Search Analytics for Content Strategists
Louis Rosenfeld • Rosenfeld Media lou@louisrosenfeld.com • @louisrosenfeld NYC Content Strategy Meetup • September 27, 2012

Hello, my name is Lou
www.louisrosenfeld.com | www.rosenfeldmedia.com

Let’s look at the data

No, let’s really look at
the data Critical elements in bold: IP address, time/date stamp, query, and # of results: XXX.XXX.X.104 - - [10/Jul/2006:10:25:46 -0800] "GET /search?access=p&entqr=0 &output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL %3Ad1&ud=1&site=AllSites&ie=UTF-8 &client=www&oe=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=www& q=lincense+plate&ip=XXX.XXX.X.104 HTTP/1.1" 200 971 0 0.02 XXX.XXX.X.104 - - [10/Jul/2006:10:25:48 -0800] "GET /searchaccess=p&entqr=0 &output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL %3Ad1&ie=UTF-8&client=www& q=license+plate&ud=1&site=AllSites &spell=1&oe=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=www& ip=XXX.XXX.X.104 HTTP/1.1" 200 8283 146 0.16

No, let’s really look at
the data Critical elements in bold: IP address, time/date stamp, query, and # of results: What are users XXX.XXX.X.104 - - [10/Jul/2006:10:25:46 -0800] "GET /search?access=p&entqr=0 searching? &output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL %3Ad1&ud=1&site=AllSites&ie=UTF-8 &client=www&oe=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=www& q=lincense+plate&ip=XXX.XXX.X.104 HTTP/1.1" 200 971 0 0.02 XXX.XXX.X.104 - - [10/Jul/2006:10:25:48 -0800] "GET /searchaccess=p&entqr=0 &output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL %3Ad1&ie=UTF-8&client=www& q=license+plate&ud=1&site=AllSites &spell=1&oe=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=www& ip=XXX.XXX.X.104 HTTP/1.1" 200 8283 146 0.16

No, let’s really look at
the data Critical elements in bold: IP address, time/date stamp, query, and # of results: What are users XXX.XXX.X.104 - - [10/Jul/2006:10:25:46 -0800] "GET /search?access=p&entqr=0 searching? &output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL %3Ad1&ud=1&site=AllSites&ie=UTF-8 &client=www&oe=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=www& q=lincense+plate&ip=XXX.XXX.X.104 HTTP/1.1" 200 971 0 0.02 XXX.XXX.X.104 - - [10/Jul/2006:10:25:48 -0800] "GET /searchaccess=p&entqr=0 &output=xml_no_dtd&sort=date%3AD%3AL How often are %3Ad1&ie=UTF-8&client=www& users failing? q=license+plate&ud=1&site=AllSites &spell=1&oe=UTF-8&proxystylesheet=www& ip=XXX.XXX.X.104 HTTP/1.1" 200 8283 146 0.16

SSA is semantically rich data,
and...

SSA is semantically rich data,
and... Queries sorted by frequency

...what users want in their
own words

A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ documents A little goes a long way meet the needs of your most important audiences

A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ documents A little goes a long way meet the needs of your most important audiences Not all queries are distributed equally

A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ documents A little goes a long way meet the needs of your most important audiences

A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ documents A little goes a long way meet the needs of your most important audiences Nor do they diminish gradually

A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ documents A little goes a long way meet the needs of your most important audiences

A handful of queries/tasks/ways to
navigate/features/ documents A little goes a long way meet the needs of your most important audiences 80/20 rule isn’t quite accurate

(and the tail is quite
long)

(and the tail is quite
long)

(and the tail is quite
long)

(and the tail is quite
long)

(and the tail is quite
long)

The Zipf Curve, textually

Hey content strategists: ever heard
this one?

Hey content strategists: ever heard
this one? unverified rumor alert

Hey content strategists: ever heard
this one? unverified rumor alert 90% of Microsoft.com content

Hey content strategists: ever heard
this one? unverified rumor alert 90% of Microsoft.com content has never been accessed...

Hey content strategists: ever heard
this one? unverified rumor alert 90% of Microsoft.com content has never been accessed... not even once

Hey content strategists: ever heard
this one? unverified rumor alert 90% of Microsoft.com content has never been accessed... not even once

7 ways SSA helps content
strategists 1.Determine logical content types 2.Develop contextual navigation 3.Detect failed content 4.Reduce jargon 5.Learn how audiences differ 6.Develop a publishing schedule 7.Predict the future

#1
Determine logical content types

Start with basic SSA data:
queries and query frequency Percent: volume of search activity for a unique query during a particular time period Cumulative Percent: running sum of percentages

“What types of content are
users seeking?”

Logical content types out of
site search analytics Take an hour to... • Cluster and analyze top 50 queries (20% of all search activity) • Ask and iterate: “what types of content would users be looking for when searching these queries?” • Add cumulative percentages Result: prioritized list of potential content types #1) application: 11.77% #2) reference: 10.5% #3) instructions: 8.6% #4) main/navigation pages: 5.91% #5) contact info: 5.79% #6) news/announcements: 4.27%

#2
Develop contextual navigation

1.Choose a content type (e.g.,
events) 2.Ask: “Where should users go from here?” 3.Analyze the frequent queries from this content type from aiga.org

Analyze frequent queries generated from each content sample

Hello, desire lines...

Content types + contextual navigation
= content models album pages artist descriptions TV listings album reviews discography artist bios

Content models also improve search
performance

Content models also improve search
performance

Content models also improve search
performance Content objects related to products

Content models also improve search
performance Content objects related to products Raw, crappy search results

(Pssst. User studies are another
way to get at content models)

#3
Detect failed content

Unexpected searching may indicate failed
content Look for critical pages (beyond main page) that generate lots of search traffic What’s going on?

Where navigation is failing (“Professional
Resources” page) Do users and AIGA mean different things by “Professional Resources”?

Comparing what users find and
what they want

Comparing what users find and
what they want

#4
Reduce jargon

Saving the brand by killing
jargon at a community college Jargon related to online education: FlexEd, COD, College on Demand Marketing’s solution: expensive campaign to educate public (via posters, brochures) The Numbers query rank query (from SSA): #22 online* #101 COD #259 College on Demand #389 FlexTrack * “online” part of 213 queries Result: content relabeled, money saved

#5
Learn how audiences differ

Who cares about what? (AIGA.org)

Who cares about what? (AIGA.org)

Who cares about what?

Who cares about what?

Who cares about what?

Who cares about what?

Why analyze queries by audience?
Fortify your personas with data Learn about differences--including tone and voice--between audiences • Open University “Enquirers”: 16 of 25 queries are for subjects not taught at OU • Open University Students: search for course codes, topics dealing with completing program Determine what’s commonly important to all audiences (these queries better work well)

#6
Develop a publishing schedule

Interest in the football team:
going...

Interest in the football team:
going... ...going...

Interest in the football team:
going... ...going... gone

Time to Interest in the
study! football team: going... ...going... gone

Before
Tax Day

After
Tax Day

#7
Predict the future

Shaping the Financial Times’ editorial
agenda FT compares these • Spiking queries for proper nouns (i.e., people and companies) • Recent editorial coverage of people and companies Discrepancy? • Breaking story?! • Let the editors know!

Again: 7 ways SSA helps
you guys 1.Determine logical content types 2.Develop contextual navigation 3.Detect failed content 4.Reduce jargon 5.Learn how audiences differ 6.Develop a publishing schedule 7.Predict the future

Some things you can do
right away

Some things you can do
right away 1.Set up SSA in Google Analytics

Some things you can do
right away 1.Set up SSA in Google Analytics 2.Query your queries

Some things you can do
right away 1.Set up SSA in Google Analytics 2.Query your queries 3.Start developing a site report card

Turn on SSA in Google
Analytics Set up GA for your site if you haven’t already Then teach it to parse and capture your search engine’s queries (not set by default) References • http://is.gd/cR0qr • http://is.gd/cR0qP

Seed your analysis by querying
your queries Starter questions 1. What are the most frequent unique queries? 2. Are frequent queries retrieving quality results? 3. Click-through rates per frequent query? 4. Most frequently clicked result per query? 5. Which frequent queries retrieve zero results? 6. What are the referrer pages for frequent queries? 7. Which queries retrieve popular documents? 8. What interesting patterns emerge in general?

Use SSA to start work
on a site report card

Use SSA to start work
SSA helps determine common on a site report card information needs

Read this Search Analytics for
Your Site: Conversations with Your Customers by Louis Rosenfeld (Rosenfeld Media, 2011) www.rosenfeldmedia.com Use code FOLBR2020 for 20% off all Rosenfeld Media products

Say hello Louis Rosenfeld lou@louisrosenfeld.com
www.louisrosenfeld.com www.rosenfeldmedia.com @louisrosenfeld @rosenfeldmedia