SEO tracking monitors and measures a website’s performance in search engine results pages (SERPs) and assesses its overall visibility and ranking for specific keywords or phrases. SEO tracking is vital to search engine optimization (SEO) because it helps websites and digital marketers understand how well their SEO efforts work and where improvements are required.
5 Essential SEO Metrics Your Business Should Track
When managing SEO for clients, tracking the right metrics is essential to display the value of your services and make data-driven decisions.
Keyword Rankings:
Monitoring keyword rankings is vital to understanding how your client’s website performs in search engine results. Keep track of the orders for target keywords and phrases. Track changes over time to see if rankings are improving or declining. Tools like Google Search Console, Moz, SEMrush, or Ahrefs can help.
Organic Traffic:
Measure the organic traffic on your client’s website. Google Analytics is a priceless tool for tracking organic traffic. Look for trends, spikes, or dips in traffic and compare them with changes in your SEO strategy or algorithm updates.
Conversion Rate:
Ultimately, the goal of SEO is not just to drive traffic but to convert visitors into customers, subscribers, or leads. Track the conversion rate for crucial actions on the website, such as form submissions, e-commerce purchases, or downloads. This metric helps connect SEO efforts to business outcomes.
Backlink Profile:
Assess the quality and quantity of backlinks pointing to your client’s website. Tools like Moz, Ahrefs, and Majestic can provide insights into the backlink profile. Look for new backlinks and reject toxic links for opportunities like high-quality ones.
Bounce Rate and Dwell Time:
The bounce rate measures the percentage of visitors who leave the site after viewing only one page. Dwell time measures how long visitors spend on the site. These metrics display user engagement and the significance of your content. Lowering bounce rates and increasing dwell time can improve SEO performance.
In addition to these five metrics, consider other relevant points that align with your client’s goals and industry. For example, for an e-commerce website, you should track average order value, cart abandonment rate, or product page views. Monitoring local SEO metrics, such as Google My Business performance and online reviews, can be crucial for a local business.
Regularly reporting on these metrics and providing insights and recommendations based on the data will demonstrate the impact of your agency’s SEO efforts and help build trust with your clients. SEO is an ongoing process. So, consistently track these metrics and adjust your strategy to achieve the best results.
How To Do SEO Tracking Through the Google Suite
Tracking SEO through Google Suite involves using various tools and platforms provided by Google to monitor and analyze your website’s performance in search engine results.
A step-by-step guide on how to do SEO tracking through the Google Suite:
Google Analytics
Set up Google Analytics: Create a Google Analytics account and add your website as a property.
Install the Tracking Code: Follow the instructions to install your website’s Google Analytics tracking code. This code allows Google Analytics to collect data about your website visitors.
Monitor Organic Traffic: In Google Analytics, you can navigate to see the traffic coming from organic searches. You can also view keyword data for measuring success.
Google Search Console
Verify Your Website: Add your website to Google Search Console and verify ownership. This tool provides insights into how Googlebot views your site.
Monitor Search Performance: In Google Search Console, you can access the “Performance” report, which shows total clicks, total impressions, average click-through rate (CTR), and average position for your website in Google search results.
Submit Sitemaps: Submitting XML sitemaps can help Google better understand your website’s structure and index your pages more effectively. You can do this in Google Search Console under “Sitemaps.”
Google My Business
Claim and Verify Your Business: If you have a physical location or serve a specific geographic area, share and verify your business on Google My Business. It is vital for local SEO.
Optimize Your Listing: Complete your business profile with accurate information, including your address, phone number, website URL, and business hours. Add high-quality images and respond to reviews.
Monitor Insights: Google My Business provides insights on how users find your listing, including the number of views, clicks, and calls. Use these insights to optimize your local presence.
Google Analytics Annotations
Use Annotations: In Google Analytics, you can create annotations to mark significant events or changes in your SEO strategy. It helps you correlate data spikes or drops with specific actions or events.
Google Data Studio
Create Custom SEO Dashboards: Google Data Studio allows you to create customized dashboards by pulling data from Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and other sources. It can provide a comprehensive view of your SEO performance.
Google Trends
Explore Keyword Trends: Google Trends helps you understand the popularity of specific keywords over time. It can help identify seasonal trends or rising search topics in your industry.
Also, Read
How to Build an SEO Roadmap
SEO tracking is an ongoing process. Regularly monitor these Google tools, analyze the data, and make necessary adjustments to your SEO strategy based on the insights you gather. Consistency and data-driven decisions are essential to improving your website’s performance in search engines.