Get More Information
We respect your privacy - we promise no spam, your email address will never be shared, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
*Required Field
By Michael Murray, Fathom SEO's Vice President of Online Marketing
Search engine rankings can be deceptive.
You get a phrase in your mind and you check it out on Google or Bing and you're impressed with a #3 ranking.
Big deal.
If it drives traffic and converts, then you're on to something. In many cases, it's just a ranking. Maybe you got 18 visitors, or maybe just 8. Did the ranking really make a difference to your bottom line?
Ranking analysis is the key to knowing how to manage your expectations and your keyword roster. And in a real sense, ranking variables you consider should be an integral part of search engine optimization basics and performance.
Here is a list of some of the many ways ranking analysis supports your SEO efforts:
1. Know your business. Don't assume people search the way you do.
2. Pay attention to baseline rankings and any changes you make over time.
3. Make sure your website analytics are accurate and not co-mingled with paid search or internal searches.
4. You can boost rankings simply by making sure more pages are crawled by search engines (to support a keyword theme).
5. Be willing to give up chasing a ranking. Your website just can't support some keywords. Look at variations of the same root phrase.
6. Don't give up on a ranking just because traffic dips. Understand seasonality.
7. Scrutinize your conversion data. Make sure you know what keywords are actually triggering leads and sales.
8. Look at other factors when someone arrives on the website. Don't get too excited by visitors if the time on site and bounce rate metrics are underwhelming.
9. Watch out for page shifts. Sometimes a page that was ranking for a keyword will fall off while a different page takes the honors for a top ranking. Is it the right page for what you're selling?
10. Is the home page dominating the keyword rankings? Again, it's nice if it delivers traffic, but you're better off finding interior pages that can provide the information people really want.
