You’ve been paying for SEO every month, but you’re starting to wonder if it’s doing anything at all. Rankings seem to fluctuate, traffic numbers are confusing, and you’re not sure if the investment is paying off. Here’s how to actually evaluate your SEO results.
Setting Realistic Expectations
SEO Timeline Reality
Typical Timeline:
| Phase | Time | What’s Happening |
|---|
| Foundation | Months 1-3 | Technical fixes, content audit, strategy |
| Building | Months 4-6 | Content creation, optimization, initial rankings |
| Growth | Months 7-12 | Significant ranking improvements, traffic growth |
| Maintenance | 12+ months | Sustained results, continued optimization |
What This Means:
- Don’t expect results in 30 days
- 6 months is minimum for meaningful evaluation
- 12 months for full ROI assessment
- Results compound over time
Red Flags vs. Normal Progress
Concerning Signs:
- No technical improvements after 3 months
- Zero ranking movement after 6 months
- Declining traffic without explanation
- No reporting or communication
- Can’t explain what they’re doing
Normal Progress:
- Gradual ranking improvements
- Some fluctuation (normal)
- Technical issues being resolved
- Content being created/optimized
- Clear monthly activities
Metrics That Actually Matter
Organic Traffic
What to Track:
- Total organic sessions
- Organic users (new vs. returning)
- Year-over-year comparison
- Month-over-month trends
How to Measure:
- Google Analytics → Acquisition → Traffic Acquisition
- Filter by organic search
- Compare to previous periods
- Exclude brand traffic for cleaner picture
What’s Good:
- Steady upward trend
- YoY growth of 20%+
- Increasing non-brand traffic
- Growing pages receiving traffic
Keyword Rankings
What to Track:
- Priority keyword positions
- Keywords in top 10, 20, 50
- Movement direction (up/down)
- New keywords ranking
Understanding Rankings:
- Position 1-3: Significant traffic
- Position 4-10: Moderate traffic
- Position 11-20: Minimal traffic
- Position 21+: Almost no traffic
What’s Good:
- Keywords moving from page 2 to page 1
- More keywords entering top 10
- Stable rankings for priority terms
- Long-tail growth
Conversions from Organic
The Ultimate Metric:
- Leads from organic traffic
- Sales from organic traffic
- Revenue attributed to organic
- Cost per acquisition from SEO
How to Track:
- Set up goals/conversions in GA4
- Filter by organic channel
- Track over time
- Compare to paid channels
What’s Good:
- Conversion rate 1-3% (industry dependent)
- Growing conversion volume
- Decreasing cost per acquisition
- Increasing revenue from organic
Engagement Metrics
Supporting Indicators:
- Bounce rate (lower is better)
- Time on site (higher is better)
- Pages per session (higher is better)
- Return visitors (growing is good)
What They Tell You:
- Content relevance
- User experience quality
- Search intent alignment
- Site quality perception
Evaluating Your SEO Provider
What They Should Report
Monthly Report Should Include:
- Activities completed
- Rankings changes
- Traffic performance
- Conversions/leads from organic
- Technical improvements made
- Content created/optimized
- Next month’s plan
Questions to Ask
About Strategy:
- What keywords are we targeting and why?
- How are you building authority?
- What content is being created?
- What technical issues exist?
About Results:
- Why did rankings change this month?
- Which pages are driving traffic?
- What’s our conversion rate from organic?
- How do we compare to competitors?
About Activities:
- What specific work was done?
- How many hours were spent?
- Who worked on our account?
- What’s the plan for next month?
Warning Signs
Your Provider Might Be Underperforming If:
- Can’t explain what they’re doing
- Only reports vanity metrics
- Makes excuses without solutions
- No proactive communication
- Results declining without explanation
- Using outdated tactics
- Promising guaranteed results
Calculating SEO ROI
Basic ROI:
SEO ROI = (Revenue from Organic - SEO Cost) / SEO Cost × 100
Example:
- Monthly SEO cost: $3,000
- Monthly revenue from organic: $15,000
- ROI = ($15,000 - $3,000) / $3,000 × 100 = 400%
What to Include
Revenue Attribution:
- Direct organic conversions
- Assisted conversions (organic in path)
- Brand search influenced by SEO
- Long-term customer value
Costs:
- Agency/consultant fees
- Content creation costs
- Tool subscriptions
- Internal time investment
Benchmarks
| Business Type | Good SEO ROI |
|---|
| E-commerce | 300-500% |
| Lead Gen B2B | 200-400% |
| Local Service | 150-300% |
| SaaS | 400-800% |
When SEO Isn’t Working
Diagnosing Issues
Possible Causes:
- Wrong keywords - Targeting terms that don’t convert
- Poor content - Not satisfying search intent
- Technical issues - Site not crawlable/indexable
- No authority - Not building quality backlinks
- Bad strategy - Outdated or ineffective approach
- Not enough time - SEO takes 6-12 months
Taking Action
If Results Are Disappointing:
- Request detailed explanation
- Ask for strategy adjustment
- Seek second opinion
- Consider provider change
- Ensure realistic expectations
Protecting Your Investment
Educate Yourself:
- Learn SEO basics
- Understand key metrics
- Know what good looks like
- Ask informed questions
Maintain Access
Always Have:
- Google Analytics access
- Google Search Console access
- Website admin access
- Content ownership
- Backlink data access
Documentation
Keep Records:
- Monthly reports
- Strategy documents
- Keyword lists
- Content created
- Links built
Unsure If Your SEO Is Working?
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