Google Analytics and Digital Accountability with Kevin Roy

Welcome to the Marketing Growth Podcast. I’m your host, Shane Barker, and I’ve been speaking to Kevin Roy, the co-founder of Green Banana SEO, a pay-for-performance SEO and digital marketing agency. On today’s episode, we’re going to dive into the depths of Google Analytics and digital accountability.

So let’s talk about, so you guys, obviously, with the pay-per-performance model, you guys have to have a great understanding of Google Analytics, right? I mean, when it comes to that, because your performance is going to be a big indicator. There are a lot of tools out there. I think Google Analytics is the one that most people know about. And so I wanted to talk about digital accountability and Google Analytics, and kind of talk about how people can use Google Analytics to make a more informed decision. Like, how do you guys do it for your clients? And I just want to get a little more information on that as well.

It’s definitely a place to start, right? Like, last time I checked, the traffic’s coming, usually from Google. And this is a Google tool, so they’re in the business to make sure it’s good.

Yeah, you can’t go wrong with it. I mean, there, once again, you can go real far down the rabbit hole. But the idea of it is, it has some basic information, and you can either dig deeper if you want to, or you have the surface stuff that you can look at and say, okay, now this makes sense. You don’t have to be a data scientist to be able to go in there. I mean, that’s the goal of it, right? It’s like, where’s my stuff coming from? And they make it easy to do that. Once again, you can absolutely go down the rabbit hole, but I think it’s easy. So what would you recommend for, you know, because obviously, with the amount of data they’re collecting and stuff like that, what would you recommend being, if I was a marketer, the two things that you would focus on when it comes to Google Analytics?

Gotcha. And we asked someone to talk about whether it’s referral traffic or organic traffic, or anything, and then go into social and see if it’s Facebook or Instagram or Tiktok or wherever you’re connected in it.

And that’s the value of it, right? I mean, that’s the thing is, like, how do you know if something’s working or not working if you don’t have it conversion-based, if you don’t know what the deal is? Because we all in our minds, even as marketers, if you’re doing this for 30 years, you have an idea of what you think is going to work. But who cares if you know? That’s the whole point of the software, that somebody else can tell you, “Hey, that is working,” or, “No, it’s not working,” right? And what do we need to do to change that?

Yeah. And I think that’s the key, because it’s, you need the data, right? We all have ideas. And I can, we could talk and have a two-hour meeting, and I could tell you what my expertise is, and I think it’s going to be this, but at the end of the day, that’s what I tell people with SEO. People will go, “Well, you know, I think these are the keywords we want to go after.” And I’m like, “Yeah, but there’s no search volume.” They go, “Yeah, but we think people are looking it up.” And I go, “I can tell you they’re not.” It’s like, why go after something that doesn’t really… You know? That’s the thing is, us as owners, we think, “Oh, this is what we think it is,” right? We have certain terms we use, and this is what people are looking up. But I’m like, “I don’t care about any of that. I just care what people are looking up, right?” I just care about what is converting, not what we think is going to. Once again, don’t want to spend too much time on it. But the idea is, like, you’re going to have your opinion, I have my opinion. You hired me as the expert. Let’s throw it in and see what comes out of this thing. Right? Let’s go and take a look at the analytics, and so it’s going to come and tell us whether this is going well or it’s not going well, and how do we tweak the campaign, or how do we put more money towards the campaign?

Yeah, right. So, which is, as an agency, why would you send somebody something that’s going to scare them? They don’t know what it is anyways?

Oh, I got you. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

Yeah, and I think that’s it. Do you understand, do you know what are the keyword phrases that matter? Right? That’s the other big question. It’s like, I want to be number one for this. Okay, well, where does it tie into? Is it a landing page? And then what is your conversion rate on it? Well, we have no idea. Okay, well, then let’s figure that out.

Yeah, it’s gonna take longer, right?

Yeah, and see if it works. Yeah, no, I love that. I mean, I love the fact that it’s like, it’s, you know, your PPC is not working. Getting on there organically, you can do it, but it’s not going to change the result. Like, it’s, you know, I mean, it’s like, yeah, you’re not paying per click, but you’re going to pay to get there through SEO work. That’s going to happen. And then, you know, it really comes down to the conversion, and are you going after the right keywords, which is most people’s problems—they don’t know the keywords. And that’s understandable. That’s why we have agencies that can help people with that. But I think that’s one of the big issues: expectation. And, you know, what do you expect the outcome to be?

Yeah. Well, awesome, man, this has been fun. Kevin, I’ll tell you, you’re a wealth of knowledge, and congratulations on your success. Now we jump into what I call the fun section. Not that this wasn’t fun, because I’m gonna have a great time, my friend, but this is where we kind of ask you some of the big questions. And this is, this is a big one. So I know this is the Monday we’re doing, we’re doing this interview, and I think you’re going to be ready for this. But if you could talk to 25-year-old Kevin, right? I don’t know how long ago that was, but let’s just, you know, let’s just say a few years ago, whatever it was. 25 years, man, that’s it. I hear you, and we’re sneaking up into those older years, we’ve made it so far. But what would you tell 25-year-old Kevin? I always joke around about Kevin 1.0, I was—what would Kevin 2.0, which is you today, tell Kevin 1.0? What would be the thing that you would tell?

So it just makes that makes two of us cryptocurrency. I’ll tell you, I’ve had friends for years say, “Hey, you got to jump into this,” and I’ve read a lot on it, and I still don’t get it. I’ll just be honest with you, I have plenty of friends that jumped into dinner. “Oh, you can do this. You can do that.” I just still—there’s just a disconnect for me, like I’ve read so much on it. I just feel like there’s something that I’m missing, and any time I’m not going to invest or put money into something that I just can’t fully wrap my head around, you know? And I guess I think early on, some of the people that were pitching me were people that I knew that were, like, big affiliate people, you know? So I was like, maybe it’s a little shady. And I was like, I’m not really going to jump into that. And of course, the ups and downs of it. But yeah, I’m with you on the cryptocurrency thing. If somebody can explain that to us in layman’s terms, and maybe you just have to talk slower for me or something, I don’t know. But I just like, you know, I don’t know. It’s kind of a crazy little deal. So what would be, honestly, I know you talked about this a little earlier, about your Think and Grow Rich book, which is like an instant staple. Like, if anybody is listening to this, hasn’t, you know, read that book, the Think and Grow Rich. You have to go do that. I actually listen to it once a year again, because I think it’s that important. I think it’s just the way they would, you know, just the concepts are just, they’re evergreen, like, it’s crazy. That was written—I don’t know—80 years ago, 90 or whatever it was, it was a long time ago. What are some of your other favorite books out there that you like?

I read that, yeah. Yeah, that was a great book where he had the panic attack on, yeah. That was a great book. I read that and was like, wow, because I’ve always wanted, I love the idea of yoga, and you know, do that, and you know, do that, and I guys don’t know. And then when he started talking, he’s like, me, I was like, real skeptical, and I just don’t know if I’ll be able to focus. And yeah, that was a great book. I was, I was definitely recommended.

That’s me, and I’ve got that same disease. But that’s why I was, that’s why I was intrigued by it. Because I’m like, I feel like my thing for meditation is like, I’ll, like, I’ll do, like, long walks, or go to ride a bike, which is a little—it’s not a meditation, but it’s my way to, like, kind of unravel the crazy things that go on in my head. Because you and I are very much the same. I have a partner that’s a process person, and I’m a crazy idea guy. Like, I buy $1 for every idea we— I could just retire because it’s like, “Oh, I’ve got this thing.” And they’re kind of, everybody’s like, “Oh, here goes Shane with his ideas.” You know, we’re gonna have to implement this. Or tell him that’s a terrible idea. My wife has to deal with the same thing. I’m like, “Hey, we’re gonna buy land in Mexico.” And she then, 24 hours later, she’s like, “We’re not buying land in Mexico.” Okay, sounds good. Let’s not do that. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Thank you for talking me off the ledge. I love you. I’m gonna go back in and do this. You know, it’s kind of like that. So I get it. So you’re very, you’re personally, you’re very much like me, which is, which is interesting. So you talked about what you talked about, Tim Ferriss. Obviously, I’m a big fan of Tim Ferriss. If you could have dinner with three people dead or alive, I think Tim would probably be at that table. I would venture to say that he would probably be there. What are the other two or three people that you’d have at that table?

Break that one down for me. So why Arnold? Because, I mean, I’m in California, and I do like Arnold. I think he’s, I think he’s phenomenal, the success that he’s had, and being the governor and all kinds of stuff, it’s breaking barriers. But why Arnold? What’s What intrigued you about him?

I don’t know if I knew that.

I didn’t know his—I didn’t know as a masonry. I had no idea about that. So everything else I definitely knew, because I’m in California, when he became the governor, I was like, okay, there we go. I mean, Arnold’s jumping up. I mean, you know, I guess Ronald Reagan’s kind of the same thing. I mean. Regards to, like, you know, was an actor and all that kind of stuff, and then jumped into politics, and there’s other people that we probably don’t need to mention right now, because that’s a whole nother conversation, right? Mr. Trump, anyway, Sam, that’s a whole nother conversation. But, well, cool man. Hey, this is Kevin. I knew this was going to be funny. You have a you and I have a lot more in common than I ever thought. I like to have these kind of podcasts. It’s kind of kind of cool. And if anybody needs to get in contact with you and learn more about your agency, any kind of fun stuff like that, where can they go?

That is, that is awesome. And I actually did put in I Just Met Kevin, and it actually goes to your website. I love that, because when I saw it, I was like, “Oh, let me see what he’s got here.” I was like, it moves to his website. It’s probably a good move, because you forget the business cards, and you said, “Hey, I just met Kevin.” Easy to remember. And then it goes to the website. So I love that. Love how you afforded that. That’s classic. Well, hey Kevin, once again, man, it awesome having you on the podcast today. Have a great rest of your day, and I’m sure we’re going to be keeping in contact. We’ll talk here soon.

Absolutely. Talk soon.

Thanks, Kevin. It was an absolute pleasure speaking with you from quantum theory to Google Analytics. Our conversation was a lot of fun. Until next time, before I sign off, I wanted to remind our listeners that my team and I can help you grow your online presence through SEO and PPC marketing services. Get in touch with us now. Stay tuned to Shane Barker’s Marketing Growth Podcast.