The Seotistics newsletter is written by Marco Giordano, a Data/Web Analyst with the goal of combining business and web data. Tired of the usual boring Analytics content without any business impact? Seotistics teaches you how to use Analytics, web data and even content in your workflow while helping you with Strategy.
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πΉ Small Websites: Analytics Stack + Strategy Guide
Published about 8 hours agoΒ β’Β 6 min read
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Use Data Or Be Used By Data!
The February 23 issue of Seotistics is here for you!
It's common to discuss about market saturation and how everything is hopeless.
I've always been saying that this is NOT true and you can always diversify.
There is hope for everyone, as long as you offer something valuable.
P.S. I am writing a longer article on this topic too.
P.P.S. Next issue is the #150 π
Please move this email to your Primary inbox or reply to it. This is to prevent Seotistics goes into spam by accident. Gmail users can read this tutorial to do it.
My new course about Analytics can be preordered in like 1-2 weeks from now.
Those who voted will receive special benefits.
This will be for Analysts or everyone wanting to explore Web Data in general, not only SEO.
The topics I am planning to cover are:
Coding in general (Python, SQL, R - all aided by LLMs)
LLMs and how to use them properly
Auditing websites and deeper business considerations (so not only SEO)
The topics covered in this newsletter
If you forgot to vote and want to be included in future communications, please contact me.
I will speak at MeasureCamp Milan on March 21, let me know if you are going too!
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βοΈ I am still working on content for my website π
The Situation Today
Small websites (as always) keep facing tougher competition and saturation.
This is very much true in the Anglosphere but not so much in other countries.
I've handled websites all around the globe and the difference is stark.
BUT
This doesn't mean you can't do business as a small business or new player.
A Small (& Cheap) Data Stack
Small players can afford to pay a few bucks and get amazing results.
Be sure to have this:
Search Console (free)
Google Analytics 4 (mostly free)
Google Tag Manager (just the events you need, free)
Bing Webmasters Tools (free)
BigQuery (also cheap)
Dataform (free) + GA4Dataform (free tier is fine)
Looker Studio (also free)
The plan is to use GSC/Bing for measuring organic traffic and get juicy audience data (i.e. keywords).
GA4 is your reference for all the traffic and for tracking what happens inside your website.
Tracking is handled via GTM.
Finally, storage is assigned to BigQuery and its powerful native connectors to both GSC and GA4.
You pay a few bucks for BigQuery... that's it. Wow, so expensive! This can be a $5/month stack or even cheaper lol
Small websites are affected by heavy anonymization and thresholding and BigQuery gets you more data.
To process data and make them more usable, Dataform is a free solution by Google.
(I prefer DBT but it adds even more complexity).
This step isn't mandatory, many small websites wouldn't even need processing.
N.B. If you are small small you just need to have GSC and GA4, eventually some events for GTM.
Growth first, technicalities later but store your data as soon as possible!
The (Data) Difference With Big Players
Other than complexity and costs, Web Analytics is the same:
get data
find insights (if any and if they apply to you)
take action
If you are focusing too much on the tech stack, it means you are losing sight of the goal.
I recommend approaching data as an extension of business/marketing so it fits naturally.
If you approach marketing as a standalone activity, it will fail too.
How To Overpower Bigger Opponents
Being small has its perks, you don't need to view yourself as inferior.
Big websites are slow and often lack the same passion that you have...
in most cases, their content quality is also less than optimal.
All of these reasons open up new spaces for you to creep in.
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Small websites give you more flexibility and simplicity at the cost of lacking most resources and (often) a solid brand.
This isn't always true though... you can be small and have a niche brand.
Most importantly, you can afford to do things properly from the ground up.
Large companies are a mess and are too late to be saved.
P.S. This time my resources section is quite big, don't forget to scroll down and check it out!
Flanking
As seen last time, you can attack one topic/cluster instead of going for a frontal attack.
You stand no chance against a big website...
Think about Semrush/Ahrefs' blogs.
They are high quality and it's hard to match the level of their infographics and visual content.
If you ever happen to cover the same topics... just don't think of SEO as your primary channel!
Having more and diverse information won't make you rank because they have a stronger backlink profile and are actual brands.
You can do the following though:
select a topic where they are weak
expand on that and go beyond the nice visuals
go all in on that
use DIFFERENT channels
Content audits are where many websites offer vague and generic info that doesn't help businesses.
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You would never use 3rd-party data when you have access to your own...
see? You can do a lot of debunking and education.
Most content is generic and you can simply position yourself as a contrarian, as long as what you say can be proven.
For content auditing, you see that my article is clearly flanking what others do:
I don't talk about the usual simple but wrong approach
It covers much more than SEO
There are no generic definitions
This tactic requires you actually know what to do and your topic/audience.
Bypass
This is the best scenario.
Instead of looking for fights, you go your way.
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In SEO, I think it's impossible to target new markets or opportunities due to how Google is saturated and also because Reddit/Quora would rank now π.
(Mind you, US/EN markets, if you want to rank in Myanmar, go ahead)
For other channels, this strategy is always reliable as there actually are untapped markets.
This is what Seotistics also does, as the (mainstream) Web Analytics industry follows different rules:
mostly interested in tech over insights
weak domain knowledge
extreme focus on Google tools (although I still talk about them all time lol)
Seotistics bypasses the current players and focuses on the analytical side with a bit of insider knowledge.
It's a new mix and didn't actually copy anyone, although I could try to apply flanking when competing on specific topics, e.g. content audits.
Some people would define this as content arbitrage:
build your USP, study positioning and combine different disciplines.
This is the advice I can give you after years of testing...
Dark Social (& Hidden Engagement)
This is the most important concept in Digital Marketing for me.
We are under the spell that everything can be tracked and privacy doesn't exist.
Well, we aren't able to correctly attribute or identify some traffic.
This often includes word-of-mouth and sharing content in private circles.
Yes, far from the reach of nasty LLMs...
If you've followed Seotistics enough, you know that I am against the obsession for accuracy.
(More in the future Seotistics issues π).
An Example With Seotistics
My gameplay is simple: outmaneuver and diversify.
Seotistics can't compete against SaaS companies 1:1 or even talk about GTM (which is saturated).
For this reason I opted to invest in great content regardless of Organic Search.
You will still be featured by LLMs, get branded searches and rank on Google.
Clean the mess later, first you need juice.
My data stack is the same that I recommended before.
But... I built my personal knowledge base as expressed before. This is the future of content.
Now, people can target even longer queries with LLMs so YOU have more chances to rank.
(Will show more about my website in the next issues).
If you want to learn how to think like an analyst for every business, say no more:
The Seotistics newsletter is written by Marco Giordano, a Data/Web Analyst with the goal of combining business and web data. Tired of the usual boring Analytics content without any business impact? Seotistics teaches you how to use Analytics, web data and even content in your workflow while helping you with Strategy.
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