It can be easy to get lost within the vast variety of data types and SEO metrics, especially if you’re using a tool that is as confusing as Google Analytics.
So, to help you figure out which metrics you should be paying the most attention to, I have prepared a short list as well as a few instructions on how to find those metrics in GA.
As keyword rankings is one of them, be sure to visit the article just released by Linkio for a list of the best keyword rank tracking tools.
Organic Traffic
Of course, I had to start off this list with organic traffic. It is one of the main indicators of whether your SEO efforts are actually working and is a metric you will be coming back to all of the time.
Now, monitoring it is actually pretty easy. All you need to do is click on “Add Segment” in your default overview and choose “Organic Traffic” in the following menu.
Then, it will be displayed to you as a percentage of all your website’s traffic.
Organic Conversions
Now, what good are visits that don’t end up as a sale, sign-up, interaction or any other type of conversion? You could have hundreds of thousands of unique visitors per month and still struggle to sell any of your products or services.
So, it is also important to keep track of your organic conversions as it allows you to measure the quality of the traffic you’re getting.
You will need to select the conversion events you wish to monitor, which can be purchases, sign-ups, form submissions, and even phone calls.
Monitoring them is rather straightforward too, you just need to navigate to Conversions > Goal Overview.
Backlinks and Referring Domains
Backlinks are actually a huge ranking factor and having a solid backlink profile with lots of domains referring to your site will make an immense impact on your SEO.
And even though more backlinks does not mean instant SEO boosts (there are quite a few factors that come into play), by getting more strong links from respected resources, you will see the benefits sooner rather than later. OutreachMama conducted a study about implementing a good SEO strategy on your website in order to gain more online presence and visibility.
Now, to monitor your backlinks you will actually need a separate tool, such as Ahrefs. There are also lots of free tools, such as the Google Search Console, but keep in mind that the data you get from it is going to be less accurate.
Page Speed
If your site takes even a few seconds too long to load, a lot of people are going to click off it and go to your competitors without even giving you a chance to present your content.
And the more people click off your page, the more potential sales you’re missing out on, and they add up with time. Besides that, page speed is also a ranking factor in its own right.
You can use PageSpeed Insights to get a report on exactly how quickly your pages load along with some tips on how to speed them up a bit.
Mobile Traffic
It is no secret that most people use their mobile devices to search the web. Additionally, Google favors mobile-friendly websites over those which are not optimized properly.
So, it is extremely important to keep track of your mobile traffic and monitor how well your site ranks on handheld devices.
To track your mobile traffic, go to Audience > Mobile > Overview in GA. There you will find it stacked against traffic coming from desktops.
In Conclusion
There are countless metrics to keep track of, but to keep this short and rather beginner-friendly, I have included only the ones that are the most important to monitor (in my opinion).
I hope you found this article helpful, and good luck with your SEO campaign!
