also do other sponsorships with other companies which also makes them more visible.

What are the possible outputs, outtakes & outcomes?

Outputs- some of their outputs may be how much exposure they are receiving by going out to schools or going out into the community for visibility. I can recall McDonald’s coming to my elementary school offering free lunch and Ronald McDonald’s comes out and put on shows. That is definitely exposure which influences me and my other classmates to go home and talk positively about the experience.

Out takes- There outtakes would probably be them posing as being healthy with advertisements of nutritional facts, salads, and how they care for children and education. Another way is  through various commercials and advertisements.

Out comes-  From a personal experience, Mcdonalds surveyed all the kids about the food and how Ronald Mcdonald influenced positivity. Kids are known for being truthful so surveying and doing interviews is definitely away that Mcdonalds pose outcomes.

What might their PR objectives and business objectives be?

They PR objectives and business objectives might be maintaining their customer base and showing people that Mcdonald can be healthful

How might they measure each?

I know for a fact Mcdonald measure through social media like twitter, facebook, flickr, etc. I actually follow Mcdonalds on twitter and they probably observe customer reviews and including as much as their opinions into their business objectives.

Do they seem to be accomplishing their objectives?

McDonalds seem to do real well. I think Mcdonalds is one of the most top companies that follows their business objectives and they are constantly receiving publicity and maintaining a great customer base.