Troubleshooting Decline of Branded Keyword Searches

[netdiva_amy]

Hi,

Over the past year, I have seen a huge change in the distribution of our organic keyword traffic.

I'm trying to research why our branded keywords have gone down.  Google analytics only shows me impressions for the past three months.

Does anyone have ideas on how to explain this change in traffic?

Please see the attached chart.

Thanks!

branded-v-nonbranded-organic-search.jpg

[netdiva_amy]

It absolutely stands out, consistently as the top.  So basically, you're telling me that an enormous portion of my web traffic is unaccounted for (in my case about 25%).

Yep, if I add Keyword = (not provided) to this chart, it's pretty clear.  And it does look like it's wreaking havoc on my reporting.

Thanks a ton!

[firstconversion]

not provided isnt anything to do with Panda or Penguin. For pretty much every site its their #1 referring organic keyword - Google doe snot provide keyword info for users who are logged into their services anymore

Have you looked at your keywords? I would be surprised if (not provided) did not stand out massively

[netdiva_amy]

If "not provided" means Panda/Penguin, would that really affect our branded terms?  We still rank at the top for them....

Segments haven't changed.  I'm the only one that touches them.

Thanks!

[firstconversion]

Have you checked against (not provided)? That may well have swallowed a large chunk of branded

BTW, the big (not provided) switch was early March for the UK and it makes a heck of an impact on reporting

Other things to check:

have you stopped any marketing activities in other channels that would have driven brand traffic?

Are your segments correct? Double check, maybe someone changed whats in them. How are you handling (not provided) with respect to assigning brand or non brand?

Very unlikely: tracking code misfiring on your homepage i.e. affects brand count but not longtail

Stephen