How Do I Know If My SEO Is Working?

A good SEO strategy can give you amazing results. It can put your business on the map. With an effective SEO campaign, you can get more traffic and better SEO rankings.

You can get started on your own SEO project, or you can turn to an SEO company.

But how do you know if your SEO strategy is performing well?

There are various key performance indicators that can tell you this. These include organic traffic, bounce rates, keyword rankings, and more.

You can also use various tools to measure SEO performance. Some of them are free, like Google Search Console and Google Analytics. For others, you need a paid subscription, like Ahrefs and SEMrush.

If you're wondering, "How do I know if my SEO is working?" this article is for you.

We'll talk about all the signs of a successful SEO campaign. We'll also tell you how to use these metrics to improve your SEO results.

🔑 Key Performance Indicators

The best way to measure SEO performance is with key performance indicators (SEO KPIs). The most important KPIs include:

1. Website traffic
2. Time on page
3. Bounce rate
4. Backlinks
5. Conversion rate
6. Keyword rankings

These metrics can measure how effective and successful your SEO campaigns are. You can use them for more than just tracking your performance on SERPs.

They can also tell you how many visitors your site has and how long they stick around. These KPIs can also reveal how you compete against other websites in your industry.

You can use these metrics to improve your website and your SERPs rankings.

🚥 Website Traffic

One of the most important KPIs is website traffic.

It's the number of people who visit your site.

Website traffic can help determine how well your SEO is performing. When more people visit a site from search engine results, it's a sign that your SEO is doing well.

You can use tools like Google Analytics to track visitors and see where they come from. If you start seeing more traffic, it means your SEO tactics are bringing in more visitors.

But it's not only about attracting more website visitors. You want to get the right type of visitors. These are people who spend time on your site and take desired actions.

This is also called organic search traffic. It comes from organic search results, not paid search results.

We can also measure organic search traffic by looking at:

• The bounce rate (how many people leave after seeing one page)
• The average session duration (how long people stay on your site)
• Pages per session (how many pages people look at)

If these numbers improve, it means people like your site's content. They then spend more time on your site, which improves your SEO!

⌛ Time on Page

To see if your SEO is working, you should check how long people stay on a web page. This metric is "time on page."

If visitors spend a lot of time on a page, it means they like the content. They might read the information and explore more pages on your site. This usually means that they found what they were looking for.

In other words, your site is providing some kind of value to your target audience.

But if people leave the page quickly, it could mean they didn't find what they wanted. There could be many reasons for this, including:

• Poor website design
• Slow-loading pages
• Bad or irrelevant content
• Annoying pop-ups
• No mobile-friendly design
• Technical errors

By looking at this metric, you can figure out what type of content is good and what needs improvement.

This metric also tells you how visitors behave over time. You can use this data to make your site better for your target audience.

It's also a good idea to compare time on page for different pages. This will tell you which pages are popular and which pages need work. This will make your website more engaging and relevant.

⚽ Bounce Rate

When checking how well your SEO is working, you also need to look at the bounce rate.

The bounce rate is the percentage of people who leave the site after seeing only one page. In other words, the visitors "bounce" away from the site.

If the bounce rate is high, it means visitors aren't finding what they want. It could also mean the website might not be interesting or good enough. This suggests a mismatch between what people are searching for and what's on the page.

On the flip side, a low bounce rate means people are sticking around and finding the content valuable.

To know if your SEO is doing well, you should track how the bounce rates change over time. If the bounce rate goes down, it could mean SEO is bringing in more organic traffic.

Lower bounce rates also suggest that visitors like the website. They might find it visually appealing and easy to use.

But the bounce rate isn't the only KPI to consider. Some websites naturally have high bounce rates. For example, blogs where users come for one specific piece of information.

The bounce rate and time on page might seem like the same thing. But they focus on different aspects.

The bounce rate indicates how many visitors leave the site without doing anything. It shows how effective a page is in keeping visitors.

Time on page measures the average time visitors spend on a page before they move on. It's the level of engagement with the content on that page.

🖇️ Backlinks

Backlinks are very important for SEO success.

Backlinks are links that point from another website to your website. This process is also known as link building.

When well-known sites link to you, search engines will think your content is valuable. It also increases your chances of ranking higher in search results.

The higher your ranking, the more visible your site will be. This is where link building comes in. 

You'll want as many backlinks as possible.

Backlinks don't only make your site look more trustworthy and important. They also make people trust your site on an emotional level.

When people see relevant websites linking to your site, they'll trust your content more. This trust makes them more likely to click on the link, visit your site, and look at what you offer.

When looking at backlinks, it's not just about their number. It's about their quality as well.

It helps when users find helpful information on your site from high-quality backlinks. They will see you as an expert in your industry.

This makes them trust you even more. Thus, they will become loyal to your brand.

Low-quality links can do the opposite. They can reduce your SEO rankings and make you less credible.

Low-quality backlinks come from websites with low traffic and engagement.

✅ Conversion Rate

The conversion rate measures how many people visit a website and do something. For example, buy a product or fill out a form.

Your conversion rate helps you find out if your SEO is working. It shows whether website visitors are becoming customers. If lots of visitors are taking some kind of desired action, it points to SEO progress.

This could be because of:

1. Valuable content
2. User-friendly interface
3. Clear calls-to-action (CTAs)
4. Well-made site structure
5. Visually-pleasing design

If very few visitors are taking desired actions, the website might be hard to use. It can also mean you aren't using relevant keywords to attract the right people.

Checking conversion rates helps businesses find areas for improvement. You might need help with technical SEO or something similar.

Companies need to look at conversion rates, organic traffic, and bounce rates. Doing this helps them figure out which SEO methods are bringing in leads and sales.

They can then use this information to make their websites better.

Businesses can track the conversion rate to see if their SEO efforts are successful. Doing so allows you to make the best out of your SEO project.

🔤 Keyword Rankings

As a business owner, you need to know where your site ranks on search engine results pages. This is where keyword research and optimisation come in.

Keyword research helps you find out which target keywords to use in your content. Your target keywords should be related to your business.

By adding relevant keywords to your content, you can rank higher in Google search results. This signals to search engines that your website is relevant as well.

The goal is to choose the right keywords that will rank well over time. This consistency is the key to SEO success.

By keeping an eye on keyword ranking, you can see if your SEO efforts are paying off.

Be careful about using the wrong keywords or competitive keywords. This won't help you get more organic search traffic.

If you use keywords that don't change your rankings, it's a sign you need to improve your strategy.

Monitoring keyword performance is just as important as keyword research. Keyword research also helps you figure out your customers' search intent.

If you don't know how to do keyword research, you can hire an SEO agency.

⚒️ Tools for Measuring SEO Efforts

There are various tools you can use to measure your SEO results. The four most popular ones include:

1. Google Search Console
2. Google Analytics
3. Ahrefs
4. SEMrush

🔍 Google Search Console

One of the best tools you can use to measure SEO is Google Search Console.

Google Search Console is a free web service. It helps website owners track and maintain their site's online presence. It offers various features that can help track your site's indexing status.

This app gives you valuable insights into your site's performance in search results. Thanks to this Google app, businesses can make data-driven decisions.

Some metrics you can track with Google Search Console include:

• Click-through rates (CTR)
• Keyword rankings
• Crawl errors
• Index coverage
• Mobile usability
• Safety concerns
• Internal and external links

This information helps determine your rankings on search results pages.

By analysing these metrics over time, you'll know if your SEO efforts are effective. Especially when it comes to improving keyword rankings and driving organic traffic.

Google Search Console provides useful data on crawl errors and HTML improvements. It even informs you about structured data markup issues. These technical aspects can affect a site's visibility in search results.

It alerts webmasters about any potential issues. It even lets them know about Google penalties.

📊 Google Analytics

Another useful free tool is Google Analytics.

It gives you insights into website performance, user behaviour, and traffic sources. With Google Analytics, you can track:

• The number of visitors
• Page views
• Bounce rates
• Average session duration
• Conversion rates

With this data, you can gain valuable insights into how users are interacting with your site. You can then make informed decisions to improve your SEO strategy.

One of the key features is its ability to track the source of website traffic.

This information lets you know which channels are driving the most visitors. These could be organic keywords, social media referrals, and paid advertisements.

Google Analytics allows users to set up goals. You can also use it to track conversions. This lets you measure how well your site is converting visitors into desired actions. For instance, buying something or filling out a form.

⭐ Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a popular SEO tool. It offers various features and insights into SEO performance.

You can use Ahrefs to analyse:

• Backlinks
• Keyword rankings
• Competitor research
• Content optimisation strategies

One of the key functionalities of this app is backlink analysis. It allows you to explore your site's backlink profile. You can also check out your competitors.

This is great for analysing the quality and quantity of backlinks. This is very important for search engine rankings.

Ahrefs provides metrics such as domain rating and URL rating. You can also use it for referring domains and pages. Doing this lets you assess the strength and authority of a website's link profile.

Ahrefs lets users track keyword rankings for specific target keywords. You can then test the effectiveness of your website's SEO.

This feature helps identify which keywords are performing well. It also tells you which keywords may need further optimisation.

Ahrefs also allows users to compare their rankings with their competitors' rankings. You can gain valuable insights into industry trends and competition analysis.

🚀 SEMrush

SEMrush is another popular tool for digital marketers and SEO professionals. You can use it for your content marketing strategy.

SEMrush offers various SEO tools. These features can give you valuable insights into website performance and SEO.

SEMrush allows users to track:

1. Keyword rankings
2. Online presence
3. Competitors
4. Organic traffic
5. Backlinks

These key metrics can help you measure the success of an SEO campaign. With its large database, SEMrush can also analyse competitor websites. It can help you uncover your competitors' strategies.

You can then find new ways to improve your own site.

SEMrush offers tools for content marketing, social media management, and advertising. These features allow users to optimise their content strategy.

SEMrush does this by identifying relevant topics and tracking social media engagement.

🎉 Let RankRise Help You with Your SEO

Keeping track of your SEO efforts isn't easy. That's why you might need to hire an SEO company to help you with your SEO.

A good SEO agency doesn't only help you create an SEO strategy. They also track your SEO and make detailed reports.

That's why you should reach out to RankRise. We're an expert SEO agency, and we can help you attract quality traffic. We know all the important SEO tactics to make your site more prominent.

If you'd like to know more, feel free to get in touch.