Search engine optimisation (SEO)

Search engine optimisation (SEO) should be treated like any marketing campaign and tracking the results is a key part of the process.

Without feedback, it will be unclear what search terms are being used to find your site, or which site elements attract the most traffic. Monitoring your site's traffic will show which parts of your SEO work. It will show what is effective and what needs changing. This will help direct traffic to the right areas of your site.

Using web analytics

Web analytics is a key way of monitoring the success of online campaigns. A tracking code is added to each page of your website which collects user data. You can then analyse this with a free tool, like Google Analytics. It uses these codes to give you reports on how users interact with your site.

You will be able to access data about how many people visit a page, how long they stay on your site, and where they came from. You can also look at the search terms that lead users to your page. 

See what is web analytics?

Get reports from SEO partners

If you use an SEO agency, it should provide regular reports showing how their optimisations are working, along with any plans to improve current search engine ranking. It's also important that reports include output from SEO tools and the major search engines' site analytics. If your website is maintained externally, ensure you have access to its statistics. You need to monitor performance and generate reports.

Use browser tools for quick information

You can quickly see the effects of SEO on your pages using browser tools. Google's Analytics plugin for Chrome can give a quick overview of on-page analytics. Tools like SEO for Firefox and SeoQuake can be used to analyse the search engine rankings of your site and your competitors' sites.

Benchmarking

After collecting your key metrics for at least six months, you can analyse your site's progress and the effects of any changes you've made. You can also compare your site's performance to your competitors' - helping you to identify areas for future improvement.