In some form or another, you have developed an SEO strategy as a digital strategist. Yet, you might wonder if you’re doing it correctly. If your strategy is working, how do you know? Did you set and review your SEO metrics?
Setting and measuring metrics are good practices for any brand or business strategy. Site visits are a good example. The number of visits per month or per day can let you know if your content is relevant or of high quality, or if you need to improve. You can identify what is most important to your brand.
Since we are discussing how to measure an SEO strategy’s success, a brand must (1) identify the metrics that matter and will help them succeed, and (2) monitor it for optimization.
Sometimes, there are a lot of metrics to measure. You should monitor the following five (5) metrics to get a headstart on the ones that will have an impact on your SEO strategy:
1. Keyword Relevance vs. Website Ranking
Are you familiar with the relevant keywords for your industry, category, or brand? Getting to know those keywords, their ranking, and their volume is a good place to start. Then, make sure you have relevant content to support these keywords. As much as 50% of your site traffic can come from organic search engine results. It is fundamental that you choose the right keywords to associate with your brand and support them with quality content. This will help your site’s relevance, trustworthiness, and ranking.
2. Traffic from organic search
search engine optimization is mostly used to get organic traffic from search engines that are free. Sounds good, doesn’t it? You can track organic search traffic to determine three things: (1) if the content you’re sharing is worth people’s time, (2) if the keywords you’re using are beneficial or not, and (3) if your strategy is effective overall.
3. Backlinks
How do backlinks work? Backlinks are links from one website that direct to your brand’s website. What is their purpose? The reason is simple – they provide credibility and additional exposure to your online presence. Backlinks give you that boost Search engines, such as Google, use passive search traffic to determine if you have authority over a specific niche. The more backlinks you gain, the more websites refer to your website, and the more content you share, the more authority you gain as a brand.
4. Traffic Conversions from Organic Sources
The goal of any brand, no matter the industry, will always be conversion. Getting traffic is good, especially if you get it at an upward trajectory, but what really matters is traffic that converts. The amount of content and link-building you can afford to invest in your site will depend on how well your traffic converts.
5. Traffic by device
Your brand should follow suit since SEO does not discriminate. It is essential to know where organic traffic is coming from. The Philippines is a mobile-first nation. Take this into consideration as well as other types of devices.
There are still a few metrics to monitor. Here are five (5) good ones to begin with. You can only determine whether your strategy is successful if you constantly monitor it. Google Analytics and Keyword Planner are some tools that can assist with your SEO strategy & planning.
