Do you think you’re effectively measuring the impact of your SEO? If your answer is “Yes, I have Google Analytics,” then you may want to listen up. Measuring SEO growth accurately and meaningfully actually requires a set of tools, not just one. So, if you’re relying solely on Google Analytics to measure your automotive SEO, it’s likely time to reevaluate. Here’s why:
Data Silos = Blinders
Narrowing in on one metric or tool when it comes to measuring your SEO growth would be like only looking at your dealership’s sales for one vehicle; it doesn’t encompass all of the information you need in order to draw conclusions or make informed decisions. Sure, Google Analytics can tell you a lot about traffic acquisition and how users interact with your site, but that’s not enough to make determinations about your SEO strategy.
Think about it: if Google Analytics shows an uptick in organic traffic, that doesn’t necessarily mean your SEO strategy is working. Maybe you just put out a new commercial, and now people are searching your dealership’s name more. That traffic is going to count as organic and can’t be attributed to your SEO efforts. On the other side of things, a decrease in organic traffic doesn’t always mean your SEO strategy isn’t working; there’s much more to it than that.
When it comes to determining the impact your SEO efforts are having, there are so many factors to consider beyond the “organic traffic” bucket in Analytics. And this is just one example of how siloing your data can be like putting up blinders. To paint the whole picture, you’ll need to be looking at multiple data points in various places.
Painting the Whole Picture
Knowing where to look and what to look at when it comes to measuring SEO can be a challenge. There are so many metrics and tools out there, making determining what is or isn’t important nearly impossible. Since no tool does it all or paints the whole picture, you’ll need one tool from each of these three categories: a tool that shows you what happens before someone clicks on your site, a tool that shows you what happens after someone clicks on your site, and a tool that actively tracks how well your site ranks for keywords related to your dealership. This will give you great insight into the impact of your SEO strategy.
These are the three tools we suggest you use and how they give you the best view of your performance:
#1 – Google Search Console
The first tool you need, which shows you what happens before someone clicks on your site, is Google Search Console (GSC). In GSC, you can see the search terms that lead to impressions, a metric that accounts for users seeing a link to your site on the search engine results page (SERP). More importantly, you can see the pages and search terms that lead users to click on your site. This is helpful in understanding where you’re being seen and where that’s leading to clicks (or a lack thereof).
#2 – Google Analytics
Google Analytics, as we know, shows you the acquisition channel that led a user to your site, such as organic search. It also acts as the “post click” tool; it shows you how users interact with your site, the number of pages they visit, how long they stay on the site, and even whether or not their visit leads to a conversion. This can all be useful, especially when working on conversion rate optimization, but again, it doesn’t tell you everything you need to know.
When you see an increase in organic traffic or conversions in Google Analytics, you can use Google Search Console to see where exactly this organic traffic may be coming from. If impressions and clicks are up for searches with your dealership’s name in them, it’s likely this organic traffic is just coming from that new commercial you put out. But if it’s coming from terms like “Chevy Silverado” and “Chevy Silverado for sale,” this may be from your SEO and content marketing efforts, especially if you’ve recently worked on optimizing for those keywords.
#3 – Semrush
Speaking of keywords, the final tool you need is Semrush or another rank-tracking tool. If you’ve seen an increase in organic traffic in Google Analytics and an increase in clicks for one of your recent keyword focuses, the final place to look is keyword growth. Have your rankings improved for those “Chevy Silverado” and “Chevy Silverado for sale” keywords? Yes? Then this positive increase in organic traffic is likely due to your SEO efforts.
What all this goes to prove is that one tool can’t tell you everything about your SEO strategy’s successes and pitfalls. Without seeing an increase in clicks related to your SEO efforts or keyword ranking, you can’t determine that your strategy is the reason your organic traffic is up. And without seeing an increase in organic traffic, you can’t determine that your improved rankings are actually impacting your site’s performance. When you put the data together, though, you’re able to see the whole picture.
Learn More About Your Data With Wikimotive
Tools are essential to SEO. They help us measure success and pitfalls and find new opportunities for growth. But to truly make informed decisions, you need to examine Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Semrush together; these tools will provide a full picture of your data and the impact your efforts have made. Want to learn more?
Soon, you’ll have access to an entire Learning Library designed by the Wikimotive team to help dealers like you. From big-picture thinking to hands-on tutorials, we’ll have you covered…because there’s never a bad time to reinvest in your marketing success.