Measuring the success of an SEO campaign can be difficult at times. For starters, there are so many different ways to measure it. Keyword ranking, user traffic, ROI, conversion rates- the list is long. And then there are the non-technical benefits of SEO like brand visibility, brand authority, and user experience. These are much harder to quantify. If you’re looking to measure the success of your SEO campaign, here are the most common ways to do so.
Ranking
The easiest way to measure an SEO campaign is keyword ranking. Getting a higher ranking is the goal of most SEO campaigns. It’s not all that matters but a higher search result ranking means more traffic and more visibility. There are multiple sites out there that can tell you what keywords your website ranks for and how high it’s listed.
The important thing to remember when looking at ranking is the keywords your site is ranking high for. You want to make sure they are relevant to your business and goals. Being a lawnmower company and ranking number one under tanning lotion isn’t going to help you. A successful SEO campaign will give you higher rankings for relevant and helpful keywords on multiple search engine sites.
Traffic
Monitoring site traffic is another way to measure the success of an SEO campaign. There are multiple types of traffic, all of which is good. An SEO campaign should raise your non-branded organic traffic, though. That means that someone didn’t search you by name and clicked your site. Rather they search something related to one of your targeted keywords and then selected your site.
It’s important to look at the different types of traffic going to your site and noting where it’s coming from. Non-branded organic traffic signals new users while branded traffic is people familiar with your business. Noticing if social media is driving any traffic to your site is important as well. Take note of which social media profiles too. All of this information can help you determine what to focus on and where to keep expanding. Look at shares, pages visited, and how long users spend on your site too.
Conversion Rates
Conversion rates measure the percentage of visitors who arrive at your site from organic searched and complete the desired conversion action. This turns them into a lead. This conversion rate measures users who visit your site that has turned into leads or customers.
A conversion rate depends on what you want a site visitor to be converted into. If you run an e-commerce site on your business perhaps you want them to turn into sales. If it’s an accounting site perhaps you want them to purchase software from you or turn into a new customer. SEO can help raise conversion rates by optimizing the site to make it more visible in search engines, by making the desirable action as simple to do as possible, and making the user experience with the site positive.
Cost Per Conversion
Cost per conversion is another way to assess the progress and success of an SEO campaign. CPC is the total cost of generating traffic divided by the total number of conversions. This equation included all traffic, even those that didn’t lead to conversion.
For example, if you spent $100 on driving up traffic and received 40 sales, then your CPC would be $100/ 40= $2.5.
CPC is an important tool for measuring if the cost of your SEO spending is paying off in terms of conversions. It’s important to note that sales aren’t always the desired conversion.
Return on Investment
Return on investment (ROI) is the most basic business measurement tool. The problem with ROI and SEO is that it’s difficult to measure. It is often inaccurately calculated. There’s also the problem that many times the goal of an SEO campaign isn’t money measurable conversions like sales or new business. Not to mention many times people use online for research or gaining information and then make a conversion on another channel.
ROI is calculated by profit minus cost divided by cost. The tricky part with SEO is determining what profit was acquired because of SEO and if SEO is only one part of a digital marketing campaign determining the cost of SEO alone becomes difficult.
Non-Quantitative Measurements
In addition to quantitative measurements, there are other ways to measure a success of an SEO campaign. User experience can be measured based on how long users spend on your website and monitoring comments, likes, shares, and reviews. Brand visibility and authority can be judged based on those methods as well.
Never underestimate social media either. How many people share your Facebook posts or like your Instagram pictures? Social media engagement is important, especially in this day and age. Social media and SEO go hand in hand.