Best Way to Check Performance

[Dan01]

What is the best way to check the performance? When I started out it was about the money. Then it was about links and traffic. Neither is that important to me right now - and for the past several years - it is about SERPS.

I usually go to analytics and see what pages are getting the traffic. I check the keywords and then look it up in Google. Then I print that page and check it a week or month later. I'll print up a bunch of pages and just check them from time to time.

If you don't do something like this, there is no real way to tell how Panda affected you, right? Clicks don't tell you. Traffic doesn't tell you. $$$$ doesn't tell you. All of those seem to be the result of the SERPS, right?

What is your method of measuring how well your site is doing?

[Dan01]

The SERPS are dependent on how you are logged in though, so use the same browser with the same Google account each time.

Is there a better method?

[aristotle]

What is your method of measuring how well your site is doing?

Doesn't it depend on what your goal is? You indicated that achieving high rankings in Google is your main goal. My main goal is to provide truthful information about certain controversial social issues for which others provide false information. Some website owners are interested in earning money. Some may simply operate a website for enjoyment as a hobby. I'm not suggesting that one goal is better than another. I'm only pointing out that "how well your site is doing" depends on your goal.

[deadsea]

Maybe your site is different, but I get traffic on tens of thousands of search phrases every month. There is no way that I can print enough pages to get a representative sample.

We've tried exercises like "What keywords gained the most positions in the last year, and which lost the most? What are the patterns?" It hasn't been productive.

I tend to measure SEO in terms of qualified traffic to pages that can monetize. If the pages stop monetizing as well because of product changes, that isn't an SEO problem. If we start getting people coming in after doing searches unrelated to our business, that is an SEO problem. If we start getting search traffic to information pages rather than transaction pages, that is an SEO problem.

[Sgt_Kickaxe]

At the end of the day it comes down to how well you achieved your goal. If your goal is to make money did you make more today than yesterday? Did you do something to ensure you make more tomorrow than today?

The trick is to apply your resources (time, money etc) where you can get the greatest return on investment. Sometimes that's not always by doing something that will bring you money today or even next week.

Plant your seeds, tend to them well and almost any goal is achievable. It helps however to have planted good healthy seeds! (and to stay hungry for knowledge)

[Dan01]

I agree with both of you. Deadsea, I don't print a page for every SERP. I just do the top 10 SERPS that bring in the most traffic. The reason I do that, is because I want to see if my site is penalized for some reason. Over the years those SERPS have changed.

Sgt Kickaxe, I agree. There is very little we can do today to make a big difference tomorrow. But we can do a little every day to make a change for next year or month.

[Dan01]

Doesn't it depend on what your goal is?

Good point. Most of the topics have been about Panda here. If that is the case, you can't really tell what is happening until you scientifically study what is happening.

I think you make a good point about the goals. Providing good content should always be job 1.