Search Engine Optimization performance – more than meets the eye
When evaluating the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) performance of a web site, there are some KPIs which you can find very valuable, as they will point you in the right direction in terms of showing you your website’s traffic number, referrals, domains linked to you and much more. You will find in the following article numerous KPIs which you can use for your SEO endeavors, which have been taken from several sites that measure SEO performance.
The first 2 KPIs are very standard ones, used for virtually every website, so it is highly recommended that you implement them:
- # Rankings for main keywords – local – on what positions does your web site rank for main keywords on local searches (around your area of delivering products / services)?
- # Rankings for main keywords – organic – on what positions does your web site rank for main keywords on organic searches?
Following this, we have a few KPIs from Ahrefs, which along with Majestic and Moz are three of the more reputable SEO measurement websites out there.
As far as Ahrefs is concerned, some of the KPIs you may consider are the following:
# Ahrefs domain rating – a number indicating a snapshot on what Ahrefs considers as the main rating for your web site.
Ahrefs # of root domains – how many domains link to you.
Ahrefs # of links – how many individual pages link to your web site.
When it comes to Majestic, our suggested indicators are as follows:
# Majestic trust flow – how trustable are the links pointing to your web site.
Majestic # of root domains – how many domains link to you.
Majestic # of links – how many individual pages link to your web site.
Last, but not least, Moz has a few metrics of their own to share with us that can offer you valuable insight:
# Moz domain authority – a figure indicating a snapshot on how Moz.com sees your site’s authority.
# Moz page authority – a figure indicating a snapshot on how Moz.com sees your page’s authority.
# Moz spam score – relatively to the total number of links, how many links seem to be spammy.
Moz # of root domains – how many domains link to you.
Moz # of links – how many individual pages link to your web site.
As we can see, several KPIs, such as # of links and # or root domains are highlighted by every source, as these indicators showcase your website’s strength and recognisability. In addition to these, we have taken the liberty to offer your a few additional KPIs that can serve as guiding points for your SEO performance.
What we mean by guiding points is that if you have ever wondered how you could measure pageviews or no. of sessions or the ROI of a website, these metrics will do just that. This will help you learn the basic pattern of measuring SEO, understanding which ones are important and which ones seem important but in actuality are not very relevant.
General overview KPIs
# of Sessions or # of PageViews – how much traffic you get.
% Percentage of returning visitors – how many of your visitors return to your web site after an initial visit.
# Pageviews and # Average time on site – how much time to visitors spend on your web site.
# Non-brand organic traffic volume – you look, in here, at the traffic brought in for non-brand keywords.
% Bounce rate – how many people visit just one page on your web site.
# Number of landing pages – it measures your exposure in search engine listings.
# Page load speed – how fast does your web site load.
# of indexed pages – how many of your web site’s pages are indexed by Google.
Conversion-related KPIs
# Goal completions – total of conversions you got.
% Goal conversion rate – how many visits result in goal conversions.
% E-commerce conversion rate – it measures the conversion rate just for e-commerce transactions.
Revenue-related KPIs
# Revenue – shows the revenue of your web site, and helps you estimate which traffic sources bring in revenues.
# ROI of SEO – you should evaluate what’s the return-of-investment for SEO efforts.
# Revenue per searched visit – how much earnings you make for a person reaching your web site.
In conclusion, KPIs are just as much part of SEO measurement and management as they are of any business endeavor. When selecting the best ones for your website, always take a look at trustworthy sources that explain what each and every indicator means, as you do not want to crowd your Excel sheets with metrics that have nothing to show for.
If you are interested in more SEO-related KPIs, smartKPIs.com subscriptions provide access to +500 KPI examples. Our dedicated Library contains relevant resources to improve your KPI practices, and if you want to further improve your knowledge, feel free to explore our latest resources on this topic – The Online Presence KPI Dictionary and the 10 KPIs to measure and build upon for Search Engine Optimization success webinar recording.
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