Analyzing Keywords

NetTracker enables you to specify the rules it will use to track the keywords that visitors used in search engines to find your Web site. NetTracker can parse keywords from the query string of the referring page or from the referring page itself. When NetTracker parses keywords from the referring page itself, it ignores the query string; instead, it uses the page value of the referrer as the keywords for the request. Keyword statistics appear on the Keyword Summary.

Note: NetTracker contains pre-configured keywords that use regular expressions. You should not modify the pre-configured keywords unless you have a particular need to do so after you review your log files. (For details about regular expressions, see "Using Regular Expressions with NetTracker".)

Note: If you want NetTracker to search all referrers for a specific parameter, you should add that parameter to the (Auto detect) keyword parsing rule, instead of creating a new keyword parsing rule. See "Specifying Parameters for the Keyword Rule".

Creating a Keyword Parsing Rule

To create a keyword parsing rule:
  1. Click the Options tab.
  2. In the left-hand panel, click Keywords under Marketing.
  3. Click Add.
  4. In the Description box, enter a description of the rule.
  5. In the Type of rule list, select an option.
    • To parse keywords from the query string of the referring page, select Query String.
    • To parse keywords from the referring page itself, select Page.
  6. Click Save Options and then click Continue.

If you selected a keyword parsing rule of type “query string,” you now need to specify the parameters that should belong to this keyword rule. Continue with "Specifying Parameters for the Keyword Rule".

If you selected a keyword parsing rule of type “page,” the text that appears after the last slash in the page will be used as the keywords. If you want to limit the pages that are parsed for keywords by more than just the referrer, you can configure NetTracker to only parse pages that contain at least one of a set of text strings you specify. You specify the text strings by following the instructions for "Specifying Parameters for the Keyword Rule". Otherwise, skip to "Specifying Referrers for a Rule".

Specifying Parameters for the Keyword Rule

If you are specifying parameters immediately after creating the keyword parsing rule, continue with step 3. Otherwise, start with step 1.

To specify parameters for the keyword rule:
  1. Click the Options tab.
  2. In the left-hand panel, click Keywords under Marketing.
  3. Select the keyword rule and click Parameters.
  4. Click Add.
  5. For a keyword parsing rule of type “query string,” enter the name of a parameter that contains keyword values. For a keyword parsing rule of type “page,” enter a literal string found within the referring page that identifies the pages from which keywords should be parsed. Click Add.
  6. The parameter you entered will be used to look for keywords in all new data you import from now on. If this is what you want or if you want to add more parameters at this time, click Continue. If you want the parameter to be used to look for keywords in data you have already imported, you will need to delete all the data in your profile and reimport your log files. (Note: If you do not still have all the log files you have imported into this profile, you will lose data permanently by choosing this option.) To delete your profile data, click Delete Profile Data.

Now you need to specify which referrers should be searched using the keyword rule.

Specifying Referrers for a Rule

To specify referrers for a rule:
  1. Click the Options tab.
  2. In the left-hand panel, click Keywords under Marketing.
  3. Select the keyword rule and click Included Referrers.
  4. Click Add.
  5. Enter a filter that describes a referrer to whom this keyword rule should be applied and click Add. (For details on filters, see "Filtering a NetTracker Option".)
  6. The keyword rule will be applied to this referrer in all new data you import from now on. If this is what you want or if you have more referrers to add at this time, click Continue. If you want the keyword rule to be applied to this referrer in data you have already imported, you will need to delete all the data in your profile and reimport your log files. (Note: If you do not still have all the log files you have imported into this profile, you will lose data permanently by choosing this option.) To delete your profile data, click Delete Profile Data.

Specifying an Excluded URL for a Keyword Rule

You can specify URLs within the included referrer that you do not want to be searched using the keyword rule.

To specify an excluded URL:
  1. Click the Options tab.
  2. In the left-hand panel, click Keywords under Marketing.
  3. Select the keyword rule and click Excluded URLs.
  4. Click Add.
  5. Enter a filter that describes a URL that should not be searched using the keyword rule and click Add. (For details on filters, see "Filtering a NetTracker Option".)
  6. This URL will not be searched using the keyword rule in all new data you import from now on. If this is what you want or if you have more URLs to add at this time, click Continue. If you want this URL to not be searched using the keyword rule in data you have already imported, you will need to delete all the data in your profile and reimport your log files. (Note: If you do not still have all the log files you have imported into this profile, you will lose data permanently by choosing this option.) To delete your profile data, click Delete Profile Data.

Editing Keyword Rules

You can make changes to the keyword rules at the list of rules.

To
Select the rule in the list and
Change the name or type of rule
Click Edit
Delete a rule
Click Delete
Change the parameters for the rule
Click Parameters
Change the included referrers for the rule
Click Included Referrers
Change the excluded URLs for the rule
Click Excluded URLs

Editing Parameters for a Rule

You can make changes to the parameters for a keyword rule at the list of parameters.

To
Select the parameter and
Delete a parameter
Click Delete
Edit a parameter
Click Edit

Editing the Included Referrers or Included Sites for a Rule

You can make changes to the included referrers for a rule.

To
Select the referrer and
Delete an included referrer
Click Delete
Edit an included referrer
Click Edit

Editing the Excluded URLs for a Rule

You can make changes to the excluded URLs for a rule at the list of URLs.

To
Select the URL and
Delete an excluded URL
Click Delete
Edit an excluded URL
Click Edit

Keyword Parsing Example

In summary, to specify the rules NetTracker will use to track the keywords that visitors used to find your Web site, you need to:

  1. Create a keyword parsing rule.
  2. Specify the parameters that will belong to this rule.
  3. Identify the referrers that will be searched for keywords using the keyword parsing rule.

For example, to track keywords from a search site located at example.com, where the URLs are in the format:

http://www.example.com/mysearch.cgi?searchterms=saints

and the parameter where search terms appear is searchterms, you would need to:

  1. Create a new keyword parsing rule named Example. (For details, see "Creating a Keyword Parsing Rule".)
  2. Specify a parameter named searchterms. (For details, see "Specifying Parameters for the Keyword Rule".) This instructs NetTracker to search query strings in referrals from example.com for the parameter searchterms, and extract the parameter's value as a keyword.
  3. Add example.com as a referrer using the filter that contain example.com. (For details, see "Specifying Referrers for a Rule".) This instructs NetTracker to search for keywords in referrals from example.com.