What’s In an EVG SEO Metrics Report?

It’s EVG’s philosophy that SEO work needs to be helpful, ethical, and clear. To that end, we strive to create analytics reports for clients tailored to their needs and focused on helping them achieve their goals. So, let’s examine what we include in our client SEO reports.

What is an SEO Metrics Report?

An SEO metrics report is an easy-to-understand report from EVG offering insight, monthly data, and analysis regarding the SEO performance of a client’s social media or website content. Each monthly report covers the following elements:

• Organic traffic data
• Competitor analysis
• Content gaps
• SERP
• Top pages in terms of performance

Of course, depending on your goals and the size and age of your website’s content, the report might include more. Each report is customized to the client’s needs and the specific data they find most important.

1. Organic Traffic

Organic traffic measures the number of users who used a search engine and clicked on a non-paid result (i.e. a link to a specific website page). Using a third-party tool such as Google Analytics or AHREFs, we document the organic traffic for the specified period and in comparison to a predetermined period such as year-to-date or month-over-month data. This gives us a way to measure how well search terms are driving traffic to the website or social media accounts.

In addition to reporting the traffic numbers, we believe it is just as important to document what phrases people use, and leads them to visit the client’s website. Once you know how people find your website or YouTube videos, you can begin to make it easier for them to find more content.

This part of the report also includes rankings data (how well you rank for your “key search terms” as well as overall site rankings on Google), but we treat rankings as a part of the bigger picture of organic traffic rather than as a standalone metric. Why? Because ranking for a search term doesn’t mean you’re getting qualified leads. Ranking well on a search page for a keyword that no one is using won’t ensure results.

For example: A 2014 blog I wrote about Imposter Syndrome ranks on page 1 of Google Search for the keyword phrase, “I have no idea what I’m doing at work.” While this particular article does bring traffic to the EVG website and our blog, it’s most likely people frustrated by life and not looking for marketing solutions. In other words, it’s traffic, but not qualified traffic. So simply ranking for a keyword doesn’t mean you’re getting qualified leads or conversions. That’s why we treat rankings as part of a bigger strategy; our goal is to rank well on page 1 for terms that bring in users who want to work with us.

2. Competitor Analysis

The second element of an SEO metrics report compares your site to a select group of competitors, ideally those that are the same size and in the same niche market. Sometimes, we see a client trying to compete with a much larger brand with a broader market. We find this leads to false comparisons, like apples to screwdrivers. The client is not in a position to publish the same amount of content, update their website or take other actions driving the performance of their SEO in the same way as a larger company with greater resources.

We compare your content to your peer group of competitors by examining images, videos, and other types of content. We compare the organic and paid search terms you and your competitors are using in order to be ranked as the best choice for users. Based on the analysis of the data, we identify “quick wins” and longer-term strategies to help you outpace competitors in your space.

3. Keyword Research

The third component of our metrics report is an evaluation of your use of search terms (keywords) in your content. We conduct research into what search terms are used most frequently in order to identify areas of interest your content isn’t addressing. For instance, for a dog training client, we might notice high demand for searches about crate training and the fact your website doesn’t address this. We share these results and make recommendations on search terms to be considered when you update current content or publish new content.

4. Top Pages

In our metrics report, we use analytics to determine your website’s top-performing pages in order to understand what’s working well. This analysis provides insight into which pages on the website are driving conversions and delivering ROI based on search. This information serves to identify which pages would benefit most from fresh content, improved optimization, or replacement.

Underperforming pages or those with a high number of user drop-offs (users leaving the site after visiting a specific page) are analyzed. EVG offers recommendations on how to address the lack of engagement. When we point out a problem, we follow it up with solutions.

Examples & Explanations

As part of our philosophy on reporting, we never report a metric or data without providing an explanation or example to help our clients understand it. So, rather than just documenting how much traffic your website got in May 2019, our report illustrates your traffic numbers in May 2019 compared to May 2018 (and other prior years), and the month before so you understand the traffic numbers in context. For seasonal sites like a Halloween costume site, traffic can vary significantly month-to-month, so year-by-year comparisons are essential in order to judge whether website traffic is improving.

Consider Other Geo Sources

One of our international hospitality clients asked EVG to provide a report for a European hotel. We were tasked with comparing online traffic to the hotel website from two separate countries. As we delved into the data, it became apparent they weren’t getting much traffic from country B, while they were actually getting a LOT of traffic from country C. They hadn’t considered that this might be the case, and the data changed the direction of our recommendations and their strategy.

While you might assume you know your audience, we double-check to be sure there isn’t a hidden audience being overlooked.

Once we deliver our SEO metrics report, what comes next? We’ll talk with you. We’ll ask about goals, and budget, we answer your questions, and we’ll work together to devise a plan to move forward with a smart content and marketing strategy. But in order to help you, we need you to contact us. It all begins with a single phone call. Let’s get started today!

Laura Lee – SEO Director & Account Manager