Here below is either the official word document or you can read the formatted for the web version below. Regardless it was styled as an interoffice memo and was originally sent to my instructor who also worked with Funf Fur Pets a local animal care business.
Interoffice Memorandum
| To: | Pam Culver |
| From: | Victoria Arjani |
| Subject: | Client Report |
| Date: | December 2, 2019 |
Over the course of the last 15 weeks, we have been discussing and implementing changes to the homepage to improve its Search Engine Ranking Placement, as well as create a paid search ad. The goal to help gain new users/customers as well as improve the user experience for the current customers.
Changes:
Changes were made to the homepage to optimize for a few key phrases. Those phrases were “Pet Boarding”, “Small Animal Boarding”, “Grooming” and “Cat Boarding”. While the homepage was always appearing the first result for almost all the Fun Fur Pets search, that could potentially lower the experience of the users as other pages may be more relevant. So, here is a list of the changes we ended up making:
- Remove “in La Crosse, Wi” in the main header.
- Change to Dog and cat Boarding, Doggie Daycare, and Dog Training (main header)
- Remove boarding hours as they are in pink text right next to them
- Move service up to the top as well as their pictures.
- Move the Daycare button and Grooming button up toward the top of the page.
- Move Jenny’s number into the button.
- Add ALT text to all the images.
Analytics:
Metric:
The main metric we monitored was within the behavior flow, the through traffic number and percentage as well as the drop- off numbers from Google Analytics (As shown in the image below). The recorded metrics are in the chart with comparison from statistics from a similar time this time last year. This metric shows how many people clicked on the homepage and then went to another page on the site, as well as how many people ended up leaving the site. Currently, we are not seeing a huge change in the numbers that could be for a few reasons
- The changes and the ad have only been running for a short period. It is known that changes to a site can take weeks ( time may vary depending on changes and the site) for google to recognize and process for rankings.
- We are working on the homepage which is hard to record and track “conversions” on. Conversions being a meaningful action we want readers of the site to make. As the homepage is usually a vague overview. Add to the fact that there is an enrollment button that leads to a third-party site, it makes our drop- off rate higher naturally.
| Goal | Oct 14-Dec 1 | Nov 18-Dec 1 | Nov 19-Dec 2 2018 | Oct 14-oct 20 | Oct 21-Oct 27 | Oct 28- Nov 3 | Nov 4- Nov 10 | Nov 11-Nov 17 | Nov 18-Nov 24 | Nov 25- Dec 1 |
| Increase go thru percentage of the homepage by 5-10%, while decreasing the percentage of dropout of the page over the next three weeks. | Through traffic (54%) 1.5K people Drop-off (46%) 1.3K people | Through Traffic (52.0%) 422 people Drop-offs (48.0%) 390 people | Through Traffic (52.5%) 373 people Drop-Off (47.5%) 338 people | Through Traffic (55.7%) 228 people Drop-offs (44.3%) 181 people | Through Traffic (57.3%) 208 people Drop-Off (42.7%) 155 | Through Traffic (56.3%) 213 people Drop-Off (43.7%) 165 | Through Traffic (51.6%) 205 people Drop-Off (48.4%) 192 | Through Traffic (53.9%) 226 people Drop-Off (46.1%) 193 | Through Traffic (51.7%) 218 people Drop-Off (48.3%) 204 | Through Traffic (52.3%) 204 people Drop-Off (47.7%) 186 |
| This the current overall statistics. | This is last years metrics from around the same time | The week the ad was created on the 18. |
Search Engine
The paid search and ads have only been up for about two weeks so far, which is not enough time to really see if and how they may be affecting the traffic flow and awareness of Fun Fur Pets. Before making changes to the homepage and creating the ad we had to decide the new keywords to use to optimize the homepage, as well as to be included in the ad.
Keywords now include:
• Grooming
• Pet Boarding near me
• Cat Boarding near me
• Small Animal Boarding
After deciding on the key phrases, the Paid Search Ad was created. The campaign was set as a Google Search Network Display, with a 40-mile radius around the La Crosse area. The budget was set at $8.50 a day from November 25 to December 13 with the bidding to maximum clicks. The standout points/topics that were highlighted were the convenient location, hours, boarding of pets and small animals, as well as the grooming service. All while giving a quick overview of the site. Down below are images of the first ad, as well as the now currently running ad.
First Ad
Finalized Ad:
Recommendations
- Look into continuing or starting paid search even if in a small amount. Ads should run at least a month to see any real results. As the longer, they run the more data you can compare.
- I would continue trying to optimize the readability of the homepage. Finding the balance of giving enough information with overloading the reader.
- Trying to find an even more effective way of making sure that people understand that if people have questions about grooming that it is done by a third party and not by the owner of Fun Fur Pets.
- Create a truly trackable goal to focus on. Trying to track a goal or conversion on a site’s homepage is hard as usual, the homepage is like the summary of a book it gives an overview but ultimately you need to go into the book for details or in this case the site.
