Presented on June 12, 2014 at SMX Advanced 2014 in Seattle, WA.

1. @KerryDean
SEO Success Metrics of the Future!

2. @KerryDean
A BRIEF INTRODUCTION
“Mama said not to be givin’ presentations to strangers.”

3. @KerryDean
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
“I’m Kerry. Kerry Dean. Well, now we ain’t strangers any more.”

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I LOVE THIS STUFF

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RELEVANT

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NOW LET’S TALK SEO SUCCESS METRICS

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IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND, THE FUTURE….

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WE HAVE TO GO BACK, KATE!

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IN THE BEGINNING…

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THERE WERE “HITS”

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AND RANKINGS.

12. @KerryDean
Today, digital marketers tend to focus on these primary
success metrics:
1. Organic Visits (Sessions, New Visits, New Visitors)
2. Organic Revenue
3. Keyword Rankings
WE’VE COME A LONG WAY!

13. @KerryDean
4. Transactions (Orders)
5. Quantity (Units)
6. Average Order Value
7. Conversion Rate
8. Revenue Per Visitor
9. Average Cart Size
10. Revenue per Unit Sold
SECONDAY ECOMMERCE KPI’s

14. @KerryDean
11. Bounce Rate
12. Adjusted Bounce Rate
13. Time on Site
14. Dwell Time
15. Return Frequency
16. Scrolling
17. Pages per Session/Visit
18. Events: Form Submissions, Video Plays, etc…
19. Social: Likes/Shares/+’s/Tweets/etc…
ENGAGEMENT KPI’s

15. @KerryDean
20. Total # of Keywords Driving Organic Traffic
21. Total # of Keywords Driving Organic Revenue
22. Total # of URLs Driving Organic Traffic
23. Total # of URLs Driving Organic Revenue
24. Total # of Search Engines Driving Organic Visits
25. Total # of Search Engines Driving Organic revenue
AND DON’T FORGET THESE AWESOME SEO KPI’s!

16. @KerryDean
20. Total # of Keywords Driving Organic Traffic
21. Total # of Keywords Driving Organic Revenue
22. Total # of URLs Driving Organic Traffic
23. Total # of URLs Driving Organic Revenue
24. Total # of Search Engines Driving Organic Visits
25. Total # of Search Engines Driving Organic revenue
AND DON’T FORGET THESE AWESOME SEO KPI’s!
NOT PROVIDED?! THANKS A LOT, BIN LADEN.

17. @KerryDean
I NEED ALL THOSE KPI’S SEGMENTED BY:
• Device Type
o Desktop
o Mobile Phone
o Tablet
o “Phablet”
• Oh, and also by:
o Operating System
o Screen Resolution
o Browser
OH…AND ALSO…
Blade… Laser…. and Blaser.

18. @KerryDean
25 KPI’S
x 3 DEVICE TYPES
x 3 OTHER DIMENSIONs
x SOME OTHER DIMENSIONS
= A LOT OF REPORTS!
HOW MANY KPI’S IS THAT? LET’S DO THE MATH.
“Napoleon, like anyone
can even know that.”

19. @KerryDean
26. # OF PAGES INDEXED
27. CTR DATA FROM WMT
28. # OF NEW LINKS & HISTORICAL LINKS
29. # OF LIKES & FOLLOWERS FOR SOCIAL PROFILES
30. CAN WE BUCKET THAT DATA BY PAGE TYPE?
31. … BY CATEGORY?
32. … BY SUBCATEGORY?
33. … BY SUBDOMAIN?
34. CAN I SEE THAT FOR EACH PERSONA GROUP?
AHHHHHHHHH!
ONE LAST THING… I PROMISE?

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#SMALLDATA
LET’S GET THIS TRENDING

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“Information is powerful.
But it is how we use it that
will define us.” - @Avinash

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• DETERMINE WHICH KPI’s MATTER TO YOUR CLIENT.
• DETERMINE WHICH KPI’s ACCURATELY MEASURE THE
SUCCESS/FAILURE OF YOUR SEO CAMPAIGN.
• DETERMINE WHICH KPI’s ARE ACTIONABLE.
THE GOALS

23. @KerryDean
WE NEED THE DATA IN ORDER TO TELL THE STORY.
HOWEVER…
PEOPLE WANT THE STORY. NOT THE DATA.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

24. @KerryDean
SEMRush

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+13 more: CH,DK,FI,HK,IE,IL,MX,NL,NO,PL,SE,SG,TR

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SEMRush  Organic Research  Positions

27. @KerryDean

28. @KerryDean
You can download this data by month
going all the way back to Jan-2012.
DO IT!

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Once you have the data, there is only
one thing left to do…
PIVOT
TABLE!

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First, add a few new columns.

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What can you do with this data?

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1. Ranking Trends for Keywords (Position Groups)

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2. # of Keywords Ranking for a Set of Keywords

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3. # of Keywords Ranking for All URLs

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3. (CONT…) # of Keywords Ranking for All URLs

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4. Keyword Tiers (Y/Y Comparisons)

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5. Trended Keyword Tiers

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6. Plot URL Ranking Data Over Actual Visits Data

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1. Segment groups of URLs by:
o Product
o Category
o Sub-Cats
o Sub-Domains
2. Filter each group by:
o Brand vs Non-Brand
o Search Volume Tiers
The SEMRush Data Allows You To:

40. @KerryDean
Channel Attribution: Assisted Conversion Data

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ASSISTED CONVERSIONS

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MIND = BLOWN
This is a data goldmine for marketers. More info here.

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IN THE YEAR 2000…
Organic Search KPI’s will help tell the overall story.

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Looking Deeper Into The Present

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First, Let’s Talk About:

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THESE LISTS ARE GOLD, JERRY! GOLD!

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Link Velocity
Backlink growth is consistently positive.

48. @KerryDean
Rankings
Keyword exposure doubled in last 12 months.

49. @KerryDean
Buzzfeed create content that appeals to every
type of social sharer. We can’t resist reading their
content. We can’t resist sharing their content.
Buzzfeed & Human Psychology

50. @KerryDean
1. Create content that is irresistible.
(read: powerful, convincing, tempting)
2. Make it long enough that *Google* will
notice people staying on your site forever.
What We Can Learn from Buzzfeed
“Nobody reads something
because it is long. They read
despite it being long.”
- Ben Smith
Buzzfeed
Editor in Chief

51. @KerryDean
• Satisfaction KPI’s
1. Time on Site
2. Time on Page
3. Dwell Time
4. Adjusted Bounce Rate
5. Site Speed (overall and page level)
• Popularity KPI’s
6. External Links (Backlinks, “Social Echo”)
7. Social Shares (Likes, Tweets, +’s, Pins, etc…)
ENGAGEMENT / INTERACTION METRICS

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Proving It With Data
Correlating Engagement & Rankings

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One Interesting Correlation
There is a correlation
between Average Time On
Site and Ranking Position.

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Another Interesting Correlation
No correlation between
Bounce Rate and
Ranking Position.

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OR IS THERE!???
*Some* sites with lower bounce rates
also tend to have better rankings.

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Starting the Conversation
We have reached a point in SEO where we need to start the
conversation about building better websites.
Use the two previous graphs to get the conversation started:
1. Comparing Average Time on Site to Ranking Positions
2. Comparing Bounce Rates to Ranking Positions

57. @KerryDean
Looking Into The Future

58. @KerryDean
Let’s Talk About Apps

59. @KerryDean
Google is Now Sending Searches to Apps
“Today, we’re expanding it to work for
English content worldwide. And we’re
including 24 more apps…
– Google Search Blog (Apr. 3, 2014)

60. @KerryDean
Bing is Doing It To!

61. @KerryDean
The Path for Organic Searchers is Changing
INITIAL SEARCH
OR
WEBSITE
VISIT
APP
VISIT

62. @KerryDean
You may notice a drop in organic traffic to your website as Google and Bing
begin to send more organic search to your app instead.
If You Have An App…
App
Launches

63. @KerryDean
Be Sure To Get Your App Indexed!

64. @KerryDean
#SEAPPTIMIZATION
GET READY FOR THIS

65. @KerryDean
Typical App Engagement Metrics
If organic search begins to drive searchers to your app, you will need to track
their behavior in the app.
1. Users
2. Session Length
3. Session Interval
4. Time in App
5. Acquisition
6. Screen Flow
7. Retention
8. Lifetime Value
9. …and more!
Get ready for App KPI’s. It’s going to get fun.

66. @KerryDean
THE END