When you enter an SEO agreement, what exactly are you paying for? How can you tell that the work is having an impact on your business? It’s crucial to set up and understand what goals matter to you and your business when you start working with an SEO expert. Here are some of the most important KPIs to consider before you jump into the world of SEO for your business.
Conversions
Whether it is sales, sign ups, or simple lead conversions that drive your business; getting visitors to a website is nice, but engagement is what you really want. If you have an ecommerce site, you can look at sales (more on those metrics in a bit). Most any site should be tracking some version of a sign up or lead. This could be newsletters sign ups, ebook downloads, or request a quote forms. Clearly define these conversions in the beginning with your marketer, and for optimization ideas, check out these ideas here.
If you sell things on your website you should be tracking ecommerce information in Google Analytics. Your SEO marketer should be able to help you set up tracking so you can see breakdowns of products, revenue, sources, and so much more. If set up correctly, you can clear picture of shopping behavior.
Traffic Stats
Traffic numbers are good to track, but they aren’t as important as conversions and ecommerce data. Traffic shows the start of the marketing funnel. Things like new visitors, bounce rates, and Exit % can tell you how people are interacting with your site, they won’t tell you as much about your SEO ROI as conversions, sales, and revenue.
Keyword Rankings
The first thing most people think of when it comes to SEO is keyword rankings. Most will want to make them a major focus when working with an SEO marketer. Don’t fall into that trap. While a great representation of your site’s visibility. Smart SEO experts and business owners alike know keywords don’t show the same value as leads and engagement. Plus, the volatility that can sometimes come with Google algorithm changes can make them difficult to read, predict, and evaluate impact.
Before embarking on your SEO adventure, clearly define and communicate your goals. Understand what drives your business and what you consider success. Having the right goals and being on the same page as your SEO specialists will have you seeing gains in the parts of your business that matter.
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