If a client was ever to say to us that they were willing only to invest in one area related to the ongoing upkeep of their digital presence (beyond its technical maintenance) it would be reporting. This is because it unlocks so many doors as to understanding your website and therefore understanding where exactly future investment would be best served.

However, we’ve also in our time seen how reporting can be, put simply, done wrong. Inaccurate or uninformed reporting can lead to the exact opposite of what was mentioned above in seeing funds wasted in areas either which have no need or no hope of success.

One of the leading causes of this issue is a preoccupation with what are called ‘vanity metrics’. The name gives a clue as to what they entail; metrics which look and sound important but can actually give no deeper insight or bear any relation on their own to how your business is actually performing beyond a surface level.

We have gathered some of these metrics together which hopefully will give you food for thought on their usage in your own reports and how they should be considered;

Sessions - This seems like it should be one of the founding elements of any report and indeed it should be, but crucially sessions on their own should rarely be the defining factor of the success of your website. Sessions may go up and down throughout the year but how do they relate to your KPIs and can you determine trends from these movements? That’s where the real value lies.

Bounce Rate - A term which is often claimed as a ‘buzzword’ when it comes to reporting but on many occasions has no bearing as to the performance of a website. Of course you want a user to be engaged with your site, so a user immediately leaving a website with no onward action seems like bad news, but there are instances where this may be misleading. As an example, for an informational site a user lands on a page from a Google search where their questions are satisfactorily answered and they have no need to visit further pages of the site. This would in fact be a success for that site but also registered as a bounce at the same time. For this also see ‘average engagement time/session duration’ and ‘average pages viewed/views per session’ which have similar caveats, all grouped as ‘user engagement’ metrics.

Impressions - Now we would caveat this by saying that of course if the goal of your website/campaign is to drive brand awareness then yes, impressions would indeed be an important standalone metric. However, for a website designed for a user to actually engage with it in some form (i.e. lead, sale etc), impressions on their own should not be seen as a barometer of success. In much the same way as sessions, they can sometimes blind you to the ‘quality’ of the traffic you are attracting to the site in the search for ‘quantity’. Yes you have eyes on the site/brand, but who’s eyes?

Cost Per Click - A paid advertising specific example for you here and, in truth, there’s lots of examples we could take from this traffic source - clicks, clickthrough rate, impression share. But we thought we’d highlight cost per click because it has the word ‘cost’ in it which always draws attention. Although monitoring cost per click is important as part of a holistic PPC reporting strategy it must always tie into your KPI. Sometimes that converting traffic is unfortunately always going to cost you that bit more!

Average Position - “I can get you to number 1 in Google?” has been the most common refrain from a large number of different digital marketing organisations over the years. To which the answer should really be “Yeah, but for what?”. It’s crucial that the terms/queries you’re seeking to rank well for are for traffic which has a high level of ‘intent’ behind it - whether that’s an intent to book, buy or even just browse, if that’s what your website goals are. Also more specifically it’s important to note the Average Position metric you can find in Google Search Console includes all search queries picked up by the tool. So ironically you could be ranking for more terms (and still maintaining or even improving rankings for key terms) while your average position dips because those new terms you are ranking for in positions 72, 84 & 93 (etc) are dragging your average down.

Now what we’d never want to do is tell you to ignore these metrics, it’s important to be aware of them and monitor (where appropriate) as part of a holistic reporting strategy. The key aspect here is that these metrics on their own in the majority of instances will not give you a reliable indicator as to the performance of your website. 

So by chasing your tail in seeking to improve a metric or resting on your laurels with a metric riding high, you may be missing the bigger picture.

Where these ‘vanity’ metrics come into their own is when you do see issues with your KPI activity - can you determine any relationship between the trendlines of these metrics with your KPIs? As an example if conversions have gone down at the same time as sessions you may be looking at an acquisition issue or if bounce rate has increased you could be looking at a user engagement or UX/UI issue. These metrics will make triage of your wider performance problems that much easier.

If you’ve been looking for a helping hand with sorting your KPIs from your ‘vanity metrics’ as you seek to establish a tried and trusted reporting strategy for your digital presence, drop us a line or @ us on our socials.

We’ve often said at CORE that reporting should be the cornerstone of any ‘digital marketing’ activity.

This extends to the staff headshots on your site, with the added impact on the morale of the team with the boost professional-looking headshots can give to the staff ‘feel good factor’.

What we would always recommend when approaching photography is this process is best handled by the professionals, with a host of fantastic agencies and freelancers out there who can meet your brief to exacting standards. However, we know that often when it comes to booking a photographer ‘life gets in the way’.

Whether it’s your budget or the fact your staff work remotely, it can be difficult to get both a professional photographer and your staff together in the same room. So what can you do when this situation arises?

We’ve pulled together a guidance document for such an occasion, giving some tips as to how your staff can generate consistent, high quality staff headshots with just an iPhone. Feel free to download our guidance document in full below as a PDF, while we have also listed here a few key recommendations:

✔️ Set up your iPhone camera in portrait mode

✔️ Make sure you are in a naturally lit environment

✔️ Find a clean, white wall or a non cluttered background

✔️ Grab a helper, or set up somewhere to rest your phone

✔️ Stand back so there is around 30% of wall space above your head

✔️ Position the shot from the waist up

✔️ If you are without a helper, set up a tripod or other leaning post for your phone and use the timer function

❌ Do not take a ‘selfie’ or angle the phone at all

❌ Do not stand against reflective backgrounds/mirrors or areas of natural light e.g. windows

❌ Do not set up a scene (unless instructed)

❌ Avoid poorly lit areas and reflective shadows

✔️ Take multiple shots to give a selection of choice

✔️ Send over the photos as high quality files

❌ Do not edit/crop your pictures, leave that to the design team

Please download the PDF below to view our full guidance document, including imagery to show you best and worst practices. While if you have any questions about how photography fits into your sense of brand and how this is best achieved we’d be delighted to talk. 

CORE Photography Guidelines.pdf

Photography is such a crucial element in the design of a website. It can go so far in helping you to achieve that brand direction you want to exude to your users, no matter what that direction actually is.

Team headshots when budget or geography get in the way

With the rise of AI (or perhaps ‘machine learning’ as it more correctly could be termed as) as an ever increasing feature of the digital landscape, its introduction into the very tools we use to market in this environment has been an inevitability. So is it the time to go ‘all in’ on AI in paid advertising or is there some way to go yet before we hand over the keys to our keen digital friend?

What inspired us to really sit down and get down in words what we’ve been discussing for some time around the water cooler was the revelation that ‘broad match’ keywords have become the default for new search campaigns across Google Ads - however, there are dozens of examples we could have picked as the spark to ignite a discussion. The launch of Performance Max campaigns in November 2021? Responsive Search Ads in July 2018? Looking a bit further back we’re actually not too far off the ten year anniversary of the introduction of Smart Bidding even.

A common thread which runs through each of the above is the lessening of the control afforded to campaign managers in favour of the platform itself running the ads. And if you were following the recent antitrust trial brought against Google over the last year or so you might be minded to think that was not such a fantastic thing.

It’s important to emphasise at this point this is definitely not just a ‘Google thing’, it’s a staple of the setup for all major advertising platforms. Only recently we were tasked with an audit of an existing Meta Ads account for a British-based holiday company which had an ad running with the music of Tarantella Napoletana (a classic Italian folk song) overlaying it. A curious choice indeed. The cause of which was the toggle switched on for the AI-driven ‘Music’ enhancements within the Meta dashboard, whereby Meta had deemed the song a good match ‘based on its content’. How, we’re not so sure.

I think what makes digital marketers such as myself a little cautious when it comes to the rise of the default use of artificial intelligence across paid advertising is how much we’re relying on these particular platforms in understanding the nuances of your business.


We all know you’re the experts in your business but what we believe is crucial in providing CORE’s true value as your digital partner is that we immerse ourselves to the greatest extent possible in your world. Only by understanding your pain points, your USPs, your short term desires and your long term vision can we provide a service truly tailored to your success. Does Google or Meta or Microsoft understand your business like that? Could they ever? A debate for the long term but we believe a ‘no’ in the here and now.

The easy option not always the right option


What we certainly don’t want to pour scorn on is the definite advantages artificial intelligence can bring to the building, maintenance and promotion of your digital presence. We at CORE use it every day to assist us in our working practices and we are dedicated to remaining at the cutting edge of this digital frontier. However, the key word perhaps to dwell on is ‘assist’ - it is certainly not a replacement for all of our working practices.

It is this perception that using AI is the ‘easy’ option in creating and managing digital advertising campaigns that we perhaps baulk at. It is in the combination of using AI - to either provide data-leveraged suggestions (which we then have the final say in utilising) or to speed up our processes - with the knowledge of a business which can only be acquired through a holistic understanding is where the sweet spot lies.

With all of the above in mind we’ve pulled a short list of key points together to consider regarding use of AI in PPC campaigns you may wish to consult:

No AI-driven campaign should just be ‘set and left’. Many ad providers will tell you they only need your website and budget to create a campaign which will deliver results for you - as they can generate ad text, target keywords and bidding strategy from those basic inputs. Regardless of this claim, we strongly recommend you check in regularly on any campaign and review the data available in order to steer it in a better direction if they have gone off course.

Negative keywords are your best friend for broad match campaigns. By its very nature ‘broad match’ target keywords will put your ads out there across a wider set of users. This can indeed lead to your ads being seen by relevant users you would not have thought to have targeted as they were unknown to you previously but it also means they can be seen by completely irrelevant users. The only way to stay on top of reducing the latter is by regularly viewing the search terms report within your advertising platform and marking those irrelevant searches as negative keywords to prevent budget being wasted on them in the future.

Avoid auto apply recommendations in Google Ads. A subject of a previous insights post, allowing Google to automatically apply recommendations to your campaigns is a potentially dangerous move. At a minimum it can lead to inefficient campaign running while at worst prevent your ads from running at all.

Review the ‘Advantage+ creative enhancements’ in Meta Ads when creating an ad. Aside from the ‘creative’ music choices mentioned earlier in this article, Meta also suggests such features as juggling the order of image/video assets in ads depending on their popularity with users within its ‘creative enhancements’ section. Although this sounds logical, for many advertisers their ad creative has been structured to tell a story through their ads so carefully consider if that story continues to make sense with all the assets jumbled up.

Ensure you have enough conversion data before accepting Google’s suggested ‘maximise conversions’ bidding strategy. Again, ‘maximise conversions’ sounds like a no brainer in how you want to bid for users. However, the truth is in order for Google to understand how to maximise bidding for conversions they need to understand what a converting user actually looks to you. If they have no (or little) conversion data to fall back on they are going to struggle to understand what these preferred users look like. We recommend campaigns should be at a conversion activity level whereby they are achieving 30 conversions in 30 days prior to switching to a ‘maximise conversions’ strategy.


Of course the above is just a flavour of how artificial intelligence is utilised across PPC. If you’d like to have a discussion about whether AI is currently helping or hindering your digital advertising and what can be done to weight it towards the former, we’d be delighted to carry on the conversation. Drop us a message or @ us on our socials.

Control - or the lack of it - is an important consideration to any digital marketer when approaching a campaign. 

In our previous insights post we took a look at the effects of cookie control on traffic and how to claw some of that potentially lost data back by encouraging interaction on the cookie banner.

However, that doesn’t really solve the root issue when it comes to understanding the relationship between cookies and users and their likelihood to accept or reject. To get to grips with that it might first be useful to consider how a user thinks when it comes to cookies.

Of course everyone is different when it comes to their understanding of their digital footprint and indeed their levels of interest in it. So we’ve collated a few common responses to the question ‘Why do you reject cookies when asked?’ and looked to uncover some learnings you can take from each to better encourage a user to click ‘Accept’.

“I don’t know what cookies are so I’ll reject them as the safe choice”

This is a very common thought process. Users don’t trust that they understand the concept of cookies enough (or at all) in order for them to accept them. Saying ‘no’ is always the safe choice and indeed perhaps the wisest choice in the majority of cases when it comes to your digital security.

However, perhaps through educating users (without lecturing or fearmongering) we can look to build that trust. This could be achieved through clear and easy to understand information in the cookie banner itself plus an easily accessible link to more information on cookies (including basic information on what they actually are).

“This website looks dodgy, I don’t trust them with my data”

Trust was mentioned when we were discussing the general user’s lack of knowledge around what a cookie is, now trust comes into play when considering a user’s belief that a website will handle their data properly.

The remedy for this is simple - be a trustworthy website. OK, simple without perhaps being scientific. Of course, trustworthiness is not a defined metric but there are many things that can be implemented on a website which go a long way in convincing users; engaging design, quality content, responsive across device types (and many more).

“I’d be happy to give my consent for some types of cookies but not others, but the cookie controls don’t give me that ability to choose”

We have covered the potential thought processes of those users who are perhaps less familiar with cookies as a concept but there are of course also those that are very aware and mindful as to the purpose of cookies across the web. For these users, more detail and, crucially, choice is required.

To match this mindset we need to ensure that a user has the ability to accept and reject various logical groupings of cookies (e.g. analytical cookies, marketing cookies) rather than a ‘one size fits all’ approach. There also needs to be a level of detail to adjoining text - even listing the exact cookies affected - with signposts to wider cookie policy.

“This banner/pop up is annoying me so I’m going to reject to punish them”

We’ve all been there. You’re rushed, stressed and you need to make an enquiry or buy an item online and you’re met with a cookie banner that stops you in your tracks and seems impossible to get rid of - in those circumstances three seconds trying to find the ‘X’ button is a lifetime.

This is a little trickier to address as we’re dealing with a somewhat unpredictable foe - the human mind on any given day. However, applying strong UX/UI principles to the banner will ensure the user experience will be as intuitive as possible and prevent the need for a cookie-inspired ‘rage quit’. This also extends to general site performance - for example improving site speeds and reducing cumulative layout shift.

Sometimes there’s nothing we can do when it comes to a user in convincing them to click yes in accepting cookies - habit and natural response is a hard nut to crack. However, just as when we adopt personas to get a better understanding of our users during site planning or in generating content, fully appreciating the various thought processes of our users when presented with a cookie banner will help us to maximise those users willing to give us their data and potential insights.

If you’d like any help in ensuring your cookie banner is as user friendly as possible or if you had any questions around cookie management in general (including an appraisal of your current set up)...

The reasons why users reject cookies and what they can teach us

Many site owners are now getting to grips with cookie management and all of its potential impacts on both the quantity and quality of data moving forwards - so what can we do to help save your data?

Cookies and their management have truly become one of, if not the, most important considerations of website development in recent years. From the launch of GDPR back in 2018 to Google’s intended phasing out of third party cookies later in 2024 (update: now pushed back to 2025...maybe), wider understanding and appreciation of cookies has developed rapidly in the last five years or so. 

This awareness extends to the general web browsing public, who are now consistently asked when landing on a website whether they want to accept or reject cookies (regardless of whether they understand what they are).

This simple decision to accept or reject can have a massive impact on a website’s reported traffic via tools such as Google Analytics - with one response potentially unlocking invaluable insights into both how your website is performing and how to improve it, while the other response is lost in the great digital abyss.


We have performed a deep dive into the data we have collected from a range of sites where we have helped manage the transition from a pre-cookie managed state to a post-cookie managed state and the numbers are quite stark.


The average amount of traffic ‘lost’ following cookie management implementation was 28%. For one particular site this figure was as high as 50%.

We understand this can make site owners potentially nervous in making the switch to a cookie management solution for their site. Fundamentally though it is a move which has to be made if you want to remain legally compliant and there have been some high profile cases to serve as a warning to this.

Here’s the good news however, there are ways to mitigate this potential loss.

The potential remedy addresses an issue which is often overlooked in that the simple choice we mentioned earlier to accept or reject isn’t quite binary, there is a third option for the user - do nothing. In many standard cookie banner implementations, the banner will appear but the user can still browse the website and interact with all other elements on page. Indeed a user could complete their entire journey through the site without ever interacting with the banner, particularly if not obtrusively designed.

Although in many ways that sounds great in that a user was able to perform their intended actions onsite without being impeded by the banner it does mean you’ve lost all that fantastic data. So what we want to do here is compel the user to interact with the banner, without irritating the user into abandoning their onsite action.

We have found through implementation across a wide range of sites that by decreasing the opacity of the background and removing the ability to engage with those background elements, the proportion of users accepting cookies has increased notably.

For one particular site we found that traffic was returned to the levels experienced prior to cookie management being implemented onsite. While for others, although maybe only experiencing a ≈10% increase in data compared to the figures post cookie management drop, that additional 10% could be crucial in providing insights into your site that might have been otherwise lost.

A problem solved but a more fundamental one remains

The solution discussed above is perhaps not appropriate for everyone but does seeks to solve the problem of indecision from a user. However, what remains is that even by encouraging a user to interact with the banner they can (and many will) still reject cookies - but why? 

As a follow up to this post we’ll take a look at the reasons why a user may want to reject cookies and provide some potential solutions as to how these concerns can be addressed.

How cookie control affects 'traffic' and what you can do about it

In a previous insights post we discussed the concept of ‘user personas’ and how a site owner/administrator can fully utilise them in order to optimise their site. 

We thought as a follow up to this we’d hand over to our UI/UX designer Sophie Stephens for an insight into the part user personas have to play when it comes to designing a website.

A user persona is usually a fictional character which represents your target audience. They are an extremely valuable tool in UX and they allow you to better understand the people who use your product, service or system. 
A user persona is more than just a collection of people of different ages based around your target market, they allow you to identify specific traits, characteristics and qualities about the person based on facts and data around ‘real’ users. This is obtained through user research and any behavioural data you have gathered around your product, service or system.

Demographic information such as age, gender and nationality

Information around their tech literacy, to establish what devices they may use, their knowledge of the internet, software or social media, and if they use apps (if any)

Background information and often a quote on a users goal

Specific challenges, frustrations and pain points in relation to your product or service

The persona’s influences and where they spend most of their time reading/learning information

Why are user personas beneficial to your business?

User personas can help your business discover the way people use your product. They boost marketing strategies and can help your business truly understand who you're marketing to, increasing leads or sales. 

Why is a user persona beneficial to our process?

Personas are a great UX tool for building empathy and keeping the user the focus of the design process, eliminating biases about users. 

To create a good user persona, our UX designers and marketing specialists will capture the most important information about a user. To do this they have to step into the user’s shoes, and dive deep into who they are, what their needs are and their goals. The creation process alone can help our team get a better understanding of your audience and their primary needs. 


When our designers create wireframes and prototypes of a business product/website they create them through the lens of the various user types - ensuring that it caters for all needs, and addresses all pain points, creating an effective and pain free user experience.

Putting the user at the heart of your website

It’s now clear that carefully crafted and accurate user personas are a vital resource in delivering/reviewing a wide range of website functionality. In truth this is because your users should always be the prism by which you look at your website through and only by understanding how they want to access your site will you ultimately be able to achieve the best possible experience.

If you want to see your website through your users’ eyes, please get in touch and we’d be happy to discuss how user personas could benefit you.

How a user persona benefits the design process

From conversations with clients over the years we’ve found that while the term ‘brand’ is a term often used, it’s sometimes less commonly understood to mean the same thing to all parties.

In our latest insights post our Digital Designer Dan has taken a bit of a deep dive into ‘brand’ as a concept, in the process shining a light on design terminology and setting some common ground for how we talk about ‘brand’ with our clients.

Firstly, a brand cannot exist without a company or a product, which is the driving force behind the brand. There are two brand models, one which we shall call ‘the old model’ and the second, which is the main model used in the modern era, we will call ‘the new brand model’. 

‘The old brand model’ was based on the logic of factory management. The company created the brand (through products and advertising), the brand attracted customers (as a captive audience), and customers supported the company (through repeat purchases). The ‘new brand model’ is similar, but with one important difference: the order of the events. Instead of creating the brand first, the company creates the customers (through products and social media), then the customers create the brand (through purchases and advocacy), the brand sustains the company (through customer loyalty). 

Ultimately, with the old model the products themselves that the company produced made the brand, but with the new brand model there has been a shift where it is the customers that make the brand not the products. 

Essentially, your brand isn’t what YOU say it is, it is what THEY say it is. 

Some may say that branding has moved from a physical realm of products to a more psychological realm of how the company makes the customer feel when buying/representing that company. It is this gap between company and customer, that we as designers look to build a bridge and connect the two. This bridge and connection is what we call the ‘brand’.

When commercialism first began all a brand meant was, what products do you have, but as this evolved we as humans demanded more of what it means to be a brand. As a species we are a herd animal and have a deep internal longing to want to belong to something. In the commercial landscape that meant we demanded more of the industry of companies. 


We no longer want to just buy brands but we wanted to be a part of the brand, we wanted to join the brand. We no longer buy products because we want them, but we buy products because of the status those products give us. 

You are either Apple or Android. We tend to apply our identity and status to these companies rather than just the product themselves. As designers we use the word brand to incorporate all these factors. Building a brand is about building a multitude of products and overall essence and feel that helps the customer connect to the company and want to join that tribe as it were. In our early generations we were a part of tribes and now the meaning or definition of ‘a tribe’ has changed. I believe that now means what we call ‘a brand’.We choose companies not because of their names, but because of the style, the status that gives us, how we feel when we use/wear one of their products. We want to belong, and in the modern heavily commercialised world we want to belong to a certain group of companies that we believe represents us as a person.


Image: Android vs iOS: The Battle of Security, Speed, and Storage
This is why the word ‘brand’ has evolved from its first use which meant products, to incorporate a wide range of different deliverables. It still means products but that is only a small percentage of what the word encompasses, others include; meaning, feeling, environment, service. If the customer helps build a brand, companies want to engage them and think about their needs on a deeper level from just a materialistic stand point. That is why a brand includes every touchpoint that is related to the company, be it a billboard, a website, a store design, the customer service. All these different touch points help the customer feel welcomed and makes them feel like they have found a company where they belong.

When designers and marketing experts talk about the word ‘brand’ or ‘branding’ within a business setting, we are talking essentially about the overall experience that the customer has and feels when engaging with the company. This is why the brand model switch has happened. We put the customer first and look at what we want them to associate with this company when they see/join the brand. By thinking through this lens and creating assets and an overall experience that customers want to join and be a part of, they are more likely to share with friends and keep returning to the company which sustains the company through loyalty, to produce more that relate to the brand/tribe they are creating. Hence a brand ecosystem is made. 

power has shifted from companies to customers

people are not focused on products, but meaning

customers buy products to build their identities

they buy in tribes to feel safe and successful

the battle is no longer between companies, but tribes 

the company with the strongest tribe wins

It is clear that brand as a term or as a concept traverses a number of states, from physical to psychological, from clinical product scope to the emotive mindsets of users. It is only by understanding this bridge of ‘brand’ whereby we can truly create an experience optimised for the end user.

We at CORE have over twenty years experience in building and elevating brands, if you would like to discuss how ‘brand’ is applied to your business, please get in touch.

Be that in the evolution of AI as a helpful assistant for search queries or in Google Home’s understanding of your morning routine simply by greeting it ‘good morning’, its presence as an overarching theme is felt everywhere.

Its advertising functionality is not ignored by this trend either. Anyone who has logged into Google Ads over the past few years may have noticed the push towards ‘Recommendations’ - either through the navigation item or in the notifications bell. Clicking either will take you to a page which lists recommendations suggested by Google to improve your account in addition to a percentage ‘optimisation score' it has calculated.

It’s very easy to apply the recommendations Google has listed, you just click the big blue ‘Apply’ button and it’s sorted, and why wouldn’t you apply recommendations the platform has suggested? They must know what they are talking about, right? Well, it’s a bit more complicated than that.

The issue is context. Like everything in life, context is key. Google’s ad recommendations may be driven by best practice and may well be effective for a good proportion of the accounts it suggests the recommendation to. However, it might not be right for you.

An example: Google recommends you switch your bidding strategy from ‘maximise clicks’ to ‘maximise conversions’. Great, everyone wants more conversions. Well, yes, but this switch might not necessarily lead to more conversions. What is also advised (but doesn’t seem to play a part in its decision to push this recommendation) is you should have at least 30 conversions recorded in the past 30 days to get the most from the 'maximise conversions' bidding strategy type. Otherwise Google isn’t very clear about what a ‘converting user’ looks like for your particular campaign due to a lack of data and therefore might perform suboptimally by getting your ads in front of the wrong types of users. A human Google Ads strategist might in this instance suggest retaining a ‘maximise clicks’ strategy on a temporary basis until the levels of conversions have been increased enough to make ‘maximise conversions’ a better bidding strategy option.

It is in these differences between what an automated recommendation might suggest versus what a human strategist might suggest which means we would strongly recommend all recommendations are reviewed with a definite amount of thought before implementation.

Stronger still is our recommendation that great care is taken with auto apply recommendations. Having recommendations apply automatically is potentially very dangerous to the performance of your account - with instances we’ve seen first hand where clients have used auto apply recommendations and activity has ground to a complete halt in their campaigns because Google has set a Target CPA in their bidding strategy which was highly unrealistic and meant they were ineligible for almost all ad auctions. This occurred without the client being aware this was happening as they had simply set the account to auto apply and left it to run.

Simply put we’re still some way off Google being able to automatically understand the nuances of what your unique marketing plan might be and fundamentally who you are as a business. 

Now we’re definitely not deriding recommendations as a concept. Certainly for business owners who manage their own account it can be very useful in prompting changes you might not have thought of or introducing new Google features you may have been unaware of. 

But approach them maybe a bit more as you would when dealing with a salesman rather than a policeman!

Of course if you do feel you'd benefit from help in sorting the wheat from the chaff when it comes to Google Ads recommendations, we'd be delighted to lend a hand.

Automation is at the core of Google’s vision and planning for the web.

Google Ads & Recommendations: Think Before You Implement

Demographic data is often an invaluable tool in understanding who it is exactly who is browsing your website. Details around age, gender and interests can be vital in a number of respects, from remarketing lists to persona development, and for some is simply a fundamental feature of reporting on their website.

So we think it is therefore important to point out how opting in to the GA4 equivalent in demographic data, ‘Google Signals’, may lead to some unintended consequences for other aspects of your precious data.

First of all, a brief introduction to Google Signals. Google Signals is a feature first launched in 2018 which allows Google Analytics users to understand how site users interact with your website across multiple devices and sessions. However, it has recently gained increased prominence given the sunsetting of UA in favour of GA4 and now fundamentally if you require audiences in Google Ads or to see demographic data in your GA4 reports, you must have Google Signals activated.

No big deal right? Well yes and no. It’s certainly a simple enough task (just flicking a switch) but that simple task could have rather drastic implications on your data elsewhere.

In short, it can cause quite severe thresholding in your account. This means rows of data throughout your GA4 reports which contain relatively small figures will be hidden. Now the argument is if you’re only missing out on small portions of your data these can’t be that significant surely? Well if you’re anything like us from a data nerd perspective you’ll know that sometimes the most interesting insights can be gleaned from those grains of sand within your data. 

The biggest issue we’ve seen is the effect it’s had on event data and custom parameters. A client of ours with a relatively sophisticated set up of event tracking saw its figures decimated by the reduction to the point of uselessness.

As mentioned, if you require Google Ads audiences or demographic data you’ll have no choice but to turn on Google Signals. However, there is something which you can do to prevent this from permanently altering your data and it involves something called ‘reporting identity’.

Reporting identities in GA4 have a distinct effect on the results in data you will see in your account as they each provide different combinations of methods of data gathering. There are a wide number of resources available which can provide further details around the methods themselves, however for our purposes there is only one identity that can really solve our issues - ‘Device-based’.

‘Device-based’ only utilises the ‘device-id’ method of data gathering and although is the least sophisticated in concept it provides the best alignment with Universal Analytics. To make the switch, access the admin dashboard of your GA4 account, click ‘Reporting Identity’, then ‘Show All’ and select ‘Device-based’. Your thresholding concerns should hopefully then be a thing of the past!

What’s also great about reporting identities is you can seamlessly switch between each option - you don’t have to make a choice and stick to it forever! In fact we recommend you do try out each reporting identity and see what effect it has on your data before perhaps looking to settle on a view in order to provide accurate benchmarks.

If you require any assistance with navigating this new GA4 landscape please don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’d be delighted to help get digital working for you.

With the rush to implement GA4 before the final curtain fell for Universal Analytics in the summer, it's perhaps easy to miss or underestimate certain changes to your data which may have occurred following migration. Fear not however, CORE are here to shine a light!

Do you start on content? Paid advertising? Link outreach? Social media? We’re often asked “yes we know it’s all important, but what should we definitely be doing?”. Our answer often goes along the lines of “yes it IS important (and it is) but if you really want to lay the foundations for future digital marketing success, reporting is the answer”.

They say ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.’ We couldn’t agree more.

Simply put reporting will (or should) inform everything else you embark on from a digital marketing perspective. For example, you note that you are receiving a good amount of quality traffic from referring websites while your non-brand organic traffic is pretty minimal, this might indicate a focus on organic search over linkbuilding might be more appropriate.

Another reason why reporting is so useful is that it acts as a springboard for discussions on how to make the site better for users - resulting in more bottom line conversions achieved from the website. We can point out particular things we find noteworthy from the report, while clients can ask questions on areas they’d like to know more about. Keeping that dialogue open and you as a client engaged with your data is a huge part of driving iterative improvements onsite.

However perhaps the most remarkable feature of reporting is how flexible it is - the sky really is the limit!*

Reports can contain the data you want, in the format you want, at a time you want. Whether it’s an Excel spreadsheet delivered in the first week of the month ahead of your monthly board meeting or it’s an online dashboard which can be viewed at any time, it can be achieved.

What’s most important is the metrics provided are those you are interested in and it's in a format which is accessible to you. The times when we see reporting fall down we often get a response of “we didn’t really get any value from the data we got”. So it’s important this is discussed extensively in the brief for the report and then maintained throughout its lifecycle.

With all of the above in mind, we hope we’ve given a good overview of why reporting truly is a fundamental aspect of proper website maintenance. So please don’t ignore this vital building block in the construction of your digital marketing plan. Of course you’re not alone in this, we’ve got experience for creating and maintaining almost every kind of report possible (if you’ve got a unique idea for one please get in touch, we love a challenge!), but most importantly we’re experts in listening to your wants from a report and delivering a framework tailored exactly to your requirements. 

You might be thinking “but I don’t know what I want?”, the good news is that’s fine too. We'll listen to your needs and discuss the business goals during the briefing stage and together we will find a reporting template which delivers on your key aims for the business. While we can also make edits to that template at any time from the start or moving forwards as it evolves to find the form most useful to you. Nothing is set in stone!

So take that first step and let’s start the conversation.

You’ve decided to invest in your website via digital marketing (good decision!), but where to begin or where to focus efforts?

Why reporting should be the cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy

The GA account itself may be operating perfectly and laden with interesting, actionable insights which could serve to improve site performance. However, if no one in the business has access to the account then these insights are left to drift unseen into the vast ocean of the internet.

To stop your Google Analytics account becoming the reporting equivalent of the Mary Celeste, lash your tether to safe harbour (to torture the boat analogy even further) by ensuring a plan is in place for account ownership.

Just by following a few basic principles you are likely to save yourself a lot of potential pain in the future:

Use a group email address - instead of using an individual team member’s email address as the only login for an account, ensure at least one group email address is associated with the account (e.g. reporting@yourbusiness.co.uk) with admin access. This will ensure that even when individual team members leave the business, your access does not disappear with them.

Document credentials & associated updates - credentials for any group email accounts which have Google Analytics access should be easily available to those who require it and then maintained e.g. when passwords change (of course using a secure documentation platform).

Ensure access is regularly maintained & updated - review user access on the account regularly to ensure only authorised users have access e.g. removing those who have left the business or external agencies who are no longer engaged.

If the above advice has come a little too late for you and your account is already lost to the high seas, get in touch and we’d be happy to discuss possible solutions.

However, it’s certainly true in this case that the ease of prevention far outweighs the pain of recovery - so take note before your account becomes the latest ‘ghost’ Google Analytics account to be set loose.

Too often the situation seems to arise whereby site owners are unable to access their Google Analytics account as they’re unaware as to who holds the account credentials.

Stop your Google Analytics account from going 'ghost' by following these basic tips on good account management maintenance.

Following rigorous assessment by UKAS accredited standards auditors, URS, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve met the requirements of ISO27001 certification, meaning that our internal processes and procedures have been approved by the world’s best-known standard on information security management.

ISO27001 sets out what is required to effectively implement a robust information security management system (ISMS). It provides a framework and guidelines for organisations like us to follow and supports the maintenance and improvement of our ISMS going forward. 

We’re a full-service digital agency who endeavour to do the very best for all our clients. While we have always been compliant with the principles of the ISO27000 series of information security standards (cybersecurity has, of course, always been a top priority in our line of business), our ISO27001 information security management system has now been officially recognised and certificated.

Information security demands a strategic approach. Achieving and maintaining ISO27001 assures our clients and partners that we’re protecting their information and data by carrying out thorough risk assessments, applying stringent policies and controls, and operating as safely and securely as possible at all times. 

It’s not only about the technical measures we put in place though; we also ensure that our business controls and management processes adequately address the information security threats and opportunities that we’ve identified and evaluated in our risk assessment. By implementing best-practice, we ensure a well-rounded perspective that addresses people, processes and technology.  

With our holistic approach to ISMS now backed by ISO27001 certification, we’re a digital agency that you can trust to secure and maintain the confidentiality and integrity of your business. We can assure you that our robust policies, procedures and controls will keep your information assets protected and secure.

 Demonstrating our commitment to information security as an ISO27001 certified digital agency

Our digital experts share some top tips, learnings and experiences

The pitfalls of 'vanity metrics'

Team headshots when budget or geography get in the way

AI in PPC - are we there yet?

The reasons why users reject cookies and what they can teach us

How cookie control affects 'traffic' and what you can do about it

How a user persona benefits the design process

What do we mean by brand?

Google Ads & Recommendations: Think Before You Implement

Google Signals - where's my data gone?

Why reporting should be the cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy

'Ghost' Google Analytics Accounts

ISO27001 certified digital agency