Optimize Your WordPress Site with Analytics &

TestingChristina Inge

EdTripsWordCamp Boston 2013

What Is Optimization?

• Making sure your site meets business goals• With data• Real, usable data• and the right tools

You Can Optimize for (Just About) Anything:

• Getting more visitors • Making your site easier to navigate• Getting more people to buy/donate/sign up• More blog posts, community posts, social engagement• Scaring people away

Develop Goals

• Improve usability• Increase conversions• Grow (the right kind of) traffic

Create KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

• What #’s let us know we’re succeeding?• Examples might include:

• Visitor metrics• Type of visit• Number of actions• Source of traffic

Familiarize Yourself with Common Terms

Conversion

• Any action you want people to take on the site: buy, download, register

Visits • Raw number of views of any page

Unique Visitors

• Separate IP addresses coming to site

Referals • Links sending traffic to your site

Find the Right Tool for What You Need

Google Analytics

• Most people skim the surface of the most powerful optimization tool.

• Don’t just track visit volume.• Do track the details.• Five things your GA can

answer:

Does a mention in a niche trade pub do us more

good than a short write-up in

the Boston Globe?

Do people who visit at night buy more often than

those in the daytime?

What is the best day – really- to

send out an email, based on

what people buy?

Did that paid search campaign coupled with a

whitepaper lead to more sales?

Should we spend time on

Google+?

GA Plugins• Just needs to be a basic part

of every site• Choose the lightest, smallest• You don’t need to access GA

from within WP or other elaborate add-ins

• Often part of other optimization plugins, so check if you really need a separate one

SEO Plugins: A Must When You Test

• More than just Google Search rankings

• Allow you to tailor meta data to what is drawing the right traffic, optimizing your site

• SEO is core to optimization-attracting traffic, structuring the site

Testing SEO Meta Data Works!

Meta Description Visits ConversionsEdTrips web platform for educational travel

8,000 240

EdTrips allows you to manage your educational trips with a simple online platform

6,000 540

EdTrips-Manage Educational Trips the Easy Way, with Payment Collection, Your Own Website, and More

7,000 900

Using an SEO Tool in WordPress

• Configuration gets a lot done-fast

• Sets up to make your job easier, or enable client self-service

Creating a Template For Basic SEO

• Set up a standard process for <title>, <meta name=“description” > and other content for optimized SEO

• Creates an optimized title automatically if properly configured

Optimize Each Page

Testing• You need to test for true

optimization• Hunches, what you think works—

the data is what really tells the story

• Testing is so easy, there’s no reason not to do it

• Involves the design team, the client• Really

What to Test

Visuals Text Calls to action Layouts

Entire themes if your site is new

How to Test

Gather your data-observe

Develop a hypothesis-based on your data

Create variation(s) that are still on-brand, consistent

Give it more time than you think

Go back and test again

Nelio A/B Testing Plugin

WordPress Landing Pages

SES Theme Split Test

Case Study: Using Analytics to Find the Best PR Sources

EdTrips

EdTrips

• Online platform for organizing learning trips• Target audiences include teachers, scouts, adult ed, and

venues• WP custom theme• Working with only two free tools in this example:

The Goal

• Find the best sources of inbound traffic

• Which websites are leading visitors to stay?

• What referrals lead to conversions—in this case, checking out the app?

Referral Sources Alone are

Really Useful

Referrals with Goal Completions are Even Better

One View Helps You Learn

• Where to pitch• What topics interest real, buying

customers• Where to advertise• What to advertise• What your customers really want• And it’s not this screen

Setting Up Goals-A Real-World “Test”

Google Analytics Channels

Implementing Testing and Analytics

• It’s affordable and takes less time than you think• Avoid “plugin overload”: you only need a few• Focus on immediately actionable data• Test only when you already have data• Sometimes, you only need analytics to optimize, sometimes

you need both testing and analytics—run lean• Have fun!

Thank You!

• Christina Inge, VP of Marketing EdTrips, Adjunct Instructor, BU CDIA

• Christina@EdTrips.com• Marketingforgrowth.wordpress.com