Search engine optimization, aka SEO, comprises one of the most crucial elements of your digital marketing strategy. The reason is simple: it is effective, and it is efficient. SEO helps you keep track of everything, from traffic to engagements to orders to leads to revenue.
Whether it is an indie boutique, a business or an Esty art shop, SEO is the backbone of every company that operates online. So, as an SEO company, it is very important to make a note of every single parameter that can affect your client’s business performance and keep an eye out for errors and areas of improvement.
In this blog post, we will be discussing 15 key point indicators (KPIs) that your SEO company should monitor.
- Backlinking
Backlinking is one of the key determining factors when it comes to your website’s Google rankings. Adding links from high-quality domains helps in boosting your domain authority. Backlinking your content gives you a vantage point because Google tends to view such content as trustworthy and hence, rank it better If you’ve got any content on your website that doesn’t contain any backlinks, you can always compare it with the one that does and decide for yourself.
- Organic sessions
Organic sessions are another crucial metric that you should always have your eyes on. Organic sessions help you track how much traffic your website is able to generate on a particular day, week, or month. If you see your sessions dipping, that is an indicator that some areas need work. If you see a rise in it, it is a good indicator in general that the strategies at work are working. The best way to keep track of your organic sessions is through Google Analytics.
- Keyword rankings
If you are even slightly acquainted with the workings of SEO, you will know the importance of using keywords. Keywords determine how well your website is going to rank on search engines, especially Google. There are a number of tools that help you show the most used keywords and even help you decide which would rank best for your business. These tools also help you determine keywords beneficial for both organic and local SEO.
- Leads or conversions
Leads or conversions are one of the best key point indicators to determine how successful your SEO campaign is running. The basic goal is to see how many visitors are turning into conversions (for e-commerce purposes) or becoming a lead (booking appointments or slots, using your contact info, etc.).
- Bounce Rate
The Bounce Rate key point indicator helps in keeping track of how many customers are visiting your website and leaving it without actually doing anything. This helps in understanding how relevant or helpful the website’s content is, in general, to the people, especially if they are an organic audience. A high bounce rate indicates that people are more likely to leave your website because the content didn’t appeal to them, whereas a low bounce rate means the opposite.
- Impressions
Each time your page shows up on a Google search, regardless of whether someone clicks on it or not, it counts as an impression. Your impressions are the earliest indicators of how your SEO campaign is doing. As the rankings go up, so will the impressions, and as soon as your page starts listing amongst the top 3, traffic will start pouring in.
- Pages per session
Pages per session refer to how much interaction your website is able to gather from organic traffic. It is somewhat like the bounce rate, but its workings are quite the opposite. A high page per session rate indicates that your audience is genuinely interested in your business and is visiting multiple pages to gather more information about your business. The more pages per session you have, the more positive it is for your website.
- Average session duration
Average session duration is another important key performance indicator that should not be overlooked. If the average duration spent on your pages is high, it is a generally good indicator that people are interested in your content/services, and wish to learn more about it. A short duration means that either your content is too little or the information provided is not enough.
- Page loading time
The page loading time is a central component for search engines to determine your rankings. If your website would take ages to lead, it is natural that your bounce rate will be high, as well. This is especially true if your page isn’t optimized for mobiles. Studies have shown that if your page takes more than 3 seconds to load on a mobile, users won’t visit it again. That can significantly impact your rankings in search results.
- Top exit pages
Top exit pages are another great parameter to determine how well your SEO campaign is performing. Top exit pages, like the name suggests, mean pages where the users last leave your website. Ideally, it should be a purchase confirmation, or a thank you page. Homepages and pages with any other information aren’t the ones you’re looking for when it comes to top exit pages.
- Local SEO visibility
Local SEO optimization is one of the key driving factors to help you boost your business. About 46% of your total target audience is reached through local SEO, especially if you’re a brick and mortar business. Hence, keeping an eye out on local SEO is a crucial KPI to monitor.
- Crawl errors
If you’re into SEO, you must know that all search engines have crawlers. Crawlers scan the content of your website and sift it through according to relevant search results. Which is why, crawl errors are not something you’d be wanting. Multiple crawl errors can cause trouble in ranking your website on search engines. This is also why you must use relevant keywords in your content as much as possible.
- Search visibility
Search visibility, aka search share concerns how often your website shows up upon searching for a specific keyword. This can help you keep a track of how many impressions your website is getting, as well. You can see which keywords are ranking your website better and which aren’t. This can help you plan out your core keywords, as well.
- Branded traffic
Branded traffic refers to how much your website appears upon a search result directly by your business’s name. This can help you plan out your ad campaigns to make your brand a more recognizable and common name amongst audiences.
- Return on investment
A very crucial KPI to keep in mind is your ROI. Your ROI is determined by how much profits you earned against your original investment. Fret not, for ROIs might not show a positive growth in the beginning. The more experience you gain, you’ll eventually see your ROIs shoot up.
Final thoughts
Keeping a track of your KPIs is crucial to determine your growth. Without them, you won’t be able to spot any flaws and work towards them to start generating profits. These 15 KPIs can help you with keeping a track of your metrics and see how well your efforts are paying back.
