To fully comprehend the impact of content marketing and to gauge its success, brands need to identify key metrics, track them and link them to marketing and business objectives. Here are four SEO-centric metrics that you should consider running the rule over in 2019.
Mobile rankings
Google continues to lean heavily into content optimised for smartphones, so brands must make every effort to embrace mobile readiness and update web copy, articles and blogs accordingly. You should also keep track of your mobile rankings as Google launched a mobile-first index last year.
To check your performance in SERPs, navigate to the Google Search Console. Here, you will be able to see device-specific ranking positions and other useful stats such as total impressions and clicks. You should try to gain a deeper understanding of how your content is performing across various devices. You will then be able to make positive changes to boost visibility.
Organic search traffic
Publishing high-quality editorials and infographics is an excellent way to improve organic search traffic, which is arguably more important than overall ranking. You need your content to convert in some way, and organic search on Google and Bing will provide a priceless snapshot of whether articles are really moving the needle.
Search traffic should be tracked over time and combined with search query data. This will give your creative team a solid foundation for making decisions and informing strategies. To access organic search traffic, use Bing Webmaster Tools, Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
Organic conversion rate
High content consumption is always a positive, but you also need to keep an eye on conversions and what users are doing when they arrive on your website. Are they completing a purchase of a product or services (hard conversion) or signing up for an email newsletter or offer (soft conversion)?
Page speed
Google recently stated that excellent technical prowess is not enough if there is no great content to back it up, but you need to make sure that you have all your ducks in a row in terms of providing an excellent user experience. Google rewards webmasters who can deliver fast page speeds with a better ranking. Just remember to make sure that your content is relevant and up to date.
