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Is SEO without data just guesswork?

There are many SEO techniques you can employ, but without data you’ll have varying success. Data-driven SEO is the most effective way to get guaranteed results.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) aims to improve the visibility of a website, but up to 80 per cent of site changes designed to boost rankings have no impact or actually decrease traffic. Basing the decisions you make on data, however, can counteract this trend and offer good ROI.

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What is data-driven SEO?

SEO has evolved over the years with marketers constantly updating their understanding of best practice. While much of it is based on previous wins, some of the accepted wisdom means using your intuition when designing SEO campaigns.

Data-driven SEO allows you to make decisions based on numbers, facts, figures and analysis for more accurate targeting. Tailoring content towards audience behaviour and measurable outcomes is a no-brainer.

How can data influence content creation?

Taking the guesswork out of content creation means you’re more likely to produce articles, blogs, graphics and videos that appeal to your audience and engage them. As well as identifying topics that interest users, data can help to demonstrate where there are content gaps.

To show your business is an authority on a subject, you need to build interlinked content clusters on your site. As well as providing a useful resource, this knowledge hub will help to boost your site’s search rankings and drive traffic.

How can data offer a better user experience?

SEO is not just about content, but also technical elements such as loading speed, URL structure and mobile optimisation. They can have a big impact on the usability of your site and failing to address them can negatively impact its performance.

Collecting data to help inform the design of your site for a better user experience will ensure it’s intuitive, responsive and easily navigable. This can result in a decreased bounce rate, improved rankings and increased conversions.

How does data impact link building?

High-quality backlinks from authoritative websites are an important ranking factor in Google. While a link building strategy should be an important part of your SEO efforts, securing the right prospects to reference your site can be time consuming.

Utilise a tool that crunches the data to give you a list of strong domains with good backlinking potential. The outreach process can be lengthy, so narrowing down the field by analysing the data will make it more efficient.

Which user engagement metrics should you be tracking?

Among the most useful data to collect is that of your audience’s behaviours, facilitating more accurate targeting and the optimisation of your content. Over time, you’ll be able to see trends in which tactics are working and where you could make improvements.

Some of the types of data worth tracking to drive your SEO efforts include:

  • Keyword search volumes
  • Website traffic analytics
  • Click-through rates
  • Conversion rates
  • Backlink profiles
  • User engagement metrics
  • Competitor analysis data
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