If marketers thought things were bad when Google was not providing 73 percent of keyword data, they should brace themselves. An updated report from Parse.ly found that the search engine has continued to taper off the amount of keyword data it’s providing in Google Analytics reports. The latest data showed 87 percent of this organic referral information is now in the dark.
This marks a steep uptick from the amount of keyword data that was available just three months ago. In July, marketers could still retrieve information about terms that brought visitors their pages for about half of all queries. According to the report’s findings, Google Analytics just offers insights about 13 percent of all traffic.
With no indication that Google plans to reverse its move and provide brand marketers with information about keywords, companies must find new ways to slice and dice data in content analytics reports. Although it may require additional thought and creativity, this isn’t the end of the world.
Brafton published a blog that offered some workarounds to help marketers keep their content marketing strategies on the path to ROI. Check out the full post for a full breakdown, but here’s a teaser: Pay attention to data that’s still in analytics reports about top landing pages, popular articles and blogs that drive conversions. Then, use these insights to identify keywords driving referral traffic.
