[Build Backlinks Online] 8 New and Underappreciated Marketing Resources from Google

Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, '8 New and Underappreciated
Marketing Resources from Google'


Posted by MikeTek

We have a bit of a complicated relationship with Google In the SEO/inbound
community. We are often the first, and loudest, to call them out when they get
their priorities messed up or hoard data for questionable reasons.


But on the whole, we use more of Google's wares than probably any other
industry.


At Distilled, we use Google Apps for email, calendars, document collaboration,
reporting, Google+ for internal sharing discussions, Hangouts for live video,
chat, and webinars. Most of our clients use Google Analytics (as we do for our
own websites). Our PPC specialists have core expertise in AdWords. Our keyword
research work invariably turns to the AdWords Keywords Tool for search volume
estimates.


While working with our Creative team to plan a data visualization project
recently, I learned about a relatively new service from Google (Consumer Surveys
â see below), and it got me thinking about other Google projects that have
proven to be useful for our work and those that promise to be in the future.


This guide is intended for those SEOs/inbound marketers who are familiar the
fundamental Google resources (Google Analytics, Apps, the AdWords Keywords Tool)
but may not be aware of what else is out there and what is coming soon.


Analytics & Tagging


1. Universal Analytics

This is not particular to inbound at all, but it affects all disciplines of
web marketing. Most online marketers have some familiarity with Google
Analytics. Itâs the most widely-adopted analytics platform on the web, and
it's about to evolve.


Universal Analytics (in beta) is apt to change the way we use and think about
marketing analytics. This successor of the Google Analytics we know will bring
improved performance and, most importantly, new functionality and flexibility to
your reporting.


Uses & benefits of Universal Analytics:



Cross device tracking of individual users: We live in a multi-device world. To
date, Google Analytics has not had core functionality that allowed for tracking
users across all of their devices (one user is tracked as multiple "unique
visits," one for each device). Universal Analytics creates a User ID for the
individual and allows you to track their interactions with your site/app across
their devices allowing for cross-device optimization.

The ability to push "offline" data into the system: Using the same User ID
functionality, you can tie this data to a single user â across devices and
interactions â over the lifetime of their relationship with your business.
While passing any "Personally Identifiable Information" into GA is strictly a
violation of the Terms of Service, this doesn't mean you can't securely keep
that information together on your end and (respectfully) use it to manage your
customer relationships and otherwise learn who your best customers are.


Performance enhancements: The current iteration of GA passes a lot of data to GA
servers from multiple cookies. Universal Analytics (UA) uses a single, simple
cookie and stores most data on GA servers. Faster pages = happier users.

20 custom dimensions, 20 custom metrics: You can do a lot with GA's customer
variables, but this is really going to open things up. If you want to push
offline and other data into your reports, these are going to come in handy.

Set your own session and campaign expirations: Sessions can be set up to 4
hours, campaigns up to 2 years.


Justin Cutroni, one of the most well-informed analytics gurus you'll find
publishing online, wrote a nice post about the potential of UA, using his local
gardening supply store as a case study of sorts. It is highly recommended
reading.


There is so much here that even if you don't start implementing for live
campaigns yet, getting your head around the possibilities of UA (if not the
measurement protocol itself) is only going to benefit you as this next iteration
bridges the chasm to wide adoption.


Note: before you dive in and start using Universal Analytics on your website,
keep in mind there are some things still missing: AdSense, DoubleClick, Content
Experiments, and Remarketing are not yet integrated. You'll probably want to run
UA tracking concurrently with your existing GA tracking. The next resource in
the list will help with that.

2. Tag Manager



Again, not particular to inbound, but big enough to matter to everyone. Google
Tag Manager was released in late 2012 and has seen strong growth, but many
marketers are still unaware of its benefits. Google is certainly not the first
entrant into the tag management space, but they may well (and quickly) become
the most popular.


Mike Pantoliano wrote a solid technical overview of Tag Manager (and tag
management in general) here on the Moz blog that is well worth a read.


Essentially, Tag Manager gives you central control of tracking tags firing in
the <head> of any given page, without having to touch the page code itself
once you've added the main container. The rules to trigger tag firing are
flexible enough that the possibilities here are broad and powerful.


Uses & benefits of Tag Manager:



Central, organized management of your tags/scripts: Targeting a given page with
a rule is a lot faster than adding it via a CMS or to the source code directly.

Cuts dev cycle bottlenecks out of the equation: No more waiting a week for your
colleagues in dev to update your tracking snippets: Tag Manager takes the work
off the dev team's plate, so everybody wins.

Improved performance: Flexible firing rules allow you to load resources only on
the pages that require them, cleaning up code on other pages and optimizing page
loads.


While Tag Manager's benefits will be greatest for organizations with
significant web operations and drawn-out dev cycles, it'll save most web
marketers some time and headache, and signup/setup is relatively painless.
There's a lot of flexibility here, and I expect more clever uses will emerge as
the community gets comfortable with this tool.

3. Tag Assistant



If you are using (or intend to use) Tag Manager, Tag Assistant is a Google
Chrome extension that will make double-checking your tag/rule configurations a
lot easier.


Here's how it looks:








As above, you can quickly see the details of any tag by clicking the blue
arrow to the right of its status.


Uses & benefits of Tag Assistant:


In short, it makes checking your Tag Manager configuration a lot easier.


Market Research
4. Think Insights



Think Insights has been around for a couple of years and recently updated
their site. While there is a lot of self-serving promotional material here,
there is also a great deal of value.


Organized by industry, marketing objectives, and ad types, this resource
includes a wealth of research studies, most of which were co-conducted with
Google and partners (often research firms) to come to some data-driven
conclusions on the way specific markets and demographics use the web. It also
serves as an inspiration center for digital marketing campaigns, linking out to
some compelling and innovative pieces.




Uses & benefits of Think Insights:



Free, searchable access to market research studies, organized by industry,
marketing objectives, and ad type

Visualization of the most common multi-touch paths by industry with âThe
Customer Journey to Online Purchase"

Inspiration for your next data visualization project with Chrome Experiments.
The "500" home page alone is worth the time to click.
There's also the Creative Sandbox gallery, showcasing creative online campaigns
that "blend creative genius and digital innovation." This is skewed toward paid
channels, but there are a lot of creative approaches here from which we can
learn.

5. Consumer Surveys



Consumer Surveys is the only paid service in this post, but research with
surveys, if you want to step outside of your customer email list, will always
require an investment. Google's offering is relatively affordable at $.10 a
response ($.50 if you need to target a specific demographic).


We are using Google Consumer Surveys for a client project currently at
Distilled, and so far the straightforward pricing model and predictable
timelines for turnaround are promising.


Matt Cutts ran a playful survey with this service to determine how many people
have heard of "search engine optimization." The answer: about one out of five.




Uses & benefits of Google Consumer Surveys:



Relatively fast turnaround
Accurate data
Affordable cost


Search History & Data
6. Trends



Trends is a relatively well-known but often overlooked source of historical
search volume data.


Search behavior is fluid. If you work in SEO you probably rely heavily on the
AdWords Keywords Tool for volume estimates. But if your campaigns are planned
for the long term, Trends provides data that tells you something about how users
will search in the future.


For example, here's an interesting comparison:




Note: "News headlines" (at top right) can be useful for identifying the cause
behind spikes/drops in search traffic. I'd take the "Forecast" option with a
sizable grain of salt.


Trends is also useful for measuring client brand recognition over time (vs.
competitors), and for discovering the seasonal pattern for a given keyword
throughout the year.


The new Top Charts section provides an engaging visual navigation through
current trending searches. Perfect for brainstorming content angles.


Also check out the new live visualization of Hot Searches. Useful? Maybe.
Entertaining? Yep.


Uses & benefits of Trends:


View historical data for a single keyword, or compare two or more
Discover seasonality in search volume
Browse current trending searches
Export to CSV for your Excel/other reports

7. Zeitgeist



Zeitgeist isnât exactly a tool or a data set but more of an interactive
recap of the year in search. You select the year (and/or country), and Google
walks you through the biggest search trends and the related events around the
world.


The most recent Zeitgeist for the year 2012 included a well-produced video
recapping what the world searched for (and therefore experienced) in 2012:






At 15 million views, not a bad example of content done well in itself


If youâre looking for a large data source for a rich visualization, this
is not the place. But Zeitgeist can be useful for brainstorming historical
context and content angles.


Uses & benefits of Zeitgeist:


Rich visual "story" experience of historical data
Helpful for brainstorming historical content angles
General nostalgia/inspiration (What? That counts.)


8. Public Data Explorer

Public Data Explorer is Google's portal into government and institutional data
sets. While you won't find anything uniquely available here data-wise, the
ability to search and browse data sets from one tool can make your research and
brainstorming around data visualization concepts far more efficient.




This tool will also allow you to upload your own data sets and visualize them,
which might not give you much of a share-worthy result for publishing purposes,
but it is a handy way to play with the different ways to present a given data
set before the dev team goes to work building the beautiful version.


Uses & benefits of Public Data Explorer:



Search/browse many public data sets from one interface
Upload your own data set
Quickly switch between different chart/visualization approaches for a given
data set



This is not an exhaustive list; there are no doubt some other Google
applications and features you use for marketing (Related Searches, Ngram Viewer,
etc). I am sure I have also missed some uses and benefits of the resources
included here. Please share your favorites in the comments!

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