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Aug 30, 2022
It’s no longer a secret that SEO is what drives websites to show up high in search engine results pages (SERPs). However, it’s important to remember that it takes a while, or at least six months, to start seeing results.
What if they never do? Well, you’re left with no choice but to improvise. You need to see how well (or bad) your SEO campaign is performing.
In fact, tracking SEO metrics should be a priority. How else will you know that you’re doing it right? How will you be able to identify what’s working and what’s keeping you from seeing a rise in your rankings?
We can’t deny that monitoring SEO performance can be a daunting task. It requires in-depth analysis of a lot of data – from keywords and backlinks to organic traffic, SEO site health, and more. Each of these performance metrics can either make or break your SEO campaign.
That’s why it’s crucial to track your search engine metrics on a regular basis.
If you’re not sure where to start, you’ve definitely come to the right place. This post will tell you everything you should know about the art of monitoring your SEO success metrics. We’ll be covering what SEO tracking is, the key metrics to keep an eye on (along with a few tips to work on them), and some of the best tracking tools you can use to track your SEO campaign’s success.
Ready to get started? Let’s do it!
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SEO tracking involves the process of collecting, monitoring, and analyzing your marketing data with the end goal of increasing your search visibility and website traffic. It allows you to gain a better understanding of your website’s data, find opportunities for improvement, and most importantly, maximize your ROI on your SEO efforts.
Regardless of the type of website you aim to rank in search engines, tracking your SEO performance should be a vital part of your digital marketing strategy. That’s the only way you’ll be able to evaluate the success of your SEO campaigns.
Measuring the effectiveness of your SEO efforts requires having a clear understanding of the important SEO metrics. And so, to help you achieve that, we’ve rounded up the top ones for you below.
You’ll know your SEO strategy is doing great as soon as you see a steady growth in organic traffic coming from search engines.
For instance, someone types in a keyword that’s related to your business and your brand pops out. Seeing it among the top search results, they click the link, leading them to your website. This person is considered organic traffic since you didn’t have to pay for advertising to get that click.
If your organic search traffic looks unsatisfactory, here are some search engine optimization tips to help you:
Right after users type a certain keyword, search engines will show them a results page comprising of relevant web links and advertisements. If your site happens to rank well for that keyword, it will likely be among the first few options searchers see. This means greater online visibility and brand awareness - signs that your SEO progress is on the right track.
No wonder most companies today have gotten so invested in keyword research. Targeting relevant keywords is a surefire way to secure a good spot in organic search results.
Bear in mind, however, that keyword rankings tend to decline over time. Your website might be ranking first or second thanks to a specific keyword, but weeks later, you’ve come to learn that your rankings dropped. This might explain why you’ve been noticing a gradual decrease in your traffic as well.
That’s when you realize that you’ll need to tweak things, such as changing your primary keyword if many of your competitors are also ranking for it. Although keyword rankings alone can’t pinpoint the problem with your SEO campaign, they can quickly tell you that something’s wrong.
While we could all agree that getting more visibility is fantastic, converting site visitors into actual customers is what we should be focusing on. That’s where you look at your conversion rate.
Conversion rate refers to the percentage of visitors that have completed your call-to-action (CTA) – be it by buying your product, signing up for your email newsletter, booking an appointment, or making a referral – compared to the overall number of people browsing your site.
You calculate it by simply dividing the number of conversions by the number of visitors. The question is, what’s the ideal number? How can you tell that your SEO campaign plan is working?
SEO experts recommend having a conversion rate of around 3%-3.5%. Any rate that falls below 1% will require you to evaluate your conversion factors and possibly enlist professional assistance.
Bounce rate is the percentage of people who visit your website only to leave it without bothering to view the rest of your pages. It indicates how relevant a visitor thinks your page is.
A high bounce rate isn’t something you want, as it suggests that your visitor didn’t stay long. On the other hand, a low bounce rate means that your visitor has spent a decent amount of time on your website, navigating their way through other pages.
Below are four ways to keep your bounce rate as low as possible:
Another critical metric to measure the success of your SEO would be your backlinks.
In order to rank high on SERPs, you should have a good number of relevant, high-authority sites linking to your web pages. That way, search engine crawlers will see you as a credible brand and a thought leader in your niche.
One of the simplest ways to earn backlinks is by guest blogging for a well-established online platform that has a high domain authority and lots of organic traffic. Many sites today feature a “Write for Us” section or a contributor account where you can submit a piece that’s related to their niche; hence, your chance to link to your website.
Want more tried-and-true tips to gain quality backlinks? Give this post of ours a read!
Click-through rate is an engagement metric that indicates the number of site visitors from SERPs versus the total number of times your web pages appear in search results (impressions).
CTR is meant to help you gauge search engine optimization performance, specifically your page title and meta description. It tells you whether they're persuasive enough to entice searchers to check out your website.
Don't let these essential SEO metrics overwhelm you! There are tons of tracking tools available that can make the process of SEO tracking a breeze. Here are our favorites!
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Google Analytics is a powerful tool that offers a goldmine of valuable insights into the performance of your SEO campaigns. With it, you'll know how many visitors are on your site, as well as their demographics, web activities, and the average time spent on your page.
You can also use Google Analytics to view your bounce rate and organic traffic. And, it gives you the option to link your account with AdSense and AdWords, providing you a better perspective of your ad performance.
Oh, and did we mention that Google Analytics is completely free of charge?
SEMrush has always been a top choice among SEO experts and newbies. It's designed to make SEO analysis incredibly fast and organized.
The tool provides you all the information you need to know about your SEO campaign - from its organic traffic and keyword rankings to its monthly and yearly search volumes. Plus, SEMrush allows you to compare your SEO performance with that of your competition.
Most of these features won't require you to spend a dime, but if you're looking for a detailed report, you should sign up for a premium account.
A free tool by Google, Google Search Console helps you monitor how the biggest search engine views your site and optimize its organic presence.
You'll have a deeper understanding of how users discover your website and which pages drive the most organic traffic. What's more, it provides insights into search volume, CTR, and page indexing.
Ahrefs offers a free tracking tool, Keyword Rank Checker, which shows you your keyword ranking on SERPs.
And, if you opt for a paid account, you'll be able to see important SEO metrics right from the dashboard. Aside from organic keywords, these metrics include organic traffic, backlinks, and referring domains.
When it comes to conducting an SEO audit, Seobility is your go-to. Other than that, it also gives tips to boost your SEO rankings.
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There's no other way to know that your SEO efforts are indeed paying off than by tracking the most important SEO metrics.
If you find that you're having issues with particular metrics and you need professional assistance from an SEO agency, then Digital Resource should be your best bet.
Our dedicated team will do their best to help you implement changes to maximize your SEO campaign.
Not to mention, our award-winning SEO services will get you to dominate search engines in a matter of months.
Schedule a free consultation with us today! We can't wait to turn you into our next success story.
Think you've got what it takes to hang with the pros at Digital Resource? Check out our Careers page to browse current job openings!
