Which is the best way to measure the success of your SEO?

A useful guide on the key performance indicators used to measure the success rate of SEO.

For SEO there are many ways to measure key performance indicators, so which ones should you focus more on?

Keyword rankings: This is a very common reported KPI; it basically shows the amount your keywords have risen or fallen in the SERPs. Although a popular KPI, one of the main problems with this method is you could end up reporting on keywords that have low search volumes.

To avoid this consider charting your top keywords, traffic and conversion data to show the impact a change will have – this will also enable you to get a better understanding of your keywords.

Traffic volume: Although your SEO campaign is designed to bring you a lot of traffic volume you should really be thinking quality not quantity when it comes to traffic. It is recommended that you check your traffic volumes regularly and find out where your traffic is coming from, analyse it and act on any quality links.

ROI: ROI is probably one of the most important KPIs because without a good return on investment your business is unlikely to succeed. It’s good to have a good business model; it’s no good having SEO if your business model is flawed – you need to ensure your business can make money then use SEO to strengthen the foundations of the business.

If you allow it to grow as you invest in marketing methods that work it can in turn give you a better return on your initial investment.