Search engine optimization (SEO) is a way to improve traffic to a web site through organic (unpaid) search results. You can spend a lot or a little on SEO: Buying links to your site, tweaking content, etc., -- some methods are legitimate, and some might actually be harmful. So when you hire an SEO consultant, how do you know you're getting your money's worth?
The nature of online marketing makes it easy to collect volumes of data, count clicks, etc. The challenge is to look at the *right* evidence. Eric Enge of Stone Temple Consulting explains in Measuring SEO Results (on Search Engine Watch) that people look at several different metrics to assess SEO success: These include:
- Ranking reports: "[t]his data is deceptive. These... exercises always focus on high volume terms, the ones that make up 10 percent or less of total search volume."
- Number of links added: "[W]e remind clients that one link can be worth 100,000 times more than another. It's certainly interesting to track the links added, but only if you include a measurement of link quality...."
- Non-branded search traffic: A great metric. "Focus on daily unique visitors and chart that over time. [F]actor out branded search traffic because few Web sites need SEO help to rank for their brand name."
- Visitor engagement: "bounce rate, time on site, and page views per visitor are all useful...."
- Conversion: "This is the most important thing to measure." Useful evidence includes increases in product sales, 'contact us' requests, completed forms, and whitepaper or widget downloads.
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