Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) could yield a higher volume – and better quality – of leads for your accounting firm. But how can you measure SEO performance to ensure enough eyes are see your content?

If your accounting firm is a veritable blog creation factory but seeing little return for its efforts this pocket-sized guide will help show you how to measure SEO performance and drive more traffic to your site.

1. Type your target keyphrase into Google

If you want a rule-of-thumb estimate use Google Search Console. 

Follow this process:

• Click on ‘Search Results’ in the leftmost column
• Tap on ‘+ New’ then search for your keyword
• Review ‘Average Position’ above the graph

If locating fully accurate data is your aim you’ll need to run a manual search – finely combing the Google SERPs until you find your match.

Ahrefs is another tool used for measuring SEO performance. It isn’t free but promises to pinpoint your precise position. Simply enter your keyword, URL and country to get your result.

2. First impressions count – especially for SEO

Ranking number one for your chosen keyphrase is probably top of your marketing agenda. Sorry to steal your thunder but achieving the much-coveted top spot in the SERPs isn’t a passport to print money.

Imagine your firm is competing for the phrase ‘corporate tax specialists in Bognor Regis.’ The competition will be low – due to the regional restrictions you’ve imposed and niche service offering. 

After a few weeks you’ll probably hit the top spot. But how many users are actively searching for this term? The answer is 10 as shown below.

Wouldn’t you rather rank in tenth position, or even on page two of Google, if it meant exposing your content to 1,000 prospective customers each month? Measuring SEO performance is as much about volume as it is positioning.

Keep an eye on Click Through Rates (CTR)

Presuming your posts gets attention you’ll need to track how many people clicked through versus the number of impressions. You might also want to track the average CTR of all website pages – so you can see the bigger picture.

If click throughs are low – whether in general or for specific pages – you’ll need to analyse the title tags and meta descriptions for clue, rather than relying purely on metrics to guide your decisions.

• Is your headline clear, relevant and attention grabbing enough to stand out from the crowd and stop idle scrollers in their tracks?
• Does the accompanying description solve a problem, tell a compelling story, or in some other way grab your attention?

If  the answer to these questions is no then your keyphrase isn’t the problem. The copy isn’t sharp enough; or it isn’t solving your customers’ problem. So review, tweak, and update your title and description and revisit in a few days time to check for improvements.

If measuring your SEO performance a struggle or too time consuming?

Then drop us a short note and we’ll ask one of our digital marketing experts to give you a call.