Seven Ways to Measure your SEO Efforts

<h1>Seven Ways to Measure your SEO Efforts</h1>Author: <a title="Justin Palmer" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/justin-palmer/36868.htm">Justin Palmer</a> Now that Google seems to be artificially adjusting the PageRank of certain

sites, we have one more reason to ignore it as a useful SEO key performance

indicator. So what should we use to measure the success of our SEO projects?

Below, I've listed the 7 SEO KPI's that I track for my sites. 1. Unique keywords: By tracking the number of unique keywords your site is

found for, you'll see a global, birds eye view of how well your site is doing

with the long tails. Sure, you want to be found for the important, high volume

terms as well, but a healthy site will rank organically for a great diversity of

keywords. 2. Organic Visits Per Page: Every page on your site should target a few

keywords and draw in traffic for those terms. In other words, what percent of

your total unique pages are doing a good job of bringing traffic? If you have

1000 pages, and only 200 unique keyword visits, you've got some issues that need

to be addressed. 3. Conversion Rate Per Keyword: It's extremely important to know which

keywords outperform others. As a search marketer, your time is very limited.

Therefore, you must focus on the terms which return decent ROI. 4. Pages Indexed: The number of pages your site indexed has indexed by Google

and Yahoo can give you a rough metric of your site's crawl-ability. If you find

that the number of actual pages you have is much greater than the number of

indexed pages, you may have issues with navigation or duplicate content. To view

your indexed pages, simply use the "site:" command on Google or Yahoo (e.g.

site:<a href="http://www.yoursite.com)." target="_blank">www.yoursite.com).</a> 5. Yahoo Backlinks: Unlike Google, Yahoo actually shows you the approximate

number of back links pointing to your site by using the link: command. 6. Google Backlinks: Unfortunately, the Google link: command is worthless. In

order to see an approximate, although likely outdated count of your external

links, login to your Google Webmaster Central account. 7. SERP Rankings for High Volume Keywords: Because web users are becoming

more sophisticated and less predictable in their searching habits, I would

caution about worrying too much about high volume keywords. However, it's still

important to monitor these keyword positions. SEO software such as WebCEO or

WebPositionGold are great timesaver tools. There are many other on-site SEO metrics, such as keyword density, that might

be helpful if you are targeting Yahoo or MSN. However, with the dominance of

Google and the relative emphasis they place on on-page factors, I rarely

consider these. About the Author: Justin Palmer is the founder of Palmer Web Marketing, which offers 
<a href="http://www.palmerwebmarketing.com/search-engine-optimization-evalutations/SEO-evaluation.php"> 
Search engine marketing evaluations</a> and 
<a href="http://www.palmerwebmarketing.com/do-it-yourself-search-engine-optimization/diy-seo.php"> 
Do ItYourself SEO</a> plans. Justin is also the director of internet marketing 
for C28.com, which sells <a href="http://www.c28.com/bible-verse-t-shirts.asp"> 
Bible T-shirts and Scripture clothing</a>.Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/">ArticlesBase.com</a> - <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/seo-articles/seven-ways-to-measure-your-seo-efforts-250724.html" title="Seven Ways to Measure your SEO Efforts">Seven Ways to Measure your SEO Efforts</a>

Now that Google seems to be artificially adjusting the PageRank of certain
sites, we have one more reason to ignore it as a useful SEO key performance
indicator. So what should we use to measure the success of our SEO projects?
Below, I've listed the 7 SEO KPI's that I track for my sites. 1. Unique keywords: By tracking the number of unique keywords your site is
found for, you'll see a global, birds eye view of how well your site is doing
with the long tails. Sure, you want to be found for the important, high volume
terms as well, but a healthy site will rank organically for a great diversity of
keywords. 2. Organic Visits Per Page: Every page on your site should target a few
keywords and draw in traffic for those terms. In other words, what percent of
your total unique pages are doing a good job of bringing traffic? If you have
1000 pages, and only 200 unique keyword visits, you've got some issues that need
to be addressed. 3. Conversion Rate Per Keyword: It's extremely important to know which
keywords outperform others. As a search marketer, your time is very limited.
Therefore, you must focus on the terms which return decent ROI. 4. Pages Indexed: The number of pages your site indexed has indexed by Google
and Yahoo can give you a rough metric of your site's crawl-ability. If you find
that the number of actual pages you have is much greater than the number of
indexed pages, you may have issues with navigation or duplicate content. To view
your indexed pages, simply use the "site:" command on Google or Yahoo (e.g.
site:www.yoursite.com). 5. Yahoo Backlinks: Unlike Google, Yahoo actually shows you the approximate
number of back links pointing to your site by using the link: command. 6. Google Backlinks: Unfortunately, the Google link: command is worthless. In
order to see an approximate, although likely outdated count of your external
links, login to your Google Webmaster Central account. 7. SERP Rankings for High Volume Keywords: Because web users are becoming
more sophisticated and less predictable in their searching habits, I would
caution about worrying too much about high volume keywords. However, it's still
important to monitor these keyword positions. SEO software such as WebCEO or
WebPositionGold are great timesaver tools. There are many other on-site SEO metrics, such as keyword density, that might
be helpful if you are targeting Yahoo or MSN. However, with the dominance of
Google and the relative emphasis they place on on-page factors, I rarely
consider these.

Justin Palmer is the founder of Palmer Web Marketing, which offers

Search engine marketing evaluations and

Do ItYourself SEO plans. Justin is also the director of internet marketing
for C28.com, which sells
Bible T-shirts and Scripture clothing.

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