SEO KPIs: How to Measure and Track SEO Success

by Venchito Tampon Jr | Last Updated on October 27, 2022

According to Search Engine Journal, organic search generates the highest return on investment of any marketing channel, with 49 percent of marketers believing it.

The numbers alone should be enough to convince any business owner or marketing manager that SEO is worth their time and money. But as with any marketing strategy, it’s important to set goals and track progress to ensure success.

That’s where SEO KPIs come in.

KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are metrics used to measure and track progress towards a specific goal. In the context of SEO, they can be used to track everything from website traffic to keyword rankings.

Choosing the right SEO KPIs will depend on your specific goals and objectives. However, there are some general metrics that all businesses should track.

 

Website Traffic

One of the most important SEO KPIs is website traffic. This metric measures the number of visitors to your website from all sources, including organic search, direct traffic, and referral traffic.

Website traffic is a good indicator of the overall health of your SEO efforts. If you’re seeing an increase in website traffic, it’s likely that your SEO strategy is working. Conversely, a decrease in website traffic could be a sign that something is wrong.

There are a number of ways to track website traffic, including Google Analytics and other web analytics tools.

Organic Search Traffic

Organic search traffic is the number of visitors to your website from organic search results. This metric is important because it measures the success of your SEO efforts in attracting visitors from search engines.

Organic search traffic can be tracked using Google Analytics and other web analytics tools.

 

Keyword Rankings

Another important SEO KPI is keyword rankings. This metric measures how well your website ranks for specific keywords in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Tracking keyword rankings can help you identify which keywords are driving traffic to your website and which ones need more work. There are a number of tools that you can use to track keyword rankings, including Google Search Console and Moz’s Keyword Explorer.

 

Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They’re important because they’re one of the factors that search engines use to rank websites in SERPs.

The number of backlinks that a website has is a good indicator of the website’s popularity and authority. The more backlinks a website has, the higher it is likely to rank in SERPs.

Backlinks can be tracked using Google Search Console and other webmaster tools.

Some notable tools for backlink tracking are as follows:

1. Majestic
2. Moz
3. Ahrefs
4. SEMrush
5. SEO SpyGlass
6. Raven Tools
7. LinkResearchTools

 

Which Types of Backlinks Should You Be Tracking?

Not all backlinks are created equal. Some backlinks are more valuable than others.

The most valuable backlinks are from websites that are popular, have high domain authority, and are relevant to your website.

Google values three factors in ranking. These are Relevance, Trust and Power.

Relevance:This is how much your website is related to the backlink website. A backlink from a website about “dogs” will be more valuable if your website is also about “dogs”.

Trust: This measures how trustworthy the backlinking website is. Google considers websites with many backlinks as more trustworthy than those with fewer backlinks.

Power: This measures the popularity of the backlinking website. A website with many visitors is more popular than a website with fewer visitors.

To track the value of your backlinks, you can use a tool like Moz’s Link Explorer. This tool will show you the domain authority of the linking website, as well as the page authority of the specific page that’s linking to you.

 

Social Shares

Social shares are the number of times your content is shared on social media. This metric is important because it can help to increase the reach of your content and attract new visitors to your website.

There are a number of ways to track social shares, including using social media analytics tools such as Hootsuite Insights and Sprout Social.

 

New Content

Publishing new content is an important part of any SEO strategy. This metric measures how much new content you’re publishing on your website.

New content can help to attract new visitors to your website, as well as keep existing visitors coming back for more. It can also help to improve your website’s ranking in SERPs.

To track the amount of new content you’re publishing, you can use a tool like Google Analytics. This will show you how much traffic your website is getting from new visitors.

You can also use a tool like WordPress to track how many new posts or pages you’re publishing on your website. Additionally, Surfer SEO has a Content Editor that allows users to create new optimized content and track their progress.

 

Organic Visibility

Organic visibility is the number of times your website appears in SERPs. This metric is important because it measures how visible your website is to potential visitors.

There are a number of ways to track organic visibility, including using Google Search Console and other webmaster tools. Additionally, you can use a tool like Moz’s Rank Tracker to track your website’s ranking in SERPs.

Here are some quick tips on how to improve your organic visibility:

Optimizing Titles and Meta Descriptions

Your title and meta description are two of the most important elements on your website. These are what show up in SERPs, so it’s important to make sure they’re optimized for your target keywords.

To do this, you can use a tool like Surfer SEO’s Title Optimizer. This tool will help you to create optimized titles and meta descriptions for your website.

 

Making your website mobile-friendly

Making sure your website is mobile-friendly is important for two reasons. First, more and more people are using mobile devices to access the internet. Second, Google has announced that they will be using mobile-friendliness as a ranking factor in their algorithm.

To make sure your website is mobile-friendly, you can use a tool like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. This tool will analyze your website and tell you if it is mobile-friendly or not.

 

Improving website speed

Website speed is another important ranking factor in Google’s algorithm. In addition, users are more likely to abandon a website that takes too long to load.

To improve your website speed, you can use a tool like Google’s PageSpeed Insights. This tool will analyze your website and give you specific recommendations on how to improve your speed.

 

Page Load Time

Page load time is the amount of time it takes for a page on your website to load. This metric is important because it can affect your website’s ranking in SERPs and the user experience of your visitors.

 

Conversions

Conversions are the number of visitors to your website who take the desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. This metric is important because it measures whether your SEO efforts are resulting in real-world results.

Some examples of conversions are:

Affiliate Clicks:

Affiliate clicks are the number of times an affiliate link is clicked. This metric is important for measuring the success of your affiliate marketing efforts.

Affiliate clicks can be tracked using a number of tools, including Google Analytics and Clickbank.

 

E-commerce Sales:

E-commerce sales are the total value of all sales made through your online store. This metric is important for measuring the success of your e-commerce business.

E-commerce sales can be tracked using a number of tools, including Google Analytics and Shopify.

 

Newsletter Signups:

Newsletter signups are the number of people who sign up for your newsletter. This metric is important for measuring the success of your content marketing efforts.

Newsletter signups can be tracked using a number of tools, including MailChimp and Constant Contact.

 

Leads:

Leads are the contact information of people who have expressed interest in your product or service. This metric is important for measuring the success of your lead generation efforts.

Leads can be tracked using a number of tools, including Salesforce and HubSpot.

 

Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors to your website who leave after viewing only one page. This metric is important because it measures how well your website is holding the attention of its visitors.

Bounce rate can be tracked using a number of tools, including Google Analytics and Pingdom.

 

There are a number of ways to track conversions, including using web analytics tools such as Google Analytics and conversion tracking tools such as Crazy Egg.

 

Improve What You Can Measure

These are some of the most important SEO KPIs that all businesses should track. By tracking these metrics, you can measure the success of your SEO efforts and make necessary adjustments to ensure that your website is ranking highly in SERPs.

SEO KPIs are important metrics to track the progress of your SEO efforts. If you are tracking the right KPIs, you can ensure that your SEO strategy is on track and achieving its objectives.

What are some other important SEO KPIs that businesses should track? Let us know in the comments below!

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you track backlinks in Google Analytics?

Yes, you can track backlinks in Google Analytics by using the Inbound Links report.

To find this report, log into your Google Analytics account and navigate to Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels. Then, click on the Organic Search tab and scroll down to the Inbound Links section.

 

Why are backlinks important for SEO?

Backlinks are important for SEO because they act as a vote of confidence from other websites. When a website links to your website, it is effectively saying that your website is a good source of information on the topic that it is linking to.

Here are 4 reasons why backlinks are important for SEO:

1. They Improve Your Rankings in SERPs

One of the most important ways that backlinks improve your SEO is by helping you to rank higher in SERPs. Google uses a metric called PageRank to determine the ranking of websites in its search results.

PageRank is based on the number and quality of backlinks pointing to a website. So, websites with more and higher-quality backlinks will tend to rank higher in SERPs than those with fewer and lower-quality backlinks.

2. They Help You to Get More Traffic from Google

Another way that backlinks improve your SEO is by helping you to get more traffic from Google.

Google uses backlinks as one of the main factors in its algorithm for determining a website’s PageRank. So, the more backlinks you have pointing to your website, the higher your PageRank will be, and the more traffic you’ll get from Google.

3. They Help You to Build Relationships with Other Websites

Backlinks can also help you to build relationships with other websites. When you get a backlink from another website, it’s a good opportunity to reach out to the site owner and let them know.

This can help you to build a relationship with the site owner, which can be beneficial for your SEO. For example, if the site owner is happy with the relationship, they may be more likely to link to your website again in the future.

4. They Make Your Website Look More Trustworthy

Backlinks can also help to make your website look more trustworthy. This is because backlinks from high-quality websites act as a vote of confidence from those websites.

When Google sees that your website has backlinks from high-quality websites, it will be more likely to trust your website and rank it higher in SERPs.

 

Is bounce rate a good KPI?

Bounce rate is a good KPI because it measures how well your website is holding the attention of its visitors. A high bounce rate indicates that visitors are leaving your website quickly, which could be a sign that your website is not relevant or interesting to them.

A low bounce rate, on the other hand, indicates that visitors are staying on your website and engaging with your content. This is a good sign that your website is relevant and interesting to them.

 

What is a KPI dashboard?

A KPI dashboard is a tool that allows you to track, visualize, and analyze your KPIs in one place. Dashboards can be used to track any kind of metric, but they are especially useful for tracking KPIs because they allow you to see all of your KPIs in one place and compare them side-by-side.