PHEW. You’ve learned a tonne of info from us lately about on-page SEO and its benefits. After all of that work implementing changes to improve your SEO, surely it’s time to kick back and relax. But wait — how will you measure your success?
Keep reading to learn about the Top 5 SEO metrics to track.
Now that you’ve taken the time to improve your SEO, you’re probably wondering, “How do I know if my SEO is working?”. Great question. How do you measure SEO success? How do you know if your optimization efforts are working and driving the results you’re looking for?
To begin measuring SEO success, it’s important to record SEO metrics. This will give you a baseline so you can track the increase in your page’s performance over time. After you’ve recorded your SEO metrics (we’ll show you which ones you should focus on), be sure to regularly track these metrics using an SEO measurement tool.
The first indication that your SEO is working is that the company is seeing an increase in organic conversions. This can be sales, leads, subscriptions, or any other action that generates revenue for the business. This one is a given though, so we have 5 more ways listed below to tell if your SEO efforts have made a dent.
Depending on your business type, any of these metrics can serve as important SEO KPIs:
1. Organic Traffic Growth
Seeing an increase in organic traffic tells you if the overall objectives of on-page SEO have been achieved.
A clear sign that your on-page SEO is working is an increase in organic traffic. When your pages rank higher for relevant keywords, it should drive more organic traffic to your website.
Keep a close eye on your website analytics to identify trends and spikes in organic traffic, as this indicates your content is resonating with search engine users. Use Google Search Console as the SEO measurement tool to track this metric.
2. Keyword Rankings
This is a good measurement to make sure that the webpage is actually appearing on Google whenever users search for that keyword (and it lets you know if you got that top spot on the SERP for that keyword). It’s important to know which keywords are driving your traffic and why.
By regularly monitoring the rankings of your target keywords, you will see if they are improving over time. It’s important to know the keywords you rank well for, as well as the ones you don’t. This way you can understand what you’re doing well in terms of content and what you could improve upon.
Use tools like SEMrush to track keyword positions and assess your website’s visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
3. Organic Click-Through Rates (CTRs)
Organic click-through rates indicate the % of people who are clicking on your title tags and meta descriptions. A well-optimized page with compelling titles and meta descriptions can lead to higher CTRs. Use Google Search Console to track and compare CTRs for different pages and queries. Be sure to track the CTR as a KPI at both the page level and the query level.
Remember, a higher CTR means more people are clicking on your listing on Google, and more traffic is being driven to your pages! Yahoo!
4. Bounce Rate Reduction
A bounce rate is the % of users who land on a page and then leave without taking any action. Bounce rates are a great measurement to see if you are misleading your audiences or not. It indicates whether your content is engaging and relevant to those who landed on your page looking for something in particular.
For most websites, a bounce rate in the range of 40% to 60% is considered average, while anything below 40% is typically considered good. However, certain types of websites, like blogs or news websites, may have higher bounce rates due to users consuming specific articles or content and then leaving. (Hello, backlinks!)
A good website should have a low bounce rate. You can track this SEO KPI in Google Analytics 4 (GA4).
5. Time on Page
The more time people spend on your webpage, the better it is for your SEO. An optimized page should not only attract visitors but also keep them engaged. This also indicates that the website content is really good.
For most websites, an average time spent on a page of around 2 to 3 minutes can be considered decent. However, the ideal time can vary depending on the complexity and length of the content. For example, a long-form article or in-depth guide may naturally have a longer average time spent on a page, while a simple landing page with a specific call-to-action may have a shorter time.
If the average duration on your page is low, consider ways to increase this SEO metric. This SEO KPI can be tracked in GA4.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, assessing the success of your on-page SEO efforts requires monitoring and analyzing various metrics. Although there is always more to measure, start with these 5 (or 6) metrics to help you understand if you’ve made a difference in your search engine rankings.
It’s important to understand that SEO is not a one-and-done project, nor is it a short game. Regularly track these SEO metrics and make data-driven improvements in order to increase your on-page SEO rankings.
We’ve shared a tonne with you lately about SEO and its benefits, including the 3 key elements of on-page SEO, how to optimize for on-page SEO, how to craft compelling title tags and thorough meta descriptions that will drive results, content optimization and how to create amazing web content.
We finished things on a high note with some simple image optimization tips to help boost your web page’s visibility.
Be sure to check out each of these articles in this series for an in-depth look at on-page SEO optimization.
If you’re ready to take the next step to learn more about SEO and how to create success in your business using digital marketing, check out our Digital Marketing Certification.
