What are Some Important SEO Benchmarks for Success?

SEO benchmarking is considered important, but how much important is it? We would say the entire SEO service in the industry is standing on benchmarking processes and tools. The top SEO benchmarking tool can pinpoint factors like keyword ranking, conversion rate, bounce rate, etc. Overall, it is the best way to find out who is positioning on top of Google search and the reasons behind it.

To clarify everything, we will discuss the significance of SEO benchmarks, identify the key metrics to track, and explore some of the SEO tools that can help you benchmark SEO goals in this ‘reader-friendly’ blog. Read it and get the ultimate success in organic SEO before your competitors.

SEO benchmarking contains the process of analyzing specific SEO metrics to evaluate the performance of your SEO efforts on a website. It provides a transparent statistics of where you stand in comparison to your competitors. You can identify the strong and weak areas for your next approach using statistics. After discovering other's positioning, you can apply the necessary steps to rank up your website.

SEO benchmarks are vital for 3 main reasons: tracking progress over time, identifying strengths-weaknesses, and setting realistic goals. As Google will never share with you why their algorithm has ranked someone on top, SEO benchmark has been the magical book to know why certain websites are on the first page of SERP.

Besides, SEO for small businesses brought tremendous opportunities to raise a startup company. The benchmark helps those companies make a powerful online presence, even when they have no physical address. From this post, knowing the benchmarking tools will allow SEO practitioners to set their goals in KPI management software and work step by step to overcome other websites.

We would like to describe the most commonly used benchmark by digital marketing agencies and experts like us. These benchmarks are the lifeline of the future of any business website in terms of SEO rankings. You may have heard them before.

1. Organic SEO Traffic

Organic traffic is the visitors who find your website through unpaid search engine results. They type about your service on Google and click on your site link. If you monitor organic traffic, you will understand how well your SEO strategies are attracting potential customers. Many of our SEO executives find organic traffic insights to find the ‘not provided’ keywords using SEO benchmarking tools. It helps us fill in the gaps and earn more organic traffic to the website. 

2. Impression

Impressions are the counting system of how often your website appears in search results. Higher impressions mean larger visibility, which can lead to more clicks and traffic. There are options to monitor single keyword impressions or group keyword impressions. SEO benchmarking tools can overestimate impressions up to 91% according to research by Forbes.

3. Keyword Ranking

Keyword is the main player in SEO. Tracking the ranking of your targeted keywords shows how well your content is performing in search engine results pages (SERPs). Improved keyword rankings can drive more organic traffic to your site. 

We can rely on keyword ranking can rank a blog page or a web page. For example: Ranking “best laptop to buy in 2024” will provide a guide, whereas “best laptop shop in 2024” will provide an address or a purchase link. Using the SEO benchmark, you can determine which keyword to rank for your product or service. 

4. Average CTR

Click-through rate (CTR) measures the percentage of people who click on your website after seeing it in search results. A higher CTR means that your titles and meta descriptions are relevant. In other words, CTR is the key to conversion. Ranking a website without having good meta content will not get any clicks. If you use benchmark tools to know your CTR, you could deploy more attractive information on the meta title and description.

5. Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. They are a critical factor in SEO benchmarks, as search engines view them as a vote of confidence. SEO agencies have been using backlink creation for off-page SEO strategies to rank up client sites! After all, high-quality backlinks can boost your site’s authority and ranking with proof.

Furthermore, the backlink analytics tools could show you how many backlinks your competitors have for their web pages. You can create backlinks or get them organically by your brand awareness on public platforms. Only reputed SEO agencies like VISER X or Bizcope can provide natural and healthy backlinks without manipulation.

6. Domain Authority

Domain Authority (DA) is a numbering system that Moz developed to predict how well a website will rank on search engines. A higher DA score indicates a stronger ability to rank higher in SERPs. It shows the relevance to a specific subject area or industry. You know that Google has been ranking websites with expertise and authenticity for ranking. So you must benchmark your domain authority to figure out yours.

7. Bounce Rate

Using bounce rate, you can measure the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page. Google’s helpful content update always encourages on making relatable content. Because they want to deliver engaging results to visitors to have their faith uncompromised in Google. So use the ‘bounce rate’ benchmark to know whether your web page content is helpful to readers.

Google Analytics is one of the best tools for checking the bounce rate. In addition, you can go for SEMRush’s traffic analytic tool for the same purpose if you want to compare the bounce rate of you and your competitor.

8. Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action on your website for your business benefits, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. It’s a critical metric to measure the effectiveness of your SEO in driving meaningful interactions.

A low conversion rate is a sign of bad website design, responsiveness, and target audience. When you are doing SEO, you have to choose the right audience and give them a fast experience. You can only do this when you use this benchmark and get the accurate conversion rate of your website.

9. Average Session Duration

Session duration means the average engagement time of a user on your web page. It matters in benchmarks because it indicates the content quality. Klipifolio’s study on session duration proves that a session of 2 to 3 minutes will be considered a good benchmark. In simple words, low-quality content will result in lower session duration compared to high-quality content. So this benchmark helps you fix page content quality.

10. Loading time

Page loading time reacts to the user experience and SEO rankings. Most companies agree that a good webpage loading time should be under 2 seconds. Faster loading times lead to better user satisfaction and can improve your search engine rankings. If you benchmark your loading time, you can fix file size, resolution, plugins, code efficiency, and server hosting quality for better SEO performance. 

SEO benchmarks should be used to set realistic goals based on current performance, compare past metrics for strategy evaluation, and analyze competitor data to identify opportunities for improvement. Utilizing these insights helps optimize your SEO efforts and stay ahead in the competitive landscape, proving that SEO is not dead. By continuously monitoring and adjusting your strategies, you can ensure sustained growth and success in your SEO endeavors.

• Identifying Future SEO Goals: SEO benchmarks help you set realistic and achievable goals by providing a clear understanding of your current performance. When you can identify potential growth areas, you can take advantage as a precaution of ranking retention.
• Comparing with Past SEO Scores: After comparing current metrics with past data, you can evaluate the effectiveness of your SEO strategies and make necessary adjustments in on-page, off-page, and technical aspects of your website.
• Beating Present Competitors: Benchmarking against competitors allows you to identify areas where they progress, from which you can develop strategies to outperform them.

BrightEdge wrote a featured article on SEO that organic web listings get 73% of clicks. So, business websites are using SEO benchmarking for more organic growth. But how can you measure the positive outcomes of your SEO strategies via SEO benchmarks? 

This is where SEO benchmarking tools come into play. We have listed the best 5 SEO benchmarking tools available until this date. The tools are globally popular and reliable for daily work. Let’s have a short introduction to each of the tools if you are about to know them for the first time!

1. Ahrefs

Ahrefs is a powerful SEO tool that provides comprehensive data on backlinks, keyword rankings, and competitor analysis. Many users claimed that if they had to use one tool for a lifetime, it would have been Ahrefs. Its data can solve critical website issues that hurt the site performance of Google.

5 Key Features: 

• Rank tracking
• Site audit
• Backlinks check
• Content insights
• Page inspection

2. SEMRush

SEMRush offers a suite of tools for keyword research, site audits, and competitive analysis, helping you track and improve your SEO performance. SEMRush uses a proprietary algorithm to collect data. Now they have AI algorithms to predict any estimations.

5 Key Features: 

• Keyword tracking
• Traffic analysis
• Site audit
• Position tracking
• Content template

3. Google Analytics

Google Analytics provides in-depth insights into your website traffic, user behavior, and conversion rates, allowing you to measure the impact of your SEO efforts. The software relies on a JavaScript code attached to your webpage. In return, you will get ‘pseudonymous information’ from the visitors.

5 Key Features: 

• Keyword tracking
• Conversion tracking
• Keyword ranking
• Site speed audit
• Bounce rate monitor

4. Google Search Console

Google Search Console helps you monitor and maintain your site’s presence in Google search results, providing valuable data on impressions, clicks, and keyword rankings. If your site or content is facing penalties, you can use Google Search Console to sort that out.

5 Key Features: 

• Search analytic report
• HTML improvement tool
• Sitemap tool
• Mobile first optimization
• Penalty reviews

5. Moz

Moz offers tools for keyword research, link building, and site audits, along with metrics like Domain Authority to help you boost your SEO performance. In SEO campaigns, Moz provides tremendous benefits by tracking various aspects. Even, the MozCast option delivers day-to-day Google algorithm change reports.

5 Key Features: 

• Website rank tracking
• Site audit
• Keyword research
• Audience analysis
• Competitor tracking

At VISER X, we have been working for more than 11 years to provide the latest and best SEO service worldwide. Our industry expert project managers can set new benchmarks for your customized SEO needs using all the premium tools. We also make our own tools and plugins as we also rule in the software development services. 

The rise of the internet has made Google the ultimate search engine for b2b and b2c products and services. HigherVisibility’s SEO comparison report says only 27% of visitors come from paid searches in terms of b2b search. So you need an SEO service that can bring the remaining 73% of organic searches directly to your webpage. Hence, we can provide you with authentic SEO with the most credible creative content.

SEO benchmarking is an essential practice for any business that needs a fast online presence. The tools are amazingly helpful for all SEO actions. But do not forget that each tool shows its own data. (i.e: domain authority score is individual in each of the tools of Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMRush). If you understand your work, you can utilize it efficiently. Contact us if you want to invest heavily in SEO and get quick results.

Do all websites need SEO benchmarking?

SEO benchmarking is recommended for all websites in 2024 for a strong online presence. Earlier, SEO was not necessary for all websites, instead, it was applicable to all business websites. That means you could avoid SEO for a personal portfolio site. As everything is getting online, you need SEO so that your followers and clients can find you easily on top of others. Here, SEO benchmarking is the only medium to know how to get into the top position.

How often should we use SEO benchmarks?

Benchmarking is the first step of upgrading your website’s SEO performance and factors. So it should be done each month for the best practice. If you are an SEO service provider, you should do it each week for detailed comparisons and positive results. 

How does VISER X provide accurate benchmarking for SEO?

We have been doing SEO for over a decade at the VISER X premise. We experienced how old-school SEO worked and we know how modern-day SEO will work. If you look at the case study of VISER X, you will see we have brought up to 477% revenue for companies with six approaches. We have the most advanced tools and specialists to know all the SEO benchmarking scores for proven solutions.