ptg16476052700 LESSON 25: Search Engines and SEO
site might not be ranking the way you want it to because you can see clearly what the
search engines are seeing.Tracking Your SEO Efforts
The final thing you should do when working on SEO is make sure that you track your
progress. Analytics programs, as mentioned in other lessons, can help you not only see
what pages are doing well but also where you need to improve your efforts.
Some things you should pay attention to include the following:
n Search engine referrals—These are the search engines that are sending you traf-
fic. This can be particularly useful if you get more content from a search engine
other than Google. This may mean that Google has a problem with your site (check
Google Webmaster Tools) or that you have content that appeals to a different
demographic than typical.
n Keywords—Most analytics software will tell you what keywords are generating
traffic to your site. This will help you to both focus your SEO efforts and under-
stand where you’re not ranking well. Watching how these referrals trend on your
site can give you a good sense of whether you’ve lost ranking or something else
has happened.
n What pages get search engine traffic—This is good to know as it tells you which
pages have the best ranking and which pages either are not linked well or are
unknown to the search engines.
n Where your traffic is coming from—Search engines might be the lion’s share of
your referrals, or they might be almost nothing. If you are getting lots of referrals
from a site you don’t recognize, you might want to check it out.Paying for Links
All the popular search engines have programs that allow you to pay for links on their
search results pages. In other words, you can pay to have a link to your site displayed
when users enter search terms that you choose. Most sites charge on a per-click basis—
you pay every time a user clicks on the link, up to a maximum that you set. After you’ve
used up your budget, your advertisement doesn’t appear any more.
Most search engines display paid links separately from the regular search results, but
this approach still provides a way to get your site in front of users who may be interested
immediately. You just have to be willing to pay.