SEO Performance

How to Track Your SEO Performance: 9 Ways to Know If You’re Winning

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When you first start with SEO, it can be a little bit like throwing darts in the dark. You read articles, you follow blogs and you try to implement as many SEO best practices as you can. But how do you know if it’s working?

How do you know your strategy is effective or if there are some blind spots in your implementation? There are so many different moving parts when it comes to SEO that it’s easy to get confused and wonder where you stand.

Are your target keywords being used appropriately? Are users finding your site when they search for particular keywords? The good news is that there are plenty of ways to track your performance and see how well your strategies are playing out in the real world.

Here are 9 ways to know if you’re winning!

Track Keywords

If you’re going to nail your SEO, then you need to start with the basics — your keywords. The keywords you target are the foundation for everything you do. If your keyword strategy is off then nothing else you do will matter. There are lots of ways to track keywords and see how they’re impacting your SEO.

You can use Google Search Console, go to your analytics page, or use a keyword monitoring tool. One really good way to track your keywords is to simply write them down in a spreadsheet.

Then, each week, go back and see how many searches your keywords get. You can also see what position you’re at for each keyword, and how many people click on your website when they search for it.

Watch Your Traffic

Once you have your keywords tracked, it’s time to look at the bigger picture. Are people clicking on your website when they search for your keywords? If not, then you’ll want to revisit your on-page SEO, the content you have on your site, and the content you’re sharing. This is the best way to know if your SEO has been successful.

If people are clicking on your website, it means that you’re ranking higher, you’re bringing traffic to your site, and you’re up to speed with SEO best practices. To track your traffic, go to Google Analytics. Here, you’ll see a lot of information about your website, including where people are coming from, what they’re interested in, and how long they’re staying on your site.

Look at Your Bounce Rate

If you see a spike in traffic, but your bounce rate is high, then that’s a sign that your SEO strategy isn’t working. That’s because a high bounce rate means that people are clicking on your site and then immediately going back to the search engine. The first thing to do if you see a high bounce rate is check your titles. Make sure that your headlines are enticing and your descriptions are detailed. Next, make sure that your content is good. No one wants to stay on a website that has fluff or is completely irrelevant to their search.

Check Out Your Responsiveness

When people type in a keyword and click on your website, they want to be able to find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible. If they’re having trouble using your website, or if they’re clicking on the back button, then you need to make some changes.

This includes your menus, your buttons, and your CTAs. Your navigation should be simple, your buttons should be clickable, and your CTAs should be clear. Only about 10% of people will actually read your content. The rest will skim it. Make sure that your website is easy to skim.

Watch How People Find You

Once you have your on-page SEO sorted, you want to make sure that people actually find your website when they search for keywords.

  • Are they using the keywords you want them to?
  • Are they clicking on your website?
  • Are they staying on your site?

If not, then you need to revisit your backlinks and your social media efforts. You want to make sure that you’re getting people to your website and keeping them there.

See Where Your Audience Is Going

Your analytics will also let you see where your audience is going once they’re on your site. This is a great way to know if your SEO strategy is working. If people are clicking on your links and going to the pages you want them to, then your SEO is fantastic. If the majority of your audience is going to the “About” or “Contact” pages, then you need to make some changes.

Check Out What’s Working for Competitors

One of the best ways to know if your SEO strategy is working is to see what works for your competitors. By researching your competitors and seeing where they rank, you can see how you should be implementing your SEO strategy. If you’re trying to rank for a keyword and you’re not seeing any movement, then you want to look at what other websites and pages are ranking for those terms and see how they did it. You might find that you need to change your focus, or you might find that you’re simply not implementing the right strategies.

Take a Look at Your SEO Elements

One of the best ways to know if your SEO strategy is working is to take a look at the elements that matter most for SEO. First, make sure that every page on your website has an H1 or an H2 heading. These are the most important elements for SEO. Next, make sure that you’re using your target keywords in your URL. Finally, make sure that you’re using your keywords appropriately in your images, in your content, and in your links. If you do all of these things, then you’ll nail your SEO strategy.

Track Organic and Paid Advertising Together

One of the best ways to know if you’re winning at SEO is to track the success of your organic and paid advertising. If you’re going to pay for advertising, then you want to make sure that it’s successful.

If you’re going to focus on SEO, then you want to make sure that it’s working. If you track the two together, then you’ll know if one is more successful than the other. That way, you can adjust your budget and see which one is more worth it for your business. In the end, SEO is a long-term process. You won’t see instant results, but you will see long-term growth as long as you keep your strategy in mind and use these ways to track your performance.