In a recent episode of Google’s Search Off the Record podcast, John Mueller delved into the intricacies of the traffic metric and offered insights on how SEOs can benefit by aligning their perspectives with potentially more crucial objectives.
Rethinking Success Metrics One common but misguided practice among search marketers is gauging success solely based on traffic statistics. Social media and blog posts often showcase how a particular SEO strategy led to a significant surge in website traffic within a few months.
This reliance on traffic metrics is prevalent among link builders, content creators, and SEO professionals alike. However, the real question is: What impact did this surge have on sales or ad clicks? If revenue remains stagnant, the increased traffic might be inconsequential, questioning the value of the SEO efforts that led to it.
Adam J Humphreys, CEO of the search marketing and design consultancy Making 8, emphasized the significance of focusing on business growth and ROI, stating, “Our job is to grow their business first and awareness second.”
Google’s Perspective on SEO & Traffic During the podcast, Martin Splitt raised the crucial point of understanding the business impact of traffic fluctuations. John Mueller expanded on this by highlighting the tendency of many SEOs to overlook return on investment (ROI) and the earnings impact of SEO efforts.
Mueller speculated that this oversight could be attributed to the prolonged period between implementing SEO changes and observing their impact. He pointed out that many SEOs primarily concentrate on website traffic data, often neglecting the crucial aspect of the value that this traffic brings to the business.
He expressed concern about the potential misleading nature of relying solely on traffic metrics, using an example from Google’s own experience where ranking for a high-traffic keyword did not result in relevant or valuable traffic. Mueller stressed the importance of considering the broader context of traffic and focusing on relevant queries, clicks, impressions, and specific pages to gain a more accurate understanding.
Traffic and the Real Goals of SEO While SEO professionals frequently showcase case studies highlighting the traffic gains from their efforts, these studies may lack depth if they don’t correlate with increases in sales or revenue. Similarly, link builders often emphasize the sheer number of acquired links without addressing their impact on sales or earnings.
This tendency to focus on traffic metrics might be rooted in the fact that many SEOs lack firsthand experience in building and monetizing websites. The article suggests that using traffic as a metric is valuable for assessing the impact of SEO but underscores that traffic should not be the ultimate goal. Different types of traffic exist, with varying degrees of relevance and utility, such as traffic that converts into sales, contributes to brand building, or remains irrelevant.
In diagnosing traffic drops related to ranking changes, the article recommends understanding the impact on sales and redirecting content and SEO efforts if needed for a more effective strategy.
