How do you gauge effectiveness of you SEO

[temi]

Quite a lot of SEO analyse their log files and do detailed chart or spider visits etc to gauge the effectiveness of their SEO efforts. I think that is really too time consuming, I just have a quick look at how a specific keyword is doing in search engine or a quick look at my Webalizer stats.

How do you gauge the effectiveness of your SEO efforts in a non time consuming way?

 

[OldWelshGuy]

I check the main stats which are, referral from search. daily visits, page views, earnings.

No need to check anything else really. I look at the referrals and you can instantly see when your rankings improve as you get traffic for those phrases.

 

[rakib]

Same to me like OLDWELSHGUY

 

[Bagi Zoltán]

Google Analytics provide me all the desired services to gauge the improvement. Beside the source conversion the content performance is the most important scale for me.

 

[thud]

You check your SEO success first and foremost by RANKINGS not stats. I produce monthly reports on the agreed collection of keywords across the SE's important to the client. I dont do this manually as you say its time consuming. Run an automated report, that you set up once

 

[temi]

Thud, what script do you use for this?
Thanks

 

[thud]

web ceo

Cheers
Steve

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Sorry thud we will have to agree to disagree here. You are talking about the effect of search engine positioning rather than optimisation. Again we will have to agree what was agreed at the outset.

YOU might tell the customer you are going to get them to number 1 for x phrase etc, but I would tell them that I intend to increase sales and conversions with the traffic they already have, but ALSO by tracking current rankings.

Current rankings are not a true gauge of the effectiveness of your work. EG I worked with an ecommerce store who were not doing so good. I checked the stats, and they were getting masses of abandoned shopping carts. Turns out their shipping costs were not being calculated properly on the fly. We cured this, and IMMEDIATELY with no increase in rankings, sales went up 4 fold!

So for this reason alone, I say we have to agree to disagree.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Added, I also run web CEO reports, but theya re purely for the clients not for me to gauge effectiveness of my work.