Over the past couple of years, one of the big stories in digital marketing has been the slow demise of third-party cookies. Most major tech companies, including Google, have been gradually phasing out their reliance on third-party data collection, in response to growing concerns about individual privacy.
One of the most important components of any marketing campaign is access to analytics. Simply put, marketers need to regularly check in to see what kind of engagement they’re getting and what sort of progress they’re making. Rather than relying on guesswork, the best marketers draw from actual data in order to fine-tune their strategies.
Recently, one of the biggest happenings in the world of digital marketing is the sunsetting of Google’s Universal Analytics (UA) dashboard, and the ascent of Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Simply put, Google Analytics has long been the top, free option for marketers and webmasters looking to track their stats and monitor their performance. The transition to GA4 means marketers everywhere are learning to master a whole new set of analytic tools.
What constitutes success in digital marketing or SEO? For most of us, the answer can only be derived through a data-driven approach. Analytics provide a real, measurable, quantifiable way to track performance, identify growth opportunities, and reveal the best approach to resource allocation.
For brick-and-mortar businesses, the importance of local search visibility is difficult to overstate. Simply put, when consumers need to find a particular product, service, or establishment in their neighborhood, Google is the first place they’re likely to turn. And the vast majority of the time, consumers end up patronizing a business that ranks high within the Google Map Pack.
When it comes to local search engine optimization, one of the most significant achievements is ranking at the top of Google Maps. Simply put, this is where most local consumers tend to gravitate, especially those who are seeking a particular product, service, or business in their immediate geographic area. Indeed, the Google Maps display dominates local searches, making it an essential piece of online real estate.
If you’ve spent much time in the world of digital marketing, or even if you’re just an astute observer of the online search experience, then you know that Google is constantly tinkering with its products, routinely rolling out new changes to the way it presents search results. Often, these changes are fairly minor in scope, but still worth noting for their impact on marketers and search engine users alike.
If you’re an e-commerce merchant, you’ll want to use every possible marketing tool, from SEO to social media marketing, to highlight your products to relevant search engine users. One of the most essential tools is Google Shopping Ads, which are visual ads that appear when users seek out particular products via Google.
Recently, Google announced that it would be phasing out Universal Analytics, replacing it with Google Analytics 4. This change is something of a mixed bag for experienced analytic trackers: While GA4 boasts many of the same metrics that were included in UA, it also offers a few new ones.
Imagine that you’re driving through an unfamiliar neighborhood, and decide you’d like to stop somewhere for a sandwich. How do you find the best local restaurant? If you’re like most of us, your answer is to use Google Maps, which has become the go-to for consumers seeking information about nearby businesses.
We use microdata on all of the sites we build to make sure important details like address and business hours are passed on to Google and other search engines, making it easier for your customers to find you both on and off the web.