SEO is a topic that does not need much introduction because anybody who is in marketing and is working with a website would know this. However, there are many layers to SEO that even veterans can find it challenging. For example, Google has complex SEO rules that can be difficult to keep up with. But doing so is critical because, as cited by HubSpot, Google is responsible for driving 96% of mobile search traffic to a website. The tech giant is also responsible for a large bulk of organic traffic.
That is where SEO tools come in. Their primary objective is to give you insights that can assist you in improving your search ranking on search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. There are different technologies that enable this such as website analytics powered by machine learning and business intelligence that leverages different platforms. There are also technologies that assist SEO teams themselves that simplify their work such as project management software. To learn more about these, read on below.
Website analytics
Web analytics is the gathering, analysis, and reporting of data that pertains to a website. Its goal is to show how your website is performing against your set objectives. This way, you can determine whether your efforts are successful or if you need to step up your endeavors. And according to Usability.gov, you have to start by setting your major goals, objectives to help you achieve those goals, calls-to-action, and targets.
But how exactly can website analytics simplify SEO? For one, it can help you understand your customers better. You will not have to make guesses as to what they what to see on your website because you can tell from the data and how they interact with various content and elements that they want to read and see.
Since the most powerful SEO software have machine learning capabilities embedded in their web analytics functions, it can also provide deeper insights from your data that can assist you in focusing your attention on users that have high revenue potential or those who are most ready to convert.
Moreover, web analytics show you how users got to your site, especially when it comes to keywords. Though Google has made it difficult to extract keyword search information, such tools can still give an overview of the terms that brought you visitors so you can maximize them. On top of that, it can tell you whether your guest blog posts are giving you the traffic you expect.
Business intelligence
Business intelligence, or descriptive analytics, refers to software and services that play a part in the formation of actionable insights that enable key individuals and leaders of an organization to make informed and strategic decisions. Most BI platforms available present its findings via charts, graphs, heat maps, dashboards, and more.
BI is more than just reporting though and its use goes beyond performance metrics. You can use it to identify emerging trends and understand how they came to be. This can be beneficial to those in the field of SEO as they would not have to expend much energy in searching for the information they require in their decision-making process.
Even the best SEO tools are now incorporating BI to transform data because they benefit each other. For example, an SEO solution can tell which keywords are driving traffic to your site. To demonstrate, your website publishes statistics and you find that CMS statistics broaden your audience.
With business intelligence, you can figure out which terms would bring you more visits tomorrow. Additionally, it can find performance gaps you were not aware of previously for you to mitigate them.
Project management software
Though it is not something you would find in cheap SEO tools or even in the high-brow ones, project management software is essential in simplifying SEO management. Before we delve into its importance in this field further, let us discuss what a project management solution is.
First off, project management is the practice of planning, executing, and overseeing the work of a group of people that are occupied with meeting certain goals. Along the way, they would have to reach KPIs and do so at the right times. And a project management platform helps them achieve those. Team leaders are the ones who use this technology to allocate resources, assign tasks, and monitor progress and performance. On top of that, they use this tool to communicate with their team members as well as with other stakeholders.
In the field of SEO, managers can employ this by taking a look at the solutions available to them that help them in their jobs. They can also take stock of their budget, particularly SEO tools cost so that they are able to utilize them in the best way. The same goes for the people available to work on tasks, too.
With the help of this piece of technology, teams can better work towards achieving optimum SEO.
Keeping up with SEO trends
SEO trends are always changing. When you do a search, you will find articles that tell you which ones to look out for this year. But optimizing your website for search engines is a constant endeavor. After all, Google does not sit still when it comes to their search algorithms–they modify them more than 500 times each year. With the right set of tools, though, these are something that any SEO team can keep up with to ensure the success of the organization’s marketing efforts.