Once you have launched your SEO campaign, you also need to monitor it and measure its success. This process may depend on your business model and your goals, but generally measuring a SEO campaign involves 3 invaluable KPIs or Key Performance Indicators that include Rankings, Traffic, and Conversions.
These 3 KPIs not only provide a fairly accurate measurement of your SEO campaign, but also provide data that can be used to further fine-tune your campaign for better results. You can begin by tracking your keyword rankings since studies have revealed that sites that get displayed on the very first results page of Google boost their chances of receiving traffic by around 92 percent.
While tracking keywords, you need to get that perfect balance of top rankings and affordability based on your budget and business. This choice is possible only when you analyze keyword ranking data so that you can make an informed decision.
While your chosen keywords may push your website to top page rankings, they also need to pull in traffic that is actually searching for you or your business, or your products or services. You need to measure web traffic volume that arrives at your website through your organic search efforts. Again, this volume will depend on your targeted audience and your business model since targeting local, national, and global markets will yield different volumes.
You also need to monitor the quality of that traffic to make sure that the right visitors arrive at your site. You need to consider metrics such as pages per visit, average duration of each visit, and bounce rates to confirm if those visitors have indeed found what they need at your website. Again, choosing the right keywords will ensure that only visitors with perfectly matched queries end up at your site.
Finally, conversions need to be measured to find out if your SEO efforts are paying off. You need to consider conversions from several sources including organic search to reach an accurate figure. In addition, not all visitors convert at the very first visit and a visitor visiting your site for information may ultimately convert through other sources such as by placing an order by phone or by visiting your physical store, etc.
Also, visitors may opt to subscribe for your newsletters or may download whitepapers or store your website details to make a purchase at a later date. If your aim is to boost leads then you also need to consider these aspects as part of conversions. You should have an optimum conversion tracking program in place to provide accurate figures of conversions.
Once you have all monitoring and measuring processes in place, you will be able to calculate ROI or Return On Investment for your SEO campaign. You should remember to calculate ROI of your regular customers not only by their initial purchases, but also on their lifetime values, which is the estimated amount that you can earn from each customer for their entire lifetime.
The above ways to measure success of a SEO campaign will help you to monitor and measure your SEO campaign while making the right adjustments for improved results in the future.