SEO is the linchpin of digital marketing, where countless factors can decide whether or not your brand will rise. Important SEO KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are essential to nailing modern search marketing.
It aids the process of indicating when you’re doing SEO right or when it may be time to change the strategy. As the digital landscape evolves, incorporating the most important SEO KPIs can serve as a compass for your strategy. It points you in the right direction as the road ahead swerves with the changes.
Why SEO Matters in Your Digital Marketing Strategy
SEO is no longer something that can be optional when putting together your digital marketing strategy. There are a number of benefits you can snag from it, including improved visibility of your website in organic search results.
Furthermore, a longer-term increase in your reach, and higher levels of organic traffic to your website or blog (and much, much more) can be yielded from SEO. You can target traffic that is extremely targeted, thanks to the fact that you are able to align your content and brand with the searchers and your reader’s intent.
The Core of Important SEO KPIs
SEO KPIs, which stand for Search Engine Optimization Key Performance Indicators, are like a compass that guides your SEO journey. These specific metrics are barometers you can use to analyze and measure the performance and success of your SEO initiatives.
Tracking everything from website visibility and organic traffic to user engagement and conversion rates, important SEO KPIs provide valuable intelligence that drives data-driven decision-making.
Important SEO KPIs and Metrics
Among the hundreds of ranking factors and the enigmatic Google algorithm, some important SEO KPIs stand out as game-changers. Here’s a whirlwind look at the top SEO KPIs and metrics that can make a tangible difference for your digital marketing strategy:
- Organic Conversion Rate
Measuring the success of your SEO efforts is about more than counting clicks. The organic conversion rate, particularly in conjunction with the total number of conversions, tells the whole story. It reveals the how many potential customers not only made it to your page but also completed a desired goal.
- Organic Traffic / Organic Sessions
Knowing the source of a website’s traffic is a vital piece of information for SEO analysis. Being able to drill down at a granular level, you can see the exact keywords that drove a user to your site. It can help pinpoint optimization to the exact pages to specific keywords.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR measures your search engine listing’s effectiveness. CTR shows the percentage of users who clicked your link after it was viewed. It can represent the appeal of your content and relevance to your audience.
- Bounce Rate
A high bounce rate can signal a number of potential issues, including the following:
- That your content does not match the visitor’s intent or needs
- That your audience does not find your pages or website appealing
- And your pages load too slowly, or the rate may be affected by a technical glitch – such as when Google does not properly crawl a page.
Enhance user engagement and reduce bounce rate by looking at exit pages. You can optimize the exit pages throughout the site (pages with the most bounces).
- Load Time
The faster the page, the better. And if the load time is 2 seconds or longer, it will increase the bounce rate substantially.
PageSpeed Insights will identify things that are too large to load quickly. It also indicates what could be eliminated or deferred without the user even noticing.
- Keyword Rankings / Search Ranking
One of the most important SEO KPIs is to keep track of how specific keywords rank for SEO success. Keep an eye on where your pages rank in the search results, and dig into the search volume and ranking changes to tweak your keyword strategy.
- Domain Authority
Domain Authority (DA) is a predictive score by Moz that measures a website’s likelihood to rank on search engine result pages. Use it as your SEO success score. High DA sites have more link diversity and more link equity, so when all else is equal, the DA may serve as the tie-breaking factor for search engines.
- Total Number of Backlinks
This should be the backbone of your SEO. It showcases your website’s authority, so you need to keep a watchful eye on the pages and domains linking to your site. Use this information to refine your link-building strategy.
- Organic Pageviews
As always, more is better. A greater number of pageviews correspond with an increase in visitor engagement. It serves as a nice gauge of user interest and interaction.
- Average Session Duration
What exactly is this? It’s the time that users spend on your website. It’s an important metric for user engagement, because the longer visitors stay, the more they’re interacting with your content.
Session duration is one of the important SEO KPIs that you need to consider. The goal is to strive for an average session duration of 2-3 minutes. It’s nothing to write home about, but it does signal a positive interaction with your content.
Start Your SEO Journey Now
Start tracking your important SEO KPIs, whatever you choose, immediately. The sooner you start gathering and analyzing data, the better you’ll be able to understand how you’re doing and set benchmarks. The act of setting SEO KPIs and measuring against them isn’t just about looking at your programs; it’s about being able to use data to make decisions and inform where your digital marketing strategy is headed next.
With SEO KPIs in your arsenal, not only are you able to continuously refine your performance, but you’re also able to show real, tangible movement to the stakeholders of your organization.
That visibility makes it easy to align and show how a blend of data-driven decisions and strategic thought will help you conquer the landscape of digital marketing in the year—from mobile first to last touch. Elevate your Digital Marketing Strategy—start tracking your most important SEO KPIs today.