Whether you want to improve keyword rankings, boost traffic, or increase conversions, tracking SEO metrics can help you identify opportunities for growth and achieve your marketing goals.
However, not all SEO metrics are equal. Some are “vanity metrics,” meaning they might appear to increase with marketing efforts, but do not actually move the needle for your business.
1. Organic Traffic
Organic traffic is a crucial metric for all businesses and is various factors influencing SEO pricing. This metric is defined as the number of visitors to your website that arrived through search engines, unassisted by paid advertisements or other promotional efforts. The more organic traffic you have, the higher your website’s visibility and potential to attract customers.
A high volume of organic traffic reflects the effectiveness of your SEO strategy and your ability to align with user intent. This type of traffic is also considered more trustworthy by users than traffic from paid ads. For example, a local landscaping business that appears in search engine results for “landscaping services” can gain trust from potential clients while avoiding recurring cost-per-click fees associated with PPC advertising.
Organic search engine traffic can bring in targeted visitors with specific interest and purchase intent, generating a higher conversion rate than other types of traffic. For example, a hardware store that optimizes for local searches can attract buyers actively looking for tools and home improvement supplies, while an online education platform may see higher conversion rates when optimizing for educational search terms.
To measure and monitor your organic traffic, use tools like Google Analytics or an integrated SEO tool, such as Moz, Ahrefs, or SEMrush. These platforms will provide you with insights into the number of unique organic visitors, the average time spent on your site, and the pages most visited.
Another important metric to keep an eye on is click-through rate (CTR). This metric shows you how many people clicked on your organic search engine result listing, as compared to the number of times it appeared in SERPs. The lower your CTR, the less likely people are to click on your listing, which can affect your ranking in SERPs. You can track CTR directly within the ‘Performance’ module of Google Search Console.
2. Backlinks
Backlinks are one of the most influential SEO metrics in terms of your online visibility and credibility. They can boost your domain authority and improve your ranking position in search engine results pages (SERPs).
The more relevant the backlinks are to your business, the better. This is because they signal to search engines that your content provides value for its users. Furthermore, they help build trust with your audience. This can ultimately lead to higher conversion rates and more revenue.
However, you should also consider the context of each backlink. For example, if a website that focuses on eco-friendly gardening links to your brick and mortar hiking gear store, it would be highly relevant and pass more link equity than a backlink from a gluten-free bakery or an online shoe store.
To measure the effectiveness of your client’s backlink strategy, it’s important to track their domain authority. This metric is determined by third party tools, like MOZ, and gives an indication of how your client’s website will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs) based on their existing backlinks.
Moreover, it’s also important to track their page authority. This metric is determined by the number of quality backlinks that a web page has, and it’s used to predict how well a website will rank in SERPs.
A high page authority score indicates that your client’s website has strong links from authoritative sources and is likely to rank high in search engine results pages (SERPs). A low page authority score, on the other hand, indicates a lack of good backlinks or potentially even link spam. Tracking this metric can help you spot trends and identify opportunities for improvement.
3. Website Health Score
Your website’s health score is an important metric to track and can influence your SEO performance. It measures the number of errors and warnings found on your web pages after a site audit. These errors can impact your site’s crawlability, ranking and user experience. A high website health score is essential for a successful digital marketing strategy.
In addition to the most common errors, you should monitor First Input Delay (FID), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) and Core Web Vitals (CWV). These metrics give you an overall picture of your website’s speed and stability. Search engines want to rank websites that offer a great page experience, so it is crucial to have a fast, responsive website.
You should also be aware of the average session duration and exit rate on your pages. If these numbers are too short, it may indicate a problem with your content or navigation. However, if your exit rate is low, it can mean that users are finding what they are looking for quickly and easily on your website.
Another critical metric is the number of indexed pages on your website. This metric is especially important for large websites, where changes in the index coverage can be a sign of a technical issue.
A healthy website can increase traffic, improve keyword rankings and provide a better overall business experience. By tracking these key SEO metrics, you can continually make improvements to your digital marketing efforts and boost your ROI. Using tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs can help you get started with tracking these important SEO metrics. To learn more, contact the experts at SpiderDigital today!
4. Conversion Rate
A business’s conversion rate is the measure of how many visitors take the desired actions on the website, such as buying a product or signing up for a newsletter. A high conversion rate is essential to business growth, as it can lead to increased revenue and sales. This metric can also be used to determine the effectiveness of SEO tactics and improve conversion funnels.
A high conversion rate can be a result of a number of factors, such as the user experience on the website, the quality of the products or services offered, and the use of persuasive copywriting. In addition, the conversion rate can be affected by how targeted traffic is generated and how effectively it is redirected to the website.
Conversion rates can be calculated by looking at the number of goal conversions divided by the number of visits to a site. This metric can be broken down further by tracking the conversion rate on specific pages, such as the product detail page or blog post. This can offer granular insights and identify areas of the site that may require more attention.
While it’s important to track a variety of SEO metrics, it’s important to focus on the ones that are actionable and align with your business goals. To avoid getting bogged down in vanity metrics, focus on measuring key performance indicators such as impressions, clicks, keyword rankings, and goal conversions. These metrics will help you drive the right results and achieve your marketing objectives.
5. Time on Site
Time on site is one of the most important SEO metrics that can have an impact on your business. It is a measure of how long users stay on your website and can indicate how engaged visitors are with the content.
A longer average session duration typically indicates that your content is engaging and valuable, which can result in increased user satisfaction and retention and ultimately increase conversions. In addition, a higher average session duration can be a ranking factor for SEO because Google wants to rank websites that provide a positive experience for their searchers.
Another way to look at this metric is by comparing it to your bounce rate, which measures the percentage of visitors that leave your website after viewing only one page. However, it is important to remember that bounce rate only measures the actions of a single page and does not consider how long visitors spend on the rest of the site.
To track the performance of your website and understand how visitors interact with it, you can use web analytics tools like Google Analytics or other similar software. To get a more detailed view of your visitors, you can also track first input delay (FID), cumulative layout shift (CLS) and Interaction to next paint (INP).
By tracking the right metrics, you can make data-driven decisions about the content on your website and how users navigate it. This can improve your overall SEO ranking, increase your ROI, and lead to better success for your business. By monitoring these essential metrics, you can identify problems and optimize your website to help grow your business. Try using an AgencyAnalytics account for free to get started.
