Vital SEO Metrics that Matter

People have been running around like crazy talking about the latest Penguin 2.0 update and most of them, are those whose websites have been hit hard by the update. The SEO landscape has indeed changed dramatically in a short span of time. Algorithm update after algorithm update, sites that do not conform to the basic principles of good SEO practices; continue to take the brunt of such efforts to weed out the World Wide Web with unnecessary content rubbish and garbage which were traded off for instant page rankings.

Penguin and Panda always made it their primary business to let people feel that they are serious about their game plan. When it’s about Panda or the new Penguin 2.0 updates, it will surely have that big impact on the future of SEO. But aside from Penguin  and Panda, there is another one that is a low-profile game-changer that has an equally dramatic impact on SEO. That is “Search Plus Your World”.

In essence, Search+ personalizes your search results. Google evaluates your location, brand mentions, your social media sphere, your friend’s search history, including your own search history. In other words, it’s customized results which mean that two individuals may do a search for the same keyword term but each individual will have different results, based on the such factors as location, brand mentions, etc.

This can become a real big problem for any SEO practitioner especially when the number of searches for specific terms multiplies into thousands, because you may not be able to give your client the consistent rankings in the top three spots on a number of keywords. Most clients still have the old-school way of viewing SEO results. Not, it’s time to introduce your client to new-school SEO reports since Search+ already killed normal page rankings. In order for your client to appreciate your SEO efforts, you need to get them familiar with the vital SEO metrics that matter in line with all the algorithm updates that have taken place over the years. You can pull these metrics from Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools.

• Average Rankings. Google developed Search+ to serve two purposes. One, they want to give the end users the best possible results, and two, they want to give the SEO practitioners the tools that they need to stay on top of the game. With Average Rankings, you have the ability to gauge how many links in Google are being seen across the board. Average Rankings measure all impressions. This is the first metric that you should show your client since they would still want to see ranking reports. You can generate an average ranking report and show them how their pages and website are performing overall.

• Impressions. This report was used in the old internet marketing days against click-through rate to develop a conversion ratio. This time, with Search+, it is important to know who is seeing what, where and how often. You want to know if your page is even showing for your keywords. And if it does, where?  

• Visitor Growth. This report in Google Analytics is a baseline growth metric which provides a rather straightforward report. If the trend is going up, it means you are succeeding, but if the trend is flat-lined or going down, it means you are failing. You can also calculate expected qualified leads from a traffic – or your reach. It is important to report accurately by separating the new visitors from the repeat ones as that will impact your report. For example, it may be a good sign about your content being compelling, if you pulled out the repeat visitors report. However, if the ratio is skewed to new visitors, the report might tell you that there’s not enough substantial content although there may be good headlines.

• Conversions. This is what most clients would like to see, after all. This report will help your client see how those impressions are turning into profit. This will also allow evaluation of ads, copy and keywords to see if they are working together, or if people are leaving your site in your sales cycle. Your conversion goals will help you decide. Conversion is decided on two measurements:

1. • One-per-click. This conversion means that you’re measuring a single action such as signing up for a newsletter or downloading a report. The goal is: impressions versus conversions.

   • Many-per-click. These are the goals which don’t get an end with a single action. For example, if you are trying to measure the path an agent takes through your purchase path. Many-per-click is what you need for this measurement.

• Exact Match. This looks a lot like the PPC Exact Match tool. You are targeting a specific URL and you will only get reports for the particular URL. This tool is especially useful for established businesses that are working on a rebrand; new businesses where local search is an important part of your SEO strategy. With this metric, you can narrow your efforts to one accurate URL, and eliminate the confusion that could arise from similar URLs.

• Regular Expressions Match. This may be considered as an extension of the Exact Match metric because it allows you to bring similar goals under one umbrella. You are telling Google Analytics to hunt down metrics on any page within that family of URLs. You can’t see URLs with those keywords that flopped.

Conclusion

With Search+ there’s no other way but to start using these metrics in order to monitor and check your SEO efforts for a certain client. Especially nowadays when algorithm changes easily come and go but without affecting your SEO endeavors and efforts, it is important to have the tools that will help you validate your work. While this practice is no longer new, validating your work has gotten a lot easier since you know the right metrics to share. And more importantly, how you can get your client to understand and appreciate your SEO undertakings. With these top seo tools you can help them understand that along with the changes in SEO landscape, so are the indicators other than just high page rankings, which in this case should show them that the most important gauge of SEO success is on conversion.