Introduction
The natural referencing is a key part of any digital marketing strategy. To measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts, it is crucial to track good performance indicators also called: KPI or Key Performance Indicators”.
In this article, we're going to explore the 20 most important SEO KPIs to look out for in order to optimize your online presence.
No time to read it all?
Monitoring SEO KPIs is essential for assess and improve your SEO strategy. Key metrics to monitor include organic traffic, keyword positions, click-through rate (CTR), bounce rate, and page load speed.
These metrics will help you identify opportunities for improvement and measure the impact of your SEO actions. For an effective and tailor-made SEO strategy, do not hesitate to call on our Belgian SEO agency. Our experts will help you define and monitor the most relevant KPIs for your business.
What is a KPI?
One KPI (Key Performance Indicator) or key performance indicator Is a measurable metric used to assess the success of an action or strategy.
In the context of SEO, KPIs allow quantifying the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and to identify areas for improvement.
What are the most important SEO KPIs?
Traffic & visibility
- KPI No. 1 — Organic traffic: This KPI measures the number of visitors from search engines. An increase in organic traffic generally indicates better visibility in search results.
- KPI No. 2 — Keyword positions: Follow the positions of your pages for your target keywords allows you to assess the effectiveness of your on-page optimization and content strategy.
- KPI #3 — Impressions: The number of impressions in the search results provides an overview of your global visibility on search engines.
- KPI No. 4 — Click-through Rate (CTR): CTR measures the Percentage of users who click on your result after seeing it on the SERPs. A high CTR indicates that your title and meta description are attractive.
- KPI No. 5 — Indexed pages: The number of pages indexed by Google reflects the technical health of your site and its ability to be found by search engines.
Commitment & content quality
- KPI No. 6 — Bounce rate: One high bounce rate may indicate that the content of the page does not meet the expectations of visitors or that the user experience needs to be improved.
- KPI No. 7 — Average time spent on the site: This metric reflects user engagement with your content. Longer time spent generally suggests quality and relevant content.
- KPI No. 8 — Page views per session: The average number of page views per session indicates how many visitors explore your site, which can be a sign of interesting content and good internal navigation.
- KPI No. 9 — Conversion rate: The conversion rate measures the Percentage of visitors who perform a desired action (purchase, registration, download, etc.), thus reflecting the effectiveness of your site in achieving its goals.
- KPI No. 10 — Backlinks and referring domains: The number and quality of backlinks pointing to your site are important indicators of the authority of your domain in the eyes of search engines.
Technical performance
- KPI No. 11 — Page load speed: The loading speed is a important ranking factor for Google and has a direct impact on the user experience.
- KPI No. 12 — 404 error rate: A high 404 error rate may indicate problems with structure of the site or broken links, which can be detrimental to the user experience and SEO.
- KPI No. 13 — Mobile coverage: With Google's mobile-first indexing, it is crucial to monitor the performance of your site on mobile devices.
- KPI No. 14 — Core Web Vitals Score: Core Web Vitals are performance metrics taken into account by Google to assess the user experience of your site.
- KPI No. 15 — Text/HTML Ratio: This ratio can indicate if your page contains enough text content compared to HTML code, which is important for SEO.
Relevance & targeting
- KPI No. 16 — Bounce rate per landing page: Analyzing the bounce rate for each landing page helps you identify pages that don't do not meet user expectations.
- KPI No. 17 — Ranking for long-tail queries: Positioning on long-tail queries can indicate the relevance of your content for specific searches.
- KPI No. 18 — Click through rate by position: This KPI helps you understand how your CTR varies depending on your location in the search results.
- KPI No. 19 — Conversion rate by organic traffic source: Understanding which organic traffic sources generate the most conversions helps you refine your targeting strategy.
- KPI No. 20 — SEO share of voice: The SEO share of voice measures your visibility compared to your competitors for a set of target keywords
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Why is it important to monitor these KPIs for SEO?
Monitoring these SEO KPIs is crucial for several reasons. First of all, they allow measuring progress by quantifying the impact of your SEO efforts over time. Then they help to identify problems, as a sudden drop in some indicators may signal technical or content issues that need to be resolved quickly.
In addition, by understanding what aspects of your SEO are performing best, you can adjust your strategy to maximize results. Positive KPIs can also justify the investments in SEO with management or customers.
Finally, regular KPI analysis can help you identify emerging trends in your sector or in user behavior, allowing you to anticipate changes and remain competitive.
In conclusion: Are SEO KPIs essential?
SEO KPIs are essential to effectively manage your natural referencing strategy. They provide you with concrete data to assess your performance, identify areas for improvement and make informed decisions. However, it's important not to drown in data. Focus on the KPIs that are most relevant to your specific goals and feel free to adjust your monitoring over time according to the evolution of your strategy and search engine algorithms.
At Elocos, we recommend setting up a custom dashboard grouping your most important SEO KPIs. This will allow you to have a clear and actionable overview of your performance.
