There are a few common mistakes I see made when measuring the success of SEO campaigns and ongoing work.
Focusing only on search engine rankings
Don’t get me wrong. Ranking is important and everyone wants to be in that top three for search terms but ranking is not the only measurement of success for SEO. Rankings fluctuate all the time and a change in your ranking doesn’t always impact on traffic to your website or conversions, especially if it is a small change.
Not setting proper goals
Not setting the goals for a campaign with clear key performance indicators (KPIs) makes it difficult to measure the success of the work done. KPIs should always be measurable and specific. And of course, they should line up with the overall goals of the business. Usually this is more sales.
Ignoring engagement metrics
Look at the bounce rate and the number of pages per session. The volume of website visitors doesn’t always equal more sales. A good example of this is a free guide I created for a client. It attracted hundreds of thousands of views. But they were all viewing it and linking to it as an education resource. They weren’t potential customers.
Conversion metrics matter
Seriously, you would be surprised by how many businesses I work with who do not track their sales conversions through analytics or a CRM so they have absolutely zero idea what their marketing does to improve their bottom line.
Long-term trends in data
It’s important to stand back from the nitty gritty granular data and look at the bigger picture. Analysing long-term trends can tell you if the overall market or the algorithm has shifted. It is not all about watching the short term fluctuations (see point 1 about rankings).
Overlooking technical SEO issues
The first thing I recommend to business owners is to have their site audited for technical faults. There is no point throwing money at content production if the website cannot be crawled or indexed (yes, it happens!) due to a technical issue. A regular site audit is also recommended to pick up any changes.Â
The changing landscape of SEO
SEO changes constantly. Search algorithms change and Google issues updates. User behaviour is changing too. For example, users are using AI to answer questions they might have previously asked of Google. I keep up to date on tactics and strategy, ensuring your business gets the best practices. Measuring data can provide insights into changes in SEO.Â
The most common mistakes when measuring the success of SEO
I’ve outlined the most common mistakes I see businesses make when measuring the success of SEO. The most common is probably neglecting technical issues and ignoring engagement stats in preference of focussing on ranking.
At least, that’s what I see most when working with businesses on their SEO. And btw it doesn’t matter what size of business. I have worked with businesses of a significant size and turnover and they make the same mistakes.
Do you need help with SEO? Book a free initial call and we can discuss how to improve your website ranking.Â