Key performance indicators, otherwise known as KPIs, are the pulse of any business. Without KPIs, it is difficult for businesses to have an accurate measurement of what is working and what isn't. But how do you measure KPIs? Here are several useful tools for gauging the effectiveness of your various strategies.
As a full time SEO you often come across SEO tools that promise to make your life easier, like Market Samurai. It comes standard with tools for keyword research tool, ranking, and competitive analysis: the professional SEO’s toolbox of sorts. As soon as you open Market Samurai you’ll be asked to either Create A New Project or Open a Recent Project. A project consists of your keywords, research, competitive analysis and domain information.
Seasoned craftsmen worth a darn have a workshop of tools that help them excel at what they do best. Painters have brushes, carpenters have hammers, and mimes have invisible boxes. SEO practitioners are no difference. While invisible boxes may be scarce, Volacci uses many helpful tools in our SEO workshop to help our clients get results with their SEO campaigns. You may or may not use the same tools. Heck, you may have better tools than are included in this post. If you do, please let me know about it in a comment. Whether you are a seasoned webmaster, an SEO practitioner, or business owner who just needs to expand their workshop of tools, please join me for 7 SEO tools of the trade.
In the television and newspaper industry, there is a standard format. For television, you know you will be getting a thirty-minute or an hour-long program, and :30 commercials. With newspapers, you know what stories are on the front page, above the fold. But as more businesses migrate to the InterWeb, lucrative websites are being built to fit the most technologically- functional formats. The problem is, it is hard to predict what type of browser size your visitor will be viewing your website with. That makes it hard to determine what on your homepage will be seen “above the fold” and what is scroll-worthy. Computers come with different size monitors and browsers will not always be full screen, not to mention that some folks will have tool bars taking up more precious space. If your call to action statements and ‘click to buy’ buttons are too far down the page, many visitors may not scroll down and see it.
When it comes to web browsers, Firefox is preferred by many here at Volacci. One of the many reasons why the fiery “vulpes” dances liberally across our computer screen everyday is its useful plugins for SEO. From the most basic additions to advanced SEO insight, these plugins will assist anyone who wants more from their browser than bookmarks.
You may know that SEO drives traffic, produces quality ROI, and increases conversion rates, but not everyone in your organization sees and appreciates the value that search engine optimization can bring to the table. When the skeptics sit in the window offices and spend lots of time making important decisions, it may prove difficult to convert them into SEO fans. Sometimes it’s like trying to convince your grandmother to use Google instead of the ten pound, 2000 page phonebook to find the closest light bulb shop. (yes they exist, and Austin has one) No matter your digital immigration status, there are proven tactics to turn even the most stubborn of skeptics into an SEO fanatic.
Before I begin, please note: There is no SEO Chia Pet solution. These five tactics don’t work overnight, nor do they contain any pixie-dust qualities as seen on the Disney channel. Simply put, this is not a quick process. Most companies are like large ships maneuvering carefully through the icy waters of today’s globally-crowded markets. It takes time to turn or redirect a ship, and investing in SEO to improve natural search traffic and revenue is no different. However, these tactics can be effective and pay off in the long run. Here are five tactics that can prove to the skeptics that natural search has value for the company.
Tactic #1: Run a sample campaign
Select a few pages on the website to optimize with a few of SEO’s best practices. Most likely, the changes you will need to make will be in the page’s source coding. Choose a highly-competitive keyword to target for each page. Make sure the keywords are peppered throughout the pages and include the keyword in the page titles. Create an appropriate meta description and organize the inbound and outbound links. Run the campaign for one month while constantly monitoring rank, conversions, and revenue. You may find higher rankings for the pages, along with more traffic, higher revenue and some ROI that those skeptics can dip their chips in. For more tactics, please read on.
For those of you that enjoy using Google Webmaster Tools, you'll be delighted to know that Google is kicking it up a notch! This time around, you'll find new and improved ways to maintain your site's SEO. Here are just a few previews of what you can expect:
1. Perhaps my favorite of the improvements... Now you can manage your sitelinks (the sublistings that appear after your #1 search listing) . You can easily block unwanted sitelinks under the "Links" section of the tools page.
This is the ultimate in searching. This tool allows you to refine results based on whether your search is a question, date related, if you want blog/non-blog results, files only and many other options. Try searching the Google (Dmoz) directory - results are complete with thumbnails of the various sites. Find Forward also includes a nice meta-search feature. Check it out here.
Want to find out how many back links you have to your website? Check out this free tool that will show you a graph of back links over time. A great tool for someone interested in the SEO of their website!
Want to find out what position your website has for a certain keyword? Check out Google Pos, an easy way to discover the answer!
