What’s Happening?

Google is sunsetting Universal Analytics properties starting July 1, 2024. After this date, all accounts will need to use Google Analytics 4, which is designed to provide more integrated and user-centric insights without compromising privacy.

Impact on Existing Accounts

As propriedades do Universal Analytics não estarão mais acessíveis através do frontend do Google Analytics nem das APIs. Isso significa que você não poderá mais visualizar ou coletar dados utilizando a versão antiga do Analytics. A mudança afeta todas as integrações e o acesso a dados antigos, incluindo relatórios e metas configuradas.

Ações recomendadas

Universal Analytics properties will no longer be accessible through the Google Analytics frontend or APIs. This means you will no longer be able to view or collect data using the old version of Analytics. The change affects all integrations and access to historical data, including reports and configured goals.

Recommended Actions

It is crucial to start exporting your historical data as soon as possible to avoid losing valuable information. Google provides support for exporting data to BigQuery, especially for Universal Analytics 360 users, but these processes will also have tight deadlines until June 2024.

Next Steps for Migration

To continue using Analytics without interruption, it is recommended to start migrating to Google Analytics 4 immediately. This new system not only continues to offer in-depth analysis but is also adapted to handle future privacy and data integration challenges.

Google Analytics 4 for Beginners: What Is It and How to Install

A comprehensive guide to help beginners understand and set up Google Analytics 4 easily.

Site Kit: Install Google Analytics and Search Console on Your WordPress in 5 Minutes!

Learn how to quickly integrate these essential tools into your WordPress site with the Site Kit plugin.

The transition to Google Analytics 4 is inevitable and essential to continue leveraging Google’s data analytics tools. Start planning your migration today to avoid disruptions and critical data loss.

The post It is the end of Universal Analytics: What You Need to Know first appeared on Caipirinha Digital

Set Up the Necessary Tool

First and foremost, you need to have a Google account. With it, you can access a variety of useful services, including the Search Console.

• Focus: Performance of the site in Google search results
• Objective: Monitor the site’s performance in Google Search and identify optimization areas
• Metrics:
  • Clicks
  • Impressions
  • Click-through rate (CTR)
  • Average search position

Monitoring and Analysis

After the initial setup, give the tools a few days to start collecting data. Soon, you can analyze how users find and interact with your site.

In Google Search Console:

Access the Search Console dashboard and select your site.

On the side panel, locate and click on “Performance.” This section is where you will find complete details on how your site is performing in searches.

Make sure to set the date range at the top of the chart to the period you want to analyze. This will help you understand how your site has performed over time.

Ensure you select the “Average position” box in the frames located exactly above the chart.

Queries and Positions

In the results section, observe the “Queries” that lead users to your site. Here, you can identify the keywords for which your site is being found.

For each query, you can see the average position, indicating, on average, where on Google your site appears for that specific keyword.

The average position is a good indicator of which page of Google your site appears on, considering that each page of Google generally shows 10 results.

Pages

Switching to the “Pages” tab, you can see the specific performance of different pages on your site.

By selecting a specific page, you can filter the queries to see which keywords that page is being ranked for and what the average position for those queries is.

With the information provided by Google Search Console, it’s possible to understand the average position of specific pages for specific queries. It’s important to recognize that your site does not have an absolute position in search results; instead, each page of your site is ranked by Google for specific keywords based on perceived relevance and authority. This ranking results in an average position that indicates, on average, where your page appears in the search results for those queries.

Given that each page of Google’s results generally displays 10 results (excluding ads and featured snippets), an average position of 1 to 10 means your page is, on average, appearing on the first page of results. Similarly, an average position of 11 to 20 indicates that your page is on the second page, and so on. This metric is crucial for understanding not only how your content is performing but also for identifying SEO optimization opportunities to improve the visibility and reach of your site in the digital ecosystem.

Conclusion

Understanding your site’s position in Google search results is essential for optimizing your SEO strategy and improving your business’s online visibility. Using Google Search Console, you gain valuable insights into the average position of your pages for specific queries, allowing you to direct optimization efforts where they’re most needed. Remember, achieving the first page of Google can mean a substantial difference in the amount of traffic your site receives, as most users tend to focus on the first results presented. With a clear understanding of how your pages are positioned and a continuous strategy of improvement and optimization, you can significantly increase the chance of your site being found by a broader audience, boosting traffic, and ultimately contributing to the success of your online business.

The post On which page of Google is my website? first appeared on Caipirinha Digital

• Track your website traffic: Where do your visitors come from? What pages do they visit? How long do they spend on each page?
• Understand your target audience’s behavior: What are your visitors’ interests? What devices do they use to access your website?
• Optimize your content: What type of content performs best? How can you improve the quality of your content?
• Make smarter decisions: Based on the data, you can make more informed decisions about marketing, design, and development of your website.

Tracking Your Website Traffic

Google Analytics provides various tools to help you track your website traffic. By analyzing these metrics, you can better understand how visitors are finding your site and which pages they are visiting.

Tips for Identifying Traffic Sources:

• Use the “Source/Medium” report in Google Analytics.
• Analyze the keywords that visitors used to find your site.
• See which websites are referring traffic to your site.
• Track the traffic from your marketing campaigns.

By analyzing your site’s traffic, you can identify which sources are generating the most visitors and optimize your marketing campaigns to achieve your goals.

Optimizing Your Content for Better Results

Google Analytics provides valuable data that can help you optimize your content for better results. By analyzing this data, you can identify what works and what doesn’t on your site and make smarter decisions about the type of content you should create.

Using Analytics data to identify what works and what doesn’t:

• Behavior Report: Analyze which pages on your site perform best (highest time on page, lowest bounce rate).
• Conversions Report: Identify which pages on your site are generating the most conversions (sales, leads, etc.).
• Heatmap Report: See how visitors interact with your content (where they click, scroll, etc.).

Tips for Improving the Quality of Your Content:

• Create relevant and useful content for your target audience. Content that meets the needs and interests of your visitors is more likely to engage and retain them.
• Use clear and concise language. Make your content easy to understand to ensure it is accessible to a broad audience.
• Organize your content in a structured and easy-to-read format. Use headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs to break up text and make it more digestible.
• Include images, videos, and other visual elements. Visual aids can complement your text, breaking up content and making it more engaging for your visitors.
• Promote your content on social media and other channels. Increasing the visibility of your content can drive more traffic to your site and improve your results.

Tips for Increasing User Engagement Time:

• Produce high-quality content that captivates your audience. Content that is informative, entertaining, or both encourages visitors to spend more time on your site.
• Break your content into smaller, manageable sections. This makes it easier for readers to consume and can keep them engaged for longer.
• Include calls to action that encourage users to explore other pages on your site. Guiding visitors to related content or important pages can increase their time spent on your site.

Tips for Reducing Bounce Rate:

• Craft compelling titles and meta descriptions that encourage users to click through to your site. Your title and description should accurately reflect the content of the page and entice users to visit.
• Improve your site’s loading speed. A faster site provides a better user experience and can help reduce bounce rates.
• Ensure a good navigation experience on mobile devices. With an increasing number of users accessing sites via mobile, a responsive design is essential for keeping them engaged.

Ready to Transform Your Site with Google Analytics?

Throughout this article, we’ve explored how Google Analytics can help you make smarter decisions about your website.

We’ve seen how to use analytics tools to:

• Track your site’s traffic: Where do your visitors come from? What pages do they visit? How long do they spend on each page?
• Understand your target audience’s behavior: What are your visitors’ interests? What devices do they use to access your site?
• Optimize your content: What type of content performs best? How can you improve the quality of your content?

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that can help you achieve your online goals. By analyzing analytics data, you can make more informed decisions about marketing, design, and development of your site.

Remember:

• Google Analytics is a free and user-friendly tool.
• There are many resources available to help you learn how to use Google Analytics.
• Google Analytics can help you make smarter decisions about your site.

Start using Google Analytics today and see how it can help you improve your site’s performance!

The post Analytics: Tips for Analyzing Your Website Data and Making Smarter Decisions first appeared on Caipirinha Digital

Smart vs. Expert

When choosing between Google Ads’ Smart Mode and Expert Mode, advertisers face a decision between simplicity and automated control versus advanced functionalities and detailed management.

Smart Mode

• Simplified interface focused on goals and results.
• Quick and easy campaign creation.
• Google automates most of the campaign management.
• Ideal for beginners or those looking for a simplified experience.

Recommended for:

• Beginners
• Small businesses
• Advertisers seeking a simplified experience
• Advertisers with smaller budgets

Expert Mode

• Greater control and flexibility over campaigns.
• Access to all types of campaigns.
• Allows advanced configurations and optimizations.
• Requires more knowledge and experience in campaign management.

Recommended for:

• Experienced advertisers
• Advertisers with larger budgets
• Advertisers wanting total control over their campaigns
• Advertisers wanting to use advanced features

How to Switch from Smart Mode to Expert Mode

For those looking to expand their marketing skills and tools in Google Ads, transitioning from Smart Mode to Expert Mode is a natural step. This change is designed to unlock a broader range of features and provide more granular control over your advertising campaigns.

If you started with Smart Mode to familiarize yourself with the basics of Google Ads and are now ready to take advantage of all the functionalities available, follow this step-by-step guide:

1. Current Mode Check: When you log into your Google Ads account, look at the icon in the upper right corner. If it only shows the “Settings” option, you are operating in Smart Mode; if the name is “Tools and Settings,” you are already in Expert Mode.
2. Switch to Expert Mode: Click on the “Settings” icon and look for an option titled “Switch to Expert Mode.”
3. Confirmation and Transition: When selecting this option, you may need to confirm your decision. Proceed with the change, being aware that, once in Expert Mode, the path back to Smart Mode is no longer available.
4. Exploration of New Possibilities: With the transition complete, a world of possibilities opens up. You can create and manage diverse campaigns, such as search, display, video, Shopping, and app campaigns, with a variety of segmentation and bidding options.

Conclusion

The choice between Smart Mode and Expert Mode in Google Ads is not just about a preference for simplicity or control; it’s about aligning your digital marketing tools with the goals and maturity of your business strategy. While Smart Mode represents an accessible entry point for new advertisers, providing a simplified experience and AI-facilitated management, Expert Mode is the leap to a deeper and more customizable domain of online advertising campaigns.

By opting for Expert Mode, you commit to continuous learning and detailed exploration of the resources that Google Ads has to offer. It is a powerful choice that, while closing the door back to the simpler mode, opens numerous windows for the growth and sophistication of your digital marketing strategies.

Remember, moving to Expert Mode is a one-way path, but it is also a journey towards greater advertising effectiveness. Whichever mode you choose, Google Ads is a dynamic and powerful tool, designed to drive the success of your business in today’s vast and competitive digital marketplace.

The post Smart And Expert Modes In Google Ads: Which Is Best? first appeared on Caipirinha Digital

Google Analytics is a free tool offered by Google that allows you to monitor website traffic and collect valuable information about the users who access it. It provides a wide range of data, such as the number of visitors, the most viewed pages, the time users spend on the site, the geographical location of visitors, and much more.

With this information, website owners can make informed decisions to improve the user experience, increase marketing effectiveness, and enhance lead conversion to sales. Google Analytics is an essential tool for anyone wanting to succeed in their online presence.

Universal Analytics vs. Google Analytics 4

There are two main versions of Google Analytics: Universal Analytics (UA) and Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Universal Analytics is the older, well-established version of Google Analytics. It uses cookies to track user interactions on a site and provides detailed information about visitor behavior. Universal Analytics is widely used around the world but will soon be phased out by Google.

GA4, on the other hand, is the latest version of Google Analytics. It offers a more user-centric approach to data analysis and is designed to provide valuable insights into how users interact with the site. Unlike Universal Analytics, which focuses on sessions and page views, GA4 tracks user actions at a more granular level, allowing website owners to better understand user behavior and optimize the user experience more effectively.

One of the main differences between GA4 and UA is that GA4 is designed to be more flexible and scalable, allowing users to monitor multiple devices and platforms in one place. Additionally, GA4 offers advanced features such as user flow analysis, enhanced event tracking, and event-based conversion reports. In contrast, UA is more limited in terms of features and does not support advanced event tracking.

Universal Analytics is Coming to an End!

Google announced the so-called “Google Analytics 4” (GA4) back in October 2020… and now, even though we might have pretended not to see it, Google is forcing us to switch to GA4 by July 1, 2023. Remember that GA4 does not collect data from UA, so it’s important to start using GA4 as soon as possible to build a history for your site and not lose any important information.

If you don’t install the Google Analytics 4 (GA4) property on your site, you will lose all previously collected data in UA, as they will not migrate from one property to another, since the data collection methods are different. Additionally, when you start an account in GA4, it begins empty, meaning without any data. Therefore, it’s important to install GA4 as soon as possible, to ensure that your data starts being collected on the new platform and that you don’t lose any important data.

If you’re not sure how to install the new property, I suggest looking at this article that teaches how to install GA4.

What’s Going to Happen?

The first thing you need to know is that until July 1, 2023, you can continue using and collecting new data in your Universal Analytics properties. But what will happen after?

From July 1, 2023, you will still be able to access the data that was previously collected in your Universal Analytics property for at least six months. So, pay attention: it’s important to export historical reports while you still can, because the data is important and we don’t want to lose it, right?

If you haven’t yet created your new GA4 property, Google’s Setup Assistant can create one for you. This new GA4 property will have some of the same basic features, such as goals/conversions and Google Ads links, that you have in your corresponding Universal Analytics property. I recommend you do the setup soon, but if you don’t, a notification banner will appear.

Stay alert, as in the coming months, Google will announce a future date when existing Universal Analytics properties will no longer be available. After that date, you will no longer be able to view your Universal Analytics reports in the Analytics interface or access your Universal Analytics data through the API.

I highly recommend that you make the switch to Google Analytics 4 as soon as possible. By doing so, you can build the necessary data and usage history in the new experience, preparing yourself for continuity when Universal Analytics is no longer available.

The post Universal Analytics (UA) Out, Google Analytics 4 (GA4) In first appeared on Caipirinha Digital

Structured data have already become a part of our SEO life. If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about, they are codes added to each of your pages that provide structured information to search engines. These codes facilitate the categorization of your site and the display of extra elements in search results.

The entity responsible for publishing this structured format is Schema.org, a collaborative community with participation from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Yandex, and many more. I suggest you read this article here.

Why Use Structured Data for AUTHOR?

To clarify, the Author property is not new. What’s new is Google’s request for us to use it in addition to structured article data!

The main goal of using author data is to help Google eliminate ambiguities and differentiate authors with similar names.

Another advantage is that it gathers all the information about the author of the article, such as their social networks, other websites they contribute to, publications, etc. This increases the chances of an enriched snippet like the one demonstrated here.

This function can also be fulfilled by sameAs, but now, the Author property assumes this function in a more complete and direct manner.

I don’t know about you, but since it has been recommended by Google in this way, I imagine it is more efficient.

This property should point to the author’s biography since Google’s site quality determinants are usually manually instructed to search for these pages.

How to Use the Author Property

Make sure the biography page provides as much information as possible about the author. A page with little information can be responsible for classifying your content as weak! See Google’s recommendation to avoid confusion with authors of similar names:

“So, my recommendation here would be at least a link to a common page (…) where you say everything that comes together for this author. It could be something like a social network profile page, for example, and use that on the different author pages you have when you’re writing, so that when our systems look at an article and see an associated author page, they can recognize that this is the same author who wrote something else. And we can group that by entity, and we do that perhaps based on this common social network profile that exists.”

John Mueller, Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google

Below we leave you a simple example of an author property that you can use in your blog articles. You can add more elements like date and place of birth, death, etc. It can be much more complete, but avoid putting less information than what is here. Just replace the texts that are in bold and italic with what is asked for:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "Article",
"mainEntityOfPage": {
"@type": "WebPage",
"@id": "YOUR POST'S URL"
},
"headline": "YOUR ARTICLE'S NAME",
"image": "URL OF AN IMAGE FROM YOUR ARTICLE", 
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "AUTHOR'S NAME",
"description": "A BRIEF RELEVANT DESCRIPTION OF THE AUTHOR",
"url": "AUTHOR'S BIO URL",
"sameAs": "SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE URL"
}, 
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "COULD BE YOUR BLOG'S GENERAL URL",
"logo": {
"@type": "ImageObject",
"url": "YOUR BLOG'S LOGO URL"
}
},
"datePublished": "YYYY-MM-DD",
"dateModified": "YYYY-MM-DD"
}
</script>

Where to Add Structured Data in Your Post

There are several options for adding structured data to your articles. There are a number of plugins that fill in Schema for you, like Yoast!. However, if you want more control over your site’s structured data, I would recommend manually adding your Schema data.

To do it manually, if you understand more about programming, just add it between the <HEAD> and </HEAD> tags of your article. Another option is through the creation of a custom HTML element at the beginning of your text.

I see many people recommending implementing Schema with Google Tag Manager. I would say to avoid it, as while it works well for Google searches, it might limit a bit or not work correctly in searches performed by other sites.

How to Know If Structured Data Is Correct?

To verify if they are correct, I would recommend going through two tools:

Markup Validator: This site will validate the structured data of your site, checking for any errors such as a missing comma or bracket.

Rich Results Test: This test checks if the structured data you placed on your site are sufficient to be displayed in Google’s rich search results.

To conclude, it’s always good to pass your post through both tools since each one checks a different aspect. I hope that one day Google will create a tool that does both, but for now, we have to use both.

I hope this post has helped you to understand the importance of structured data in the world of SEO. These elements are crucial for search results and SEO performance.

If you have any questions or if anything is unclear, please feel free to ask in the comments below!

The post Google Recommends the Use of AUTHOR PROPERTY first appeared on Caipirinha Digital

For your website to appear in a Google search, it needs to be indexed. If you’re not sure how this happens, I suggest you read this article in the ‘How Does Google Work?’ section.

Now, if you know what I’m talking about, how can you find out if Google is aware of your website’s existence?

The easiest way: searching on Google

The quickest way is to do a specific search of your site on Google using the command site:yoursite.com. This search will show you if there are any available pages from the pointed URL. For example:

There you’ll find a list of some of your URLs that exist in Google’s records. Be careful, because the number of available pages that appear in the search (which in the case of Caipirinha are 16) IS NOT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF INDEXED PAGES.

The site: search is not complete nor should it be used as a diagnostic tool, but it helps to quickly see if Google knows you exist.

The most recommended: Google Search Console

To know exactly how many pages of your site Google has indexed and the status of each one, the most efficient way is to use Google Search Console. If you don’t have Search Console installed on your site yet, you need to install it urgently!

GSC is the free tool that gives you information related to your organic traffic. Analytics tells you what happens inside your site and Search Console what happens outside, in terms of organic searches.

Within Search Console, you can see how your pages appear in searches, as well as the exact number of pages that are indexed.

There, both in the general description and in coverage, you can see exactly how many pages are indexed.

To conclude

Don’t despair if you do a search with the site: command and almost nothing comes up. This command was not made to be precise, and it’s just a small sample of what you have

And, if you still don’t have Search Console installed… What are you waiting for?

The post How to Know if My Website is on Google? first appeared on Caipirinha Digital

Hosting service is inevitable for any website. It works like this: if you want your content published on the internet, it needs to be stored somewhere. To put it in very simple terms, it’s like a public computer, where visitors to your site come to see your content.

Hosting services are offered by companies like Hostgator, Bluehost, GoDaddy, among others. Usually in two ways:

So… is dedicated hosting better for Google?

To answer directly: NO.

Google does not differentiate in any way the type of hosting you have. In fact, from the outside, it is almost impossible to tell the system in which the site is hosted: single server, a group of servers, a data center, or multiple data centers.

The only thing you need to keep an eye on, and it’s not new, is your site’s speed. Hosting types, both shared and dedicated, can become overloaded and make your site very slow.

Although dedicated services are usually faster, as the server traffic is only yours, this is not the rule. They can also become overloaded or simply be slow.

So, if you have a small business and don’t want to invest in a dedicated system, it’s okay to host your site in a shared manner. Just make sure the service offered is of quality, keeps your site’s speed high, and doesn’t have too many downtimes.

What if the other sites on the server are bad?

This is a very valid doubt, as one of the aspects Google uses is how relevant and trustworthy your site is. What then happens if my website is sharing an IP with a bunch of unreliable sites?

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

Besides, most hosting services (at least the best ones) monitor these things, and Google’s artificial intelligence is developed enough to recognize each site individually.

Each site is treated according to its own merits, and not in comparison with the neighbors.

Is it worth investing in dedicated hosting?

For SEO purposes, no. It is worth investing in quality hosting that supports the amount of traffic consistent with your business and that is stable.

Reasons to invest in dedicated hosting depend on your business needs. Some examples would be if your business requires extra levels of security or if you regularly receive high volumes of traffic.

Unless the need comes from your business, invest in a good shared hosting system, and that’s it. There are good plans out there starting from US$3 per month!

The post Does Shared Hosting Affect SEO? first appeared on Caipirinha Digital

Google Analytics is a very useful tool for measuring and optimizing your website or app. However, the number of graphs and different terms can be intimidating.

We’ve compiled a list of typical Google Analytics vocabulary to help you demystify the tool!

Missing any word? Have you come across any term that’s not on this list?

Leave it in the comments and we’ll explain it!

The post Google Analytics Vocabulary first appeared on Caipirinha Digital

Let’s take the Page and Screen (Engagement) report as an example.

It shows the pages of the site by views, users, new users, average views per user, etc.

If for some reason I want to see only visits from Brazil:

Click on Add Comparison, then choose the desired dimension, and click Apply.

The report is adjusted to show only visits where the user was in Brazil.

Any changes made to the pre-existing reports are visible only at the moment you make them; they are not saved. To create comprehensive reports that are saved, you have to use Data Studio, which we will discuss in a future article.

Home

It provides a summary of your website’s activity.

Honestly, it’s a page used to quickly convey an idea of what’s happening on your site. However, for any optimization decisions, there are several factors to consider that won’t be found here. In the real world, we rarely use any information from this page, except perhaps when we need to quickly answer a question during a meeting.

It allows for report customization, but the customizations are not saved in the account.

Real Time

This page is primarily used to check if the Analytics code is installed correctly. It displays the real-time activity on your website for the last 30 minutes. One interesting but not particularly useful feature is that by clicking on “View User Summary” (top right corner), you can see everything about a random user who is currently on your site.

Life cycle

When we enter the Google Analytics 4 tool, one of the first (and most important) things you notice is the distribution of predefined reports. If you are used to the UA version, the biggest difference is that they are now organized following a marketing funnel, and there are far fewer reports.

Inside, there are 4 subcategories:

Acquisition: how a user would reach your site
Engagement: how they interact with your site
Monetization: relates to your goals or sales
Retention: data about audience loyalty

Let’s now look at each of these panels individually.

Acquisition

The Acquisition reports show us the source of traffic that brought users to our website. In other words, it answers the question: WHERE DO THEY COME FROM?

There are three predefined reports within Acquisition:

Engagement

A summary of your page’s engagement. These reports show you what users do on your page. Information like average time, sessions per user, engagement in the last 30 minutes, events, etc.

Like the previous reports, it has 3 divisions:

Screen Pages

Information about each of your pages: number of visits, views, average time, etc. It automatically shows you the pages by name, but you can change it to URL or group it by content type.

Monetization

Everything related to the monetization of your website and profit.

It is particularly useful for e-commerce, but can be used for any type of conversion as long as it is configured as such.

It is divided into 4 reports:

Retention

The retention report shows how your application or website is able to retain visitors. Here you will find information such as New Users vs. Returning Users, retention/engagement by cohort (user categories), user value, etc.

Users

Here you will find all the specific information identifying the users of your site (and your audience).

It is divided into demographic and technological information.

Demographic Information

Everything related to information about your audience: geography, age, gender, interests, etc.

The data is collected from a combination of what is in your visitors’ Google profiles and their online behavior.

Technology

Technology-related data. In the case of Caipirinha, all traffic comes from the web, but if you have an app, for example, there would be information about Web, iOS, and Android.

In addition to the breakdown by platforms you use, it’s also possible to see the technology breakdown of your audience, whether they access your site via mobile, or if they use Google Chrome, for example.

This type of information is useful for optimizing your website to perform well on the type of technology your audience uses.

The post Google Analytics 4 reports first appeared on Caipirinha Digital