If you’re currently using SEO techniques on your website, then this post is for you. Whether you’re doing SEO yourself or hiring a company, it’s not easy to measure results. We know, for a fact, that making your website search-engine-friendly takes time to kick in. Some experts say that you should wait at least three months before you’re likely to see real results. All this under-the-surface movement makes it very difficult to track your success. Is your SEO really working? Today, we’ll show you a few simple ways to measure your performance. We’ll show you what’s working, and what’s not.
- Google ranking
Obviously, the best method to measure your SEO success is your Google rank. Are you moving up the pages for your preferred search terms? Now, this isn’t always the most reliable measurement. There are all sorts of factors involved, but this will help you figure out if your main strategy is working. The trouble is that this takes time to kick in. But, if you’ve noticed that you’ve moved from page 5 to page 4, then things are heading in the right direction.
- Search engine referral figures
The best way to really tap into your search engine success is by looking at your analytics data. This is a trick we learnt on an SEO training program, and it’s become one of our favourite measurements. Log into your Google Analytics account, and load up the acquisitions page. You’re looking for the figures that demonstrate the volume of traffic that arrived through search engine referrals. If your search engine referrals are on the rise, then your SEO campaign is clearly kicking in. Now it’s just a case of pushing that number higher.
- Referral phrases
Of course, numbers aren’t your only concern here. You’re also looking for the specific phrases that people are using to find your site. This is an indication of how well your keyword strategy is working. I.e. are you using the most effective keywords? This part of Google Analytics will tell you which exact phrases and keywords people are using to find you. Do they match up with your targeted phrases?
- Are all pages receiving search traffic
A good all-round SEO strategy should have a positive effect on all website pages. If you’re seeing search traffic on one page, but not the others, then your strategy is too specific. Remember, you’re looking to boost your overall site authority. Check that each of your web pages are starting to receive search traffic, and monitor what keywords are driving them.
- Domain authority and page authority
There is one specific ranking system that online experts take very seriously. That’s Moz’s domain authority and page authority metrics. It’s a figure (measured out of 100) that determines how strong a website’s search engine presence is. In other words, it shows you how much authority you have in the eyes of Google.
Don’t be alarmed if you aren’t seeing immediate results. SEO takes a while to kick in, but these metrics here should help you measure how far you’ve come.