How Target.com Tracks Web Analytics and SEO

Web Analytics Overview

Web analytics are important for companies to study to get a better understanding of their customers behavior. Examples of metrics that companies should track are number of visitors, bounce rate, session duration, and conversion rate. All these metrics can help a company improve their online presence to create a more user- friendly experience for customers.  

6 reasons why website analytics are important for business growth:

1.     Get to know your visitors well and enhance user experience

2.     Know your best content and focus on it 

3.     It helps your site’s SEO

4.     Track top referrals and build strategies to gain more of them

5.     Utilize your top outbound links as partnership opportunities

6.     Easily track your eCommerce metrics and utilize them for more sales

(Rai, 2019).

SEO Overview

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a website by making sure the website appears highly on the results page of a search engine. Both web analytics and SEO are important features for companies to track to see success. “61% of marketers say that improving their SEO and improve their online presence is a top priority” (Zheng, 2021). Throughout this blog, Target will be researched on how they use web analytics and SEO to monitor visitor traffic and customer satisfaction. 

Target

Target is a general merchandise retailer located all around the United States. Target’s tagline is “Expect More. Pay Less” and has been since 1994. As of 2020, Target has brought in $93.6 billion dollars in total revenue and have 1,926 stores in the United States. “In the first half of 2020, Target.com saw 10 million new digital guests. Target made pivotal moves into omnichannel transformation and digital commerce leadership to help guide its growth and present new opportunities to advertisers” (Jungle Topp, 2021). Target has done a great job with digital by interacting with customers. Target is active on social media platforms and focuses on engagement rates by sharing customer photos frequently. 

 

 

History of Target Customer Tracking 

Target is a company that has been on top of tracking customer behavior since the start of it all. In 2012, a story went viral when Target found out a girl was pregnant before her own father did. Target was able to track customer behavior using a number ID that tracks all purchases that have been made by a specific customer. Andrew Pole was a Target statistician at the time, and he was able to predict if a female was pregnant based on her recent purchases at Target. “As Pole’s computers crawled through data, he was able to identify about 25 products that, when analyzed together, allowed him toa assign each shopper a “pregnancy prediction” score. More important he could also estimate her due date to within a small window, so Target could send coupons timed to very specific stages of her pregnancy” (Hill, 2012). Target is a company that has been known for accurately tracking customer behavior. Throughout the years they have found ways to continue this by staying on top of trends and realizing what products predict certain future outcomes. Below is an image of website and mobile visits to Target.com as you can see this data varies frequently, in order to continue a positive trend Target can capitalize on data tracking techniques to better market to their target audience. 

 

Web Analytics and Data Tracking Methods 

Target began really focusing on their online presence while other retailers were making the mistake of treating their website as an “add-on” to the store. “The retailer was careful to establish the value of data, analytics, and algorithms for the e-commerce site first before scaling up its capabilities to make decisions and solve problems in other areas of business, such as marketing, store sales, and the supply chain” (Gerdeman, 2018). Target is always staying ahead of their competitors when it comes to web analytics and tracking customers. Research from 2015 shows that Target was able to enhance the shopper experience with beacon technology. “Small devices were located throughout each store that send push notifications to shoppers who have downloaded the Target app, alerting them to sales, product recommendations, and special offers” (Vigroux, 2015). This is a great way to encourage customers to sign up for the mobile app.  Target also collects data by offering guest satisfaction surveys. This allows Target to identify trends between customers to improve their marketing strategies. 

 

Target also uses Teradata and Tableau software to handle large amounts of data and then be able to visualize and interpret those results accurately. According to Lori Gao, “My favorite project so far was working with the Strategic Pricing team to analyze how much of what our guests buy is driven by the offers they find in our Weekly Ad” (Gao, 2017). 

Target.com Recommendations to Improve SEO

SEO is what companies can track to make sure their results are high on a search engine page. Target has always been a top brand on search engines along with popular companies like Walmart and Amazon. A beneficial on-page approach for Target.com would be doorway pages. “The main objective of doorway pages is to attain a high ranking for multiple keywords or terms” (West Virginia University, 2022). Target can improve their search results by finding more ways to redirect the customer to their site when they are looking for a specific product. 

 

Wrapping Up

Target is a well-known company that has been successful when it comes to improving their website and mobile app based on customer needs. Target currently tracks customers to improve their experience by understanding past purchases and predicting what the customer might do next. Target uses Tableau software to handle these large amounts of data and continues to put their data analysis team to work to find current shopping trends. Target can keep track of SEO using various tools online to continue to stay ahead of their competition. Some top tools for SEO are Semrush, Google Search Console, KWfinder, and Ahrefs. Overall, Target will continue seeing success if they focus on web analytics and SEO findings to improve customer experiences. 

 

 

 

References 

 

Gao, L. (2017). Meet the Target Analytics Network. A bullseye view. 

    https://corporate.target.com/article/2014/04/Meet-the-Target-Analytics-Network

 

Gerdeman, D. (2018). On Target: Rethinking the Retail Website. Forbes. 

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2018/12/04/on-target-rethinking-the-retail-

    website/?sh=58b9b29116fb

 

Hill, K. (2012). How Target Figured out a Teen Girl was Pregnant Before Her Father Did. Forbes. 

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-

    pregnant-before-her-father-did/?sh=2f89ae176668

 

Jungle Topp. (2021). The Complete Guide to Target.com Advertising. 

    https://jungletopp.com/target-advertising-guide/

Rai, S. (2019). 6 Reasons Why Website Analytics are Important for your Business Growth. 

    Monster Insights. https://www.monsterinsights.com/reasons-why-website-analytics-is-

    important-for-your-business-growth/

 

Vigroux, P. (2015). How Target Uses Data to Increase Customer Satisfaction. Skeepers. 

    https://www.skeepers.io/en/blog/target-uses-data-increase-customer-satisfaction

 

Zheng, D. (2021). 5 Advantages and Benefits of SEO of Your Website. The Daily Egg. 

    https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/benefits/