We long ago established that search engine optimization, better known as SEO, is an important component of search engine marketing and a viable inclusion for any business’s internet marketing strategy. You’ve heard the statistics. SEO is considered the most effective lead generation tactic. It’s called “very effective” by 34% of marketers. Search engine use and email are the top two internet activities. Nearly 20% of all clicks go to the first organic search result. It’s old news. Here, we’ll look at some more recent issues in the SEO world that are currently effecting internet marketing professionals and the 88% of small business owners who serve as their own marketing experts. Today’s topic? Keyword not provided.
Technically, it’s been two years since organic keyword data started leaving our SEO reports. Today more than 75% of keyword data is not provided, and it could be gone entirely very soon. The point here isn’t to muse about why Google has deigned to take away some of our most important information. Instead, it’s to determine how we can adjust. Let’s look at some other things to consider in our SEO reporting.
- All organic traffic. Looking at all organic traffic is the best indicator of overall organic search presence. If you’re building good content and getting involved in RCS, there is no reason that people shouldn’t be directly searching for your brand.
- Traffic to targeted landing pages. There are probably sets of keywords mapped to certain landing pages on your site. Get an idea of how well your work is affecting the site by segmenting those pages in your SEO reports.
- Monitor rankings. These tools aren’t 100% accurate, but they will give you a little insight into what you can expect.
- Utilize SEO Webmaster Tools Data. Again, it isn’t as accurate as actual traffic, but it will give some insight. Check weekly or monthly so that you can spot increases in impressions for keywords and landing pages over the last 90 days and correlate them to actual visits to those landing pages.
- Referral traffic. If you’re doing RCS and getting links on relevant sites, you’re probably getting a fair amount of referral traffic. Record the links you build and use RegEx to pull up those referral sources.
SEO reporting hasn’t become impossible, but marketers are having to find ways to be more creative, thanks to keyword not provided. Don’t let the lack of information frustrate you. There are still plenty of ways to track your results. Learn more at this link.