An effective website must effectively combine these two areas. You should take care not only to attract a potential customer, but also to encourage him to make a purchase, leave a contact, watch a webinar or other activity that has been planned and envisaged to achieve the business goal. SXO – Search Experience Optimization comes in handy, i.e. the concept of a comprehensive combination of SEO and UX, data analytics and conversion optimization. This means that thinking about positioning should take place simultaneously with remembering about building a positive user experience, based on web analytics, in order to optimize conversion on the website.

The first step in implementing good SXO practices is to conduct a comprehensive website audit in this regard. A professionally conducted SXO audit will show all the fields that are worth looking at to probably improve the website’s results.

But let’s start with a brief introduction to what user experience and website positioning are more specifically.

UX – User Experience

UX, or user experience, is what the user feels while browsing the site. It cannot be denied that even very similarly designed pages can evoke various impressions – UX deals with how to refine a website in such a way as to make browsing easier and more pleasant for the user, and at the same time increase the conversion rate. Due to the multifaceted nature of User Experience, it is in fact a mix of many areas – from psychology and its derivatives, through web testing, to issues related to technical optimization of the website.

A component of UX is UI – User Interface. These are all the elements of the website or application, along with their arrangement, by means of which the user communicates with the program. In this context, we most often talk about GUI – Graphic User Interface, i.e. a graphic representation of this communication.

When analyzing and designing UX, the user is put first – his needs, skills, habits and digital qualifications. The website addressed to teenagers will look and work differently, and differently to seniors – both in terms of the interface (color combinations, font selection, graphics), and in terms of the structure of the user path and shopping funnels.

SEO – Search Engine Optimization

Website positioning activities are aimed at making a given website appear higher in the search results of Google, Bing, Yahoo! and other search engines.

By entering a specific phrase into the search engine, we hope that we will find what we are looking for quickly. Regardless of whether we mean a specific product (preferably at the lowest available price), a service, information, contact details or a meme from years ago. We are committed to achieving our goal as quickly as possible. Recently, Google has become fixated on making its search engine “precisely execute the user’s intentions,” which means that the positioning algorithm is committed to delivering qualitative results. This was due to the fact that over 60% of Internet users do not find an answer to their question after first entering the website from the search results. Clickbaits only make things worse, and this is what Google is struggling with with almost daily algorithm updates.

The owner of the website counts on the fact that the website will be visited by Internet users, and then they will make purchases (e-commerce), leave leads (service industry) or read the materials contained therein (content websites). Good website positioning can significantly improve sales results. Often, the profitability of running a given business depends on the visibility in the search engine. Thus, the user hopes for quick access to the right content, the search engine hopes to ensure it, and the website owner hopes that his site will be found and visited.

The results of displaying in search engines are not set randomly – the constantly improved algorithm is responsible for the ranking. This one takes into account about 200 factors during the overall analysis of the website and direct links to it. What is it about?

On-site SEO

Google places great emphasis on content and its presentation. On-site SEO means changes that can be implemented directly on a positioned website. They can be divided into two categories – content modification and technical layer.

As mentioned above, Google wants pages placed high in search results to meet the user’s needs. Ideally, the content on the page is well optimized and contains specific keywords surrounded by intermediate words – long tails and LSI. However, it is not about a random juxtaposition of phrases, but about a substantive and structured text on a desired topic. In order to properly present a given issue, the content on the subpage must be properly organized – incl. divided into paragraphs and supplemented with headings (H1, H2, H3).

It is also very important how the text is displayed and how quickly the page loads. Most users, when they have to wait more than a few seconds, will simply go back to the search results and select a different page. Therefore, the website loading time cannot be overestimated. The algorithm also takes it into account and checks it in particular according to Core Web Vitals guidelines.

Gone are the days when the Internet was only browsed on computers. Today, web developers have to deal with thousands of different devices, technologies, designs and resolutions. The website must look good on every hardware, should not generate errors, and ensure the correct display of many fonts or graphics. The Google algorithm is able to detect errors in the presentation, therefore the correct responsiveness is one of the keys to positioning.

Internal linking is also important, i.e. placing links to other subpages of a given website. Correctly solved, it not only increases users’ engagement by encouraging them to click, but also significantly facilitates navigation for web robots. Another important aspect is the so-called canonical links, thanks to which, despite different real URLs (for example in online stores), Google robots see this as one variant. This prevents duplication of subpages.

Off-site SEO

Extensive, comprehensive on-page content and technical perfection are very important, but not enough to position your page for more popular, frequently searched phrases. The algorithm assumes that if a website has many links, it is valuable for users – after all, when we find interesting content, we sometimes share the link with friends ourselves. Off-site SEO involves gathering multiple links from other pages that Google determines to be strong. It is important that the link structure is appropriately varied – next to the dofollow links containing keywords, there should also be links without keywords and sometimes with the nofollow parameter. Link profile diversification is sometimes referred to as link pillowing.

SXO audit – what is it?

The first step to improving your SXO is to conduct a comprehensive SXO audit. Specialists will thoroughly analyze various aspects related to positioning and UX, draw conclusions and propose necessary changes on the website. Many of the nearly 200 ranking factors of Google’s SEO algorithm relate directly to the UX on the page – for example, building pop-ups.

SXO audit – what is analyzed as part of it? The scope of activities includes, among others:

SEO audit and recommendations
– domain history,
– website performance and construction,
– keywords and their potential,
– visibility against the competition,
– link profile,
– the current condition of SEO on the website,
– website mobility and usability,
– Core Web Vitals parameters,
– SEO content on the website,
– meta tags, snippets,
– Google My Business card,
– crawl budget,
– search engine analysis, filters and sorting,
– and other!

Analytics audit and GSC
– correct basic configuration,
– the impact of organic traffic on conversion,
– traffic quality, click-through rate.

SEO – recommendations of actions depending on the type of website and industry
– Meta tags (title & description),
– On-site and off-site linking,
– SEO content (including headers),
– Rich snippets,
– Positioning the Google business card,
– Website optimization,
– Monitoring and optimization of activities,
– Keyword research with potential,
– and other!

UX and CRO – actions
– Analysis of the purchase path and cart from listing to order fulfillment,
– Analysis of the contact form,
– UI & UX analysis of main subpages,
– Widget and pop-up analysis,
– Heatmaps of clicks and depth of scrolling,
– Payment system tests,
– Support for the SEO department in designing changes.

Effective website

An effective website allows you to achieve the intended goals, and thus – also profits. Creating such a website requires a lot of work, focused not only on the correct coding of the website, but also on adapting it to the user or the requirements of internet search engines. Each of these elements undergoes many changes – in a given period, users will focus their attention on some subpages, and a few months later – on others. The same applies to the rules governing search engines.

Analytics allows you to effectively catch places where traffic is higher or where it drops. By locating these “hot spots” you can improve them and increase the chances of conversion. Correct counting of conversions in Google Analytics also makes it easier to determine the level of fulfillment of a given goal and to mark its measurability.

Goal types in Google Analytics

In internet marketing, “goal” is quite a broad word. Underneath it, however, there are more specific slogans, characteristic of different types of websites. No wonder – in fact, the goals related to the operation of the online store will be different than those on which the blogging activity focuses.

In Google Analytics, the goal is the performance of an action, i.e. conversion. Actions can include going to a specific page, spending a certain amount of time on it, displaying a specific screen or performing the desired action.

Target – The goal is for the user to reach a specific URL, such as “thank you page”. The target related to a given URL facilitates the analysis of data related to free bonuses or trial accounts, filling out a form or subscribing to a mailing list. These types of targets are also used to count transactions.

Duration – amount of time spent on the website. This goal allows you to analyze the involvement of users on the website and is often set on pages such as support or FAQ. The target allows you to study two groups of users – those who stay on the site longer than the time set for the purpose and those who quit faster from being at a given URL.

Pages / screens per session – this goal allows you to check how many subpages the user saw during a single visit to the site.

Events – specific interaction with the website, eg clicking the “download” button, turning on the video. Before setting the goal, it is necessary to define the event.

Are you looking for other solutions? Smart Goals are based on a traffic analysis performed by a machine learning algorithm that finds the events most likely to convert. The algorithm evaluates the session and assigns an intelligent target to those it deems “best”.

Not only one goal

Analytics allows you to set multiple goals for one website. Thanks to this, we can observe user behavior on many subpages, each of which plays a different role.

Each of the goals can have a specific value – expressed in the currency you use. Based on the number of goals achieved and the related transactions, it is possible to determine the value of each conversion. Example: Every 10th contact from the site ends up selling about $ 100. The value of one conversion – contact via the website – can be estimated at about $ 20.

If it is difficult to specify the specific amounts assigned to a given conversion, the value may play a different role – the weight of the given goal. Their value will depend on how important they are for a given business – the more important higher value can be assigned, and the less – lower.

The goals set in Analytics can also be used in Google Ads.

Correct counting of conversions in Google Analytics

Correctly setting goals and using the information they provide allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of the website and marketing activities. Unfortunately, the collected data is not always correct. Errors can have several causes:

A. Incorrect tag configuration – some errors related to data collection result from incorrect tag placement, eg pasting it in the wrong place. The use of an incorrect tag can also cause problems. Some of the problems are due to our inattention or “printing imps”, which sometimes happen when we paste code from a text document. Formatting is implemented in your documents that may cause changes to the code syntax – for example by removing or adding extra spaces – autocorrect has different priorities than keeping the tracking code valid. You can also use the old GA code as a misconfiguration, which is still present on some sites. It is worth using Google’s recommendations and switching to new products suggested by them, which usually bring greater possibilities in the field of website control and analysis.

B. Errors also happen during the configuration of the Tag Manager – Here, the problems are mainly due to incorrect settings of the Exclude / Include filters, the assumption of which is to screen out information about unwanted data in the visit statistics. Too rigorous use of any of the filters can cause problems with proper data collection. Among other common problems with gtag.js, there is no container published (the publishing process is longer, the latest changes may not be available immediately) or problems with handling too large HTTP requests.

C. Using another account – the tracking code is associated with a specific account – in the case of incorrect data, it is worth checking if we are trying to analyze from an account that is not connected to GA.

D. Custom Code Placement – Analytics code should be in the <head> section of the web page. In the case of niche CMSs or less popular plugins for pasting external codes, the final localization may deviate from Google’s guidelines and as a result may not work properly. It is worth taking advantage of the possibility of pasting the code directly into the website template or using proven plugins.

E. Incomplete conversion data may be caused by the lack of code on all subpages within the domain. You can catch missing subpages.

F. Lack of internal filters – clicking on your website or shop may disrupt the statistics – eliminating internal traffic will allow you to obtain information about conversions that will be more reliable.

G. Inaccurate setting of the goal – the conversion is counted at the moment of achieving the goal, however, incorrect setting of the final moment means that it is not valuable, and the intended goal has not been met. Example – the purpose is to send a form, but the code is placed on the “Contact” tab and as a result, the conversion is counted at the moment of entering this subpage. The form is not sent, and the data collected by the tool does not reflect the number of actually sent forms. Putting the code in the right place – for example on the send button, and even better – on the “thank you” page, displaying information about the correct sending of the message, will allow you to collect real data.

Errors that make it difficult to correctly count conversions in Google Analytics can be due to many reasons. Some of them are trivial, and thus – easy to identify and remove. More complicated cases may require changes to the page code – but it is worth investing the extra time and obtaining the correct data.

Objective settings should be checked from time to time and modified if necessary. It is also important to test your settings and proper billing of conversions, especially after making changes to the site, such as modifying URLs that were related to your goals.

Ecommerce Tracking

Tracking movements in online stores may be different to what happens on other types of sites. Analytics allows you to count transactions, their value, and so on. Controlling this data by an external application allows you to fill in “white spots” that may appear in reports from the store engine. In addition, combining this knowledge with other information about the page will allow you to spot the moments when sales are going the best and those where they drop sharply.

Correct conversion counting is the key to analyzing and planning further development of online stores. Google Analytics enables an in-depth analysis of user behavior and the choices they make. It also allows you to evaluate various sales channels and is invaluable when you need to make a decision to develop or eliminate one of them.

Ecommerce tracking should be included in your reports, and code should be placed within your website to collect more detailed data. Due to the more complicated structure of the code, its introduction will require cooperation with a programmer who will take care of its proper implementation. Next, in the Administration tab, in the appropriate data view, there is the E-commerce settings item, which you must enable and save your selection.

The data collected by e-commerce tracking is transaction and product specific.

Information about the transaction consists of a transaction identifier, which allows it to be counted only once per session (the lack of an identifier could result in the same transaction being counted multiple times, e.g. when reloading the thank you page by the user), affiliation – understood as the store where the transaction took place, revenues – transaction amount, delivery – delivery costs and tax.

The product in Google Analytics also has similar values – transaction ID, product name, SKU code (unique product code, assigned in the internal company database), the category in which the product is located, price and its quantity.

In addition to the transaction identifier, and in the case of the Product also its name, the rest of the parameters are collected optionally.

Standard reports can be used to analyze the data collected in e-commerce tracking:
– an overview, which is a general summary of the information collected,
– product effectiveness,
– sales effectiveness,
– transactions,
– time to buy.

E-commerce – data that sells

Extending the sales statistics with data from Google Analytics will allow you to adjust the sales method to the current trends and customer expectations. Detailed analysis of user behavior – incl. analysis of the time that elapses from entering the website for the first time until the moment of making a purchase may initiate the rebuilding of the store and the introduction of improvements that will help him make the final decision.

The online store has much more than just the shopping cart in which the transaction data is collected. Analytics allows you to observe customer behavior across the platform – e.g. checking articles in the blog section – e.g. which ultimately make the customer allow himself to buy a given product. Controlling traffic in the store also allows you to catch problems on the platform – e.g. bugs or places that, for unknown reasons, load slower, causing customer frustration and cart abandonment.

Comprehensive monitoring of activities also facilitates further planning of the strategy and selection of the most effective way to maintain and increase sales in the next period. Using the available tools, their correct implementation and data analysis allow for taking more effective actions that save time and money. Greater knowledge about the movement and steps of customers will allow you to choose more effective solutions, tailored to the needs of customers. Being ahead of the competition and reaching customers effectively also allows you to leave the competition far behind.

Correctly counting conversions in Google Analytics and using all available program options facilitates quick response to trends and changes in the market, which are a natural phenomenon in the case of E-commerce. The knowledge gathered by Analytics allows you to create Google Ads campaigns that sell.

Anyone can theoretically be a copywriter – and most people come out with this assumption, which can often be seen in ongoing assignments. Some think that writing is easy, because what is the difficulty of creating a text based on many source materials. While a dozen or so years ago the group of people writing custom-made texts was quite narrow, now there is a fashion for being a copywriter.

What does this mean for you – as a company commissioning the creation of lyrics? On the one hand, more copywriters mean more competition and the ability to negotiate rates. On the other hand, there is a greater risk that you entrust the text to the wrong person – one who, although he has the most sincere intentions, will not be able to create good quality text.

How not to make a mistake and choose a good copywriter?

Nothing prevents you from reaching a good copywriter. trial and error method. This is a good solution if:
– you have a lot of time and you can wait for good text,
– you have a large budget and are able to pay for texts that you will never use.

However, I assume that you are not going to waste time and want to immediately start working with a copywriter that will meet your expectations. To make this happen, it’s worth checking his skills at the beginning – you will do it in a few simple steps.

A. Read the texts on the website
The copywriter’s website is his business card and it can be a valuable source of information about the quality of the texts offered. However, just as you don’t judge a book by its cover, you shouldn’t just limit yourself to this step. Writing texts for one’s own needs is completely different than commissioned.

B. Review the portfolio
The portfolio is another element thanks to which you can get to know the copywriter’s workshop. You will learn what type of texts he has on his account and what subjects he undertook. However, you must remember that the portfolio includes only selected projects – usually these are the best works. Therefore, it is worth making a correction – especially if the quality leaves much to be desired.

C. Have the sample text written
There is no better way to verify a copywriter than to check your skills in practice. Therefore, write a sample text on the topic you specified. Thanks to this, you will find out whether you expect such style and quality. However, here too, you must bear in mind that the sample text will be written with special care – because who would not like to do the best. So if in this case you have any bigger reservations, it makes no sense to cooperate.

How to check the competences of a copywriting agency?

There are far fewer copywriter agencies than freelance copywriters, but in this case you can’t make blind choices. You can easily check her competences, thanks to which you are likely to establish fruitful cooperation that will not end with a single job.

A. Get to know the website
The copywriter agency will definitely have its own website on which you can make your first selection. Although you can expect a slightly different nature of content, you can easily evaluate texts in terms of quality.

B. Check the implementation
Past implementations can tell a lot about the agency’s competences. Familiarize yourself with the portfolio to assess the quality of texts other than your own. You already know that these are written completely differently. Warning! If you are going to commission the agency to write a highly technical text, see if the company was dealing with this type of implementation. It is also worth verifying whether the agency has already carried out orders for this particular industry.

C. Have the sample text written
Just like in the case of freelancer verification, you can also ask the agency to write a sample text. Warning! If the sample text meets your expectations, make sure that the same copywriter will carry out the correct task. Thanks to this, you will avoid a completely different person creating target texts.

Review the sample text

To find out about the copywriter’s skills, evaluate the sample text you received. It is worth doing in at least three fields.

A. Possible Errors
The resulting text should be error free. While some factual errors can be turned a blind eye (especially in difficult and specific industries), spelling errors are not acceptable. It is good if the content is also free of linguistic or stylistic errors. Remember! Since serious mishaps occur in the trial text (certainly “pimped”), you are likely to expect more faults in target orders.

B. Verification for duplicate
Duplicate content is unacceptable for two reasons: one is duplicate content seen through Google’s eyes, and the other is ethical issues related to the theft of someone else’s work. If at least part of the text is a faithful copy of other content, there is a problem. You are not sure if this will not happen again in the future. However, take into account what results from the duplicate fragment. Perhaps the full name of the act repeats, or are these formulas required for descriptions of dietary supplements, etc.? If so, then the copywriter is somehow justified.

C. SEO Rules
Although the text is intended to be targeted at potential customers, it must also be Google friendly. Therefore, it should meet at least the basic principles of SEO, including contain specific keywords, different headlines, highlights of key fragments, etc.

It’s not just the workshop that counts …

Although the quality of the texts ordered plays the most important role, not only the workshop matters. If you care about long-term contacts, you need to consider several other aspects. They are slightly different when working with a copywriter and different when working with a copywriter agency.

Cooperation with a copywriter – freelancer

If you intend to cooperate with a freeelancer, it is worth paying attention to two main issues.

A. Contact
Note the communication with the copywriter. How fast does it respond to emails? Does he answer the phone? This is very important because it allows you to immediately exchange messages and avoid misunderstandings, etc.

B. Agreement
The agreement protects not only the copywriter’s interests, but also yours. So sign the document, taking into account many key issues, including scope of work, deadline, penalties in the event of non-performance.

Cooperation with a copywriting agency

If you want to work with a copywriting agency, it’s worth:

– ask people from the same industry if they have used this type of service – perhaps they will recommend a specific copywriting agency,
– contact the agency’s client and ask about the assessment of the course of cooperation,
– talk to a company employee from the same industry about cooperation with a copywriting agency, e.g. on the occasion of an industry meeting, conference, etc.

The volume of the order can help in making the decision – if the scope of work is to be large, then it is better to report to the agency. Why? Freelancer may have a problem with the timely implementation of a large job. Regardless of whether you decide to cooperate with a free copywriter or you want to establish cooperation with an agency, ask about the possibility of signing the so-called confidentiality agreement. This is an important issue – especially if you are going to provide sensitive information about your company.

The above tips are just a few of the most important issues that will make finding a copywriter for long-term collaboration easier. The basis is not only limited to the portfolio, but also decide to prepare a sample text – even if it is to be paid.

What is the Nofollow update from March 1, 2020?

The change will affect the indexing of nofollow links. Earlier, Google treated nofollow links only as a mark, so these links did not crawl. In other words, they were not taken into account by the search engine algorithm. This changes on March 1, 2020. From March 1, Google will treat nofollow links as a crawl guide.

Nofollow links policy

Some website owners have used nofollow links to prevent indexing of given pages. Typical pages linked to nofollow can be links to user profiles, links to login pages, links to various sections of the website, or links to external (e.g. sponsored) pages. Using nofollow to block Google from indexing pages has never been a good practice. There are more reliable ways to prevent page indexing (e.g. by adding a meta tag noindex to your HTML).

Will the Nofollow update affect my site ranking?

It is difficult to predict how the update of nofollow link indexing will affect the ranking. This may depend on which Google pages will index. Google can configure the rules for selecting pages to be indexed and not. It has not yet been determined whether Google will decide not to index low quality pages.

How to prepare a website for nofollow update?

A. Read the Nofollow update.
Check what changes Google requires. If the rankings or traffic on your site begins to change, please report this problem to the person managing the website or the website positioning specialist.

B. Analyze the nofollow links on your website.
Incorrect implementation of nofollow can lead to unintended consequences. Check how nofollow links are used on your website and decide if it’s time to remove them and go to the noindex meta robots or to assign them the right attributes.