Web Strategy Toolbox

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September 5th, 2010

This web strategy toolbox is a compilation of a variety of tools that help in the step one of your web strategy – define your target audience. We will be adding to this list as time goes on but here are a few of the useful tools that we have found.

Google Webmaster Tools

This is a free service provided by Google to provide information to website owners about how Google views their website. You can see the top website search queries which produce traffic for your site, as well as the top keyword rankings which you have. You can also see how many back links each page on your site has, as well as which sites are linking to each page. Other features include uploading an XML sitemap, generating robots.txt files, removing URLs and finding broken URLs on your website. Google Webmaster has many tools in this toolbox so be sure to use all of them.

Google Analytics

This is a free analytics service provided by Google. Simply open an account and paste the tracking code on every page of your website and you’ll be able to see a wide range of information about your website visitors. For SEO purposes, you want to look at the ‘traffic by non-paid keywords’ report to see which keywords are producing traffic for your site. Setup conversion tracking and sort the list in descending order by keywords which are producing the highest number of conversions. Keep an eye on this report to find new keywords which are driving traffic and conversions which you weren’t aware of and then focus SEO efforts on them as well.

Google Trends

This is yet another free service by Google which shows the trends of particular keywords over time. You can compare the trends of multiple keywords against one another, with a specified country. As the process of ranking a website at the top of a search engine can take 12 months or more, you want to make sure that the trend of your target keyword is moving in an upwards direction.

Google Adwords Keyword Tool

The Google Adwords Keyword Tool provides keyword suggestions based on ‘descriptive words’ or ‘website content’. Although this tool is made to assist Google Adwords advertisers, you can use it to research SEO keywords as well, by selecting ‘Exact’ from the ‘Match Type’ drop down menu. The best thing about this tool is that you can see estimated traffic volumes for exact match phrases within any country where Google has a search engine. Google is the major player in the search engine game and they are giving you tools to better your search.

Google Adwords Traffic Estimator

This is a free tool provided by Google, which provides Adwords advertisers with an estimated cost of running a PPC campaign using specific keyword phrases. Use it like this: export the exact match keywords from the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, paste them into the Google Traffic Estimator, select the country you are optimising in, run the search and then sort the keywords in descending order by ‘estimated cost per day’. This is a great way of identifying the keywords which may have high traffic volumes but don’t convert very well, because those phrases which do not produce revenue for advertisers will have a low cost-per-click and an overall lower estimated cost per day as a result.

Microsoft AdCenter Labs

Predict a user’s age, gender, and other demographic information, based on their online behavior. This tool will use what queries they search online and what web sites they visit to determine the results. It lets businesses learn more about their customers while working on their web strategy.

Google Insights

Google Insights allows you to break down your search terms based on date, location and industry. This can help you to avoid using terms that are not as popular as others in your target area and really see where your target audience is geographically located.

Google Trends

If all you’re looking for is a basic search volume trend line and a few regional ideas, this is your tool. Google Trends will show you the keyword search volume trends on Google since 2004.

Compete

Compete is a good tool for analyzing the kind of traffic your competitors are getting. With a Pro account you can also get ideas about their visitor demographics. You can use this site to get general information about other sites that are similar to yours.

Alexa

Alexa is a useful resource for people to discover information about websites. You can use Alexa to discover how popular a site is, to find new sites, to learn who owns a site and a lot more. Whether you are a web professional trying to size up your online competition or you’re just trying to find the best website to buy a new TV, Alexa is for you.

SEMRush

Use this site to find out about the cost for specific keywords, find related keywords and learn what the search volume for specific words.  This will also tell you what the positions are of domains in the search engines.  Know who you are up against.

Trend Data – Pew Research Center

Frequently updated data showing the current demographics and participation of internet users.

Quantcast

Excellent tool for identifying some key demographics about your visitors for your web strategy.

American FactFinder

Decennial Census – taken every 10 years to collect information about the people and housing of the United States.  This is a great tool for local general information.

Spokeo

Spokeo is a search engine specialized in organizing people-related information from phone books, social networks, marketing lists, business sites, and other public sources. All data aggregated is derived from public sources.

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