This past week there has been an uproar in the SEO world as Google has pretty much dropped basic organic keyword referral insights from its Analytics Tool.  “WHY are they doing this to us!!”, has pretty much been the main reaction, but the truth is that this has been coming for a while.  There have been some insightful reactions from some of the SEO leaders in the industry and I want to share with you all what exactly has changed, what this means and most important what this means going forward.

So what changed?

“100% Not Provided”, is the new data that appears in Google Analytics under organic search data for referral traffic.  This is not exactly a particularly welcomed change, but it signals as Google has been mentioning for years now that publishers should focus more on providing valuable content and not so much on keyword promotion.  This seems like an alarming change given the simple fact that Google primarily works by its users entering in search terms aka keywords to connect its searchers with relevant data.

What’s this mean?

This just means that we will be receiving limited data in the future in Google Analytics, and Webmaster Tools will be the substitute.  Please note if you do want this “Not Provided” data you can always pay for it via AdWords.  So really this is a wise monetary move by Google, surprise, surprise.

What this means going forward for us online marketers?

In a way, nothing has really changed with these updates.  The old marketing principles stand true as they always have (4Ps ring a bell here??). Let’s face it, at the end of the day you need to create value for your customers by offering them a great product or service and supporting it with content online that is of value as well.  With this in mind and assuming your brand or service is of value to your target market, what is the most effective online strategy to attain better organic search rank and a stronger online presence.  In today’s world, you want to make sure that your online content strategy hinges on tying together your SEO, Quality Content and Social Media efforts.  These 3 tactics serve as the necessary ingredients to build a solid online content marketing foundation that will reap benefits over time.  With these crucial elements as the backbone, the rest is all building relationships, listening to your customers and engaging with them.  In my sales and marketing tenure, I have found that the more I listen, the more i learn.  Just remember that the end all be all in online marketing is not about ranking for keywords, it’s making sure that your online efforts properly and efficiently support your business goals.

“If you build it, they will come”…..

Happy Marketing!

~Christian