Once you have implemented the SEO strategies we’ve discussed, it’s essential to track your progress and measure the impact of your efforts. Fortunately, you don’t need to complete the other steps in order to take care of this one.  Set up your Analytics account now and watch your site performance as you implement each section from this guide. In this section, we’ll discuss how to set up Google Analytics, identify key performance indicators, and track your progress over time.

Google Analytics is a powerful tool that allows you to track and measure the effectiveness of your website. It provides valuable insights into your website traffic, user behavior, and conversions. Setting up Google Analytics is an essential step in any SEO strategy, as it allows you to make data-driven decisions and improve your website’s performance.

To set up Google Analytics for your website, you’ll need to create a Google Analytics account, add a tracking code to your website, and configure your account settings. Here are the specific steps:

1. Create a Google Analytics account: If you don’t already have a Google Analytics account, create one by going to the Google Analytics website https://analytics.google.com and following the setup process.
2. Install the tracking code: Once you have created your account, you will need to install the tracking code on your website. This code allows Google Analytics to track user behavior and provide data about your website’s performance. The tracking code can be added to your website by inserting it into the header or footer section of your website’s HTML code.
3. Set up goals: Goals allow you to track specific actions on your website, such as form submissions, downloads, or purchases. Setting up goals in Google Analytics can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of your website and help you make data-driven decisions to improve user experience and increase conversions.
4. Enable site search tracking: If your website has a search function, enabling site search tracking can provide valuable insights into what your users are searching for and help you optimize your website’s content accordingly.
5. Set up filters: Filters allow you to exclude certain data from your Google Analytics reports, such as traffic from internal IP addresses or spam referrals. Setting up filters can help you ensure that your data is accurate and relevant.
6. Connect Google Analytics with other tools: Google Analytics can be connected with other tools, such as Google Ads and Google Search Console, to provide a more comprehensive view of your website’s performance. By connecting these tools, you can gain valuable insights into how your website is performing across different channels and optimize your SEO strategy accordingly.

Once you’ve set up your account, you can track metrics such as the number of visitors to your website, the pages they visited, and how long they spent on your site. You can also track other important metrics such as bounce rate, conversion rate, and average time on page.  Analytics provides valuable insights into your website’s performance and allows you to make data-driven decisions to improve user experience, increase conversions, and ultimately rank higher on Google search results pages.

Some of the most common Key Performance Indicators include:

• Organic search traffic: This measures the number of visitors to your website who found it through organic search results.
• Bounce rate: This measures the percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page.
• Conversion rate: This measures the percentage of visitors who take a desired action on your website, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.
• Time on page: This measures the average amount of time visitors spend on each page of your website.

It’s important to identify the KPIs that are most relevant to your business goals and track them over time. This can help you identify areas where you need to improve your SEO strategy.