COMD3562 Web Traffic & Analytics

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COMD3562 Web Traffic & Analytics ADGA ADV 3601 Graphic Design Projects II New York City College of Technology The City University of New York Department of Communication Design COMD3562 Web Traffic & Analytics Course Description In this course students will learn how to effectively direct traffic to a website. Topics will include implementing Web Analytics, Search Engine Optimization, and Search Engine Marketing. They will analyze data and assess reports on traffic to web sites; learn to write content to rank for key search terms, and to choose appropriately, and implement the best strategies that help to drive traffic to web sites. 2 cl hrs, 2 lab hrs, 3 cr Prerequisites COMD2400 or dept approval. Course Objectives INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES ASSESSMENT For the successful completion of this Evaluation methods and criteria course, students should be able to: Implement strategies to drive traffic to a Students will demonstrate competency by web site via link building, social media, proposing and executing marketing strategies viral content, paid advertising. Write appropriately for users to find their Students will demonstrate competency by web site through search engines (e.g., writing appropriate content for the purposes Google, Yahoo!, Ask). of advertising, marketing, and gaining organic traffic. Layout and design web pages to drive Students will demonstrate competency by traffic through a web site to lead to an designing multiple pages, and explaining appropriate conversion through presentation the logic behind the layout structure. Get search engines to index pages and Students will display competency by send traffic to a website. optimizing the content and the structure of their pages. They will register their websites with major search engines. Analyze where the traffic is coming from, Students will display competency through who their users are, and the successes and analyzing both tag-based and log-based failures to gain traffic and convert analytic packages. visitors. 1 ADGA ADV 3601 Graphic Design Projects II Teaching/Learning Method ● Lectures and readings ● Demonstration ● Project based labs ● Research assignments ● Blackboard Required Text None Suggested Text: Web Analytics Demystified Eric T. Peterson Celio Media Group ISBN:0974358428 Attendance (College) and Lateness (Department) Policies: Attendance is taken and is important to success in this class. Both absences and arrival more than 15 minutes after the start of class will be marked. If excessive, the instructor will alert the student that he or she may be in danger of not meeting the course objectives and participation expectations, which could lead to a lower grade. Academic Integrity Standards Students and all others who work with information, ideas, texts, images, music, inventions, and other intellectual property owe their audience and sources accuracy and honesty in using, crediting, and citing sources. As a community of intellectual and professional workers, the College recognizes its responsibility for providing instruction in information literacy and academic integrity, offering models of good practice, and responding vigilantly and appropriately to infractions of academic integrity. Accordingly, academic dishonesty is prohibited in The City University of New York and at New York City College of Technology and is punishable by penalties, including failing grades, suspension, and expulsion. Grading 90% = Course projects/assignments Group Project 30% Individual Project 15% Homework 25% Quizzes 20% 10% = Class preparation/participation/attendance CP/P/A 10% 2 ADGA ADV 3601 Graphic Design Projects II Topics WEEK Lecture Topic Laboratory Exercise Homework Assignment ● 1 ● Overview of Web ● Review course ● Individual Project: Analytics, SEO, and syllabus Select a site built by SEM ● Break students into student to apply ● Confirm prerequisites groups who are analytics, SEO and assigned website SEM strategies with significant traffic for analysis. This is a group project. ● 2 ● What is analytics? ● Apply Google ● Apply Google ● Give students access to a Analytics to site Analytics to individual site with significant ● Register sites to project site analytical data. Google, Yahoo! ● Register sites to ● Apply Google Analytics And Live Google, Yahoo! And to site Live ● Register sites to Google, Yahoo! And Live ● 3 ● Optimizing the content of ● Improve a poorly ● Complete page a page: what is the focused page with improvements on theme? Is anything enhanced content individual project site irrelevant? What are its and design objectives? How does it ● State objectives move the viewer towards its primary objective? ● 4 ● SEO basics: How search ● Take an existing ● Complete initial SEO engines work site/page and begin of individual project ● How search engines to optimize it with site spiders think design. ● Write 1 page summary ● How to design for search ● Correct the code, of organic traffic on engine spiders ● Rewrite the content, group site. Discuss ● Content development, using longtail effect of designs on longtail keywords keywords organic traffic ● 5 ● SEM Overview: What is ● Break into groups ● Make progress with it? and discuss SEM fellow group members ● Link building, blogging, strategies as they on project social media apply to their ● Viral marketing website ● PPC, PPA campaigns, ad campaigns ● Email marketing ● Affiliate marketing ● Podcasting, rich media 3 ADGA ADV 3601 Graphic Design Projects II WEEK Lecture Topic Laboratory Exercise Homework Assignment ● 6 ● Link building, affiliate ● Break into groups ● Group report on marketing, social media: and choose selected SEM in depth appropriate strategies strategies for group ● Prepare for quiz website ● 7 ● Explaining Google ● Quiz 1 ● Prepare SEO Analytics ● Apply advanced optimized individual ● Analyzing visitors, traffic practices project site for sources, setup/tracking ● Analyze a report midterm campaigns, refining ● Prepare analyzed results through reports based on segmentation Google Analytics for midterm ● 8 ● Visitor and session ● Group review of ● A one page report analysis visitor and session analyzing the data, ● Bounce rate, time on site, data: each member concentrating on geolocation concentrates on a student’s assigned different metric metric. Submitted at end for final project ● 9 ● Ad Campaign: creating ● Design an ad ● Complete ad campaign one. Managing keywords campaign, write and ● Prepare to present ● PPC management design multiple ads them in class. ● Major ad networks ● “Content network” vs search advertising ● Writing effective ads ● 11 ● Creating a landing page. ● Create a landing ● Complete landing page ● Conversions and calls-to- page (mock or real) Complete tweaks to action. focusing on content site to improve your ● How to drive traffic and design. conversion rate towards a conversion ● Determine major ● Track analytics from a design/content and minor ● Prepare to present in perspective conversion goals class ● Measuring conversions ● Assess your site for with analytics goals calls-to-action ● A/B Testing ● 10 ● Ad campaign/landing ● Presentation page/conversion logic presentation ● 12 ● Analyzing data from ● Analyze data from ● Write a report based on Google Webmaster Tools Google Webmaster data in Google and Yahoo! Site Explorer Tools and Yahoo! Webmaster Tools and Site Explorer Yahoo! Site Explorer 4 ADGA ADV 3601 Graphic Design Projects II WEEK Lecture Topic Laboratory Exercise Homework Assignment ● 13 ● What happens when ● Review site for ● Prepare for quiz spiders run amuck on duplicate content ● Review site for your site? issues duplicate content ● Duplicate content issues ● apply robot controls issues ● Herding spiders with ● apply robot controls robots.txt and the robots meta tag ● 14 ● Q&A ● Quiz 2 ● Prepare for group ● Groups work presentation together on needs analysis document ● 15 ● Final presentations ● Final presentation and report Bibliography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_analytics Accessed 1/11/09 Advanced Web Metrics with Google Analytics Brian Clifton Web Analytics Demystified Eric T. Peterson Celio Media Group ISBN:0974358428 http://www.seomoz.org http://www.searchengineland.com http://www.toprankblog.com http://www.gottaquirk.com http://thelinkspiel.blogspot.com http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com http://www.google.com/analytics/ http://analytics.blogspot.com http://www.mattcutts.com http://ysearchblog.com 5 .
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