Properly assess SEO to implement decisions

How to correctly assess the influence of SEO to enforce decisions

Who hasn't experienced this: on the one hand, you're expected to generate better sales figures, but on the other hand, you don't get management's approval for proposed changes. It's a headache that even experts in the field can grapple with. Search Engine optimization SEO is part of everyday life. In fact, it is essential to be able to assess the impact of specific SEO measures in order to obtain approval from clients or management.

The question "what exactly will this achieve" is one of the most frequently asked questions in SEO, and it can refer to search engine rankings, potential website visits, or the associated revenue.

For effective search engine optimization (SEOIt is therefore essential to know what impact a particular change will have on the results. This enables the correct prioritization of measures and proper planning with other workflows.

However, modern websites involve so many changes that need to be quantified and accounted for that this task is generally very difficult for SEO experts. Nevertheless, they typically need to be able to support these changes with very good estimates to increase the likelihood of approval for implementation. Anyone who cannot project figures that appear significant and substantial enough will never be given sufficient priority within a company to implement projects.

But how can this be achieved? How do you calculate the financial impact of recommendations?

Analyses and key figures are the basis

You're probably already analyzing the success of individual online marketing measures. You could likely refine this analysis to pinpoint exactly which measures are driving sales. Most likely, you've already configured all the necessary tools to track which websites your most eager customers are coming from.

However, it's even more likely that your tracking system has gaps, meaning that the access and purchase figures displayed online by the tools don't match your actual business metrics. In the worst-case scenario, you haven't even set any sales data or targets at all, so if you want to convince management, you first need to do all the groundwork to be able to make actionable recommendations and be prepared to support them with data from analyses or to confirm them later.

Unfortunately, all the research and analysis in the world is useless if the priorities set don't align with management's priorities. Therefore, it's advisable to understand the goals of the executive team or decision-makers and align SEO priorities accordingly. Only then will decision-makers be convinced and progress be made!

And this is where key performance indicators (KPIs) come into play. Just like any other company, yours has certain fundamental assumptions about which KPIs are most important for tracking and analyzing sales and relative success. For example, a KPI such as "percentage of website visitors who purchase a product" or "return rate" can reveal a great deal about the success of the company and specific initiatives. You can be sure that your management knows these KPIs inside and out and aligns its actions accordingly on a daily basis.

And that's precisely where you can make a difference. Build rapport with your management and learn as much as possible about their strategy, key performance indicators (KPIs), and mindset. Have lunch together and understand their priorities. You can also present your analytics data to identify any discrepancies between your website traffic and revenue figures and management's projections for specific time periods.

Be thorough and showcase your work. For example, you can directly input data into an Excel spreadsheet and, especially with feedback from a manager friend, adjust your sales estimates. By receiving feedback on your key performance indicators (KPIs) and understanding business priorities, you can optimize your figures or adapt them to future changes.

What works really well, by the way, is thinking out loud and throwing out assumptions. It's very likely that these will then be corrected. This leads to further, useful insights!

Once you've done this, you can use statistical methods to make reliable predictions that can then be adapted to different scenarios. This makes it possible to demonstrate the effects of specific SEO measures, including their impact on sales figures. Forecasts of the impact of SEO changes on sales figures for up to two years are a great way to get approval for SEO initiatives.

Use this two-year timeframe to demonstrate the long-term impact of SEO and how today's time investment will help improve sales figures in the long run. This significantly increases the likelihood of convincing management. Keep in mind that you will very likely encounter doubt and resistance initially.

For minor strategy changes that directly impact key performance indicators (KPIs) and revenue or website traffic, it can be beneficial to illustrate these changes in charts to visualize their effect. This is always well-received by management.

For example, changes in the click-through rate of online ads after a relaunch inspired by A/B testing can be easily visualized – along with the corresponding sales figures. If you continuously conduct tests to optimize your online campaigns, you can easily and clearly visualize the resulting changes in sales figures and other effects through graphs, thus increasing the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.

If you speak the same language as the company's leadership and management, and if you know and understand the business metrics they use and can align your SEO strategy accordingly, then gaining approval for your actions will be significantly easier. This will allow you to truly get the most out of SEO for your business.

The best SEO campaigns always focus on revenue growth and serving the company's strategy. Besides making it easier to implement changes, this also makes your contributions to business development significantly more visible.

Do you have any further questions or would you like to learn more? MIC Need advice from Group? Then don't hesitate to contact us by phone or email. We are your SEO experts from [location]. ZurichWe'll gladly explain the ins and outs of the topic and can create a plan specifically tailored to your company. We're always happy to help!