How to best measure your SEO campaign

SEO, like business and life, is all about constant improvement – and improvement is only possible when something can be measured.

Measuring SEO, however, is often easier said than done. 

There is a staggering number of components and variables in the SEO efforts and several metrics are needed to gauge success. The complexity can be challenging, and it takes true grit to master the art and science of measuring SEO. Yet, the prize is worth it. 

Why is SEO success so hard to measure? For starters, SEO practitioners are bombarded with a huge amount of data to analyze. With so much data, it’s often difficult to reach cut-and-dry conclusions. 

Data needs to be prioritized into information that’s important for your particular website. No two businesses have the exact same strategies, goals and objectives – and neither do any two websites.

The SEO data that’s important for one website may not be so important for another. 

Data also needs to be “reportable”, so you can clearly explain it to managers and clients. If things get overly confusing, decision makers start getting frustrated with SEO practitioners.

Another difficulty is that Google has developed a huge number of factors that go into the ranking process. The challenge is the fact that Google isn’t so quick to reveal what all these components even are. Yes, many of the biggest ranking factors are well known in the SEO industry. But there’s still so much that’s kept mysterious.