Measuring the success of SEO strategy is the only way to know whether what the SEO consultant is doing is effective. These are the metrics that will make the difference to your bottom lines as a business. They need to align with your overall business goals.
Factors for measuring the success of SEO strategy:
These are the main factors for measuring the success of SEO strategy; organic traffic, conversion rate, keyword rankings, organic revenue, leads and ROI. Let’s break them down.
Organic traffic
Organic traffic is the most obvious result of SEO. It’s the measure of how many visitors visit your website after viewing search engine results pages (SERPs), usually Google. It indicates that your website is being seen by more potential customers. SEO increases your visibility.
Engagement metrics
Track activity on the website once a visitor clicks through from an organic search result. Use tools like Google Analytics and Search Console. Metrics to look at are session duration, number of pages and bounce rate. These indicate how interested in and engaged visitors are with your content.
Conversion rate
Conversions are the actions taken by potential customers on search engines and when they reach your website. Click through rate is one type of conversion rate. Add to basket is another type of conversion rate. Filling in an enquiry form is a third. Break down the customer journey into the conversion steps and track them to measure the success of SEO strategy.
Keyword rankings
The higher your website is in search engine results, the more traffic you will gain. The first page results are clicked more often than any others lower down on the page. Monitor your keyword rankings for keywords and phrases that are important to your business.
Organic revenue
If you have an online store or ecommerce business, organic revenue is a goal. Track the revenue and the source of that revenue to assess whether organic traffic is generating sales.
Organic leads
The same thing applies to lead generation. By tracking the leads generated from organic sources, the value of those leads and the conversion rate of your sales process, you can track organic lead revenue against the goals for your SEO strategy.
In both cases, tracking organic revenue from ecommerce and lead gen shows the direct impact of SEO on your bottom line. However, remember that the customer journey is often not as straightforward as you imagine it might be.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Once you have the organic revenue that SEO efforts have produced, you can start to calculate the ROI of your SEO strategy. Factor in agency/contractor costs or employee time and wages as well as any other expenditures like SEO software against the revenue gained. If ROI is positive, it’s a sign your SEO strategy is working.
Measuring the success of an SEO strategy
The underlying goals for the business, (usually more sales!) will inform the tactics for measuring the success of an SEO strategy.
The aim is to see gradual improvements in metrics over time as SEO efforts take effect and are compounded. It is important to be realistic about goals and be patient. SEO is a long term and ongoing process.
By measuring the effects, you will be able to see how effective the strategy is and optimise it even further. Do you need help with SEO? Book a free initial call.