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How do you keep track of what works?

by squadron
2 replies
  • SEO
    • |
One of the frustrating things I find about SEO and managing multiple projects concurrently is being able to track what you did, when, and working out what worked.

The last 12 months I have been using a simple system where I send an email to a dedicated yahoo email account (not gmail for obvious reasons), with a short summary of the url I was trying to promote and then a description of what I did.

I always put the target url in the subject line so it is easier to sort and filter.

As I watch rankings rise and fall I then filter the emails to try to identify what may have worked.

After a few months you start to see patterns which allow you to come up with standard process templates for future projects.

This system works for me. How do you keep track?
#track #works
  • Profile picture of the author RyanLB
    I try to just keep extensive notes. I use MicrositeMasters as my rank tracker, and they have a nifty "note" feature that lets you place notes on certain dates and then see the progress afterwards.

    For my larger websites, I am usually doing enough to them that it is almost impossible to attribute a single linkbuilding campaign, or change to drops and rises in ranking. The most straightforward changes I've seen is when changing things on-page. I might change my interlinking or navigation and see a big change in ranking within a couple of days that I can attribute to the on page changes. With links though, you never know when they are actually being counted by the algorithm, and its not like I place a single link and then see what the results are - I'm constantly linkbuilding.

    With some of my smaller sites that I haven't ramped up the linkbuilding for yet, I will run small case studies and see how the SERPS react. Sometimes there's a correlation between how two different sites react, sometimes there is not. It's always heavily dependent upon niche too, which makes it even harder to track.

    Ultimately I just look at my overall strategy. What am I currently doing? Are my sites generally improving? Are the rankings dancing heavily? What is google looking for when they evaluate links for naturalness?

    Whenever I find my strategies having a negative effect, or no effect on a certain site, I just go back to the basics. Add more content, build higher quality links around unique content on relevant websites, and increase social mentions. Lay off of automated links and do extra manual work. In the end I figure that's the only thing you can count on.
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    I'm a Freelance Copywriter that helps Agencies, Startups and Businesses Educate Their Audience and Grow Sales
    Skype Me: r.boze
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