Introduction
We’ve all heard that Google is a black box, and while it’s true that we don’t know exactly how the search engine works, that doesn’t mean that we can’t measure our SEO efforts. In fact, there are many ways of measuring SEO impact. The problem with many of these metrics is that they focus on the wrong thing: website traffic instead of user behavior. This approach misses a key aspect of SEO success: conversions! SEO consultant Northern Beaches uses a different approach to rank your website in google.
Measuring SEO by Metrics…
You measure SEO by looking at metrics. Metrics are a good way to measure SEO because they’re easily accessible and have a direct impact on your bottom line. But, sometimes metrics can be misleading or easy to manipulate. For example, you might see that you’ve seen an increase in backlinks and decide that this means your site is doing well. However, it could be the case that someone else paid for their links so they appear more trustworthy than yours do by themselves; these kinds of things happen often with websites trying to game their rankings through black hat methods like link building schemes or keyword stuffing (which is when people put keywords into their content just because they want it ranked higher).
So while metrics are great ways to measure SEO performance over time, they shouldn’t always be used as indicators of how well your page will perform in search engines because there are other factors involved besides just what Google sees as “good content” or not…
… Or by Behavior?
The best way to measure SEO impact is by user behavior, not metrics.
Metrics are short-term, while user behavior is more long-term. For example, if you change the title of a page, you may see a lift in rankings and traffic after publishing your content on SERPs. But that isn’t necessarily indicative of long-term engagement or sales leads from your website; it could just be due to increased visibility in search results—which typically isn’t sustainable in the long run (and often won’t last).
User behavior is more reliable than metrics because it shows how people behave when interacting with your website over time rather than just relying on changes in ranking or traffic numbers like social media monitoring tools do.
What Is a Conversion, Then?
A conversion is an action that you want your user to take. It’s not the same as a goal, which is a conversion that comes from another website. If you run an eCommerce store and you want people to buy stuff, then “add to cart” would be your conversion. If someone visits one of your blog posts and signs up for your newsletter during their visit, then clicking on the signup button would be a conversion.
It can also be used in other ways: when someone becomes an email subscriber or submits contact information in order to receive more information from you (i.e., via a form), those can be considered conversions as well.
So What Is the Best Way to Measure SEO Impact Then?
So what is the best way to measure SEO impact then? We believe it’s not through metrics, but through user behaviors.
Behavioral metrics provide more accurate and relevant information about how users interact with a website after they search for a specific keyword. They give you an idea of whether your efforts are helping improve user experience, which leads to better conversions and revenue growth.
This is because they are based on actual user behavior, not just PageRank or MozRank (a measure of how well a site ranks based on its link profile). While these may be useful for marketers looking at their rankings in comparison to other sites in the industry (or industry vertical), they don’t tell you much about whether your business objectives have been met by ranking high in Google search results pages (SERPs).
Use behavioral metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.
In contrast, behavioral metrics are more accurate than traditional metrics because they measure organic search traffic that comes from real users who have made a conscious decision to engage with your content. They’re also valuable, as they can provide insights into how your website is being used by customers. Finally, they’re more relevant to your business goals because they represent actual user behavior on the site.
Because behavioral metrics are so valuable and easy to obtain, it’s best practice for marketers to track these metrics instead of relying solely on traditional metrics like pageviews or impressions (which do not account for actual engagement).
Conclusion
Clearly, it’s not enough to just measure keyword rankings and traffic. You need to know how your efforts are affecting user behavior and whether or not they are generating the type of results that will make your business more successful. SEO is a long-term strategy, so don’t expect changes overnight. Instead, focus on building up your site over time with new content and links from outside sources—and then keep an eye out for those behavioral metrics that indicate whether or not your strategy is working! Check out the new algorithm in google so that you can make adjustments.