When I’m reviewing monthly SEO reports with clients, the first stat they want to see is how many visitors their site had the previous month. (That’s the main reason it’s the first piece of data in the report. I got tired of people flipping around looking for it before it was “time” to discuss it.) But there’s a lot more that goes into deciding whether that number is satisfactory. Here are some tips on analyzing your analytics to know If you’re heading in the right direction with the work on your website.
If your month-over-month number of visitors is up, that may seem like a good thing. And it very well may be. However, you need to take a deeper look.
- Did you have an influx of bad referral traffic?
- Was there a ton of traffic from places like Russia or India, where the visits were likely from bots?
- Were the queries that drove clicks on point or off base?
Remember, not all traffic is good traffic. You want visitors that are interested in buying your services or wares. Any visitor that doesn’t fit that bill is not a visitor you want. You’re better off having a lower number of qualified visitors than a high number of visitors that couldn’t care less about what you’re offering.
By the same token, if your month-over-month number of visitors is down, it’s not necessarily a reason to despair.
- Again, take a look at your traffic. Were your queries better this month than last? Was your bad referral traffic down? That means you ended up with more targeted traffic, and as mentioned previously, this is a good thing!
- Take a look at the seasonality of your business. Are you in a time that business would typically be down anyway? If your business is usually down during this month/season, chances are people aren’t searching for what you’re offering, either, so traffic would naturally be down without indicating an issue.
- If neither of these is the case, it’s time to panic. JUST KIDDING! But it does mean there’s some work to be done. And you’ll likely need some help to point you in the right direction. If you find yourself here, check out our previous posts on how to decide when to hire an SEO pro and how to choose an SEO pro for a little guidance. Think you’re ready to find out more about your site but you’re still not quite sure? Take a peek at what’s included in our SEO audits. Know you’re ready to pull the trigger? Get the audit process started by filling out our SEO Audit Request Form or click the button below to shoot us an email!