Measure Success in your SEO Efforts

Every successful business starts with establishing an objective and setting a goal.  There are several goals that small and corporate companies hope to achieve, and these goals must be clearly defined before your business can grow and succeed.  It is especially important to set goals before you can start implementing any of your SEO strategies.  Although it seems like common sense, you’ll be surprised to know that many businesses fail to set goals with their SEO consultant.  Many SEO companies assume that all businesses have the same goals, which is, in part, true.  All companies want to increase their profits, boost their sales, attract more quality customers, and achieve their return on investment.  However, there are several ways to accomplish these goals.  That being said, every SEO consultant and business must be able to distinguish these goals and realize the most effective way to reach these goals.

Importance of establishing goals before starting your SEO campaign

For one, businesses who develop specific objectives will be able to target the right audience and effectively market their brand.  Setting goals for your SEO campaign is slightly different than setting traditional marketing goals for say, print advertising.  For instance, many businesses who feel they need SEO are usually concerned about their position on Google Search and think that the only way to get more business is to be #1 on search engines.  Being #1 on SERPs is a common goal that many companies seek from SEO services.  Therefore, most businesses will start off optimizing their site to rank for a particular keyword in hopes of attracting more customers and generating more traffic to their website.  However, first-place rankings, especially when it comes to obscure search terms don’t always indicate SEO success or equate to quality conversions.  Don’t get me wrong, being on the first page of Google does mean you’ll get a high volume of traffic, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll generate more high-converting traffic.  This is a common misconception in SEO.  However, by understanding Google’s algorithm changes and understanding what constitutes a conversion, you’ll be able to set attainable goals for your SEO campaign.‍

How do I know if my keywords are converting?

For many businesses, the sole purpose for SEO is to drive relevant traffic to one’s site and to boost sales and revenue.  To effectively do this, companies should not only track which keywords are ranking but which of those keywords are converting.  This will help you prioritize your SEO strategy.  It is advisable that every business set goals or/and events on Google Analytics to help them determine which specific keywords and landing pages are converting and generating the most revenue.  For hotel industries, this is particularly important to analyze and track performance as it relates to booking conversions and revenue.  Assigning a monetary value to your particular goal is a reliable way to determine how your business is performing and if it is generating any profit.

Furthermore, by setting these goals in Google Analytics, you will know the value and worth of every visitor that arrives from an organic search.‍

In summary, goal and event tracking will significantly help you in your overall business strategy as it provides a reliable way to measure success.  An effective SEO campaign involves coming up with new approaches to retain returning visitors & attract new visitors by immersing them into your brand.  Adjusting your SEO strategies will be significantly based on whether you reached your goal, exceeded your goal, or fell short of your goal as defined in the goal value you set on Google Analytics.