1. Organic traffic
One of the main objectives of any SEO strategy is to increase the visibility of your site on search engines and thus attract natural, targeted traffic. The number of visitors from non-paying search results is the first indicator of your SEO success.
Measuring organic traffic
You can measure the number of organic visitors using analytical tools such as Google Analytics, which gives you a detailed view of where your audience comes from.
2. High-performance keywords
Being well-positioned in search results on keywords relevant to your business is crucial to attracting qualified traffic. Identifying the keywords for which your site already ranks well and those requiring optimisation is therefore an essential KPI.
Tools for tracking keyword positions
Numerous tools, such as Google Search Console or SEMrush, allow you to track your positions on the various targeted keywords and use this information to analyse the competition.
3. Most visited pages
Knowing the pages on your site that attract the most organic visitors will help you to understand which content is the most popular and how to capitalise on its success to improve the SEO of your site as a whole.
Analyse page performance
In Google Analytics, you can access detailed traffic statistics for each of your pages in the "Behaviour" > "Site content" section. Here you can see the number of visits, average session length and bounce rate for each page.
4. Conversion rate
Finally, the ultimate goal of all SEO actions is to generate conversionsWhether it's online sales, contacts or downloads. Measuring conversions from organic traffic allows us to check whether our SEO strategy is bearing fruit.
Setting conversion targets in Google Analytics
To monitor this KPI, you need to set up conversion targets for your site in Google Analytics and analyse their progress regularly.
5. Time spent on the site
Another indicator of traffic quality is the average time spent by organic visitors on your site. If this figure is high, it means that your content is interesting and well referenced, contributing to the success of your SEO.
6. Bounce rate
The bounce rate represents the percentage of people who enter your site and leave it without consulting any other page. A low bounce rate shows that your website is attractive, consistent with visitor expectations and well structured. It should be tracked along with the time spent on the site.
7. Backlinks
Inbound links, or backlinksThey are considered as recommendations by the search engines. So the number and quality of backlinks must be closely monitored.
Tools for analysing backlinks
Use tools such as Majestic SEO or Ahrefs to obtain detailed information on referring domains and specific pages linked to your site, as well as their value in terms of "SEO juice" (or Domain Authority).
8. Click-through rate in search results
The CTR (Click-Through Rate) measures the ratio between the number of clicks and the number of impressions (displays) of your site in search results. A high CTR indicates that your site meets the expectations of Internet users and that its titles and meta-descriptions are well optimised.
Google Search Console form
To track this KPI, you can use the "Performance" sheet in the Google Search Console, which provides information on impressions, clicks, CTR and average position for each keyword.
9. Page loading speed
The speed at which a site loads is a ranking factor for search engines. Good speed guarantees a better user experience, which translates into longer time spent and a better conversion rate. Use PageSpeed Insights tool to optimise the velocity of your website.
10. Mobile-first indexing
A few years ago, Google adopted mobile-first indexing: sites optimised for mobile devices are indexed as a priority. So checking that your site is correctly displayed and functional on smartphones is now essential for SEO.
Google's mobile analytics tool
Use Google's mobile-friendly analysis tool to assess compatibility with mobile devices and identify potential improvements.
By closely monitoring these 10 major KPIs, you'll have a global view of your SEO performance and can adjust your strategy accordingly to improve visibility, traffic and conversions on your website.
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