Stupid question time: What's the difference between "following" a link and "viewing" it? Do you mean that some users go to a link from an advert and then click away from it a second later without really looking at it or reading it? What exactly is the distinction? And if my interpretation is anywhere near correct, does Google also start a clock ticking when one arrives at an advert?
I think I may have worded my definition badly. The "follow" refers to the link in the email or advert; the "view" refers to the email or advert itself. So you "follow" a link but "view" an email or advert.
I think the scenario you describe is probably very common, though, at least based on my own experience. I often follow links from emails only to close the page more or less straightaway if I don't think there's any content there that I want to consume. I'm actually not sure if Google tracks the amount of time spent on a site once someone clicks through to it, I'm afraid. I'm sure it would be quite interesting if they did; advertisers, after all, are charged per click, not per valuable lead generated.
Mike's 2nd definition seems to clear it up pretty well as far as follow and view goes.
With regards to knowing how much time a user spends on your site, the plain and simple answer is yes. Google does know how much time a user spends looking at any given page on your site. The more nuanced answer however is that, this is only true if you have Google Analytics installed on your website.
Seeing as almost everyone who has a website for any sort of marketing or sales purposes will probably have this installed ( I have it on my blog Digitalang for example) I think it's good enough to say that Google do know how long we spend on a site. Anonymous though it may be, Google know a LOT about what people like and don't like on the net! :)
Talking of blogs, Nick, could you consider enabling other types of commenting on your blog, please. At the moment you've got it pretty locked down to only certain types of account (Blogger, Type Pad, AIM, OpenID etc) I usually prefer to comment as my name and URL though as it lets people who read my comments and find them interesting read more of what I write - and vice versa if you comment on my blog for example :) You can change these under the Settings> Comments>Who Can Comment On This Blog option.
Looks like a great addition to a great series of books for professionals learning English.
ReplyDeleteStupid question time: What's the difference between "following" a link and "viewing" it? Do you mean that some users go to a link from an advert and then click away from it a second later without really looking at it or reading it? What exactly is the distinction? And if my interpretation is anywhere near correct, does Google also start a clock ticking when one arrives at an advert?
ReplyDeleteHi Michael,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your question.
I think I may have worded my definition badly. The "follow" refers to the link in the email or advert; the "view" refers to the email or advert itself. So you "follow" a link but "view" an email or advert.
I think the scenario you describe is probably very common, though, at least based on my own experience. I often follow links from emails only to close the page more or less straightaway if I don't think there's any content there that I want to consume. I'm actually not sure if Google tracks the amount of time spent on a site once someone clicks through to it, I'm afraid. I'm sure it would be quite interesting if they did; advertisers, after all, are charged per click, not per valuable lead generated.
Thanks for commenting.
Nick
Dear Mike and Nick,
ReplyDeleteMike's 2nd definition seems to clear it up pretty well as far as follow and view goes.
With regards to knowing how much time a user spends on your site, the plain and simple answer is yes. Google does know how much time a user spends looking at any given page on your site. The more nuanced answer however is that, this is only true if you have Google Analytics installed on your website.
Seeing as almost everyone who has a website for any sort of marketing or sales purposes will probably have this installed ( I have it on my blog Digitalang for example) I think it's good enough to say that Google do know how long we spend on a site. Anonymous though it may be, Google know a LOT about what people like and don't like on the net! :)
Talking of blogs, Nick, could you consider enabling other types of commenting on your blog, please. At the moment you've got it pretty locked down to only certain types of account (Blogger, Type Pad, AIM, OpenID etc) I usually prefer to comment as my name and URL though as it lets people who read my comments and find them interesting read more of what I write - and vice versa if you comment on my blog for example :) You can change these under the Settings> Comments>Who Can Comment On This Blog option.
Thanks and hope this helps!
Seth Dickens.
Many thanks for the response, Seth. And I've just updated my settings for you.
ReplyDelete