Tracking KPIs, Keywords - Best Strategy

[Gregorich SEO]

I'm fairly new to SEO and need some advice on tracking my success.

I need to be able to track keywords (but be able to attribute their ranking changes to optimizations I've made). Wondering the best way to track that.

I'm also wondering what my normal weekly tracking should look like. Should I have a spreadsheet with all landing pages and their KPIs, and update it weekly?

Just wondering what strategies others are using because I think I can do better.

[goodroi]

Many years ago rank tracking was a relatively simple thing but now with personalized search results and increased ranking volatility it is not so simple to gain actionable data.

I tend to focus less on keyword rankings and more on traffic & landing pages. I pay attention to the queries in search console and look at trends. I also look at the traffic on subdirectory level to gain an wider perspective. I also pay attention to usage signals, backlinks, social traction, conversions, and other signals. These signals have an impact (direct or indirect) on Google & overall online success.

Always remember that Google is personalizing search results. Plus they are constantly rolling out ranking formula changes. Even if you make a change to the page it doesn't mean it is the reason for any Google traffic change. Some pages that don't regularly change content & have few backlinks might be crawled by Google very infrequently. It's possible Google hasn't noticed a change on your page but changed their rnaking formula. There are so many moving parts to this situation, it is not a simple question to answer.

[Gregorich SEO]

Damn, goodroi. Thank you for that insight. I'll take this to heart.

If you have, say, 300 landing pages, do you focus mostly on a select few (the ones who can bring in the most traffic or conversions) or do you analyze every single page? I tend to focus on the landing pages that either rank or can potentially rank for keywords with either high monthly search volume or strong buying intent.

Thanks again!

[goodroi]

I rarely analyze every page because it rarely gives enough benefit to look at every page. I focus more on the pages that are the top traffic/sales generators and the pages that have potential to become a top generator.

To be successful you need to worry about so many different things like content, backlinks, social, usability, retention, monetization, conversions, and so much more. We all have limited time & budget so we each need to decide what is worth effort. Some times that means deciding what is good enough and not worrying about being perfect. Make sure you focus on the K in KPI.

[Rndm]

I will add on to what goodroi said. I focus on landing pages that generate the most conversions. I always compare them year over year and month over month. I want to see if they changed. If they do change I try to understand why that may have happened. It generally comes down to was it me, Google, or my competition.

I am not a fan of rank tracking for all of the reason that Goodroi mentioned and more. Without being able to attribute a keyword to a visit rank tracking is very close to be worthless to me.