Target's Web Analytics & SEO
Disclaimer:
Originally, I planned on writing this assignment on DSW. However, it appears that DSW has blocked SEMrush from retrieving information from their site. Although, I may have continued on with DSW regardless of this roadblock, I decided to proceed with a different online retailer: Target.
Target’s SEO Approach
“Eighty nine percent of consumers use search engines to help make their purchasing decisions,” Lebedeva wrote in 2017. She continues, “To get people to buy from your company, you need to make your site visible at some point in the buyer’s journey, which means you need to definitely be visible on the search results,” (2017). According to SEMrush research of the top 25 e-commerce retailers in the United States, a majority of their traffic (49.3 percent) is direct traffic, which can be explained by long-term brand familiarity (Lebedeva, 2017).
In 2017, Target was ranked in the top five of online retailers by its organic traffic. This high rating in organic traffic “proves that SEO pays off in the long run: you attract quality traffic in large volumes without paying for it directly,” (Lebedeva, 2017). According to Adam Heitzman, 53 percent of website traffic for all online retailers comes from organic search, and only 27 percent of website traffic comes from paid search, (2021). For a comparison on Target specifically, in 2017 Target received 63,100,000 in organic traffic and only 1,900,000 in paid traffic (see above). However, this lets us know that Target does indeed use both SEO and paid search tools to bring traffic to their website. Target also uses product listing ads and display ads to drive customers to their website to complete sales.
Mentioned so far, Target receives traffic from organic search, paid search, product listing ads and display ads, and additionally Target also receives traffic from social media. On Facebook and Instagram, Target uses sponsored social media ads including partnered ads with Disney+, Unbothered, and Food Network according to the Facebook Ad Library, (2021). Another source from which Target receives traffic is from referral websites or links. As of March 2021, Target received 15.3 percent (35.2 million) of its traffic from referrals, (SEMrush, 2021).
Using Collected Data
In 2014, Target had more than 1,600 team members who worked in their Business Intelligence and Analytics department, (Target). “One of Target Analytics Network’s major goals is to provide important insights that influence Target’s business. To do it, network members work together to gather the necessary information, analyze the data and present their findings to Target teams and business partners who need it,” (Target, 2014). In 2008, Target had a relatively new e-commerce website, but the company was hit hard by the financial crash in the United States, (Gerdeman, 2018). During that time, Target noticed they had a “big pile of e-commerce data” and not a clue how to make sense of it. “Target had to make this big shift from thinking only about retailing to also thinking about data. And to do that, data had to become the big asset they needed to develop to provide new opportunities,” Harvard Business School Professor Srikant M. Datar said, (Gerdeman, 2018). Target went on to hire data experts and create an entrepreneurial culture based on data experimentation following the mantra: develop, test, measure, (Gerdeman, 2018). In the end, Target focused on a speedy website, culling data, and seeing how that data could be used to specifically help Target’s web arm before trickling down to assist with its brick-and-mortar stores. “Target realized the importance of devoting the time, attention, skill, and strategy to developing data and analytics competencies in a critical part of the business—its e-commerce site—before rolling out these capabilities more broadly,” Datar said, (Gerdeman, 2018).
Target uses their web analytical data to improve shopping experiences and increase conversion – as would be the goal of any online retailer. In a 2014 case study, Corrigan et.al. states, “Target’s goal is to collect as much data as possible on every individual who shops at one of its brick-and-mortar stores or online at Target.com. These data help to build a guest portrait that Target uses to improve its marketing ROI (return on investment).”
Is on-page SEO set up to facilitate better data collection?
To better understand whether Target has on-page SEO set up to facilitate better data collection, one must first understand that on-page SEO “refers to any optimization that you control and include on your website. With on-page optimizations you aim to make your website more usable and valuable to users to improve your rankings or visibility in search results on Google, Bing, and other search engines,” (WebFX, n.d.). WebFX goes on to list on-page optimization factors websites should focus on:
· URL
· Title tag
· Meta description
· Heading tags
· Alt Tags
· Keywords
· Content
· Speed
· Internal linking
· Images
· Mobile friendliness
(n.d.)
Additionally, WebFX lists some on-page SEO action items:
· Optimizing your title tags and meta descriptions
· Writing in-depth, quality content
· Cleaning up your site’s code
· Streamlining your site’s navigation
· Speeding up your website
(n.d.)
Following these suggestions for optimizing on-page SEO, we can take a look at Target’s website and data collected by SEOquake and SEMrush to see that because Target is such a well-established brand, they are already set up for success. Target’s title tag is “Target: Expect More. Pay Less,” (SEOquake, n.d.), and their meta description is “Shop Target online and in store for everything from groceries and essentials to clothing and electronics. Choose contactless pickup or delivery today,” (SEOquake, n.d.).
(SEOquake, n.d.)The Target website is very clean and visually appealing. It is easily navigable because of the easily identifiable sections and departments, as well as the internally linking images, taking the customer exactly where they want to go. Because the Target website is primarily for e-commerce, the site naturally lacks in-depth, quality content in the form of writing. This might be one of the weaknesses for Target, as SEMrush indicates 141 possible content ideas in order to improve Target’s organic traffic (2021).
Improvements for Target
As mentioned earlier, Target lacks long form in-depth written content, which might be acceptable considering they are an online retailer and customers go to the site to make purchases and not necessarily see it as a destination for reading content. However, upon exploring the Target website, one might happen on the “Target Finds” category under the “What’s New” drop down from the menu bar on the home page. This lesser-known area of the Target website showcases a blog-like section with a magazine-esque feel. This section of the website features Trends, Ideas, Spotlight, and Fun Stuff and has an emphasis on visuals of products and is minimal on written content. Target might be able to squeak a little higher in rankings if they maximized written content in this section of the website for search engine optimization purposes.
(Target, n.d.)
References
Corrigan, H., Craciun, G., Powell, A. (2014, July). How Does Target Know So Much About Its Customers? Utilizing Customer Analytics to Make Marketing Decisions. Marketing Education Review. 24. 159-166. 10.2753/MER1052-8008240206.
Facebook Ad Library. (2021, April). Ads from Target. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/ads/library/?active_status=all&ad_type=all&country=US&view_all_page_id=8103318119&sort_data[direction]=desc&sort_data[mode]=relevancy_monthly_grouped&search_type=page
Gerdeman, D. (2018, December 4). On Target: Rethinking The Retail Website. Retrieved fromhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2018/12/04/on-target-rethinking-the-retail-website/?sh=5756cc6416fb
Heitzman, A. (2021, March 3). Organic vs. Paid Search: (66 Astonishing) Statistics for 2021. Retrieved from https://www.highervisibility.com/blog/organic-vs-paid-search-statistics/
Lebedeva, A. (2017, June 05). How Leading e-Commerce Companies Drive Traffic to Their Websites. Retrieved from https://www.semrush.com/blog/how-leading-e-commerce-companies-drive-traffic-to-their-websites/
SEMrush. (2021). On Page SEO Checker: Target. Retrieved from https://www.semrush.com/on-page-seo-checker/5180877/overview/
SEMrush. (2021, March). Traffic Analysis: target.com. Retrieved from https://www.semrush.com/analytics/traffic/journey/target.com
SEOquake. (n.d.). Page Info. Retrieved from chrome-extension://akdgnmcogleenhbclghghlkkdndkjdjc/common.html?id=faf5a8c34298c9a1457befedcc0a461b
Target. (2014, April 18). Meet the Target Analytics Network. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/article/2014/04/meet-the-target-analytics-network
Target. (n.d.). Target. Retrieved from https://www.target.com/
Target. (n.d.). Target Finds. Retrieved from https://www.target.com/finds?lnk=TF_GDD
WebFX. (n.d.). What Is On-Page SEO? (And How to Do It). Retrieved from https://www.webfx.com/internet-marketing/what-is-on-page-seo.html
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