Should you care how many visitors enter your website if they drop out within seconds? Do your conversion rates stack up against the industry standard? Do the best SEO content marketing and killer content actually benefit your organic search referrals?
Read on to discover the top 5 SEO metrics and the ones you need to track the most.
What Are SEO Metrics?
How do you currently measure your website’s performance?
Free tools like Google Search Console provide a wealth of statistics including:
- Search traffic counts
- Performance issues
- Impressions and clicks
- Position on Google Search
These search engine optimization (SEO) metrics are key to analyzing your marketing budget spend. Some are more useful than others, so which ones should you keep a close eye on?
1. SEO Bounce Rates
Don’t puff out your chest just yet if your visitor traffic count is at a record high. Have you offset bounce rates to that figure?
A bounce occurs when a visitor enters your site, then leaves within seconds.
Average bounce rates sit between 25-55%. A high bounce rate percentage of 70% or more indicates a major problem.
The search console will flag technical issues on your site that might lead to quick exits. Examine those results, then fix the problems as soon as possible.
2. Organic Traffic Count
This is the SEO metric most managers record along with the total visitor count. It highlights how many visitors arrive from a non-paid search engine results page (SERP).
Make sure to break down organic traffic by landing page and location. This will show you the pages that need improvement and areas that work in some world regions but not others.
3. Click-Through Rates
Perhaps you own a local business in Ft. Lauderdale and want to track how many visitors clicked through to your website from Google.
This click-through rate (CTR) measures how many people found your listing on Google and decided to click on it.
You can edit how your listings appear on Google by editing the page’s title. You can also view these changes in the console.
A well-known landmark name in the SERPs will instantly draw nearby visitors to your local store. Learn more here about targeted online marketing.
4. Search Result Impressions
When your web page displays on Google Search, it’s recorded as an impression.
Impressions are a broad way to measure your SEO campaign’s performance. However, they count even if the user doesn’t scroll down or click on the link.
The higher number of impressions the more likely your site’s links are to the first page of the organic listings.
5. Organic Conversion Rates
Conversion rates measure how many of your inbound visitors complete a given task. For example, purchasing a product or signing up for your newsletter.
If your traffic levels are high yet your conversion rates remain low, then ask yourself why.
Check the keywords your visitors used. Do they match with your sales funnel? Or do people leave as the content doesn’t match their search?
Combine this knowledge with bounce rate figures to fix the problem areas.
More Innovative Marketing Industry Trends
SEO metrics break down your website’s performance and provide clues as to how best to improve them.
Use Google Search Console to gather these essential stats. Remember to always provide killer content; otherwise, those figures will remain low. Fix any issues and review next month’s results to mark the improvement.
Remember to read more about SEO content marketing on our blog.
Review What Are the Most Important SEO Metrics That I Should Track?.