If you want to improve, you need to be able to measure your efforts. However, in the case of SEO this can be a complex web. Success in SEO should be driven by clear goals and multiple metrics to measure it.
Be Clear on What You Want to Achieve
Setting goals is important for any strategy. Your measures or key performance indicators (KPIs) then become the roadmap to reaching this target.
Many people set higher ranking as a goal. It should not be.
You may rank high for a keyword that has your competitor. But, will it bring you traffic? Probably not. People specifically typing in your competitor are looking for that property. Keyword ranking becomes irrelevant here. Search intent matters.
So, getting qualified traffic to your website becomes a goal. You can break it down further to your services and location as appropriate. Eg. Attracting families or business travellers.
Pro tip: Be SMART in setting up your goals.
S – Specific. “I want to get more visits and bookings from search.”
M – Measurable. “Success will be measured by a 20% increase in organic traffic to the site and improved conversion of 5%.” These goals should be based on past trends and not wishful thinking though! Give your Google Analytics a visit to see what’s possible.
A – Achievable. To our point above. Set realistic target. At the same time, aim higher than where you are right now to move up.
R – Realistic. This is a big one specially for SEO. Many properties earmark highly competitive terms such as ‘hotels’, ‘hotels in [location]’ etc. as keywords they’d like to target to get closer to their traffic goals. Remember, you’re competing with the big guns [OTAs and travel agencies] here. You’re better of focusing your efforts on long tail keywords and local SEO.
T – Time bound. Set a timeline to achieving your targets. Bear in mind SEO takes longer than other marketing mediums. Think of SEO more as a marathon, not a spring.
One Size Does Not Fit All. Find Your Own KPIs
Here’s what you need to keep in mind about SEO metrics. The same metric does not apply to all websites (only because one website is different from the next). Besides you may have different business goals.
