Case Study: How Saratoga Olive Oil May Use Web Analytics to Increase E-commerce Conversions

Saratoga Olive Oil Company (SOOC) was founded in 2011 by the Braidwood family, former pharmaceutical research consultants with a desire to “educate the public on healthy dietary choices” (Saratoga Olive Oil, n.d.). A decade later the company has three locations in Vermont and New York in the picturesque towns of Saratoga Spring, Lake Placid, and Burlington, as well as an online store. According to the company's website “Saratoga Olive Oil Company has been listed as one the top five stores in the world for olive oil selection and the retail destinations have been deemed as one of the top 10 most elegant shopping experiences in the world” (Saratoga Olive Oil Company, n.d.). In addition to olive oils, the company also sells gourmet vinegars, elevated pantry staples, kitchen accessories, and wedding as well as corporate gift options. SOOC utilizes Shopify for its e-commerce platform. 

How SOOC Collects Website Traffic and Consumer Behavior Data

There are a few different ways that I would speculate that SOOC is collecting website user data including utilization of a Facebook pixel, Hotjar, urchin tracking modules (UTMs), and Google Analytics. 

Facebook Pixel

Through the use of the Facebook Pixel Helper extension for Chrome, it can be determined that SOOC is using a Facebook Pixel on its website (Figure 1). 

Figure 1

Facebook Pixel Helper

Note. Sourced from Facebook Pixel Helper extension for Chrome

The Facebook pixel is an outstanding data collection tool for SOOC given that the code helps companies create custom audiences from visitors who engaged in website activities such as adding items to their cart, completing a purchase, or visiting specific product pages (Facebook, n.d.). These custom audiences can then be retargeted through Facebook ads. For example, through the use of the Facebook pixel, SOOC could learn that a customer added the Butter Olive Oil to their cart but never completed the purchase. Then through Facebook Ads Manager SOOC could send the consumer ads for 10% off their purchase with pictures of the Butter Olive Oil product both on Instagram and Facebook. 

Additionally, the Facebook pixel helps companies determine the types of consumers who visit their website and in turn can aid in the creation of lookalike audiences full of new potential leads (Facebook, n.d.). 

Another added benefit of the Facebook pixel is that allows for detailed ad optimization. Specifically, because the pixel can track how much each customer spends on an e-commerce site, companies that use the Facebook pixel with their Facebook ads can optimize efforts based on audience basket value (Newberry, 2019). This is of great use for a retail company like SOOC who can market higher-priced items to customers who make larger purchases or offer special promotions through social media to higher-value customers. 

Hotjar

Hotjar is a platform that allows companies to learn in-depth insights relating to consumer behavior on a given website through the use of heatmaps, surveys, and recordings of actual user experiences (Hotjar, 2019). Whereas platforms like Google Analytics provide high-level user information, Hotjar shows companies how users engage with their site, quickly highlighting bottlenecks in the path to purchase and insights into the consumer journey. This information is invaluable to a company like SOOC, as they can see their website through the eyes of a consumer. For example, through the heatmap feature, SOOC can learn where on the page consumers favor links. Through the use of the session recording tool, SOOC can examine how consumers view individual pages and where on page abandonment happens. This information can then be shared with the website developer to create a better user experience leading to increased conversions over time. 

It was determined that SOOC currently uses Hotjar due to an iframe found on the website (SEOQuake, n.d.b.). 

UTMs

It is of no surprise that SOOC uses UTMs throughout its digital marketing considering that in conjunction with Google Analytics, they are an excellent way to track how traffic is reaching a website. By placing a UTM on advertisements, newsletters, company listings, and social media initiatives, SOOC can see how effective campaigns are in bringing traffic to the site each time the UTM link is clicked. This information can then be used when crafting future campaigns, increasing the chance of consumer conversions.  

An example of a UTM currently used by SOOC can be seen in Figure 2 and was used as a link on the company’s Saratoga.com business listing. Moving forward, SOOC should use UTMs on all of their business listings, especially if these listings are paid to help determine if the advertising spend is worthwhile.

Figure 2

UTM Example

Note. URL sourced from Saratoga.com (n.d.)

Google Analytics

Google Analytics offers a multitude of ways for e-commerce retailers to monitor website traffic and consumer behavior. In addition to providing information on specific locations of website visitors, devices used to patron the site, the times of day consumers frequent the site, as well as the languages of visitors to the site, Google Analytics offers insights into the types of traffic the site engages with and specific referrals. Referrals can be especially helpful in determining which backlinks are most impactful for website traffic as well as identifying websites to partner with in the future. 

Additionally, SOOC may find benefit in the behavior analysis offered by Google Analytics which offers details on landing pages, exit pages, the behavior flow of consumers on the site, as well as site search usage. By understanding the behavior flow SOOC can identify bottlenecks in the consumer journey and fix them to optimize the consumer experience. Site search is also very useful as it highlights products that consumers may have difficulty finding and sheds a light on terms used by consumers that can be implemented in future marketing efforts.  

Finally, through the e-commerce tracking tool on Google Analytics, SOOC can determine crucial e-commerce metrics such as average order value, average order value by traffic source, revenue over a specific time period, and the e-commerce conversion rate (Akhtar, 2020). 

It was determined that SOOC uses Google Analytics from the SEOQuake’s Chrome extension tool (SEOQuake, n.d.a.). 

Suggested Web Analytic Tools for Saratoga Olive Oil Company to Utilize

Semrush Site Audit Tool

It is highly suggested that SOOC utilize the Semrush Site Audit tool to monitor the overall health of the website. Through a simple scan the tool identified at least 64 pages with duplicate title tags, 62 pages with duplicate content, and 94 pages with duplicate meta descriptions, all of which negatively impact SEO (Semrush, n.d.b.). The site audit also identified a minimum of 315 pages with a low text to HTML ratio, which Semrush (n.d.c.) notes is important as search engines value content, and because the more code on the page the harder it is for robots to crawl and the slower the page will load (Semrrush, n.d.b.). These factors negatively impact search engine results page (SERP) rankings. By improving SEO, SOOC may appear higher in SERPs and attract more consumers to their site who are likely to convert. 

Semrush Link Building Tool

The Semrush Link Building tool is an excellent resource for retailers such as SOOC to find prospects and reach out to them to request backlinks. Encouraging backlinks, or one-way links, is crucial given that according to Fleischner “Google values one-way links above all else” (p. 59). The more high-quality backlinks linking to SOOC’s site, the better chance the company has at appearing higher in SERPs and converting consumers who search for terms relating to the company. 

Semrush Backlink Audit Tool

In addition to increasing the number of backlinks to a site, it’s also important to monitor current backlinks and disavow any toxic referrals. At the time of this posting, Semrush (n.d.a.) found six toxic backlinks relating to SOOC that should be reviewed. Toxic backlinks may lead to negative SEO, hurting SOOC’s chances of appearing higher on SERPs and thereby decreasing the chances of a conversion from a consumer search.

SEOQuake

SEOQuake is a free browser extension that enables marketers to receive a quick analysis of on-page SEO efforts. While much of this information can also be found in Semrush’s On-Page SEO Checker tool, SEOQuake makes it easy to view the information while on each webpage. While examining the homepage for SOOC, SEOQuake flagged on-page SEO issues including that no H1 headings are used and that 65 images do not have ALT text (SEOQuake, n.d.a.). ALT text is especially important as it not only makes the page more accessible for visually impaired consumers but by using keywords in ALT text, SOOC will increase its chances of appearing in search engine image results pages. 

References:

Akhtar, A. (2020, September 24).  How to find your average e-commerce order value in Google Analytics. Monster Insights. https://www.monsterinsights.com/how-to-find-your-average-ecommerce-order-value-in-google-analytics/

Facebook. (n.d.). About the Facebook pixel. Retrieved on April 18, 2021, from https://www.facebook.com/business/m/pixel-manual-install

Fleischner, M. (2020). SEO made simple 2020:  Insider secrets for driving more traffic to your website (7th edition).

Hotjar. (2019, June 12).  Your introduction to Hotjar: what it is, what it can do for you, and how it works. https://www.hotjar.com/blog/what-is-hotjar/

Newberry, C. (2019, January 14). The Facebook pixel: What it is and how to use it. Hootsuite. https://blog.hootsuite.com/facebook-pixel/

Saratoga.com. (n.d.). Saratoga Olive Oil Company. Retrieved on April 18, 2021, from https://www.saratoga.com/business/saratoga-olive-oil-9697/

Saratoga Olive Oil Company. (n.d.). About the owners. Retrieved on April 18, 2021, from https://saratogaoliveoil.com/pages/about

Semrush. (n.d.a). Backlink audit.  Retrieved on April 18, 2021, from https://www.semrush.com/backlink_audit/5179714/overview

Semrush. (n.d.b). Site audit.  Retrieved on April 18, 2021, from https://www.semrush.com/siteaudit/campaign/5179714/review/#overview

Semrush. (n.d.c.). What issues can site audit identify? Retrieved on April 18, 2021, from https://www.semrush.com/kb/542-site-audit-issues-list

SEOQuake. (n.d.a). Diagnosis. Retrieved on April 18, 2021, from moz-extension://25b27a3b-36dc-1447-b8ff-8b61eb291699/common.html?id=e9284792ba0d6c78a3bc1c88a99f913b#diagnosis

SEOQuake. (n.d.b.). External links. Retrieved on April 18, 2021, from moz-extension://25b27a3b-36dc-1447-b8ff-8b61eb291699/common.html?id=e9284792ba0d6c78a3bc1c88a99f913b#external