Michal shares how to think about data more critically and what metrics make sense to measure as your SEO KPIs. This was presented at Growth Festival 2021.

1. @michalpecanek
@michalpecanek
SEO Data Mythbusting
Are you analyzing the right data?

2. @michalpecanek
The paradox of choice
Good luck tracking 49 “KPIs”

3. @michalpecanek

4. @michalpecanek
Michal Pecánek
Content Marketer & SEO @ahrefs
● Debunking marketing myths on Ahrefs blog
● 6 years in SEO/marketing, from a specialist to CMO
● Used to interview and train marketers
● Bought a great link from a Googler's website once
● Good at cooking, sucks at playing guitar

5. @michalpecanek
Not SEO KPIs under any circumstances

6. @michalpecanek
Usable SEO KPIs (take with caution)

7. @michalpecanek
ROI
● Attribution is VERY tricky
● Shifts your focus onto short-term effectiveness
● But SEO also largely contributes to brand building

8. @michalpecanek
Organic sessions
● Only makes sense if your objective is traffic growth (AdSense revenue)
● More organic traffic ≠ more conversions
● More relevant organic traffic = more conversions

9. @michalpecanek

10. @michalpecanek
Branded vs. non-branded traffic

11. @michalpecanek

12. @michalpecanek

13. @michalpecanek
Backlinks

14. @michalpecanek
Backlinks as a possible KPI - criteria
● From highly relevant pages on authoritative websites
● Naturally added by the author to complement their content
● Linking to a desirable page (e.g. links to homepage are not that
valuable)
● Not a “nofollow” link
Bonus points for:
● The referring page is highly visible -> referral traffic to our page
● The referring page has its own great backlinks
● The referring page/domain don't link to many external sources
● The domain hasn't linked to you before

15. @michalpecanek
Use backlinks KPI if you do active link building

16. @michalpecanek
Great SEO KPIs

17. @michalpecanek
Conversions from organic traffic
● Choose the best conversion goals based on your business
○ e.g. in ecommerce, it makes more sense to focus on AOV than # orders
● Make sure your analytics data is collected and processed correctly
● Always take the results with a grain of salt
● Good thing is that you're comparing equally skewed data over time
● Compare only what's comparable (e.g. take into account seasonal swings)

18. @michalpecanek

19. @michalpecanek
Assisted conversions
● Helps dealing with flawed conversion attribution
○ The default “last non-direct click” attribution model is terrible
● Your website drives organic traffic throughout the whole customer journey
● Conversions > Multi-Channel Funnels > Assisted Conversions

20. @michalpecanek

21. @michalpecanek
Organic Visibility (Share of Voice)
● How visible your brand is in the market
● SOV = Brand visibility value / Total market visibility value
● Organic Visibility = % of clicks on your tracked keywords that land on your site
● Arguably the best SEO KPI

22. @michalpecanek

23. @michalpecanek
Takeaways?
● Have well-defined marketing and SEO objectives
● Less is more, strategy is deciding what not to do
● What you measure and analyze should have a clear purpose
● Have a Statistics 101 foundation
● Minimize how your data is skewed
● Ask yourself
○ How is your data collected? Could it be skewed in any way?
○ What does the data represent?
○ Is it tied to what you're trying to achieve?

24. @michalpecanek
Learn more on Ahrefs blog
Track These 3 SEO KPIs to Make Better Marketing Decisions
Ahrefs’ SEO Metrics: What They Mean and How to Use Them
Marketing Objectives: How to Set Them Right (with Examples)
What Is Share of Voice? How to Measure It Across Channels
13 Google Analytics Tracking Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
How to Use Google Analytics to Improve SEO Performance