We receive a lot of questions about reporting differences between Google Analytics and Google Paid Search, here are some of our thoughts regarding this:

1. Browser limitations: There are limitatiation in older browsers where the referring information isn’t passed correctly, this can lead to differences in the statistics.
1. Click Fraud – Yahoo & Google don’t count every click or visitor that comes through the system.  This leads to GA visitors and no reported clicks.
2. Counting Methods – Google Analytics sets a different cookie than counting a click-through.  If 5% of internet isn’t using cookies (or robots are following content ads) then GA will count the visitors higher than the clicks.  This could lead to multiple GA visitors and only one reported click.
4. Page Loads – If your page runs slow, a click is counted…but the JS script isn’t ran properly.  This will lead to one click and no visitor.
5. Shared IP address: Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) assign the same IP address to multiple computers. Your AdWords account statistics will reflect multiple clicks that occur from the same IP address, while your third-party tracking software may not.

With all of these potential reporting differences, all your tracking mechanisms will tell you a different story.  Our advice is to use a 3rd party tool to act in combination with Google Adwords data….you can’t assume that Google Analytics and Google Adwords (even with Auto-Tagging turned on) will work with each other and report similar data.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is an effective promotional strategy which helps enhance your web site’s traffic from regular (not Pay Per Click) search results. But how do you know when your site is in need of SEO work? Here is a list of possible indications:

1.) When your traffic mostly comes from non-search sources and/or PPC listings: This isn’t necessarily a problem, but using SEO will provide you with more stability and diversification in traffic sources, as well as an increase in overall hits.

2.) When you don’t have a Site Map and/or don’t know if your site can be navigated by search engine spiders/robots: If your site’s pages can’t be indexed by search engines, they won’t appear in results. Part of SEO is making sure the site is designed in a way which allows for this.

3.) When no SEO work has been conducted on the website for a long period of time: Search engines eventually change some of their policies, and different engines become more or less popular, so a site which was well optimized for them ten years ago is probably using some outdated techniques by now.

4.) When you plan to eventually resell a web site: Being able to say that your site is search engine optimized and pointing to specific search keywords it shows up under (or a high Google PageRank) will help increase your site’s resale value substantially.

5.) When your costs from other advertising methods are too expensive: SEO offers a more long-term solution to gaining web traffic, in contrast to continually paying for each impression or click on your links. This allows you to escape monthly or weekly promotional expenses.

6.) When you have a low Google PageRank: This ranking (PR) assigned by Google is a useful indication of whether or not a site has enough quality, relevant links pointing to it. If it is low (especially below three), efforts should be made to increase the number of inbound links it has.

You may even want to begin SEO efforts before creating and launching a web site; if the web pages incorporate SEO into their design and content from the beginning, they won’t require changes later on, nor will they be disadvantaged in search results until such changes are made.

SEO and SEM are both strategies for promoting websites through search engine results. However, the difference between them is significant. SEM comprises a wider range of techniques than SEO, while SEO solely focuses upon improving a site’s ranking among normal non-paid search results.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) involves gaining links at other websites, optimizing META tags, improving keyword density, getting listed in directories, and creating websites that search engine “spiders” can easily navigate. It generally does not involve making payments directly to the search engines.

On the other hand, SEM (Search Engine Marketing) features such promotional methods as pay per click (PPC) advertising on search engines or paying an individual engine for “guaranteed” or “expedited” inclusion in regular results. Although the greater variety of techniques in SEM is part of the difference between it and SEO, it should be kept in mind that SEO is also considered part of SEM.

Another difference between SEO and SEM is the focus upon major and minor search engines. While the vast majority of SEO work is aimed at improving rankings on a few major search engines (Yahoo, Google, Live/MSN), there are a substantial number of minor PPC engines which can be utilized in SEM campaigns.

For example, there is no reason to conduct search engine optimization to improve a site’s ranking on Mamma.com (it draws regular results from other engines), but it is popular enough to use for pay per click ads. The search engine Entireweb.com offers a paid “express inclusion” service which adds a website listing to it and a number of other minor engines within two days.

There is also a difference between the amounts of time these two strategies take to become effective. A strictly SEO-based marketing strategy involves fewer direct costs, but will take months before achieving full effectiveness. On the other hand, pay per click or guaranteed inclusion services used in SEM often take effect within a few days, in some cases delivering new visitors on the same day a campaign is initiated.

One potential strategy is to use paid SEM services to gain traffic for the first months after starting a new website, while working on SEO in the meantime. This approach produces a more easily sustainable method of promotion in the long-term, without sacrificing traffic during the first few months. It may also add to the SEO campaign’s success as people discover the website and voluntarily add links to it.

Two major methods of promoting a website are organic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay Per Click). Organic optimization uses various methods to make websites appear as high as possible in the regular search results; on the other hand, PPC makes the site appear at or near the top of search results for relevant keywords, but the website must pay the search engine for each click it receives. Here are some things to consider.

COST: Advertising with PPC has an on-going cost; if the advertiser stops paying, no more clicks will be received after already-deposited funds have been depleted. Paying someone to do organic SEO for a website has an initial cost, but continues to provide benefits after the work has been completed. Unlike PPC, it is possible for website owners to carry out organic SEO efforts without paying anyone, if they have sufficient time and expertise. An advantage of PPC versus SEO is that advertisers don’t have to pay if they do not receive clicks; however, there is no guarantee clicks will result in sales, donations, or repeat visitors.

TIME: PPC advertising has an advantage versus SEO with regard to how long it takes. A website can start receiving hits more quickly with PPC than it can with most organic SEO methods. If the owner of a new site wants to start receiving web traffic immediately, it may be beneficial to purchase some pay-per-click advertising while at the same time starting work (or paying someone) to organically search engine optimize the site; this way, by when the PPC account funds run out, the website will be receiving hits from regular search results.

TRAFFIC: Pay-per-click advertising offers fast and guaranteed website hits; on the other hand, organic SEO is more likely to provide long-term traffic, as well as increased hits from non-search sources (through the creation of links on other sites). There is no concern over fraudulent clicks in organic SEO, as there is with pay-per-click listings. The cost of PPC traffic is likely to be more reasonable for a site which gains revenue through sales (versus advertising), although PPC might be useful to introduce an advertising-based site when it first appears online.

Basically, pay-per-click search promotion is less complex and faster to start gaining hits from, while organic SEO doesn’t necessarily require an on-going cost, isn’t susceptible to click fraud, and usually has a longer-lasting impact. The best choice of PPC versus organic SEO partially depends upon the advertiser’s budget, time-sensitivity of the website, and the site’s method of gaining revenue.