Baseline Performance
Critical factors for website performance
Critical factors for website performance
Initially, a baseline performance involves generating a report to show the current status of your websites online presence.
The onsite elements are often determined by critical ranking factors such as site speed, the security of the site, the structure and content strategy being adopted on internal pages. Some examples of measuring the performance of a site is by reviewing existing Google analytics data. This will indicate what pages are gaining the most traffic compared to those which are receiving none. By establishing fundamental errors on a site, by a process of cancellation, we can start to identify why certain pages are achieving traffic and others are not. Whether the site structure has been set out poorly or we have a case of keyword cannabilisation whereby internal pages are competing for the same search query.
By using our strategic approach
Structure
Keywords
Rankings
Security
A site that has an active SSL will ensure the safety of user details on the site. It is also important to maintain plugins, themes and anything that can jeopardise the security of the site from hackers
Site Speed
Establishing an
SEO Baseline
Keywords & Rankings
Growing the volume and positioning of the pages and keywords of a website for its users, is one of the more apparent indicators of successful SEO. Looking at the sites current ranking before any SEO activity will set the baseline, so any growth will be noticeable. Once visibility of the website has begun to increase, you will know what effort was taken to make this happen.
Competitor Analysis
When creating a baseline it’s important to recognise your client’s current competitors. Understanding how your competitors are performing, what they’re doing well, and what they’re not doing well will allow you to figure out where your website stands amongst them. Take note of where they are ranking and for what keyword. We review content strategy, search traffic, backlink success and site structure of competitor sites and adopt any successful tactics taken.
Links
A key aspect you want to be aware of is who has been linking to your site. That’s why it’s important to focus on creating a baseline of links so you know when and where your site growth appears in a backlink profile. Backlinking requires a consistent an effective content strategy.
Bounce Rate
Bounce Rate A bounce rate is a percentage of visitors who click onto your website and leave without clicking on another page. This often indicates that visitors could not find what they were looking for on your site and that’s an issue that needs to be fixed. It’s important to look at your websites bounce rate prior to any active SEO strategy practices, this way you will develop an understanding of the usability and engagability of your site.