Rand Fishkin Questions Matt Cutts' Statement Regarding Encrypted Searches

Rand Fishkin has (albeit indirectly) appropriately called out Matt Cutts via Twitter - and because Rand garners the sort of respect throughout the SEO community, Cutts actually responded. As many of you know, and as I discussed earlier this month, Google is encrypting searches for those that are signed in to a Google account. As a result, the keyword data for these individuals is no longer available within the Google Analytics reports. Regardless of what Google's intentions were for doing this (was it truly to address privacy concerns?), Cutts had stated that the number of people searching online while signed in only makes up a single-digit percentage of the total number of searchers. And because of that, the implication was that it shouldn't have a negative impact on running a search marketing campaign as the keyword data lost would be minimal. 

Google Now Hiding Keyword Data in Analytics

If you are signed in to a Google account, such as Gmail or Google+, and executing searches online, those searches will be encrypted moving forward. Google made this announcement on October 18th, sending the SEO community in to somewhat of an overblown frenzy. For those using Google Analytics, this means that the search query that person used to locate and eventually land on the website in question will no longer be available in the Keyword Report (assuming they are signed in). And while there is no doubting the fact that the loss of this data will create a few issues for SEOs and webmasters alike, Google has estimated that this should only effect 10% of the data compiled within Analytics. For now, I think it is worth addressing a few questions that have flooded the blogosphere, such as, "why did Google do this?" and "is this fair?"

Google Analytics (New Version) & SEO Reports

Google has added SEO reporting to the new version of Google Analytics, which is currently in testing mode but accessible to anyone with an analytics account. Going against the traditional grain of holding their card close to their proverbial chest, it seems that Google to some capacity is making it easier for SEO professionals, webmasters, and company owners to analyze their campaigns and make adjustments based off of such analysis. Regardless of how these reports will be altered moving forward before Google eliminates the old version of analytics, this is certainly a step in the right direction regarding the oft tense relationship between search engines and the SEO industry.

Using Google Analytics for Keyword Research

Back in May, I discussed the importance of conducting thorough keyword research as an integral part of any SEO campaign. Many rely on Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool to determine what keywords may be most beneficial to try and rank for based on search volume and competition. Others will supplement that initial work by researching what their competitors are trying to rank for. That is relatively easy, as all one has to do is analyze websites that are ranking well for the desired keywords and look for ideas.

But what if you have been running an effective SEO campaign for some time, and are ranking towards the top of Page 1 in the search engine results pages for your desired keywords? Where do you go from there if you feel like you have exhausted all of your resources? Assuming it is installed, Google Analytics may provide you with the additional keyword ideas that you may be looking for.