Why can’t you evaluate SEO effectiveness only by ranking or traffic growth? And how can we evaluate it?

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ASSESSMENT BY POSITIONS?

Myth: if an agency puts a website in the TOP-3 for high-frequency queries, this will guarantee a high volume of visitors, and all of them will buy.

Reality: Search results are personalized. This means that search results take into account the user’s interests and preferences at the time the list is formed. Search engines take into account:

• sites that the user has already visited;
• queries he entered earlier;
• user behavior on other resources.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH TRAFFIC ASSESSMENT?

Myth: If SEO increases traffic, then everything is going great.

Reality: Your traffic may be up, but that doesn't always mean your sales are up. For example, a company may see a 10-fold increase in the number of website visitors, but sales may remain stagnant. Why is this happening? Possible reasons:

• Traffic may not be targeted. Sometimes contractors optimize a website for low-frequency queries that do not lead to conversions.
• Traffic may be coming to inappropriate pages. If queries like “buy a kitchen table” lead to the main page, and not to the desired product, then such traffic will be ineffective.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH SALES ESTIMATES?

Myth: If sales aren't happening, the SEO agency isn't doing its job properly.

Reality: Sales levels are affected not only by the quality of SEO, but also by other factors. For example, between the receipt of a targeted request and the actual purchase there may be the following elements:

• unprofessional work of the sales manager, who may not complete the deal;
• quality and competitiveness of a product or service. Even if the traffic is targeted, if the product does not meet customer expectations, this will not lead to sales.

SO WHAT TO DO?

When a customer is interested in the growth of traffic and positions, he most often actually wants to understand how much his profit will increase. The correct approach is to evaluate SEO effectiveness by the number of targeted hits. A targeted call is a call, request or message from a user who is interested in making a purchase.

For example, if you sell used cars with the request “buy a new BMW,” then there will be a lot of traffic, but the requests will not bring profit, since customers are looking for a new car, not a used one. These are inappropriate requests.

SEO effectiveness is not an instant result, but a long-term effort that requires constant monitoring of the relevance of pages and the correct approach to their optimization.

What is needed for this?

• Use data analytics tools - such as Yandex.Metrica, Google Analytics, and for a more accurate assessment - connect call tracking and end-to-end analytics systems. This will help you differentiate between targeted and untargeted messages and track the impact of SEO on sales over the long term.
• Work closely with the agency, provide regular feedback and build joint plans, taking into account the seasonality of the business.
• Remember that organic conversions can be part of the sales chain. You need to track not only direct referrals, but also affiliate leads.

LET'S SUM UP

You cannot evaluate SEO effectiveness based on the following criteria:

• by entering the TOP - this does not guarantee transitions to the site;
• by the number of transitions - this is not necessarily related to active requests and purchases;
• in terms of sales volume - it is possible that some customers will be lost due to the work of sales managers.

The most objective criterion for evaluating SEO is the number of targeted hits, which demonstrates how effectively the agency has attracted interested clients.

If you have any questions or want to discuss the details of SEO promotion, write to our studio. We are ready to help you with any questions.

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