Look beyond the value of the click

Antonella says: "We need to look beyond the value of the clicks for our keywords in position one for organic - because we all know our job goes well beyond this."

Why is measuring clicks not enough?

"In the past few years, we've seen Google give more and more space to paid features, and all sorts of other features in the SERPs. Even if you're position one, it probably means your click-through rate will be much lower than it used to be. This means it's very important that you talk about the other work that you do that might not be visible."

Is just seeing your brand on SERP providing SEO value in itself? Is it more important to focus on user experience on-site than measuring clicks?

"No. Clicks are still the number one metric we should always be looking at. However, beyond that, there are many other sorts of KPIs and factors that we can consider when we're asked about SEO performance."

What are the top KPIs to look at?

"It depends on the work you do. For instance, site speed and page speed are something that we've been talking about for a very long time. This is especially the case in the past couple of years because of the Core Web Vitals update, and we've finally got the development budget to make things happen and see the improvements we've been wanting for years.

If we said the improvements that we're measuring are only clicks from ranking improvements, it would be a disservice to ourselves. We know that by improving speed, we increase conversion rates, and maybe decrease bounce rates - not only in SEO, but across all the other channels as well."

Is it negative if someone visits a web page, and then goes back to the SERP without clicking through to another page on the site?

"It depends. If they take the action you want to take, then it's not negative. If they don't, and are not satisfied with the results they're getting, you're just losing somebody that's landed on your page - they're not converted."

How do you differentiate between different clicks and different audiences? Some clicks will be fairly early in the funnel, and some are going to be later. Someone visiting for the first time and seeing your site for 20 seconds could be very valuable for the future, how do you measure the value of that?

"You might be looking at different sorts of attribution models. There is definitely value in somebody being exposed to your website, even if they do not take action straight away. Using a different attribution model that is not based on last-click might help you measure this."

Do you have a preferred attribution model, or do you try and understand your client's business and agree on a model based on their metrics?

"The best approach is understanding what the client is trying to achieve, and how are you going to report on that. If you've got a data science team, you might be able to develop an attribution model catered specifically for that client. There are many different ways you can do this."

What if you have a client who is only interested in last-click? How do you talk about the value of early-stage traffic that may not be ready to convert yet?

"Again, you can introduce other metrics. If last-click is all they want to hear about, that's what you're going to report on. You can try to target longer-tail keywords, for instance, that might bring you further down the funnel - so you're looking at that last click."

Are you seeing a trend towards focusing on longer-tail, bottom-of-funnel keyword phrases rather than more competitive high-volume keywords that are hard to rank for?

"Yes, and potentially they're very valuable. I think businesses are starting to do this more. Again, because of the changes in the SERPs, ranking in position three or four might end up giving you very few clicks anyway. Targeting keywords with more conversion-lead intent can definitely help you."

How do you help someone who isn't a technical marketer to understand things like click-through-rate?

"When you are doing trainings with clients, you need to make sure you talk their language. For instance, if you're talking to developers, and you tell them that increasing speed will improve conversion rates, they'll be very keen to listen if they know it will create X more revenue for the business. This goes down very well, and they also feel part of this larger project.

It all depends on who you're talking to, and what kinds of metrics and measurements they're looking at on a daily basis. You need to work out how SEO is going to help them."

What does success look like when you take a client's focus away from clicks to other metrics? What metrics should be the focus of a modern, progressive SEO agency report?

"In Data Studio, for instance, you can build dashboards specifically for the projects you're working on for a quarter. If we focus on speed again, you can overlay your improvements on base speed with conversion rates, and bounce rates. You could even look CPCs for your PPC campaigns.

Think about the value you're bringing to their business beyond rankings. Being in position one is obviously important - and you still need to monitor keyword rankings and the number of keywords you rank for - but we need to understand that the role of SEO is much wider than just looking at the keywords. We are agents for change in the businesses we work for - whether we are in-house or external consultants."

How can SEOs get better at becoming 'agents for change', and have more understanding and interaction with other areas of the business, including strategy?

"Speak the language of the person you're speaking to. Understand what they're trying to achieve and how you can support them. Make it clear to them that you can help them with their goals. We need to move away from an 'us versus the rest of the business' mentality. Instead, we're here to support an improvement to the overall website experience. We're not just here to target keywords and create technical documents - that aren't very useful if they just sit on someone's desktop."

What's one thing that SEOs can stop doing to spend more time educating clients to understand different metrics?

"Stop robotically doing SEO reports and audits. Really try to understand the business' needs and how you can best help them achieve their goals."

You can find Antonella Villani over at assemblyglobal.com.