How to Track SEO

We all know that SEO is the long game. Successful investments into your business’ SEO compound over time, and so your best results may come months after your content plan has finished.

This can be a nerve-wracking time! Have I done this right? Is my strategy good enough? When will I start seeing results?

Well, if this sounds like you then it’s likely that you’ll want to learn how to track your SEO performance so that you know exactly when your organic traffic begins to increase.

And that’s what we’re here to show you!

What are the best KPIs for SEO?

Before you can learn how to track SEO, you need to know what it is that you’ll be tracking. These are your key performance indicators (KPIs), and they’ll be your measure for success when it comes to your SEO strategy.

At the end of the day, if you are investing in SEO then the most important thing for you should be ranking for relevant search terms. Now, there’s definitely more to SEO than just that, but increasing organic traffic to your site should be your primary goal.

The best way to track this is by using Google Search Console and an SEO tool that includes keyword position tracking, such as Ahrefs or SEMrush (although you may be able to find an SEO extension for Chrome that can also do this).

Using these tools, you will be able to see exactly how you are performing for your target keywords, including how much organic traffic is coming through for each search term and to what pages, and where in the SERPs you are showing.

If you want to make specific improvements to your site, such as speed, backlinks, or meta description and title tag optimisation, then you can monitor this separately. They are still part of your SEO because Google includes them as ranking factors (as well as around 200 others!).

How to track SEO performance with Search Console

While there are many SEO tools out there that you can choose from, the most essential baseline tool that you must use is Google Search Console.

Search Console is great for learning all that you must know about your organic traffic. Provided that you have your domain information to hand, it’s very easy to get set up too. And, it’s free!

Once Search Console is set up, you’ll be able to see a lot of very important data that you can use to measure your SEO performance. This includes factors like how many clicks you are getting for your top queries, what are your most popular pages, and what countries people are visiting your site from.

If you want to learn how to track SEO rankings with Google Analytics, then you’re probably better off using Search Console. There are some issues with tracking organic traffic just using Google Analytics, and Search Console provides all information that GA does and more.

More advanced tracking tools

While Search Console shows you all the basics that you’ll need to know if you are monitoring your SEO strategy, if you want even more details then there are other tools out there for you.

Tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs can show you more detail on how your performance for specific keywords is changing over time. And you can even view your stats beside your competitors.

Most SEO tools like these are presented a bit nicer than Search Console too, so it’s easier to find and digest the information you want.

The most important reason why you should use a full-service SEO tool is to perform competitor research to dictate your SEO strategy. While this may not technically relate to directly tracking performance, it is how you will decide on what to track in the first place.

For example, you know that one of your competitors has a really good content vertical about one aspect of your niche and it is bringing them lots of traffic. So you can use one of these tools to see exactly how their content is performing, dissect other sites’ content around the same topic, and then use this information to create your own content that has better user experience and provides even more useful information. Then, over time, you can see how your content is performing and whether you are earning any organic traffic through it.

And finally, full-service SEO tools allow you to easily export information into attractive-looking reports. A detailed SEO report that’s easy on the eyes is a must if you want to keep stakeholders interested in what you’re doing. Because unfortunately, a lot of people find SEO unexciting. How rude!

SEO tracking and reports from Blaze Media

At Blaze Media, we track and report on all of our clients’ sites. This includes an in-depth SEO report if they receive our SEO services.

Doing this means our clients don’t have to worry about how their site is performing and how they can create improvements. That’s our job!

If you’d like to know more about how we can help you with your SEO, then get in touch with us today. We’d love to hear from you!