Green15
Group 15 Data and Insight Report
Executive Report
A review of the Squared website and the activity of prospects that are potential targets for the Squared Online business
objectives to maximise conversions has been undertaken by Group 15
Mobile Reporting:
Understanding Mobile usage and the fundamental shifts in user behaviour is a key part of Squared’s online strategy.
With mobile sessions becoming increasingly prevalent, and as users become more accustomed to purchasing via their
mobiles, it would be wise to optimise this channel to ensure usability is maximised, navigation is slick and sharp, and
conversion paths are optimised. Given that desktop sessions continue to be the most used device for browsing and
converting on wearesquared.com however, allowing and encouraging users to return to the site after browsing on their
mobiles remains an important consideration. Highlighting sign-up paths for mobile visitors will allow Squared to
effectively retarget new visitors at times when user’s propensity to convert is higher.
Traffic Source Reporting:
Traffic source analysis shows that LinkedIn is currently the best performing source. As a future growth channel we
recommend an in depth review and analysis of this channel. As a professional network, LinkedIn provides the perfect
opportunity for Squared to attract visitors, as it is relevant to support career further education. Suggestions for
generating more traffic from LinkedIn are: running targeted LinkedIn campaigns and finding specific groups based on
individuals digital interests. This supports the framework of the T-shaped marketer. Traffic levels and prospects can also
be enhanced by students adding Squared recommendations on LinkedIn at the beginning of the course. Other similar
social channels and referral activity should also be considered; targeting channels aligned to the growth in the Squared
Alumni, Squared community and other digital business networks, will enhance the brand and provide leads which also provide
effective direct conversion paths
Location Reporting:
Squared Online has an international audience, a review of interaction by location is paramount to understand the
growth areas and the restrictions that may be present from a UK based offering, both in time and language. In terms of
potential growth, India was recorded as the 3rdhighest geography for sessions recorded and 81% are new visitors. The
important data to be noted is that this location was recorded as the one with the highest conversion rate and the least
bounce rate. Visitors also seem to have a significantly higher than average session duration too. We recommend in
depth research to understand why the interest from the area is triggered reflected in their keen interest to date.
Conversion Reporting:
Conversions are strong for Squared with a high proportion of overall conversions coming from direct or organic; we
have looked at how consumers interact and the pathways they take on their journey to convert. Our recommendation
focuses on efficient conversions and developing prospects whose journey will be direct. Paid search is also a
fundamental part of the marketing mix to engage consumers at different touch points. We recommend testing
messages and pages to disrupt and reduce paid interactions and drive more efficient conversion paths. This will be
integrated with all other traffic sources to ensure activity enhances direct conversions and cost efficient channels for the
future.
AdWords Reporting:
All AdWords campaigns had a conversion rate of approximately 30% and generated 3,442 new leads. Both CPC and CPM
campaigns had a positive contribution rate, although there a number of campaigns with high bounce rate, which
included Zero Click Value keywords which needs to be revisited. The conversion rate of campaigns related to the Google
Squared brand indicates that the brand itself is still not highly positioned in the market place, since the CR for brand
related keywords is 26.79%, lower when compared to the site average conversion rate (39.43%). In order to generate
more leads and attract new prospects we recommend evaluation of the performance of campaigns whose Bounce Rate
was higher than the Average Site Performance, which provides an overview on underperforming campaigns.
The data used throughout this report relate to the period from Feb 1st to Apr 30th 2014
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Green15
Group 15 Data and Insight Report
Mobile Report Analysis
Data Points:
- There has been an overall growth of 3.47% in total sessions over
the last 3 months, but mobile has increased 33%, whilst desktop has
dropped 4.76%.
- The proportion of mobile sessions has increased 28.54%, whilst
desktop has dropped 7.95%
- Mobile has had a consistently higher bounce rate compared to
desktop over the last 3 months (averaging 65.9% compared to
desktop average of 50.3%).
- Despite seeing a 112.62% increase over the last 3 months in the number of completions on mobile, it still only
contributes an average of 16.84%. However, mobile’s proportion has grown 32%, whilst desktop has dropped 6.79%
Insights:
- The session growth suggest a growing trend for users to access Squared Online via their mobile device –hence more
focus should be applied to optimising user experience and maximise mobile conversion.
- A high bounce rate is usually indicative of a slower page speed (caused by slower mobile internet and page-size issues),
poor navigation (one not optimised for touch-based browsing), and users being dissatisfied with the information.
- Mobile’s lower conversion rate suggests that people may still be hesitant to convert on their mobile device, be that
due to poor page speed, not trusting their mobile internet connection or the time of day when they’re browsing. The
proportion increase however suggests that people are becoming more inclined to convert on mobile.
Recommendations:
- Mobile landing pages should be optimised further to create a better mobile experience. This would involve larger calls
to action and improved navigation flows to allow easier transition from page to page and throughout the website.
Another consideration is introducing infinite scroll techniques on mobile pages to improve site speed. This may help to
reduce bounce rate, as page elements are only loaded on users scrolling.
- There are arguably 2 elements to help improve conversion from mobile devices. The first involves direct conversion
from the mobile – requiring larger, more prominent calls to action, and perhaps even a more aggressive conversion area
immediately on the home-page. The second involves the ‘assist functionality’ of mobile - having a larger call to action of
‘Remind Me’ or ‘Sign Up’ will encourage users to re-visit the site on a desktop, and allow Squared to retarget them at
time optimised for conversion.
- Testing different flows of information will help Squared Online see which sequences of information drive the best
performance. Depending on if it is a new or repeat visit; it will be worth changing the flow of information with a view to
optimise conversion or sign up.
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Green15
Group 15 Data and Insight Report
Traffic Source Analysis
Data & Insights:
Direct Traffic
- The majority of visitors come to the website directly.
Over the last 3 months, the number of visitors has
increased steadily suggesting greater brand awareness due
to paid media activity, social engagement or other ATL
activities.
- There are two session peaks (shown in the line graph,
below right) on Feb 2 and April 9 which could relate to a
CV library being added or updated, or another event taking
place that day. The effect raised the session value 600%
compared to normal levels.
Google/Search Engine Traffic:
- The organic Google search trend is positive.
The site is potentially better recognized in
search engines and becomes more relevant.
Social Media:
- Facebook referrals have a high bounce rate compared to other traffic sources; this could be due to a number of
reasons e.g.an attractive proposition/message but a poor landing page with irrelevant content.
- Compared to the previous period most social media channels perform negatively. Looking at the past 3 month
however, LinkedIn is the most promising social media channel in terms of generating traffic.
Recommendations:
- Analyse the exact cause of the session peaks in February and April 2014. Can these events be replicated again or
provide insights into possible site improvements. It is also worth checking the content on Facebook – the high bounce
rate from Facebook referrals suggests the content may be misleading compared to the landing page. Likewise, the
landing page content needs to be regulated more strictly so as to reduce the propensity to bounce, and improve the
user experience.
- We recommend work on the organic search results using on page optimization to help reduce the negative impacts of
bounce rate (which has shown to be approximately 53%) and more in-depth keyword analysis to ensure relevancy to
search queries. The marketing investment across channels should be considered periodically, so as to ensure marketing
spend is optimised across all channels (for example, advertising on source pages may have to be reduced, as source
pages provide very little traffic).
- Historically, social media are not a strong generator of traffic. However as a professional network, LinkedIn may be the
perfect environment for advertising professional education services & courses. We recommend building this channel
through targeted LinkedIn campaigns or run more specialized groups on LinkedIn e.g. Squared Search, Squared
Marketing Strategy, Squared Mobile so we can target people based on their specific interest.
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Green15
Group 15 Data and Insight Report
Location Analysis
Data & Insights:
- The GA report reveals that over 56,000 sessions were recorded, of which over 68% were ‘new’ visitors with an average
of 2.16 pages per session and a bounce rate of over 53%.
Visitors based on location:
- US has recorded the highest number of new users (87%) and also has the highest bounce rate (71%) and also records a
low conversion rate of 20% (average) and this has been reducing over time, whereas the UK has the most recorded
visitors and also a healthy conversion rate of over 41%.
- Interestingly, India has been recorded as the 3rd highest geography for recorded sessions and 81% are new visitors.
The important data to be noted here is that this location has recorded as the one with the highest conversion rate and
the least bounce rate. Visitors also seem to have a significantly higher than average session duration too suggesting
interest in the area and or their further in depth research due to their keen interest.
- An analysis of UK visitors shows the following results:
- London records 46% of total sessions, with 19380 sessions, followed by Manchester - 1097 sessions making up
only 2.6% of total sessions, and both cities have over 60% new users and enjoy over 40% conversion rate. There
is however a significant gap difference between these 2 cities.
- Edinburgh has the second highest conversion rate of over 45% of just 65% new visitors.
Recommendations:
- Noting the highest conversion rates coming in from India, it would be beneficial to have a targeting and traffic budget
increase over the social media and AdWords campaigns - which should also see a substantially effective conversion
based performance campaign. The same could be done with Ireland - with its low bounce and high conversion rates.
- Analyse why the US has such a high bounce rate even when 81% of visitors are new to the site.
- Average conversion rate is 41.65% in the United Kingdom, with some Cities that have a higher than average conversion
rate. We can explore increasing budget and bids in marketing campaigns in AdWords for these specific cities further by
mapping out a list of these in order to maximize effective conversions per £. - (Notably the examples of high traffic
cities worth targeting include (with their respective conversion rates): Woking (63.27%); Slough (54.84%); Northampton
(53.93%); Bristol (53.76%); Luton (53.33%); Derby (53.28%) and Oxford (52.83%)).
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Green15
Group 15 Data and Insight Report
Conversion Report Analysis
Data & Insights:
Multi-Channel:
- A review of conversions showed a total of 22,288 conversions, of which 3,169 (14%) were assisted conversions
- 49% of conversions are direct, showing a strong marketing strategy. Organic search is also
a major contributor with >22% of conversions. Demonstrating that Squared are
successfully engaging via SEO & keywords search criteria.
- Referrals are an influential channel, 15.97% of all assisted conversions. Linked-in provides
the greatest number of conversions 5.32% from all referral channels. As a growing
platform this medium may provide further opportunities
- AdWords are an effective part of the conversion mix, the Brand (Squared & Google) and Marketing focused AdWords
drive 405 (57%) of assisted conversions and should be continued. AdWords also form an important segment of assisted
conversions 652 (20.57%)
- Remarketing playing an important part >20% of AdWords assisted conversions, understanding the timing of ads in the
time path is an important consideration. Other contributors include Social media (8.91% conversion rate), display
(4.22%) & email (3.27%).
Conversion Paths:
2 interactions
3 interactions
4 Interactions
- The conversion path helps to understand
behaviours and shows prospects:- Often repeat the same habits returning to the
original source, direct or organic
- Paid search as a primary touch point shows
consumers will engage again (>5% with 2
interaction & 4.9% on 4 interactions).
- Social network features across all 2 – 4
interactions and drives direct conversion
- Referrals are a strong direct source
Recommendations
- Referrals present an opportunity to build leads that will convert from an efficient source. Linked-in shows promise in
terms of 2 stage interactions, therefore it is recommended to focus on social channels.
- Paid search is used repeatedly on 2 & 4 interactions. It is an important channel yet it is recommended to disrupt this
behaviour and drive more efficient paths. Instead of consumers using paid as a navigation tool we propose testing pages
& messages that will navigate consumers to the relevant information for them and drive > direct conversions.
- Brand &Digital Marketing ad words are driving assisted conversion traffic & are effective in driving conversions from
remarketing. Enhancement of this channel to build prospects and convert leads by testing patterns in path length
interactions could enhance conversion from this support channels (in line with budgetary considerations and
recommendations from the AdWords analysis).
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Green15
Group 15 Data and Insight Report
AdWords Report Analysis
Data Points
- In the reporting period between 1st Feb and 30th April 2014
all AdWords campaigns generated 10,691 visits, i.e. 18.9% of
the overall traffic site (56,524 total visits).
- 67.32% of these sessions were from unique visitors, which
eventually converted into 3,442 new leads.
- The total cost of all AdWords campaigns for this reporting
period was of £14,065.12 at an average CPC of £1.5.
Key Insights
- AdWords campaigns had a conversion rate of approx. 32%,
thus 1 in 3 visitors converted following a CPC or CPM
campaign.
- The campaigns with the highest Contribution to Goals
involved keywords related to Digital Marketing (57.62% CR)
& Marketing/Digital Marketing course (69.57% CR).
- Keywords related to the Squared Brand, although
contributing to the Completion Goal by 12.20% had a low CR
(26.79%), indicating the need to creating stronger brand
awareness.
Recommendations
- Ultimately, in order to generate more leads and attract new prospects, we suggest the following activities:
- Remove all 31 Zero Value Click Keywords that created a £159.7 loss, for instance marketing distance learning/
/online marketing manager/ marketing classes/etc.
- Reduce the bid for all campaigns with the Highest Bounce Rate compared to Average Site Performance, in
order to lower keyword positioning , attract more targeted audience, deliver higher conversions’ rates and by
lowering bounce rate for such keywords (High BR vs. ASP).
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