SEO Analytics

Analytic Terms for SEO

Keyword performance & rankings = how your web pages ranks in search engines for desired search terms

Organic search traffic = unique visitors who arrive at your site from search engines

Branded VS non-branded search traffic = organic search traffic includes brand-related keywords and generic keywords

Unique search terms driving traffic = list of search phrases that visitors use to find your site

Inbound links = the number of links back to your site from other sites on the web

Conversion rates from organic search = visitors who arrived at your site through organic search and became a lead

Establish Benchmarks

Most marketers are always looking to improve their SEO – it drives free traffic to their websites that can then be converted into leads and customers. The first step towards improvement is establishing baseline SEO metrics, which you can do by finding out:

• What percentage of your website traffic comes from organic search?
• The conversion rate of your organic traffic into leads & customers
• Which non-branded keyword phrases drive the most organic traffic to your website
• Your listing position in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for keyword phrases for which you want to rank
• How many inbound links you have, and to what pages on your website they point

Keyword Performance & Rankings

Your closed-loop analytics will help you determine which search terms have driven the most qualified traffic to your website – in other words, traffic that converts into leads and customers. With this information, you can focus your SEO efforts on creating content and generating inbound links around search terms that drive real results for your business.

Unique Search Terms Driving Traffic

For example, you may find that the term ‘unicorn shoes’ – for which you rank in listing position nine in the SERPs — drove less traffic than the term ‘unicorn hats.’ But the traffic that came to your site on the search term ‘unicorn shoes’ actually generated five new customers for your business last month, while the traffic that came to your site for the term ‘unicorn hats’ has led to no customers.

With this information, you know you should spend more time creating content and building inbound links around the term ‘unicorn shoes’ to improve your listing position in the SERPs for the term, and thus increase the amount of qualified traffic that comes to your site for that term.

Because we realize the importance of tying keyword performance to dollar value and customer acquisition, marketing software does that for our customers. In the screenshot below, you will see that a Keyword tool shows marketing professionals not only the volume of searches for a certain keyword combination, but also visits and leads generated from the traffic this phrase drove.

Such intelligence can help you make SEO strategy comparisons based on actual numbers rather than guesswork and assumptions. Bet on the keywords that perform for your business and gain valuable insights into your target audience.

Embrace Long-tail Keywords

Generate new long-tail variations from your highest-performing keyword phrases and target them in your content creation and link building efforts.

For example, knowing that the term ‘unicorn shoes’ yields qualified traffic that generates customers, you may consider targeting a less competitive, but still traffic-generating long-tail variation of the keyword, such as ‘unicorn shoes for girls.’ Targeting this search term in your content creation and link building efforts is an easier win for your business because it is less competitive than its head term ‘unicorn shoes.’ Still, it helps you improve your rankings for that difficult head term!

When adding new keyword phrases to your arsenal, be sure to maintain a healthy balance of competitive and non-competitive terms. Your keyword strategy should include keyword phrases with high search volume and high competitiveness as well as terms that require less content and inbound links to rank for. This balance allows you to steadily increase the amount of traffic you generate from organic search month over month while you also put effort into ranking for more difficult search terms.

Identify Holes in Your Content Strategy

Just as you can identify opportunities for content creation by looking at your keyword performance in closed-loop analytics, you can identify holes in your content strategy, too.

If a search term is generating a lot of organic traffic to your website, for example, but none of that traffic converts into leads, it’s an indication that your marketing offer is insufficient (or nonexistent!) Remedy this by creating or updating your offer to better reflect that needs of that traffic that comes to your site around that keyword phrase.

For example, we at Fritz and Andre were able to identify such an opportunity using a Keyword tool that shows us 1,510 visits for the keyword phrase “google search tips” but no conversions. We might need to optimize our website with some google-related calls-to-action!

Monitor Your Position

Finally, it’s important to monitor your listing position for the terms that you’re currently driving traffic for – especially those with high search volume and high competitiveness — because you need to ensure you don’t suddenly slip in the SERPs to a competitor. Maintain a steady stream of content around the important keyword phrases for which you currently rank high in the SERPs, and if you notice your listing position begins to slip, amp up your content creation and link building efforts. It requires far less effort to stay in the top of the SERPs than it does to climb your way back up again.

Keyword tools are great at offering relevant recommendations when it comes to your SEO strategy. It takes into consideration the volume of searches, level of difficulty and your rank to point out realistic opportunities for improvement.