How do I measure my website’s SEO performance?
Measuring your website’s SEO performance is a process that involves tracking and analyzing various metrics that reflect how well your site ranks on search engines and attracts organic traffic. There are many ways to measure SEO performance, but here are some of the most common and important ones:
- Organic traffic: This is the number of visits that come to your site from search engines without clicking on ads. It’s a good indicator of how well your web pages rank for relevant keywords and how much quality traffic you get.
- You can use Google Search Console to see your organic traffic over time, filter out branded queries, and compare different time periods. You can also use tools like Ahrefs’ Traffic Analytics or Semrush’s Traffic Analytics to benchmark your site against your competitors and see where your traffic comes from and where it goes.
Also, read How do I optimize my website for SEO?
- Keyword rankings: This is your website’s position on a search engine results page (SERP) for a specific keyword or phrase. The higher you rank, the more traffic you’re likely to drive to your site. However, keyword rankings can change frequently due to various factors, so you need to monitor them regularly and adjust your strategy accordingly.
- You can use tools like Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker3 or Semrush’s Position Tracking to track your keyword rankings daily and automatically. You can also use tools like Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer or Semrush’s Keyword Gap to conduct a keyword gap analysis and find new keywords that your competitors are ranking for, but you aren’t.
- SERP features: These are the special elements that appear on some SERPs, such as featured snippets, people also ask, local packs, images, videos, etc. They can help you increase your visibility and click-through rate (CTR) on the SERPs, as well as provide additional information and value to the users.
- You can use tools like Ahrefs’ Site Explorer or Semrush’s Organic Research to see what SERP features you or your competitors are ranking for and how they affect your traffic and CTR. You can also use tools like Ahrefs’ Content Explorer or Semrush’s Topic Research to find content ideas that can help you target SERP features.
Also, read How long does it take to see results from SEO?
- Conversions: These are the actions that you want your visitors to take on your site, such as signing up for a newsletter, downloading an ebook, making a purchase, etc. They are the ultimate goal of SEO, as they indicate how well your site converts organic traffic into leads or customers.
- You can use tools like Google Analytics or Google Tag Manager to set up and track conversions on your site, as well as see what sources, channels, pages, and keywords drive the most conversions. You can also use tools like Hotjar or Crazy Egg to see how people interact with your site visually using heatmaps, scroll maps, click maps, etc.
How do I measure my website’s SEO performance? These are some of the main ways to measure SEO performance for results.
However, SEO is an ongoing process that requires constant research, analysis, experimentation, and improvement. You should always keep up with the latest trends and best practices in SEO and update your site accordingly. SEO is not a quick fix; it’s a long-term investment that can help you grow your online presence and reach more potential customers.