One of the things I like about our Keyword SEO is how we help you keep your eye on the ball. We insist on measurables, which takes a lot of the Internet techno-babble out of the discussion.
Measurement is the reason we formed our service only on keywords. Keyword progess can be measured objectively. The degree to which the site is optimized for those keywords can be measured specifically. All other elements of SEO are service-based or not-specifically defined in terms of effectiveness. We prefer to go with what we can measure.
We also recommend a tracking telephone number for your web site when we do your SEO. Why? Because we want to know EXACTLY what volume of calls is coming in from the site. Afterall, isn’t that what you want as an ultimate result? The same goes for web statistics. We watch all SEO clients with Google Analytics which gives us all the site data we need to know what is happening on the site.
(Incidentally, Google Analytics helps us evaluate our program-wide progress, too. Today’s snapshot tells us that in the last 30 days, site visits to our SEO clients are up 27%, time on site duration on our SEO clients is up 5.25% and bounce rate on our SEO clients is down 7%. More traffic through keyword search equals longer visits and fewer bounces... program wide, this tells us the increased traffic we are driving is better and more interested.)
We also recommend companion Paid Search campaigns in most cases. For serious cases (those who invest more than $1000/month in paid search), we recommend ReachLocal. Our SEO clients who use ReachLocal and our preferred rep have their accounts placed on our dashboard so we can more easily monitor results. Again, tracking and measurability is the key to this recommendation. ReachLocal tracks both your traffic and incoming calls that are generated from their campaigns. It is a good fit for our traceable SEO program.
Now, your mileage may vary when it comes to SEO. Market conditions are a big factor and nothing can be promised in terms of results. No one has the search algorithms the engines use and there are plenty of effective ways to proceed. We tell clients to pick a strategy and commit to it. And, our theory is, if you are going to stick with something, make sure it is measurable so you can understand what is happening and how it works.
Nobody likes to look at SEO reports, call tracking reports, Google Analytics reports, etc. But, these are the lifeblood of your commitment to SEO success. Sometimes, though, a 30,000 foot view is all that is needed to know you are headed in the right direction. So, today, I am feeling pretty good about program-wide traffic being up 27%. For more on our Keyword SEO program, please email me at donald@dogstarmedia.com.
