How to Track Google Adwords Sitelinks in Analytics?

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A few weeks back, Google announced a great new addition to adwords, letting advertisers to display sitelinks on their ads, similar to sitelinks which appears for organic searches. Adwords sitelinks allows an advertiser to add four additional links to deep content within the site and are particularly useful as they can show the customer a quicker way to get to important sections of the site. Unlike, Organic Sitelinks which cannot be influenced, Adwords lets the advertiser choose upto ten relevant links to be shown to visitors. It’s a handy addition as it gives the advertiser an option to highlight promotions and seasonal offers for a given site.

Dell Sitelinks

However, a point to note is that sitelinks do not automatically appear for all the enabled keywords. They only appear for an ad which occupies the first sponsored result for a search and also has a higher click through rate. Therefore, the probability of displaying sitelinks for an ad is higher for brand or sitename terms, where the advertiser enjoys a first position listing as well as a higher click through rate.

Nevertheless, enabling sitelinks on adwords fairly simple.

  • Log on to Adwords Account
  • Navigate to campaigns, then click on settings.
  • Scroll down to the ‘Networks, Devices & Extensions’  Section
  • For each individual campaign, click on ‘Show additional links to my site’ under ‘Ad Extensions’
  • Specify the links you want to display for your ads. You can add upto 10 links, but Adwords will automatically show 4.

Now, how do you track these links? How will you know if the Adwords Sitelinks are bringing in any conversions? Well, since Sitelinks is a new addition to Adwords, Google hasn’t implemented tracking on sitelinks yet. The first time I enabled Sitelinks for Adwords, I was seeking out various ways to track these links on Google Analytics. When I contacted the Adwords team for answers regarding tracking, they sent a neat little document on how this could be done, which I have summarised below.

Advertisers must add a query string to the end of each URL which works as an identifier for Analytics. For example, if www.example.com/category/page is the URL, Advertisers must add ‘?sitelinks=page-identifier’. The URL will look like this:

www.example.com/category/page?sitelinks=page-identifier

Adwords Sitelinks Tracking on Analytics

Now some of the sites already utilise query strings in their URLs such as this:

www.example.com/category/page?id=22

In this case, advertisers have to append the URL to include both the queries as below:

www.example.com/category/page?id=22&sitelink=page-identifier

Once the identifiers are in place, you can track sitelinks on analytics by following these simple steps:

  • Log on to Analytics
  • Click on the relevant website profile
  • Once you are in the dashboard, click on ‘Traffic Sources’ on the left navigation menu, which expands to show different options. Click on Keywords. It displays the list of keywords from the Adwords Campaign.
  • Select the filter ‘Landing Page’, which can be found below the tabbed menu and you should see the keywords which brought traffic to the site and the corresponding landing pages.

Hopefully, Adwords Sitelinks should improve CTRs and eventually result in higher conversions.

From Organic to Paid Search!!

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After two and half years at Arena, I decided to move on. Actually, it wasn’t an option I was looking at, but during my time off a few months back, I had casually met a recruiter to understand where I stand after my experience as an online marketer. Although, it did sound positive, nothing came out of the interviews immediately and I completely forgot about it as I returned back to Arena from my sabbatical.
It was nearly two months later that I got a call from a company and after going through the role again, I thought it could be challenging but I wasn’t fully convinced. I thought hard for a couple of weeks considering a whole lot of possibilities. Although, I was working as an marketer, I was only involved in organic search side of things and the new role promised plenty of opportunities in managing paid campaigns as well as other offline activites. Also, I am very keen on building my repertoire as complete marketing professional. This was enough to convince me to take up the role.
While monitoring search traffic and running reports, I used to marvel at how efficiently optimised and organised the campaigns were at Arena. Now I have a big challenge of doing something similar as my first challenge and I spoke with the external Camapaign Managers this afternoon to terminate the existing contract. SO officially, I am manning paid search from today.
Paid Search

Paid Search

After two and half years at Arena, I decided to move on. Actually, it wasn’t an option I was looking at, but during my time off a few months back, I had casually met a recruiter to understand where I stand after my experience as an online marketer. Although, it did sound positive, nothing came out of the interviews immediately and I completely forgot about it as I returned back to Arena from my sabbatical.

It was nearly two months later that I got a call from a company and after going through the role again, I thought it could be challenging but I wasn’t fully convinced. I thought hard for a couple of weeks considering a whole lot of possibilities. Although, I was working as an marketer, I was only involved in organic search side of things and the new role promised plenty of opportunities in managing paid campaigns as well as other offline activites. Also, I am very keen on building my repertoire as complete marketing professional. This was enough to convince me to take up the role.

While monitoring search traffic and running reports, I used to marvel at how efficiently optimised and organised the campaigns were at Arena. Now I have a big challenge of doing something similar as my first challenge and I spoke with the external Campaign Managers this afternoon to terminate the existing contract. SO officially, I am manning paid search from today.  Lets see how this goes!

Brewing the Brand – The Coffee War

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Every morning, I reluctantly pick a copy of Metro at Station on my way to work. Reluctantly because, I am keen to utilise the short journey time by reading magazine subscriptions which I always leave unfinished otherwise. But somehow, I end up reading a Metro at least twice a week. Off late I have noticed quite a few adverts on Metro by Mcdonalds and Costa Coffee trumpeting how superior their coffees are in comparison with the others. Costa, understood. It’s been a Coffee Company and it’s promotions are not surprising. But McDonald’s?

On an average, 9 million coffees are sold per week in the UK, triple of what was being sold in 2000. According to Allegra Strategies, a research firm, the UK has the largest branded coffee chain market in Europe with 3,864 outlets and until last year the numbers kept growing as companies invested heavily in expanding their presence. However, in 2009 further growth has been temporarily halted due to recession. One of the leading Coffee chains, Coffee Republic (deleted even) went into administration in July this year and had to be rescued by property firm, Arab Investments Ltd.

The bleak market outlook and the recessionary trading environment has prompted coffee chains to consolidate leading to strategy directed towards strengthening of the brand. Allegra believes that the slow down in the opening up of new shops, has resulted in Coffee chains embracing an aggressive marketing strategy. Well, then where does McDonalds figure in this?

Coffee market is not new to McDonalds. It has, in the past few years, directly assaulted single brand coffee shops like Starbucks by introducing variants of coffees such as capuccinos and lattes and targeted advertising. Although, critiques are divided on the extent of market opportunities for coffee shops, companies involved tend to think otherwise. In the recent years, the market has seen an expansion beyond urban boundaries into small towns. With sensitive pricing and good quality, non-coffee centred companies such as McDonalds, Marks & Spencer etc are quietly encroaching the coffee market, which traditionally has been reserved for smaller independent cafes or single brand coffee shops.

Looks like the coffee war has just begun.

Mobile Networks Want Much, But Apple Wants Everything – iPhone & The Networks

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Its Only Rock & Roll

It's Only Rock & Roll

Apple’s much hyped media event “It’s only Rock & Roll” failed to spring any surprises. A thin, frail-looking Steve Jobs quietly strolled back to his normal self. IPod Nanos were updated as expected with new features including cameras and radio (!?!). IPod Touch doubled its maximum storage (64GB). IPod Shuffles are more colourful and have voiceover functionality. ITunes 9 was launched with an enhanced interface and some cool new features such as Genius, Home Sharing, iPhone App management etc. iPhone OS 3.1 was launched with the extended genius functionality. The Apple store too was updated with the availability of Cocktail and Pre-cut ringtones (I would rather buy a song than a ringtone). The biggest disappointment however, is the missing camera on iPod Touch and the unavailability of Beatles tracks on iTunes. Apple countered iPod Touch, by projecting it as a handheld gaming console with some interesting games (Assassins Creed 2, Madden 10 etc) being developed solely for them. Most importantly, there were price cuts across the entire iPod range. So does Apple continue to reign the roost?

A couple of days prior to the event, while skimming through news websites, I noticed a very obscure but potentially daunting article on how Apple’s iPhone is not spelling success for mobile network operators. The article was based on a research conducted by Strand Consult, a Danish Consulting firm, which for long claims to have predicted the failures of businesses where industry watchers had predicted otherwise. Intrigued by this revelation, I requested for a free copy of this comprehensive report.

A Squeeze on Shareholder Value

A Squeeze on Shareholder Value

The report is extremely insightful, interesting and dispels all myths surrounding the iPhone. I have an affliction towards Apple’s superiorly creative offerings, which upon arrival shifts the market power and I am inclined to believe that Apple’s radical designs spell profits. Rightly so, given Apple’s super strong annual growth. However, iPhone is the first product where Apple has had to rely on external sales channels in the form of network operators to reach out to customers. Given the hysteria surrounding the initial launch of the 1st generation iPhone, helped by the company’s notoriously secretive approach to product development, iPhone was bound to be a success even before its launch. Apple consolidated the initial reception by entering into exclusive contracts with a handful of networks in mature markets. The networks on the other hand, were keen to differentiate from competition by being associated with Apple, which as a brand stands for being trendy, cool and sophisticated. So why does Strand Consult think that Apple doesn’t enhance shareholder value to the networks it is associated with?

Ever since, I have first held my mobile phone, there has been plenty of talk in the technology circles on how convergence of technologies will define the future of the mobile phone market. We have seen bursts of innovation showing glimpses of what convergence could achieve with a slew of new handsets being launched over the years with newer technologies. Cameras, MP3 Players, TV & Gaming on Mobile, eBooks etc. Except for Cameras and MP3 players, none of the other technologies have stuck on as they fail to deliver what they promise. In fact, until the iPhone, even the Cameras and MP3 players on mobile phones weren’t nearly good. The iPhone definitely is an industrial design which has turned the mobile market upside down.

But, it is not an invention which is new, but rather, a reinvention of a mobile phone with pre-existing technology. The only difference being the product performance features of the mobile phone which is being utilised to its optimum capabilities. For example, Touch Screen is not a new concept. I clearly remember a mobile phone which I owned five and half years ago, a Motorola A925 on Three network. It had everything an iPhone has now. It was a 3G phone, touch Screen, no separate keypad, it had video calling, camera, MP3 capabilities with an added memory card etc. Even the much talked Apps aren’t new. There were companies offering third party apps for mobile phones. Apple just rehashed the existing technology in a better way to give a superior product, in the process creating additional platforms to monetise self. Like I noted in one of my earlier posts, this has been the case with every product it has developed so far, be it Macs, iPods or iPhones. But all of these products have been tremendously successful.

Motorola A925

Motorola A925

Going by Strand Consult’s report, iPhone sales haven’t been as dramatic as they seem for many reasons. Firstly, the product was launched to a select few countries and network operators when it launched. AT&T in the US, O2 in the UK, T-Mobile in Germany & orange in France representing a fraction of the market it serves to today. iPhone is now available in over a 100 markets and Apple has non-exclusive deals with multiple network operators, meaning customers have a choice to choose the network. Clearly, Apple’s comparative year on year growth is not an ideal representation given the expansion in markets. Secondly, the devout Apple consumer is usually one who is techno-savvy and seen as an early adapter. Given the contracts which the networks have in place to own an iPhone, it’s only the 1st Generation iPhone owners who are choosing 3GS. The 2nd generation customers have a few months to run out of their contracts and cost associated with early exit from their contracts deters them from adopting to the 3GS. New consumers embracing Apple is far and few as the market is flooded with iPhone look alikes with almost every mobile manufacturer offering wide, touch screen mobiles with similar functionalities.

Apple Squeeze

Apple Squeeze

Also, Strand notes that despite iPhone’s initial exclusivity deals, networks haven’t seen an increase in marketshare and the high subsidies they have to offer to consumers, makes it difficult for them to cash in on other services. Unlimited Data, inclusive minutes and texts etc mean that there is no other value added resourced a network can offer the consumer at an additional cost, other than roaming which doesn’t rake in the desired moolah. With Apple widening it’s market reach by making the iPhone available through multiple networks, exclusive networks stand to loose further. In fact, Apple’s contract with O2 runs out in September, following which the iPhone is expected to be available with other UK networks, although O2 claims that it has renegotiated the contract.

I believe and attribute this to clever marketing by Apple. It has kept the company-consumer dialogue going while suppressing the delivery medium (networks in this case). Apple consumers are more connected to the company than the network. They interact with Apple more frequently than they do with their networks and in someway have developed a relationship which overrides their relationship with the operator. The efficiency and authenticity of the Apple brand stands taller than the service.

When the iPhone was due to be launched, networks clamoured for exclusivity and as a part of the bargain agreed on subsidies by giving up their part of the bargain. Now with their contracts running out they are still where they were with no bargaining power, while Apple has a larger base to choose from. Also, not to ignore the fact that Apple’s still charting an enormous positive growth irrespective of relational markets. Ultimately, what matters for a business is to be successful which can be measured by shareholder value and Apple has consistently achieved this with a number of channels. Be it an iPhone or a Macbook. However, this is a big dilemma for networks as they all want to be a part of something which hasn’t proven to offer much value. Operators have to radically realign their strategies if they were to compete in Apple space and Strand offers some valid arguments on this.

To know more, you can request a free copy of Strand’s Report here: The Moment of Truth – A True Portrait of an Iphone

U2 at the Wembley

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Wow. August has been a pretty hectic and exciting month. My Birthday’s around the corner and the celebrations have already begun, starting with a surprise gift last week. A Nintendo Wii. I had another surprise in store as I was gifted a U2 concert. Not just that, I got two Wii games as gifts as well, (Guitar Hero: Rock Band & Ashes 2009). Thanks people, for all these wonderful gifts.

Anyway, the U2 concert was a killer experience. It was the biggest concert I have ever attended. Going by the previous day, when U2 claimed the record for highest audience with 88, 000, I am very certain that this was no less. The main reason why Wembley could accommodate so many fans is because of it’s radically designed £15 – £20m worth concert stage. The giant claw shaped structure has a 360 degree view and unlike most gigs is centrally placed to ensure it’s wider field of view within the statium. It also has a 360 degree screen providing the audience with live close-up feeds of the event. This meant that most parts of the stadium could be used for audience. This also meant that the concert is possible only in Tiered stadiums. Apparently, the structures, which take as many as 60 trucks for transporatation, are to become gig venues in parks around the world.

U2 360 Concert at the Wembley

U2 360 Concert at the Wembley

The Giant Claw Stage

The Giant Claw Stage

The gates were supposed to be open at 5.00 PM yesterday and we only got there around 6 PM. There was a support act on. I have forgotten their name, but they were pretty good. Then we had Glasvegas, a Glaswegian band belting out a few good numbers. Then the U2, the longest serving and successful full band were on stage and they transported the audience to a different world. The beginning itself was fantastic with a count down being run on large 360 degree screen, before the U2 band men, Larry Mullen, Adam Clayton and Edge taking up their signature positions, followed by Bono. During the concert, couple of metal bridges on the sides of the stage started moving to the middle and Bono and Edge frequently walked the bridges encouraging the crowd to croon with them, occassionally joined by Adam.

It was an incredibly exhilarating brilliant experience and one of the best concerts I have ever been to. U2′s Wembley 360 Degree songlist for the Wembley night:

  1. Breathe
  2. No Line on the Horizon
  3. Get On Your Boots
  4. Magnificent
  5. Beautiful Day
  6. Until The End Of The World
  7. New Year’s Day
  8. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
  9. Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
  10. Unknown Caller
  11. The Unforgettable Fire
  12. City Of Blinding Lights
  13. Vertigo
  14. I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight
  15. Sunday Bloody Sunday
  16. Pride (In The Name Of Love)
  17. MLK
  18. Walk On
  19. Where The Streets Have No Name
  20. One
  21. Bad
  22. Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
  23. With Or Without You
  24. Moment of Surrender

The British Asian T20 Spinoff

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I was really keen on watching a few T20 World Cup matches, but due to unforeseeen circumstances, I had to remain in India for the entire duration of the championship. It’s a different issue that the countries I was backing made early exits from the tournament. Nevertheless, I was quite kicked. Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out early. So, while waiting to be back in the UK, I found out that there was a T20 exhibition match being played at Lord’s, the home of cricket between Rajasthan Royals and Middlesex Panthers on 6th July. I was pretty certain that I would be in London in time to watch the match and I immediately booked a couple of tickets and eventually got to be at Lord’s yesterday.

A couple of big names were missing from Rajasthan Royals team, as most key players were missing including Graeme Smith, Yusuf Pathan etc, while Tyron Henderson turned out for Middlesex Panthers. Royals were led by Shane Warne and had Dimitri Mascarhenhas and Sohail Tanvir. Middlesex team was fully represented and led by Shaun Udal. It was a bit of a damp squib as there were several false starts due to rain and I wasn’t even sure if there would be a game given the intermittent drizzle. True to T20 style, there were a few pre-match performances by famed Indian pop singers like Taz etc and the atmosphere was incredible. The match however, turned out to be a one sided affair with Rajasthan Royals winning it comfortably. I would love to come back to Lords for an international match.

British Asian T20 Match

British Asian T20 Match

Rajasthan Royals Vs Middlesex Panthers

Rajasthan Royals Vs Middlesex Panthers

Scores Summary (From Cricinfo)

Rajasthan Royals 162 for 5 (Swapnil Asnodkar 41, Mohammed Kaif 41, Dimitri Mascarenhas 32*) beat Middlesex Panthers 116 for 7 (Dawid Malan 34, Sohail Tanvir 3-20) by 46 runs

House Warming, Accident, DIY, Tinkering….

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It’s been a hectic month. Our new abode is finally ready. We had a house warming ceremony and during the run up to the occasion, I managed get involved in a small accident which damaged my mother’s car. And foolishly, I forgot to exchange forms. So, couldn’t really claim for an insurance. Anyway, the car had some cosmetic dents and I decided to correct it myself. I ordered suction dent puller from eBay, a few cans of metallic wine red paint and some emery paper. I followed the instructions and managed to pull a couple of dents. I rubbed some emery paper to the damaged parts and sprayed the paint on to it and I managed to ruin the paint…. :-(

Although it was supposed to be a similar shade as that of the car, the difference in paint was clearly visible signalling the end of my DIY days… Moral: If you have a dent on your car, take it to a professional to set it right.

The Great Indian Passport Renewal Saga

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Indian PassportFinally some news about my passport. After standing in long queues in the blazing hot sun everyday for the last four weeks, I managed to get an audience with the Regional Passport Officer. While waiting for my time with the RPO, I met another individual who had similar issues as mine with regard to renewal. However, this particular inidividual had to be abroad within the next week as he had won a sponsorship to represent India in one of those scholarly meets in Zurich. Now, c’mon people, if not for me, please give him his passport at least. Don’t stifle intelligence!

Anyway, I met up with the RPO to enquire the status of my renewal application. After a few anxious moments, the RPO called someone from the Records Section on the intercom and called her to the office to clarify my case. Now, this lady walks in, checks my paper in front on me and tells me that she wasn’ t sure as to why my birth certificate has to be verified for renewal of my passport!!!! Strange, the very people who told me it needs verification!!! She apologised repeatedly and she said she’ll post it for verification the same day.

After a week’s time, having heard nothing from the Passport Office, I went back to the RPO, to find out that they are not in receipt of the verified report from the Registrar of Births & Deaths. I personally had traveled to Registrar’s Office to ensure that it reaches the Passport Office within a day through speed post. I was sent back to the records section, and was advised to check with the Post Office. I went to the Postal Delivery Office and got a confirmation for the delivery only to find that the post at the Passport Office had been unopened for over a week. After haggling for another week, I finally have my shiny new Passport issued. It took six long weeks…..Hurray!!!

March 2009 Updates

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Still in India…trying to juggle with so many different things mentally and physically. Squeezing in nearly 10 hours a day working remotely for AF and a new five week project, spending some time at our new abode as well as trying to catch up with friends and relatives.

Renewal of my passport is being unduly delayed despite numerous letters, faxes and phone calls.

Another quite month for blogging and tweeting.