Data Overload! So . . . ..Confused . . .. !
-
Just when I think I'm starting to get it . . . info comes in that blows my mind.
I'm using several tools at SeoMoz and others trying to keep track of my link building success, which has been largely me registering at related industries bulletin boards and forums and posting as well as making sure we are listed properly in any and all sites listing companies in our industry etc.
I have to say I was a little frustrated with the results. I had seen SOME increase in the back links, but almost no move in the number of linking domains.
NOW I just logged into googles webmaster tools . . . and their data says I have more than DOUBLE the number of linking domains as any other sites are suggesting.
What's going on here? I can understand slight discrepancies due to when they crawl the data etc . .. but 22 linking domains compared to 9-10 from everyone else? What the heck?
-
SEOmoz and Google Webmaster Tools use different sources for their data. I believe EGOL meant to look at the trends over time for each metric compared to itself. Don't compare GWT to SEOmoz, compare GWT in one month to GWT in the next month, and SEOmoz in one month to SEOmoz in the next month.
Open Site Explorer updates about once a month, so it does have a lag time in showing your updates, and it only crawls about the top 1/4 of the web, so its numbers will differ from GWT.
-
I'm not sure I understand your question. I'm using SEOmoz for a bunch of data and had the conflicting data from google webmaster tools.
-
**using apples and apples comparisons from one metric to another is very helpful. **
Great... you are looking for trends over time. Where do they tally that for you?
-
actually, that answer was very helpful! I can't help but to obsess over the numbers a little bit because I'm so new at this, the website was just relaunched, and I'm thrilled with every piece of data that shows I am accomplishing SOMETHING.
Your advice about using apples and apples comparisons from one metric to another is very helpful.
-
you will probably not like this answer
If you want to really succeed at SEO two things are really important.....
-
don't obsess over all of these numbers
-
decide who you are going to believe and watch the ups and downs there
-
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Important updates on Google Analytics Data Retention and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
Hi Everyone, I'm sure many of you received the email from Google over the past few days with the subject line: [Action Required] Important updates on Google Analytics Data Retention and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). I hope I'm not alone in not knowing what exactly this whole notification was in regards to. I realize it's for Data but are we no longer able to pull stats from the past? If anyone has a "dumbed down" explanation for what this update entails, I would be very interested - I don't want to miss out on any important updates and info, but I'm just not grasping this content. Below is the full email in its entirety for those who are interested as well: Dear Google Analytics Administrator,
Reporting & Analytics | | MainstreamMktg
Over the past year we've shared how we are preparing to meet the requirements of the GDPR, the new data protection law coming into force on May 25, 2018. Today we are sharing more about important product changes that may impact your Google Analytics data, and other updates in preparation for the GDPR. This e-mail requires your attention and action even if your users are not based in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Product Updates
Today we introduced granular data retention controls that allow you to manage how long your user and event data is held on our servers. Starting May 25, 2018, user and event data will be retained according to these settings; Google Analytics will automatically delete user and event data that is older than the retention period you select. Note that these settings will not affect reports based on aggregated data.
Action: Please review these data retention settings and modify as needed.
Before May 25, we will also introduce a new user deletion tool that allows you to manage the deletion of all data associated with an individual user (e.g. site visitor) from your Google Analytics and/or Analytics 360 properties. This new automated tool will work based on any of the common identifiers sent to Analytics Client ID (i.e. standard Google Analytics first party cookie), User ID (if enabled), or App Instance ID (if using Google Analytics for Firebase). Details will be available on our Developers site shortly.
As always, we remain committed to providing ways to safeguard your data. Google Analytics and Analytics 360 will continue to offer a number of other features and policies around data collection, use, and retention to assist you in safeguarding your data. For example, features for customizable cookie settings, privacy controls, data sharing settings, data deletion on account termination, and IP anonymization may prove useful as you evaluate the impact of the GDPR for your company’s unique situation and Analytics implementation.
Contract And User Consent Related Updates
Contract changes
Google has been rolling out updates to our contractual terms for many products since last August, reflecting Google’s status as either data processor or data controller under the new law (see full classification of our Ads products). The new GDPR terms will supplement your current contract with Google and will come into force on May 25, 2018.
In both Google Analytics and Analytics 360, Google operates as a processor of personal data that is handled in the service.
• For Google Analytics clients based outside the EEA and all Analytics 360 customers, updated data processing terms are available for your review/acceptance in your accounts (Admin ➝ Account Settings).
• For Google Analytics clients based in the EEA, updated data processing terms have already been included in your terms.
• If you don’t contract with Google for your use of our measurement products, you should seek advice from the parties with whom you contract.
Updated EU User Consent Policy
Per our advertising features policy, both Google Analytics and Analytics 360 customers using advertising features must comply with Google’s EU User Consent Policy. Google's EU User Consent Policy is being updated to reflect new legal requirements of the GDPR. It sets out your responsibilities for making disclosures to, and obtaining consent from, end users of your sites and apps in the EEA.
Action: Even if you are not based in the EEA, please consider together with your legal department or advisors, whether your business will be in scope of the GDPR when using Google Analytics and Analytics 360 and review/accept the updated data processing terms as well as define your path for compliance with the EU User Consent Policy.
Find Out More
You can refer to privacy.google.com/businesses to learn more about Google’s data privacy policies and approach, as well as view our data processing terms.
We will continue to share further information on our plans in the coming weeks and will update relevant developer and help center documentation where necessary.
Thanks,
The Google Analytics Team6 -
Losing referrer data on http link that redirects to an https site when on an https site. Is this typical or is something else going on here?
I am trying to resolve a referral data issue. Our client noticed that their referrals from one of their sites to another had dropped to almost nothing from being their top referrer. The referring site SiteA which is an HTTPs site, held a link to SiteB, which is also an HTTPs site, so there should be no loss, however the link to SiteB on SiteA had the HTTP protocol. When we changed the link to the HTTPs protocol, the referrals started flowing in. Is this typical? If the 301 redirect is properly in place for SiteB, why would we lose the referral data?
Reporting & Analytics | | Velir0 -
Hey guys, any advice on why my 'search analytics' in Google Webmaster tools is blank with no data?
I have added all the website versions into Google web master tools and I have no crawl errors. When I click on Search traffic these pages are blank - search analytics, & Mobile usability. And When I fetch as Google the status is constantly saying me 'temporarily unreachable' - any help would be greatly appreciated.
Reporting & Analytics | | HLAS0 -
How do you analyze a traffic drop with no historic Google Analytics data?
A client of mine has a large website with multiple sections (shop, forums, articles, etc.) that apparently had a significant reduction in rankings, traffic, and sales in the past. However, historic Google Analytics data is not available for the site, and I'm having troubles identifying anything concrete about the traffic drop, such as when it happened, what pages/sections it happened to, etc. The shop traffic drives most of the revenue, but it's a small number compared to the forums traffic, so it's hard to pick anything out of top-line trends like SEMrush offers. What tools or strategies might help in this situation?
Reporting & Analytics | | AdamThompson0 -
Does subdomain (or sub sub domain) affect analytics data of root site?
We self-host our public website, but over time have also added subdomains onto it that are not public and are for internal or even client portals. I am seeking advice as to whether those subdomains affect the analytics data (self referrals, visits, bounces) of the public site that I am tasked with analyzing. I feel that it does skew the data but need to build a solid case to move the public website to a new domain, so as to leave the existing one in tact with all of its subs.
Reporting & Analytics | | MarketingGroup0 -
Two of Four Google Analytics Views Not Showing Data
Question for you MOZ friends: We added two new views about a week ago, the same views that we have added for more than 50 Accounts, and they are not showing any data. The views are for 'Filtered Traffic' (no IPs or spam) and 'Organic Only' including only the organic medium. Any ideas why this may not be working? First time we've come across this and couldn't find much help researching it... Thanks as always! street%20ga_zpsorfdnemi.png
Reporting & Analytics | | ReunionMarketing0 -
False Conversion Data in GA
Hi all, I have a problem with Conversion Tracking in Google Analytics. Our contact form conversion completes when the user hits the Thank You page. Yesterday we had an increase in conversions that didn't correlate to form submission emails. It appears that one person filled out our form, then returned (hit the back button?) to the Thank You page another 8 times as there were 8 entrances to the Thank You page and it's currently no indexed. Is there a way to prevent this from happening? Or should I just note in Analytics that the Conversion data is wrong for that day and note how many? Thanks!
Reporting & Analytics | | nsauser0 -
Google Webmaster Tools is showing wrong data - help?
Hey all, I'm seeing some weird problems with Webmaster Tools. Specifically: We've submitted a sitemap with 174k URLs. According to the WMT dashboard, only 21 are indexed, though if you search our site via site:sitename.com blah blah, there are thousands of pages returned. Why is WMT only showing 21 indexed pages? Yet if I go to Health -> Index Status, it's showing nearly 199k URLs indexed. This seems consistent with searching Google site:sitename.com blah blah. Under "Search Queries", it's showing "no data available". Not sure why as it's linked to the proper Google Analytics account, which has keyword data. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong here? Thanks.
Reporting & Analytics | | chimptech0