One of the best long-term methods of digital marketing is SEO or Search Engine Optimization. Through this form of marketing, you can expose your website to substantial amounts of organic traffic. This can help drive your sales over time.
Note, though, that there’s a lot involved in SEO. Not only do you need to know how to facilitate it but you must also know how to measure SEO performance. In this article, we’re going to cover the latter, showing you the key aspects of measuring SEO performance.
Metrics to Track
First, we’re going to discuss the metrics that you should be tracking when measuring your SEO performance. They include the following.
Organic Traffic
Organic traffic refers to the online users who come to your site through search engines but not through search engine ads. In other words, if they click on a link to your website that was placed organically, they’re part of the organic traffic that has come to your website.
The whole point of SEO is to improve organic traffic. Therefore, if you’re measuring your SEO performance, this is perhaps the most important thing for you to track.
Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the number of website visitors that perform a given action divided by the total number of users who visit that website. What action are these users meant to perform? It depends on what you’re trying to achieve.
If you’re trying to get users to contact you through your website, you’ll want to track the number of contact forms submitted; If you’re trying to get users to sign up for your email list, you’ll want to track the number of times that users enter their emails for such; if you want users to buy something through your website, you’ll want to track sales transactions.
The conversion rate is important because it indicates how successful your website is in achieving its purpose. It shows how effective your website is.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of users who visit a website and then leave it without browsing past the first page. A high bounce rate is not desired. Note, though, that it’s not necessarily an indication of an ineffective website.
In some cases, online users will visit a website in order to find out contact or location information. In cases such as these, a bounced user is not a negative. In fact, it’s often positive.
Regardless, you’ll still want to keep an eye on bounce rate over time. If yours changes drastically, you might want to think about making changes to your website.
Scroll Depth
Scroll depth refers to the amount of a page that a website visitor scrolls down upon arrival. It indicates whether users are scrolling down to the most pertinent information on the page. It also indicates whether users are being turned off by particular design elements.
Pages Per Visit
Pages per visit show the average number of pages that a user visits after arriving at your website. Ideally, your website will be designed in a way that inspires visitors to visit several pages in a single session.
Time on Page
Time on page is important to track as well. This indicates just how long users are spending on given pages on your website. The longer they’re spending on the page, the more informative and engaging it is.
By measuring this metric, you can inform yourself on whether it’s pertinent to alter page content or web design elements. It can help you experiment with different types of content so that you can improve it over time.
Tools for Measuring SEO Performance
Now that we’ve discussed the most important metrics to gauge, we’re going to tell you how to gauge those metrics. There are a number of different tools you can use, some of which are free and some of which will cost you. The most popular of these tools include:
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool that enables you to track everything from time on page to bounce rate to conversion rate and more. It’s one of the most popular SEO tools in existence and needs to be part of your SEO arsenal.
If you need help setting up Google Analytics on your website, or if you need help using it, give a call to an SEO agency like Tilladelse SEO agency.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console enables you to track the ways in which web users access your website. It shows which Google keywords are bringing users to your website as well as keywords that have the potential to bring users to your website.
Search Console can also alert you to security issues with your website. Not to mention, it informs you of usability problems that crop up.
Like Google Analytics, Google Search Console is free to use. As such, it needs to be part of your arsenal.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs not only allows you to track your own website’s SEO progress but also provides you with important information about other websites. This is important, as it enables you to analyze and compete with your competitors.
Ahrefs is also a top-notch keyword research tool. It indicates the frequency of keywords, how much competition they have, and alternative keywords to use in their place.
While it’s on the expensive side, it’s a hugely valuable tool that can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful SEO campaign. Therefore, you should strongly consider purchasing it.
And That’s How to Measure SEO Performance
And there it is, that’s how to measure SEO performance. Put these SEO tips to good use and you’ll be well on your way to tracking your SEO success.
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