KPIs and How to Measure SEO Success

How to Measure SEO Success?

For those of you who are looking for further information about SEO, whether you are studying or for those of you who are in the process of looking for the right SEO service provider, you have come to the right place!

Here we will discuss the methods and KPIs in SEO that you should pay attention to before carrying out SEO so that you can measure the success of the SEO effort and its impact on your business.

Table of Contents

• How to Measure SEO Success?
  • Methods & KPIs Used
  • The Role of SEO to Achieve Business Objectives
  • Adjusting Business Objectives with SEO Strategy
• Categorizing KPIs in SEO
  • 3 Big Categories of KPIs in SEO
• Determining the Right KPIs for Business Objectives
  • SEO KPIs to measure Brand Awareness
  • SEO KPIs to measure Engagement
  • SEO KPIs to measure conversion rates

Methods & KPIs Used

Many variables play a role in determining the success of SEO, for this reason, KPIs and methods are needed that have been established before starting an SEO campaign.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator)  and this method help us as SEO service providers to find out whether the methods we use are working well or not.

KPIs in SEO also provide some insight to our clients and help them in setting their expectations. KPIs such as website ranking, traffic, domain authority (DA), and keywords that already have high positions are sometimes the most important things in the world of SEO.

The Role of SEO to Achieve Business Objectives

Apart from these KPIs, Meson as a Digital Marketing Agency strives to provide results such as an increase in sales and leads, online presence, and brand awareness.

This is the result every client expects from running their SEO campaign.

Meson views SEO as a long-term investment made by our clients; which in the future will bear fruit.

In contrast to other SEO service providers who mostly only promise high traffic and keywords on the first page, we also try to achieve the final goal of the SEO campaign that clients expect.

Adjusting Business Objectives with SEO Strategy

When clients come and ask us to boost a keyword, we always ask them; “Why did you choose those keywords?” and “Are these keywords relevant to the objectives you have set?”

After understanding and understanding the real objectives, that’s when we can provide keyword recommendations that will provide added value to their business.

The number of keywords that have high rankings is important, but the increase in sales obtained from SEO campaigns and the ROI (Return on Investment) they get are also no less important when measuring SEO success.

In short, KPIs in SEO are the connecting thread between the client’s business objectives and the SEO campaigns that we carry out.

Categorizing KPIs in SEO

Due to the many KPIs that exist in the world of SEO, we always categorize the existing KPIs into several categories according to our client’s objectives.

The objectives of a business that has just launched a brand or product will be different from a business that is already running and wants more customers.

Additionally, businesses that have been around for a long time may have the goal of increasing their customer retention rate. On the other hand, new businesses usually want to increase public brand awareness of their products.

In addition, businesses operating in different industries will also have different KPIs.

For example, businesses operating in the consumer goods sector usually want to increase sales; Meanwhile, businesses operating in the service sector will want sales leads or what are usually called prospects.

3 Big Categories of KPIs in SEO

Based on business objectives, we categorize several KPIs in SEO into:

1. Brand awareness – Building awareness of a brand in the eyes of the public
2. Engagement – ​​Increasing public interaction with the brand
3. Conversion – Drive purchases and increase the number of prospects/leads

Apart from the three things above, there are several more specific KPIs in SEO such as customer retention, brand reputation, and others.

Therefore, before starting SEO, we always ask what objectives our clients want to achieve. From there we can create a strategy that suits their needs.

Please note that each client has different needs, a strategy that works for client A may not necessarily work for client B.

Because the time and energy required are different for each client, we can never provide a proposal or price without knowing what our client needs.

Determining the Right KPIs for Business Objectives

Determining success in SEO and digital marketing campaigns is not easy, because the data we receive from platforms such as Google Analytics is raw, diverse, and very voluminous.

We have to know and choose what data we need to use as a reference to determine the success of a campaign.

We also have to select and adjust this data to the client’s objectives, then process it and connect it to the SEO strategy that we have created.

The KPIs that we usually use in an SEO project are designed not only to measure the number of website visitors and keywords on the first page; but rather the impact of the keyword, its relevance to the client’s objectives, and the number of conversions that come from the keyword.

SEO KPIs to measure Brand Awareness

When talking about brand awareness or public awareness of a brand, some of the KPIs that we usually use include:

1. Organic Traffic
2. Organic Impressions
3. Organic Click Through Rate (CTR)
4. Ranking keywords
5. Branded keyword search & traffic
6. Number of backlinks built
7. Google Trends

SEO KPIs to measure Engagement

Several KPIs in SEO are commonly used to measure the success of an SEO campaign in terms of interactions on the client’s website:

1. Bounce rate
2. Page load speed
3. Average time on page
4. Pages per visit
5. Unique vs Returning users
6. Exit page

SEO KPIs to measure conversion rates

The KPIs used to measure the success of an SEO campaign in terms of conversions vary greatly because the conversions requested by clients vary.

Some KPIs that are usually used include:

1. Number of sales
2. The number of people who register on the website
3. The number of people who registered their email
4. Cost per lead & Cost per acquisition
5. Number of thank you page visits
6. The number of uses of discount vouchers
7. And others depend on needs and objectives

Choosing KPIs that suit business objectives before developing an SEO strategy is very important considering the large amount of raw data obtained.

Understanding the KPIs that must be chosen when carrying out SEO is very helpful in determining the strategy and steps that must be taken next.

On the other hand, choosing the wrong KPI will make it difficult and mislead you when concluding whether the method you are using is correct or not.

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