Key Metrics for SEO - SES San Francisco

San Francisco| August 13–17

Key Metrics for SEOactionable, useful & awesome data

Nick RoshoniCrossing (Booth #1136)Sr. Strategist, SEO

San Francisco | August 13–17, 2012 | #sessf

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• We are a unit of Hearst• Full-Service Digital Agency• 19 Offices Worldwide • 850 Professionals • 40+ Fortune 500 Clients

About iCrossing…

web: http://www.icrossing.comthese slides: http://www.slideshare.net/icrossing @nickroshon

http://www.icrossing.com/

http://www.slideshare.net/icrossing


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What not to do?(aka funny answers from

LinkedIn)

@nickroshon


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“Google Analytics will tell you a lot.”

“Technically it is to be judged using Google Analytic.”

“If you're on the first page of Google for your primary keyword”

“A really great measurement of SEO success…is if you "own" the first page in Google - if most of the organic search results are yours (7 out of 10 listings are yours)”

How do I measure SEO success?

Why would someone embark on an SEO campaign? @nickroshon


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There is no silver bullet, nor golden tool…

@nickroshonImage courtesy of: http://memegenerator.net/instance/24815744


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Have a framework - start broad, get specific

Search Visibility

Interest

Consideration

Sale

Search Demand

Search Demand & Industry Benchmarks

Rankings & Visibility Metrics

Broader Traffic Metrics

Specific Traffic Metrics / Target Pages

Actual Sales / Conversions

@nickroshon


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A quick tip for Google Analytics users…

@nickroshon

Custom Segments are a data geek’s best friend. Make your data more relevant & actionable by only looking at the data you’re interested in…


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Traffic Metrics

@nickroshon


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More specific = more actionable

VISIBILITY TRAFFIC BOOKINGS REVENUE

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

60.00%55.21%

12.30%

36.36%

43.18%

VISIBILITY TRAFFIC BOOKINGS REVENUE

0.00%

50.00%

100.00%

150.00%

200.00%

250.00%

300.00%

350.00%

294.33%

167.23%

133.06%

253.93%

SHOES SOCKS

@nickroshon


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Weed out irrelevant traffic

Do you only sell products within the US? Then why should you report on SEO traffic from the Philippines?

#CustomSegmentsFTW


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Analyze growth in brand, non-brand

Watch trend line of brand vs. non-brand:• Share of traffic• Share of revenue• Unique KWs• KW Diversity


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Understand your attribution & adjust figures

85.00%

2.44%9.00%

3.25%

Branded > Branded Branded > Non-BrandNon-Brand > Branded Non-Brand > Non-Brand

Know the typical conversion paths – build attribution into analytics, or back-fill conversion data accordingly to give full credit to non-brand


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Look at the big picture – total search (SEO + SEM)

@nickroshon

Softness in SEO may be accounted for during periods of strong SEM activity – think of search holistically and avoid siloed thinking…


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Calculate your ROI & compare efficiencies

@nickroshon

Digital Channel Total Spend* Impressions Clicks CTR % of Spend Total Combined Revenue ROAS

SEM $ 200,000 20,000,000 750,000 3.75% 77% $ 2,000,000 10.00

Display $ 50,000 10,000,000 20,000 0.20% 19% $ 500,000 10.00

SEO $ 10,000 N/A 800,000 N/A 4% $ 1,500,000 150.00

TOTAL $ 260,000 30,000,000 1,570,000 5.23% 100% $ 4,000,000 15.38

SEO is only 4% of spend yet generates 50% of traffic (clicks) and 38% of revenue – awesome!

Remember: (Good) SEO isn’t free – it requires resources, patience and investment, too.


15@nickroshon

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL MAY JUNE JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER

Visitors / Year-Over-Year Organic Search VisitsColumn 1 (Left): 2010 Organic Search Visits | Column 2: 2011 Organic Search

Visits | Column 3 (Right): 2012 Organic Search Visits Y Axis: Total Search Visits | X Axis: Month

Report Created by: iCrossingData Source: Analytic System

Look year-over-year to account for seasonality

A soft month may just be seasonality, or lack of seasonal promotion or discount code. Likewise, you could be kicking butt but not realizing it when only looking at M-o-M…


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SEO traffic & revenue by KWs, URLs

Key areas of focus can be reported on as a Keyword/URL pair in a separate report


17@nickroshon

Key actions / non-monetary conversions

Don’t forget non-monetary conversions like email signups, online contacts, email appointments, quote requests, etc.


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Weighted conversion values

Useful for forecasting, budget projections, or demonstrating REAL ROI on your efforts…don’t sell yourself short with simple revenue

Profit margin of Product A+ Percent of total cart value+ Percent of lifetime value of new customer+ Percent of repeat purchases in next year+ Percent of replacement/maintenance orders= Weighted value of conversion


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Lastly – make it pretty…

Create super slick Executive Reports – it’ll get your boss to notice, care, and give you more $$ and resources…


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VisibilityMetrics

@nickroshon


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Build out a categorized keyword universe

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY TOTAL RANKINGS GOOGLE YAHOO! BING

Keywords Found on First P age 893 488 203 202

Keywords Found on Second P age 611 218 199 194

Keywords Found on Third P age 401 114 145 142

Keywords Found Beyond Third P age 10,008 3,151 3,424 3,433

Total Keywords Found 1,905 820 547 538Total Keywords Not Found 9,339 2,928 3,201 3,210

KEYWORD(S)GOOGLE EST.

SEARCH VOLUME* GOOGLE YAHOO! (Y !) BING CATEGORY

brake repair 4,400 1 6 4 Brakesbrake service 3,600 1 3 2 Brakescar wheel 2,400 1 18 16 Tiresdefinity tires 1,000 1 3 3 Tiresalignment coupon 880 1 2 2 Alignmentfutura tires 880 1 4 4 Tiresalignment coupons 720 1 3 3 Alignmentfront end alignment coupons 480 1 16 15 Alignmentcar alignment coupons 480 1 8 8 Alignmenttire alignment coupon 390 1 2 2 Alignmentbreak repair 390 1 3 3 Brakeswheel alignment coupon 320 1 8 8 Alignmentwheel cylinders 260 1 7 7 Brakeswheel alignment specials 260 1 2 2 Alignmentalignment specials 260 1 2 2 Alignment

@nickroshon

Look at a universe of thousands of KWs.

Mine KW ideas from:• Webmaster Tools• SEM Data• Social Listening• SEO Tools (Ahrefs, AdWords,

AdGooRoo, etc)• Competitors• Product Catalogs


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Map keyword buckets to search intent

@nickroshon

Knowing where rankings align with purchase funnel helps understand SEO strengths & content / visibility gaps…


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Look directionally

@nickroshon

Keywords fluctuate every week, but the long term trends paint a clear picture


24@nickroshon

Annotate implementation against results

CHANGE IN 1ST PG. FINDS

CHANGE IN 2ND PG. FINDS

CHANGE IN 3RD PG. FINDS

CHANGE IN TOTAL FINDS

+ 8.86% + 18.27% + 15.05% + 11.57% *baseline visibility+ 66.03% No Change + 12.79% + 44.55% *initial reccos implemented+ 46.10% - 17.81% - 15.98% + 29.79%- 41.22% + 19.32% + 14.42% - 31.58% *Google Venice Update+ 0.76% - 1.97% + 4.02% + 0.75%- 5.00% + 12.05% + 4.38% - 1.18% *Google Feed Re-optimized+ 3.53% + 5.98% + 4.44% + 4.08%- 2.16% + 6.20% - 1.18% - 0.56%

+ 2.80% - 0.53% + 6.22% + 2.65%- 4.82% + 11.21% + 6.76% - 0.26%

- 70.28% - 15.68% + 27.22% - 44.31% *Data Abberation+ 232.38% + 9.87% - 20.07% + 75.97%

- 9.23% + 12.26% + 12.03% - 1.75%+ 53.61% - 30.31% - 45.93% + 17.25% *Localeze launched- 9.23% + 12.26% + 12.03% - 1.75%

+ 18.14% + 2.74% + 2.41% + 7.01%

Annotate all major implementations & changes and map them to increases in KPIs


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Competitive visibility reports

www.autozone.com

www.tirerack.com

www.pepboys.com

www.discounttire.com

www.autoanything.com

www.oreillyauto.com

shop.advanceautoparts...

www.summitracing.com

www.firestonecompleteautoca...

www.monro.com

www.midas.com

www.meineke.com

www.discounttires.com

www.goodyear.com

www.rockauto.com

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

0

2

4

6

8

10

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Automotive Visibility | By Google 1st Page RankingsBar: Google 1st Page Rankings

Y Axis: Keywords | X Axis: Domain

Report Created by: iCrossingData Source: Position Analysis Data

@nickroshon

What other domains are found for your KW universe? Monitor over time to see who is investing in SEO and where their strengths are…


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SEM visibility & scorecarding

SEO Keyword

ScoreTerm PS

Impressions

PS Impression

ScorePS CTR

PS CTR Score AOV AOV Score

Google Volume

Google Volume Score

Google Rank Bing Rank

8.3 not provided 3,350,000 9.5 1.50% 4.1 $804.95 9.9 3,350,000 9.9 29 -

7.9 not provided 888,722 8.7 3.56% 6.6 $283.69 8.7 110,000 7.9 65 56

7.5 not provided 694,557 8.5 1.06% 3.1 $309.56 9.0 673,000 9.4 62 -

7.4 not provided 1,210,129 9.0 0.65% 1.9 $504.54 9.7 450,000 9.2 25 117

7.4 not provided 1,482,982 9.1 1.65% 4.5 $257.05 8.3 110,000 7.9 60 78

7.4 not provided 593,900 8.2 3.33% 6.4 $216.07 7.6 74,000 7.4 201 11

7.4 not provided 10,545,265 10.0 0.10% 0.1 $451.35 9.6 4,090,000 9.9 - -

7.4 not provided 2,267,469 9.4 0.58% 1.6 $341.35 9.2 673,000 9.4 94 82

7.4 not provided 1,138,332 8.9 1.43% 3.9 $230.16 7.8 301,000 8.9 159 73

7.4 not provided 2,125,126 9.3 0.46% 1.2 $545.22 9.7 550,000 9.3 - -

7.4 not provided 797,208 8.6 0.60% 1.7 $473.53 9.7 823,000 9.5 55 -

7.3 not provided 648,527 8.4 1.01% 2.9 $476.75 9.7 135,000 8.2 127 115

7.2 not provided 955,761 8.8 4.83% 7.6 $99.24 3.6 301,000 8.9 139 60

7.2 not provided 468,001 7.8 1.01% 2.9 $363.37 9.4 246,000 8.8 - -

7.2 not provided 3,418,859 9.5 0.09% 0.0 $354.12 9.3 2,740,000 9.8 84 61

7.1 not provided 6,485,655 9.8 0.57% 1.5 $237.43 8.0 550,000 9.3 30 144

7.1 not provided 689,629 8.4 0.83% 2.3 $345.61 9.3 165,000 8.5 56 21

7.1 not provided 173,455 6.2 5.90% 7.9 $327.44 9.1 14,800 5.2 11 65

7.1 not provided 700,823 8.5 0.24% 0.5 $777.18 9.9 823,000 9.5 - -

7.1 not provided 189,239 6.4 3.24% 6.3 $311.47 9.0 40,500 6.6 46 -

7.0 not provided 856,536 8.7 0.81% 2.3 $248.86 8.1 368,000 9.1 8 112

7.0 not provided 88,171 5.0 11.36% 9.5 $275.76 8.6 12,100 5.0 - 97

@nickroshon

Paid Search data is full of awesome metrics to score & use for SEO research. Plus no [not provided] problems…


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Content Metrics

@nickroshon


28@nickroshon

Find duplicate content & canonicalize equity

Before you get all crazy building new content, make sure you’re getting the most out of your existing content first…check out GWT “Index Status” metrics.

Also good for tracking amount of content you have versus amount of content actually indexed…


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Percent of traffic from SEO to content sections

Men’s Clothing

30% Traffic from SEO20% Traffic from SEM10% Traffic from Social50% Traffic from Non-Search

Women’s Clothing

5% Traffic from SEO34% Traffic from SEM1% Traffic from Social60% Traffic from Non-Search

I’m selling lots of men’s clothes via SEO, but barely any women’s clothing – what gives?

• SEO health issues for women’s clothing section• Stronger competition?• Title & meta optimization/CTR• Poor keyword choice?• Lack of relevant links?• Lack of products?

@nickroshon


30@nickroshon

Diversity of SEO

Is 5% of your content responsible for all SEO visits? Is your SEO traffic primarily from a handful of keywords?

Trend this to make sure you’re diversifying your risks & spreading the SEO love around the site…

Pages receiving SEO trafficTotal Unique Pages

= SEO Traffic Diversity

Unique SEO KeywordsTotal Unique Pages

= SEO Keyword Diversity


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Keyword not provided – but URL is…

Once can deduce the keyword intent by knowing the URLs – shift to focus from keyword level to URL level reporting for KPIs


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Find your top content – replicate & expand

Lots of entrances via SEO? This content is #winning

…do more of it.


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Find your worst content – eliminate or revamp

High bounce rates & exit rates?

Panda don’t like that.


34@nickroshon

Testing to increase CTR

CTR Testing Ideas:• Use SEM Ad Copy

best practices• Sitelinks testing

(demote in GWT)• Page Titles for CTR


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Links Datehttp://www.askives.com/audi-r8-shift-knob.html 8/1/2012http://auto.checklowpricegearhub.info/liquid-sandpaper-gallon-plasti-kote 8/1/2012http://bloggers.com/topics/diy/page243 8/1/2012http://bloggers.com/topics/audi/page76 7/31/2012http://bloggers.com/topics/audi/page64 7/31/2012http://bloggers.com/topics/audi/page75 7/31/2012http://bloggers.com/topics/audi/page62 7/31/2012http://forums.turbonines.com/blog.php?do=list&page=19 7/31/2012http://vebidoo.de/damir+car 7/30/2012http://autovnp.com/audiauto/audi-a4auto/how-to-change-a-flat-on-an-audi-a4auto/ 7/30/2012http://bloggers.com/topics/audi/page60 7/30/2012http://www.audiklubas.com/forumas/audi-c6/audi-c6-priekiniu-groteliu-keitimas-i-s-line/?PHPSESSID=lft8hgq9sn630bft6sd73bvqg07/28/2012http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5769259-R8-GT-Spyder-in-Matte-Suzuka-Grey7/27/2012http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/496355-Carbon-fiber-B-pillars-anyone-Group-buy7/27/2012http://forum.audirsclub.it/showthread.php?40571-La-sostituta-A4-B7-Avant-140CV-Sline-by-Endy87/page49&langid=17/27/2012http://forum.audirsclub.it/showthread.php?40571-La-sostituta-A4-B7-Avant-140CV-Sline-by-Endy87/page49&langid=27/27/2012http://bloggers.com/topics/audi/page69 7/27/2012http://www.euroaddiction.net/forum/b6-b7-platform/9536-carbon-fiber-b-pillars-anyone-group-buy.html7/27/2012

@nickroshon

Find your most linked to content & market it

Find your most recently linked to content in Google Webmaster Tools – create similar content, market existing top performers and leverage for additional link outreach exercises…


36@nickroshon

Find your social content & do more

Check out Shared Count to find Social Metrics on a URL basis – monitor trends and leverage most popular URLs for content marketing & link outreach…


37@nickroshon

Structured data & author markup

Monitor GWT to make sure your schema & author markup are:(1) showing properly & (2) helping your CTR

Test & adjust as necessary…


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TL;DL(too long, didn’t listen)

@nickroshon


39@nickroshon

Key Takeaways

• Gather lots of data – but zero in on KPIs• Weed out irrelevant data• Look directionally• Compare channels & relative stats• Make it compelling to your boss• Go beyond sales – weighted conversion• Content (metrics) are king• Be awesome


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thank you.

Nick Roshonc: Sr. SEO Strategist, iCrossinge: [email protected]: @nickroshong: +Nick Roshonw: NickRoshon.coms: http://www.slideshare.net/nickroshon

@nickroshon

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.slideshare.net/nickroshon

Key Metrics for SEO - SES San Francisco

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