How To Measure SEO ROI The Easy Way11 min read

If you don’t measure it then you can’t manage it – there have been endless quotes relating to this statement.

In fact, one such piece of content can be found on the forbes.com website.

SEO is a complicated process, with results can take a while to arrive – assuming they actually do. With this in mind it is only too sensible to place some form of measurement against your activity.

First and foremost measuring ROI in SEO helps you to understand if you are getting a positive return.

Even if results are quite taking shape as you would expect, you are in a better position to make the necessary adjustments to your strategy. Ultimately leading to better results and a much needed higher ROI in the longer term.

Tracking your SEO ROI allows you peace of mind. To understand that it was actually a good idea to do SEO in the first place. Sometimes this might be required to provide evidence to other stakeholders of the benefit of carrying out SEO activities.

Aside from the reasons mentioned above. You can also start to see trackable metrics that demonstrate success. When you drill down on these it starts to become clearer as to why you are doing what you are doing.

Before jumping into the measurement of SEO ROI we should probably pause to understand what it actually means.

Put simply when referring to SEO ROI we are talking about the return on investment that is generated from your SEO efforts.

To calculate this you will want to ensure that you are set up to capture what revenue is generated by SEO. 

There is no better way to do this than by ultilisng Google Analytics. This will help you to understand how your traffic and indeed customers have arrived at your business.

The calculation would be to divide your net profit by the cost of your SEO (after deducting cost of SEO from net profit), and then multiply that by 100 to get the percentage.

For example:

• • Sales Generated: £15,000
  • SEO Cost: £1,300

Equates to: ((£15,000-£1,300)/£1,300)*100 = 1053%

It should be noted that ROI for SEO isn’t just about crunching some numbers. It is about understanding the value that SEO is bringing to your business.

Feel free to calculate your own numbers here – https://www.calculator.net/roi-calculator.html

Only when you build in the indirect benefits such as customer trust, improved online reputation along with increased brand awareness can you properly understand the core benefits of your SEO strategy.

By doing so you are in a better position to make informed decisions around your SEO strategy.

As you might expect there are several factors that can impact on your SEO ROI calculations.

These include; industry, competition and of course the overall effectiveness of your SEO strategy.

The reality is that businesses that operate in a more competitive niche are likely to find that they have a lower ROI when compared to other ‘easier’ niches.

Plus it goes without saying that a business who’s SEO isn’t quite delivering is going to negatively affect it’s own SEO ROI.

Other elements that have a bearing on your likely return on investment will include the quality of the website. 

A well structured, fast, easy to follow site will almost certainly help potential clients to take the required conversion action. However, a site that loads slowly and doesn’t instill confidence is going to detract from your desired outcome.

It is sensible to make sure that your website is ‘fit for purpose’ before you start spending money driving traffic its way.

When you start to track the search terms that you are ranking for you will see that some of the terms stand out.

These are what we would refer to as higher performing keywords. Additional focus in this area can help to further elevate your SEO campaign and deliver an even higher return on money spent.

Think about your audience’s intent. What they are looking for and how they want to achieve it.

Check to see if you are able to exploit some of the long tailed keywords. These won’t be used as much, but in most cases tend to provide a higher conversion opportunity.

Google and the other search engines like it when you post regular updates on your website. 

It sends a signal that there is something new to see. And, providing the content is of value it will help in your battle to reach the highest points in the search engines results pages (SERP’s).

Regular content isn’t just about new blog posts either. Think about other ways that you can engage with your audience. 

It might be that you have case-studies that are relevant to your potential audience. Or adding a new section to your website that showcases some of the work you have done.

However you go about it, there is much to be said for keeping your website updated

SEO doesn’t sit still. 

If it’s not Google that you need to keep up with then you certainly need to be aware of what your competition is doing.

Monitoring and adjusting strategies plays an integral role in the search for ranking success. Ultimately in making sure that you have a healthy ROI to show for your SEO efforts.

It can be a lot to take in, but staying up to date with the latest industry trends and implementing best practice are continual involvement that can only benefit your cause.

We go back to our earlier statement.

If you can’t measure it then you can’t manage it.

A healthy return on investment for your SEO efforts is achievable. But only if you take positive action.

Hopefully at this stage you are armed with sufficient information to make good choices, we wish you the very best of luck with your endeavors.

If it all seems a bit much, and who could blame you – then the team at Spark Digital are ready to help you gain a favourable ROI with our local SEO services.