{"id":17964,"date":"2023-03-30T06:29:12","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T06:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/?p=17964"},"modified":"2023-05-22T17:36:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T17:36:16","slug":"powerful-seo-metrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/powerful-seo-metrics\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Astonishingly Powerful SEO Metrics You Need to Track"},"content":{"rendered":"

TLDR<\/b>: At Media Shower, we invented SEO. (<\/span>Read the story here<\/span><\/a>.) From our 25 years of doing SEO across hundreds of clients, here are the 5 key metrics that will truly drive your business: <\/span>Organic traffic, keyword rankings, top pages, top keywords, and referring domains<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

SO WHAT: <\/b>We\u2019ll show you the best bang-for-the-buck tools to measure these 5 critical metrics, where to find them, and how to measure your performance on each.<\/span><\/p>\n

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“The best place to hide a dead body is page two of Google.”
\n<\/i><\/b>– Anonymous<\/i><\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

SEO Performance Metrics: What They Are and Why They Matter<\/h2>\n

SEO tracking metrics are data points used to evaluate the effectiveness of a website’s performance in search engines (usually Google).
\nThey assist website owners and marketers in measuring their website’s performance in search engine results pages (SERPs), identifying areas for improvement, and making informed decisions to increase the visibility and traffic of their website.<\/p>\n

Examples of SEO tracking metrics include keyword rankings, backlinks, organic search traffic, and even on-page metrics like GA4\u2019s \u201cEngagement rate.\u201d<\/p>\n

By monitoring and improving these SEO metrics monthly, marketers can optimize their websites to rank better in search results, attract more visitors, and drive more leads and sales.<\/p>\n

SEO Reporting Tools: Best Bang for the Buck<\/h3>\n

To track SEO metrics, there are many websites that provide both free and paid solutions for obtaining user and traffic data from various sources. We\u2019ve worked with them all, and here is our ranking of \u201cbest bang for the buck\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Ahrefs: Their dataset is the most comprehensive, and the \u201cLite\u201d version (plenty for most users) is just $99\/month. Our Media Shower reporting uses Ahrefs data.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. SEMrush<\/span><\/a>: An extremely popular option with our clients, but our experience is it underreports keywords because it doesn\u2019t take multiple domain configs into account (i.e., <\/span>http:\/\/www.mediashower.com<\/span><\/a> vs. <\/span>https:\/\/mediashower.com<\/span><\/a>). $120\/month.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Brightedge<\/span><\/a>: Incredibly powerful SEO reporting for enterprise-level clients, but overkill for most SMBs. Pricing is super-expensive, in the $2,500 to $6,000\/month range.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Google Analytics<\/span><\/a> 4:<\/span> It\u2019s free, but incomplete. GA4 wraps Google Search Console (formerly known as Webmaster Tools) into the platform, so you can see top keywords and clicks in Google. Our experience is that it undercounts, and of course it only shows Google.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Moz<\/span><\/a>: Great brand recognition, but very few of our clients use their paid product, Moz Pro, which starts at $99\/month.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    5 SEO Key Metrics to Monitor<\/h2>\n

    \u00a0\u201c<\/i><\/b>Over 50% of marketers say keyword rankings and organic traffic are the top ways they measure the success of their SEO strategies.\u201d (HubSpot <\/i><\/b>State of Marketing Report<\/i><\/b><\/a>)<\/i><\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    1)\u00a0 Organic Traffic<\/h3>\n

    Organic traffic refers to the number of website visitors who come to your site through search engine results pages without clicking on ads. In other words, it\u2019s the traffic your website naturally generates via search engines.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Users<\/p>\n

    Image Source:<\/span><\/i> GA4<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

    While organic traffic can be estimated by outside tools like Ahrefs, the best source of organic traffic is definitely GA4, where you can find it under Reports > Acquisition > User Acquisition.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Why We Care:<\/strong>\u00a0Organic traffic numbers don\u2019t lie: they\u2019re a key performance indicator (KPI) to show the effectiveness of your SEO strategy. Organic traffic will also help you understand which keywords and pages on your website are receiving the most traffic. This can be used to optimize content on your site and boost its search engine rating. (See our video on content optimization here.)<\/p>\n

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    2)\u00a0 Keyword Rankings<\/h3>\n

    Next to organic traffic, keyword rankings are the most important metric (in our experience, Ahrefs is an excellent tool for this). There are two data points you want to collect:<\/span><\/p>\n