SEO analytics: how to calculate SEO effectiveness

Promotion of a portal in search networks allows you to achieve various goals. At the same time, SEO optimization can be a rather costly tool for increasing portal performance. You can often hear about a situation when promotion becomes unprofitable even though site traffic continues to grow rapidly.

Therefore, a favourable picture and positive statistics do not mean that this tool is used correctly. Andflint also reminds us that for some types of portals, SEO optimization may not be a suitable promotion method. In such a situation, it becomes necessary to analyze how effective search engine optimization is.

Main difficulties in calculating and KPI indicators

You can understand how effective SEO is by evaluating many parameters. It is important to understand that you need to evaluate new landing pages. To do this, you need to use the average conversion rate. In the evaluation process, the KPIs are the basis, thanks to which it is possible to more efficiently evaluate the results of promotion:

  • quality and volume of traffic;
  • cost of a site visitor;
  • visibility of the portal in search engines;
  • return on investment in the project;
  • achievement of goals and behavioural factors.

If a professional in the field of SEO takes on the work, then he relies on special analytical services. These include Google Analytics. You can also use data obtained from a CRM system. The analyst evaluates the effectiveness of conversion from individual regions, and also takes into account seasonal indicators. Andflint reminds you that attention should be paid not only to absolute values but also to emerging trends. This will help you navigate how effectively conversion goals are achieved, which can be adding products to the cart, filling out forms, calling managers and other indicators.

Quantity and quality of organic traffic

Traffic is the main indicator of SEO effectiveness. However, it is important to consider not only its volume but also its quality. Organic traffic indicates how many users have come to the project thanks to search engines. The growth of this parameter indicates that the promotion is successful. Traffic quality is determined by user behaviour. It is necessary to understand whether visitors use Google search or more often search for the site using third-party channels. It is also necessary to determine whether high-quality traffic contributes to the growth of the target audience.

Cost of a visitor and conversions

Andflint reminds us that SEO is not just attracting visitors, but getting clients. Therefore, it is important to consider the cost of each attracted user and the conversion percentage. To improve this indicator, it is necessary to use an effective promotion strategy. Only it will reduce the cost of a visitor while maintaining good conversion statistics.

Visibility of the site in search engines

When analyzing the work of the portal, it is necessary to pay attention to how well it is visible on search engines. This indicator is influenced by the following parameters:

  • the number of pages in the Google index;
  • current positions for key queries;
  • the dynamics of growth or decline in positions;
  • number of impressions in search results.

To improve the indicators, you should move on to optimizing meta tags, as well as work on the content structure. Increasing the number and quality of external links also contributes to better visibility of the portal.

ROI and return on investment

Each project is created to obtain a certain profit. Investments in optimization should be considered as an investment. Therefore, the project owner needs to understand how easy it is to recoup SEO.

To calculate the return on investment, the ROI formula is used, according to which the profit from promotion should be subtracted from SEO costs, and the resulting value should be divided by the product of SEO costs and 100% efficiency. If the resulting value is negative, then the investment cannot be recouped at the current moment. This means that the current strategy needs to be revised.

Achieved goals and behavioral factors

In the process of project promotion, it is very important to achieve the set goals, which can be very different. In the process of evaluating indicators, it is also necessary to take into account changes in behavioural factors that indicate user interaction with the portal. Such parameters as bounce rate, time on site or viewing depth can help with this.

How to analyze SEO promotion results?

There are different approaches to how to analyze the effectiveness of promotion.

Monitoring search engine rankings

The portal owner should move on to monitoring search engine rankings. The method of tracking current site results for key queries helps to understand how successful the chosen strategy is. It is important to pay attention to the difference in indicators in different regions, as well as the frequency of appearance in the top search results and the dynamics of position growth.

Organic traffic analysis: before and after optimization

Promotion helps to increase free traffic. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze traffic before and after optimization work. Among the important parameters, it is worth noting the traffic sources and the share of new users from the total number.

Conversion and cost assessment

Attracting traffic will be useless work if it does not provide conversion for the project. To do this, you should use such reference indicators as:

  • Overall conversion rate (CR). The parameter indicates what percentage of users perform target actions.
  • Conversion cost. Using this indicator, you can understand how much it costs to attract one client through SEO.
  • Traffic channels. They talk about how effective SEO is in generating leads cheaper than advertising.

This is one of the most important parameters for understanding the effectiveness of promotion.

The impact of SEO on user behaviour

Behavioural factors can tell a lot about how effective optimization is. Here you need to take into account clicks on internal links, average time on the site, as well as the percentage of users who left the site after studying the first page.

SEO analytics tools

Andflint reminds us that a modern webmaster has access to a huge number of tools that help analyze the effectiveness of promotion.

Google Analytics: setting up goals and events

This tool is used to get an idea of ​​​​the traffic and traffic sources for the site. To set up goals, you need to fill out the application form and confirm the action.

Google Search Console: analysis of queries and positions

Also, within the Google search engine, you can use Search Console, which is a free tool for analyzing traffic. Using the console, you can track queries, check average positions, and optimize snippets.

SEO platforms for complex analysis

Webmasters often use special SEO platforms that help analyze the effectiveness of optimization as a whole.

SEMrush

This platform can analyze positions and competitors’ traffic. The tool helps evaluate the quality of backlinks and demonstrate existing errors on the site.

Ahrefs

The Ahrefs platform is considered one of the best for analyzing the link profile. With its help, you can find additional growth points when optimizing a project.

Serpstat

The platform allows you to analyze the semantic core and positions of the site. With its help, you can find technical errors on the portal.

How to distinguish professionals from scammers?

When choosing specialists who will perform SEO, Andflint recommends paying attention to the following factors:

  • regular provision of detailed reports;
  • availability of an extensive portfolio;
  • the ability to contact a specialist at any time;
  • providing recommendations for improving the project.

The fraudulent nature of the project can be indicated by the fact that specialists avoid talking about specific parameters, demonstrating only beautiful graphs.

Transparent reports and regular analytics

The client should be provided with reports that demonstrate the dynamics of changes. Regular analytics makes it possible to quickly find ways to improve the effectiveness of promotions and implement them.

Realistic forecasts, not promises of TOP-1 in a month

Fraudsters like to give bold, and often unrealistic forecasts. If we are talking about a specialist, then he will provide realistic indicators that can be achieved within the established time frame.

Integrated approach: technical optimization, content, links

Specialists who deal with SEO usually work to improve the project’s indicators in several directions at once:

  • technical SEO is aimed at correcting errors, speeding up loading;
  • content strategy involves writing high-quality articles;
  • link promotion is aimed at working with external and internal links.

If an SEO company focuses on only one of the listed aspects, this may be a signal of a selective approach.

Conclusion

Analysis of SEO results allows you to understand how effectively the funds spent on optimization are spent. This is not only a check of positions, but also a comprehensive monitoring of traffic, conversions and behavioural factors. Using analytics tools, you can identify weak points, adjust your strategy and achieve maximum promotion efficiency.