Introduction to SEO

- Defining Your SEO Goals

It can get bogged down by the enormity of the task at hand. It’s hard to prioritise and focus on what will move the needle. 

You might feel like you’re spinning your wheels because you don’t have a specific goal to work towards. Without a target, it’s challenging to measure success.

We’ve created this article to share some common SEO goals that you can set yourself and your SEO strategy. 

How to Set Goals

To reach your goals, it’s essential to have a plan.

This starts with knowing what you want, and then, create an actionable list of tasks that will guide you towards achieving those goals.

One way that we can set goals and expectations would be through a service level agreement (SLA). Having a documented process of what you will provide your client and what your client can expect is a fantastic way to improve your customer experience and set manageable goals for your team.

Another way to set goals, strategically, is by using the SMART goals criteria. Read on to find out how you can use SMART goals effectively.

SMART Goals

A SMART goal sets the criteria for successful goal setting. 

This is a great way to make sure you’re moving in the right direction and setting yourself up for success. 

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely. 

Below we will break each aspect down.

Specific: Clear and concise goals make it easier to achieve goals. This is because you know exactly what it is you plan to accomplish. 

This question specifies WHAT the goal is. 

For example, You want to make money through your eCommerce store.

Measurable: Applying a metric to your goal allows you to assess its progress. This helps you answer the question: How do I know I’ve achieved the goal?

This question indicates WHEN the goal has been achieved. 

For example, You want to make $1000 through your eCommerce store. 

Achievable: Ensuring that the goal is realistic and capable of being achieved.

This question answered HOW likely it is to be accomplished. 

For example, by spending more time on marketing and lead generation. 

Relevant: The goal must be aligned with the business’s objectives. It’s also worthy to note how much of a priority it is. 

This question answers WHY this goal has been chosen.

For example, the 1# objective of business is to make a profit. Spending time on the right activities like marketing and lead generation will bring in opportunities to make an income. 

Timely: Setting a timeframe for completion of the goal ensures that an appropriate deadline will be met. 

This question identifies WHEN the goal needs to be completed. 

For example, within the next 2 months [DD/MM/YYYY]. 

Bringing all of these aspects together we get the goal of:

I want to achieve $1000 in sales through my eCommerce store within 2 months of YYYY.


SMART goals are a great way to identify what you really want and make sure that all resources go towards it.

What are KPIs? 

The most important measure for success in any business is how well you meet your goals. 

A key performance indicator (KPI) helps gauge this. 

A key performance indicator (KPI) measures the progress towards achieving the objectives of a business. 

The most common KPIs for SEO are: 

Organic Traffic 

Organic traffic is when a user visits your site based on the results that showed up on a search engine. 

Organic traffic is an excellent indicator of your site’s performance in search engine rankings.

If you are ranking high on SERPs (search engine results pages):

  • Organic traffic is likely to increase since you are shown higher on SERPs.

Search engines find your content relevant, giving you more authority. This can be a result of following SEO best practices.

  • An increase in traffic from ideal prospects is resulting in an increase in sales. 

If you are ranking low on SERPs :

  • Organic traffic is likely to decrease since you are shown lower on SERPs. 
  • Search engines don’t find your content relevant or authoritative. This can be a result of not following SEO best practices, i.e. not submitting a sitemap. 
  • A decrease in traffic is resulting in a decline in sales. 

Backlinking 

Backlinking is when other websites link to your website.

The main thing search engines look at when determining your website’s authority is the quality of its links. 

Search engines look at the number and diversity of links pointing towards your website when determining how much weight they should give a site in their database.

Therefore the more quality links you have, the greater your chance of increasing your ranking and authority. 

A common strategy used is to increase backlinks is guest posting on other reputable websites. 

Internal Linking

Internal linking is when you link to other pages on your website. 

Internal linking increases authority because Google can index the content by distributing good SEO from one page to another and making it easier to share relevant resources with your audience. 

Internal linking is a great way to steer your users and Google to the most relevant content on your website. 

Page Speed/Page Load Time 

Page speed is one of the most important factors in determining how fast your site loads and its ranking potential. 

A slow-loading page will make visitors leave with no desire to return to the excruciating pain of slow load time (we all know the feeling), thus hurting Page Rank!

Google’s PageSpeed Insights can help you identify how fast your page speed is and what aspects can be improved. 

We used Backlinko’s article on Backlinks as an example of a comprehensive assessment of site speed. 

Page Speed
Core web vitals

Visitors are more likely to stick around if the site loads quickly. 

You can have a great product or service, but users have low attention spans and slow site speed will make them run for the hills. 

Bounce Rate 

The bounce rate is when a user visits a single page on your site. 

Google Analytics states, “A bounce is a single-page session on your site.” They continue to say that “A bounce is calculated specifically as a session that triggers only a single request to the Analytics server.” 

A high bounce rate is something sure to drive down your ranking potential over time. If lots of visitors are leaving your site, then it tells the algorithm that this content isn’t valuable enough to remain at its ranking. 

To get your website’s bounce rate, you divide the total single-page sessions by the total sites sessions. 

For example, let’s say 500 people visited your site and 200 had a single-page session. 

200/500 = 40% bounce rate. 

Now that we know how to calculate the bounce rate, how do we know whether it’s good or bad? 

The Average Bounce Rate

Excellent: 26% – 40%

Average: 41% – 55% 

Excessive: 56% – 70%

Bounce Rate 

Conversion Rate 

The conversion rate is when a user who visits your site completes the desired action on your website.

Conversions can range from signing up for your webinar or making a purchase. 

To get your website’s conversion rate, you divide the total of site visitors by the total of website visitors. 

For example, let’s say 500 people visited your site, and 30 made a purchase.

30/500 X 100 = 6% conversion rate. 

These are just a handful of common SEO goals and by no means an exhaustive list. 

As you can see, there are many different ways to approach SEO in order to achieve your desired results. 

What’s important is that you take the time to figure out what those goals are and put together a plan that will help you reach them. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or lost when it comes to developing an SEO strategy, our team at KAMG can help. 

We have years of experience helping businesses achieve their online marketing goals. We would be happy to work with you. 

Contact us today for more information on how we can help!

Amy Rendel

Amy Rendel

Author

AMY RENDEL is a marketing consultant from South Africa currently residing in Israel. She has a B.Com in marketing and has worked with companies in South Africa, Israel, the UK, and the US. She spends her days writing blogs, website content and social media posts.

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Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 08, 2022

This Privacy Policy describes Our policies and procedures on the collection, use and disclosure of Your information when You use the Service and tells You about Your privacy rights and how the law protects You.

We use Your Personal data to provide and improve the Service. By using the Service, You agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Interpretation and Definitions

Interpretation

The words of which the initial letter is capitalized have meanings defined under the following conditions. The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural.

Definitions

For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:

  • Account means a unique account created for You to access our Service or parts of our Service.

  • Company (referred to as either “the Company”, “We”, “Us” or “Our” in this Agreement) refers to Kas Andz Marketing Group, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN.

  • Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of Your browsing history on that website among its many uses.

  • Country refers to: United Kingdom

  • Device means any device that can access the Service such as a computer, a cellphone or a digital tablet.

  • Personal Data is any information that relates to an identified or identifiable individual.

  • Service refers to the Website.

  • Service Provider means any natural or legal person who processes the data on behalf of the Company. It refers to third-party companies or individuals employed by the Company to facilitate the Service, to provide the Service on behalf of the Company, to perform services related to the Service or to assist the Company in analyzing how the Service is used.

  • Usage Data refers to data collected automatically, either generated by the use of the Service or from the Service infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit).

  • Website refers to Kas Andz Marketing Group, accessible from kasandz.

  • You means the individual accessing or using the Service, or the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the Service, as applicable.

Collecting and Using Your Personal Data

Types of Data Collected

Personal Data

While using Our Service, We may ask You to provide Us with certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify You. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to:

  • Email address

  • First name and last name

  • Phone number

  • Address, State, Province, ZIP/Postal code, City

  • Usage Data

Usage Data

Usage Data is collected automatically when using the Service.

Usage Data may include information such as Your Device’s Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our Service that You visit, the time and date of Your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

When You access the Service by or through a mobile device, We may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device You use, Your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of Your mobile device, Your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser You use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.

We may also collect information that Your browser sends whenever You visit our Service or when You access the Service by or through a mobile device.

Tracking Technologies and Cookies

We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on Our Service and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyze Our Service. The technologies We use may include:

  • Cookies or Browser Cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on Your Device. You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of our Service. Unless you have adjusted Your browser setting so that it will refuse Cookies, our Service may use Cookies.
  • Flash Cookies. Certain features of our Service may use local stored objects (or Flash Cookies) to collect and store information about Your preferences or Your activity on our Service. Flash Cookies are not managed by the same browser settings as those used for Browser Cookies. For more information on how You can delete Flash Cookies, please read “Where can I change the settings for disabling, or deleting local shared objects?” available at flash player.
  • Web Beacons. Certain sections of our Service and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Company, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of a certain section and verifying system and server integrity).

Cookies can be “Persistent” or “Session” Cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on Your personal computer or mobile device when You go offline, while Session Cookies are deleted as soon as You close Your web browser. Learn more about cookies on the Free Privacy Policy website article.

We use both Session and Persistent Cookies for the purposes set out below:

  • Necessary / Essential Cookies

    Type: Session Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies are essential to provide You with services available through the Website and to enable You to use some of its features. They help to authenticate users and prevent fraudulent use of user accounts. Without these Cookies, the services that You have asked for cannot be provided, and We only use these Cookies to provide You with those services.

  • Cookies Policy / Notice Acceptance Cookies

    Type: Persistent Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies identify if users have accepted the use of cookies on the Website.

  • Functionality Cookies

    Type: Persistent Cookies

    Administered by: Us

    Purpose: These Cookies allow us to remember choices You make when You use the Website, such as remembering your login details or language preference. The purpose of these Cookies is to provide You with a more personal experience and to avoid You having to re-enter your preferences every time You use the Website.

For more information about the cookies we use and your choices regarding cookies, please visit our Cookies Policy or the Cookies section of our Privacy Policy.

Use of Your Personal Data

The Company may use Personal Data for the following purposes:

  • To provide and maintain our Service, including to monitor the usage of our Service.

  • To manage Your Account: to manage Your registration as a user of the Service. The Personal Data You provide can give You access to different functionalities of the Service that are available to You as a registered user.

  • For the performance of a contract: the development, compliance and undertaking of the purchase contract for the products, items or services You have purchased or of any other contract with Us through the Service.

  • To contact You: To contact You by email, telephone calls, SMS, or other equivalent forms of electronic communication, such as a mobile application’s push notifications regarding updates or informative communications related to the functionalities, products or contracted services, including the security updates, when necessary or reasonable for their implementation.

  • To provide You with news, special offers and general information about other goods, services and events which we offer that are similar to those that you have already purchased or enquired about unless You have opted not to receive such information.

  • To manage Your requests: To attend and manage Your requests to Us.

  • For business transfers: We may use Your information to evaluate or conduct a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Our assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which Personal Data held by Us about our Service users is among the assets transferred.

  • For other purposes: We may use Your information for other purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Service, products, services, marketing and your experience.

We may share Your personal information in the following situations:

  • With Service Providers: We may share Your personal information with Service Providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Service, to contact You.
  • For business transfers: We may share or transfer Your personal information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of Company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of Our business to another company.
  • With Affiliates: We may share Your information with Our affiliates, in which case we will require those affiliates to honor this Privacy Policy. Affiliates include Our parent company and any other subsidiaries, joint venture partners or other companies that We control or that are under common control with Us.
  • With business partners: We may share Your information with Our business partners to offer You certain products, services or promotions.
  • With other users: when You share personal information or otherwise interact in the public areas with other users, such information may be viewed by all users and may be publicly distributed outside.
  • With Your consent: We may disclose Your personal information for any other purpose with Your consent.

Retention of Your Personal Data

The Company will retain Your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use Your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, if we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.

The Company will also retain Usage Data for internal analysis purposes. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of Our Service, or We are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

Transfer of Your Personal Data

Your information, including Personal Data, is processed at the Company’s operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of Your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from Your jurisdiction.

Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by Your submission of such information represents Your agreement to that transfer.

The Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that Your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of Your Personal Data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of Your data and other personal information.

Disclosure of Your Personal Data

Business Transactions

If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, Your Personal Data may be transferred. We will provide notice before Your Personal Data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

Law enforcement

Under certain circumstances, the Company may be required to disclose Your Personal Data if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g. a court or a government agency).

Other legal requirements

The Company may disclose Your Personal Data in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

  • Comply with a legal obligation
  • Protect and defend the rights or property of the Company
  • Prevent or investigate possible wrongdoing in connection with the Service
  • Protect the personal safety of Users of the Service or the public
  • Protect against legal liability

Security of Your Personal Data

The security of Your Personal Data is important to Us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. While We strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect Your Personal Data, We cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Children’s Privacy

Our Service does not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If You are a parent or guardian and You are aware that Your child has provided Us with Personal Data, please contact Us. If We become aware that We have collected Personal Data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, We take steps to remove that information from Our servers.

If We need to rely on consent as a legal basis for processing Your information and Your country requires consent from a parent, We may require Your parent’s consent before We collect and use that information.

Links to Other Websites

Our Service may contain links to other websites that are not operated by Us. If You click on a third party link, You will be directed to that third party’s site. We strongly advise You to review the Privacy Policy of every site You visit.

We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies or practices of any third party sites or services.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update Our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify You of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let You know via email and/or a prominent notice on Our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “Last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, You can contact us:

  • By email: team@kasandz.com