So, you have gone ahead and launched your SEO campaign. Weeks go by, then months. How do you know that it’s actually working? Read on to find out how you can tell if your current SEO strategy is helping you drive success.
The Goal of SEO
Unlike PPC ads, which focus on generating quick results, the goal of SEO is to generate sustainable leads over a longer period of time. As such, patience is a virtue when it comes to your SEO strategy. You cannot expect to see great results instantly, which is something to keep in mind when analyzing the success of your campaign. Furthermore, search engines can take some time to upload their search results and when that happens, it’s unlikely that all your target keywords will see the same improvements at the same time.
Organic Search Results
The defining characteristic of organic SEO is its ranking on organic search results. This is as opposed to PPC ads, which place your ad on top of all other organic search results. What this means is that when your website shows up on top of rankings because of its relevance to search terms, your SEO strategy is doing well. This is a highly indicative factor of the success of your SEO strategy. Google Analytics can also help you figure out which landing pages and keywords are driving the most traffic.
Shares on Social Media
Did you know that when users share your content on social media, it contributes to your SEO strategy success? That’s right – as social media pages are indexable by Google, this means that shares on social media can come up in SERPs as well. When your business has several pages with high rankings, this reduces the number of spaces your competitors are taking up. However, just because a page is indexable doesn’t mean it will show up on Google SERPs. You will also want to monitor customers’ engagement with your content – just because a page has been shared doesn’t necessarily mean it has been read.
Keyword Ranking
How highly does your website rank in SERPs for any particular keyword? The goal for most businesses is to appear on page one of their chosen keywords. Keyword ranking is something that can fluctuate over time and as such, it’s best to track it constantly so that any gradual declines can be identified, and action taken quickly. Furthermore, there are factors that affect keyword ranking which can be out of your control. For instance, search results may be customized to a user’s past browsing behavior and if they have visited your website before, it’s more likely to rank highly.
Conversion Rates
Yes, you may be tracking your conversion rates, but do you know what percentage of your conversions come from organic traffic? This is a key factor in measuring the success of your SEO strategy. Keep in mind that a conversion rate can be defined by your individual goals – it may not necessarily be a purchase, but a subscription to a mailing list. As conversion rates from SEO tend to be higher than that of outbound marketing strategies such as PPC ads, tracking the conversion rate obtained from your SEO strategy is one surefire way of measuring its success.
Organic Click-Through Rate (CTR)
One valuable insight you can glimpse from organic CTRs is the quality of your website. Are visitors stopping to browse through it or disappearing after one click? However, some limitations do exist with CTRs. For one thing, some visitors may be clicking through your website without the intention of making a purchase or taking further action. Or they could be users outside of your targeted geographical net, a market you do not serve. That is why organic CTRs should always be analyzed alongside other sources of data such as conversion rates.
Volume of Backlinks
How many visits from your site come from a link on an external website? Google ranks websites with a high volume of backlinks higher because this tells them that your website provides useful and relevant information as compared to your competitors. Acquiring backlinks can be done through content marketing such as blogs, interviews, networking and much more.