Running an online business is no small feat. You’ve got products to manage, a website to maintain, and of course, the ever-important task of getting found by potential customers. That’s where SEO companies come into play. They promise to improve your search engine rankings and drive traffic to your website. But how do you know if they’re delivering on those promises? Enter Kissmetrics.
This article will guide you through the process of using Kissmetrics to evaluate your SEO company's performance. We’ll break down the key metrics to track, how to set them up in Kissmetrics, and what to do with the data once you have it. By the end, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to ensure your SEO investments are paying off.
Understanding Kissmetrics: The Basics
Before diving into the metrics, it’s worth understanding what Kissmetrics is all about. Think of it as a powerful analytics platform designed to give you insights into how users interact with your website. Unlike Google Analytics, which focuses more on pageviews and sessions, Kissmetrics is all about understanding user behavior over time.
With Kissmetrics, you can track individual user journeys, see how visitors convert into customers, and identify where they drop off in the sales funnel. This makes it particularly useful for evaluating the impact of your SEO efforts. By tracking specific actions and conversions, you can get a clearer picture of how your SEO company is contributing to your bottom line.
Setting Up Kissmetrics for SEO Evaluation
First things first, you’ll need to set up Kissmetrics on your website. This involves adding a tracking code to your pages, similar to how you’d set up Google Analytics. Once that’s done, you can start creating events to track specific user actions.
Here’s a quick checklist to get you started with setting up your Kissmetrics account:
- Sign up for a Kissmetrics account and install the tracking code on your site.
- Define the key actions you want to track, such as form submissions, product purchases, or newsletter sign-ups.
- Create events in Kissmetrics for each of these actions.
- Set up funnels to understand the steps users take before completing a desired action.
- Configure reports to visualize your data and gain insights.
Once you have Kissmetrics set up, you’ll be able to start collecting data and analyzing your SEO company’s performance.
Tracking Organic Traffic Growth
One of the primary reasons you hire an SEO company is to increase organic traffic to your website. Organic traffic refers to visitors who find your site through non-paid search engine results. Tracking this growth over time is crucial to understanding the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.
With Kissmetrics, you can set up tracking for organic traffic by using UTM parameters or by simply filtering your traffic sources. This allows you to see how many visitors are coming from search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo, and how this number changes over time.
Monitoring this metric helps you assess whether your SEO company is driving more visitors to your site. If you notice a steady increase in organic traffic, it’s a good sign that their efforts are paying off. On the other hand, if traffic remains stagnant, it might be time to have a conversation with your SEO provider.
Analyzing Conversion Rates
Driving traffic is only half the battle. The real question is whether that traffic is converting into customers. This is where conversion rate comes into play. Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
Using Kissmetrics, you can track conversion rates for different segments of traffic, including organic visitors. Set up events to capture when a user completes a conversion action and analyze how these rates change over time. This will give you a sense of whether your SEO company is not just bringing traffic, but the right kind of traffic—visitors who are interested in what you’re offering.
If you notice that conversion rates are low despite high traffic, it might indicate a mismatch between the keywords your SEO company is targeting and the actual content on your site. It’s a good idea to work closely with them to refine your strategy and ensure you’re attracting visitors who are ready to convert.
Evaluating Keyword Performance
Keywords are the backbone of any SEO strategy. They’re the search terms that users type into search engines to find your site. Evaluating how your targeted keywords are performing is essential to understanding the success of your SEO efforts.
With Kissmetrics, you can track which keywords are driving traffic to your site and how those visitors behave once they arrive. Set up reports to see which keywords have the highest conversion rates and which ones might need more attention.
- Identify top-performing keywords that bring in the most traffic.
- Analyze the conversion rates for each keyword to assess their effectiveness.
- Adjust your keyword strategy based on the performance data.
Understanding keyword performance will help you and your SEO company refine your strategy to focus on terms that drive both traffic and conversions. This ensures you’re maximizing the impact of your SEO efforts.
Monitoring Bounce Rates
Bounce rate is another important metric to keep an eye on. It’s the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate can indicate that visitors aren’t finding what they’re looking for, which could be a problem with your site’s content or user experience.
Kissmetrics allows you to track bounce rates for different traffic sources, including organic search. By analyzing bounce rates, you can determine whether the traffic your SEO company is driving is engaging with your site. If bounce rates are high, it might be time to revisit your site’s content and design to ensure it’s meeting visitors’ expectations.
Here’s a pro tip: Compare bounce rates for organic traffic with other sources, like paid or direct traffic. This comparison can reveal whether the issue is specific to your SEO efforts or part of a broader site-wide challenge.
Assessing User Engagement
Beyond bounce rates, user engagement is a valuable metric to measure. It encompasses various actions visitors take on your site, such as clicking on links, watching videos, or spending time reading your content. High engagement often correlates with higher conversion rates, making it a crucial metric to monitor.
Kissmetrics provides insights into user engagement by tracking specific events or actions. Set up events to capture key engagement actions, then analyze the data to see how engaged your organic traffic is. This will help you understand whether your SEO company is driving quality traffic that’s interested in your offerings.
For instance, if you notice that visitors from organic search spend a lot of time on certain pages, consider optimizing those pages to encourage conversions. This might involve adding clear calls to action or simplifying the checkout process.
Tracking ROI and Revenue
Ultimately, the goal of hiring an SEO company is to increase revenue. This means tracking ROI is essential. ROI is the ratio of profit earned to the amount spent on SEO services. It gives you a clear picture of whether your investment is yielding the desired financial results.
Using Kissmetrics, you can track revenue generated from organic traffic by setting up conversion events tied to monetary values. This allows you to see how much revenue your SEO efforts are bringing in and calculate your ROI.
- Set up conversion events that include revenue values.
- Analyze the revenue generated from organic traffic over time.
- Calculate your ROI to determine the profitability of your SEO investment.
If your ROI is positive and growing, it’s a sign that your SEO company is delivering value. If not, it might be time to reevaluate your strategy and make adjustments.
Communicating With Your SEO Company
Once you’ve gathered all this data, it’s important to communicate your findings with your SEO company. They should be a partner in your success, and sharing data can help them refine their strategy to better meet your needs.
Schedule regular check-ins to discuss your Kissmetrics reports and identify areas for improvement. This collaborative approach ensures that everyone is aligned on goals and working together to achieve them.
Remember, SEO is an ongoing process. It takes time to see results, and open communication with your SEO company will help you navigate the ebbs and flows of your online presence.
Final Thoughts
Evaluating your SEO company's performance with Kissmetrics doesn't have to be a mystery. By tracking key metrics like organic traffic growth, conversion rates, and ROI, you can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your SEO efforts. This empowers you to make informed decisions and optimize your strategy for better results.
If you're looking for an SEO partner that goes beyond just driving traffic, Pattern could be the right fit. We focus on creating programmatic landing pages and conversion-focused content that not only attract visitors but convert them into customers. We understand the importance of integrating SEO into your broader growth strategy, ensuring that every investment delivers real ROI. Let's make SEO a growth channel that drives sales and lowers your customer acquisition costs.