Within the past two years, the changes in the SEO landscape have been dramatic. Penguin and Panda have topped the list as some of the most recognized and visible game changers. However, there is another change that not many people talk about, but has been equally dramatic, Search Plus Your World.
In summary, Search+ customizes your search query results. Google first evaluates your location; your friends search history; your social media sphere; as well as your brand mentions before displaying your results.
The metrics that will help you know whether you are progressing or retrogressing in your SEO efforts are discussed below.
Average Rankings
The average ranking metric helps you to assess the number of links in Google which are visible across the platform. In short, average rankings, is a weighted measure of all your impressions. This report reflects how well your pages and the website are performing.
Impressions
Because we are living in the world of Search+, it’s important for you to know the number of eyeballs that are on a comparative search phrase. Knowing who is seeing what, where and how frequent can help you improve on your white hat tactics and position you for the much envied number one slot.
If you are searching for a term such as search engine watch, you will get about 7 possible URLs which you can click on. Now, here is the trick, all the 7 URLS are counted as a single impression. Any click on the site links is taken to equal a single hit to the top level domain. Therefore, if you want accurate reports, ensure you make some adjustments so that the inflation in top level domain hits doesn’t mislead you.
Visitor Growth
This is an important baseline growth measure which is simple and illustrative enough to show you where the trend is heading to. If the trend is heading upwards, then your SEO company Leicester is doing the right thing, otherwise, it is failing.
The visitor growth report also helps you to calculate your reach or the expected qualified leads from your traffic. If you want an accurate report, you should separate the repeat from the new visitors. If the new visitor growth trend is positive, it shows that your content is compelling.
Conversions
A conversion generally happens when a site visitor completes successfully the goal that you have created in your Google Analytics. For instance, your goal could be subscribing or buying something. The conversions report assists you in seeing how many impressions lead to actual visitors and how many of the visitors turn into profit. When you see people leaving your website in the middle of the sales cycle, then you need to brush up on your conversion strategy.
Exact Match
Through exact match, you get reports delivered on a specific URL that you are targeting. If you are an established business going through a re-branding process, you may want to focus on your brand name. Through the exact match report, you can assess the impact of your efforts in targeting a precise URL. To succeed in this, you should create a separate goal.
Therefore, getting the right metrics can help you validate your SEO work before your client or even your business partners.