If you are like most businesses with an online presence, you’ve heard a lot about search engine optimization (SEO) and tracking metrics. Unfortunately, with all the information on the internet about SEO tracking metrics, it can be challenging to find the metrics that matter for your business, needs, and goals.
At EraBright Digital Marketing, we understand these challenges. That’s why we have done the legwork for you! Below, you will find recommendations for the best SEO tracking metrics out there and why they are so important. Now, all you need to do is implement your plan.
Best SEO Tracking Metrics
Measure how your SEO efforts are working for you (or not) with these SEO tracking metrics. Below, we list the most critical metrics and why you should be monitoring those above the rest.
1. Organic Traffic
Organic traffic is the number that represents how many visitors your site is getting just from search engine results. This is a great metric to track how well your SEO efforts are working for you. That’s because the goal of SEO is to get your site listed as high as possible on search engine results pages (SERPs). Internet users are most likely to click on links in the top 2-3 pages of results. You can easily track your organic traffic using Google Analytics. There may be a learning curve, so don’t be afraid to reach out for help.
2. Clickthrough Rate (CTR)
The CTR represents the percentage of people who visit your site after seeing it in search results. This metric helps you measure how effective your site pages are at getting user attention. For example, if ten people see your site listed on the first page of Google, but only one person clicks your link, then your CTR is 10%. If your CTR is low, that means you may need to assess your title tags and meta description to make sure it makes sense for your site and what users are searching for.
3. Bounce Rate
If a visitor comes to your site and then immediately leaves without checking out other pages, that is called “bouncing.” A high bounce rate means that visitors cannot find what they are looking for when clicking your link. Therefore, your bounce rate is the percentage of visitors that land on your main page but don’t continue exploring your site. That may indicate that you need to review your landing pages for applicability to your key terms.
4. Keywords
Speaking of key terms, your keyword selection and use are essential metrics to track. You want to monitor how specific keywords are helping you rank in SERPs. That allows you to identify your site’s visibility and gauge if your site is improving or falling in SERPs.
5. Domain Authority
Google now rates websites based on their domain authority. That means how many other websites or pages link back to your domain (website). The more backlinks you have, the higher your domain authority is. For SEO, a higher domain authority means that you will rank higher in SERPs, and Google will view your site as authoritative and worthwhile to users. You can track your domain authority easily with programs like Moz or Website Authority Checker.
Conclusion
We could list many other metrics that are worth tracking or at least being aware of. However, this article aims to provide valuable and easy-to-understand information about the most important SEO metrics. These five metrics are a great way to get started improving your SEO strategy and getting more visitors to your site.