Over the past 12 months, there has been a large jump in the number of search marketing agencies who are developing their own dashboards and reporting tools.
As technology gets easier to implement, many agency bosses see this as a great way to differentiate themselves and develop custom reporting that perfectly matches their services and looks impressive to clients.
4 Essentials of a Successful Reporting Dashboard
When an agency goes to the drawing board to define how their dashboard will work, the priority issues they focus on are:
- Data: What data to display and how often it needs to update
- Functionality: What actions do users (both internal and client) need to be able to do within the dashboard
- User Interface: How to make the data easy to read and the dashboard quick and simple to navigate
- Technology: Which technologies to use to ensure quick development and easy support post-launch
Most attention is typically given to the Functionality and UI in dashboard projects, and rightly so.
Your dashboard needs to be easy to navigate, and your reports need to be easy to read, otherwise clients won’t understand or make use of it – which is the #1 objective for any reporting tool.
Don’t Get Bogged Down in Data Gathering
However, it’s often the data gathering and management that causes the biggest development headaches. There are so many hidden issues with gathering data that they can delay, or even kill the delivery of your dashboard!
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
99% of the data you want is available via APIs from third parties, and these APIs are easy to connect with, easy to test, and inexpensive to use.
Making use of these ready-made APIs significantly reduces the risk in your project. It removes a huge chunk of development work, reduces complexity, and can save months of development time. It also frees up your developers and product owners to focus on the functionality and UI that delivers a great dashboard, in time and under-budget.
Hassle Free Local Search Data At your Fingertips!
A great source of local search data is the BrightLocal APIs. This suite of local data APIs provides a huge range of data starting at just $0.01, including:
Local/Maps Search Rankings
Search ranking data for Google Maps, Yahoo Local, and Bing Local.
Organic Search Rankings
Search ranking data for Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Citations & NAP Data
Get access to a full list of Active Citations with NAP Data (Name, Address, Phone). You can also get new citation opportunities based on where competitors are listed, but your clients are not.
Reviews and Ratings Data
Star Rating, Review Count, and Review Content pulled from leading review sites such as Google My Business, Yelp, Foursquare, Facebook, TripAdvisor, and many more.
Google+ Local Data
Get full details of Google+ Local profiles including Verification status, NAP, categories, review count, star rating, description, and photo count.
Social Media Data
Top-line social profile stats for Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare.
Get Started!
Find full details and developer documentation for these local search APIs onBrightLocal’s API page. Please note, API costs are negotiable and volume dependent.
[“source-searchenginejournal”]
