Measuring SEO Performance
Measuring SEO is a critical metric that is used to measure the performance of a website's search engine optimization efforts. KPIs (key performance indicators) help website owners and digital marketers to track the effectiveness of their SEO strategies and identify areas for improvement. Here are some common SEO KPIs:
Organic Traffic: This measures the amount of traffic coming from search engines like Google or Bing. Organic traffic is an important metric to track, as it indicates how visible a website is in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Keyword Rankings: This tracks how well a website ranks for specific keywords. Monitoring keyword rankings helps to identify opportunities to improve a website's search engine visibility. Check out this article from Zapier about the best free keyword research tools.
Backlinks: This measures the number and quality of external links pointing to a website. Backlinks are an important factor in SEO, as they signal to search engines that a website is a trusted source of information. Check out the Semrush Blog for strategies on backlinking.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): This measures the percentage of people who click on a website's link in search engine results pages (SERPs). A higher CTR can indicate that a website's content is relevant and engaging to users. Using tools to monitor your CTR, like Google Analytics, to increase the optimization of your SEO strategy.
Bounce Rate: This measures the percentage of users who leave a website after only viewing one page. A high bounce rate can indicate that a website's content is not relevant or engaging to users. How do you see and monitor this? Useful website-building sites, like Squarespace, offer internal analytic options that shine a light on the performance of your website.
Page Load Time: This measures how long it takes for a website's pages to load. A slow page load time can negatively impact user experience and search engine rankings. Measure and track your website’s performance with tools like Google PageSpeed Insights.
Conversion Rate: This measures the percentage of website visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. Tracking conversion rates helps to determine the effectiveness of a website's SEO strategies in driving desired user behavior. Tracking is all about setting goals. Use your internal website hosting services analytics tools or Google Analytics to shine a light on customer behavior.
By tracking SEO KPIs, website owners, and digital marketers can gain insights into how well their SEO strategies are working and identify areas for improvement. They can use this data to optimize their website for better search engine visibility, user engagement, and conversions.
Happy measuring!