So you have made some changes to your site, you have written your meta tags, got your self some links and now what? Well you want to monitor your SEO reults some how. The main goal in SEO used to be to increase your rankings, but these days people in the industry tend to look at alot more factors than just rankings. How many unique visitors do you get each month? How many pages are indexed within the search engines? Are people finding the right pages for the right search queries?
If you are optimising your site on a budget, then you want to start by adding Google Analytics to your website which is a free service that Google provides and gives you a wide variety of information on your site and it’s visitors. One of the only things you won’t find with Google Analytics is rankings. It is probably best to check these once a month and note your positons in a spread sheet so you can monitor your progress over time. It is best not to get too caught up with too many keywords, so maybe just check a few of your top ones.
If you are serious about your results, then you may want to invest in some more advanced analysis and rankings solutions. There are many out there that will provide the same functionality as Google Analytics but also keep track of your rankings.
I have had experience with DC Storm, that provides excellent analytics for both natural search and paid advertising. But if you are starting out for the first time, then it is probably best to try out Google Analytics first.
Another service I have had some experience with, is Raven Tools. This online service does plenty of things to help you with your SEO. The only problem is that it isn’t free, but their entry package is only $19 a month (roughly £12). Using Raven’s suite of tools, you can research new keywords to target, check rankings with integrated analytics, manage your social profiles and find a build links easier. There are many more things you can do, but it is best to visit the site and read everything in more detail.
