39: The Goal of SEO is NOT High Rankings

Summary

In this episode, Meredith's husband debunks the SEO myth that success is determined by keyword ranking alone. He explains that true SEO success is measured by conversions—how many leads and contacts a website generates—rather than a website’s position for a specific keyword. By focusing on metrics like conversions, traffic, and average keyword ranking, website owners can ensure their SEO efforts translate into real business growth.

Blog Post: Why Conversions Matter More Than Keyword Rankings in SEO

For years, many website owners have equated SEO success with the rank of specific keywords in search results. If a keyword appears on page one of Google, it must mean the SEO strategy is working, right? Not exactly. In reality, focusing solely on keyword rankings is an outdated approach. The real measure of SEO success is how much business your website generates from organic traffic, not just where a single keyword ranks.

Let’s explore why focusing on conversions—actual leads from your site visitors—is a far better indicator of SEO success.

The Misconception: Page One Ranking Equals Success

It’s common to think that getting a keyword to page one of search results is the ultimate goal. Many SEO clients request this when they first start a campaign. While having a keyword on page one might feel satisfying, it doesn’t guarantee business growth. If your site is ranking highly but not converting visitors into leads or customers, that ranking means little in terms of return on investment (ROI).

Consider two scenarios:

1. Your site ranks on page one for a keyword and generates 10,000 monthly visitors, but none of them contact you.

2. Your site ranks on page two for a keyword, generates only 50 monthly visitors, but three of those visitors reach out as leads.

Clearly, the second scenario is more valuable, even though the keyword isn’t on page one. The ultimate goal of any website is to generate meaningful leads, not just high traffic numbers.

What Metrics Should You Focus On?

Instead of obsessing over individual keyword rankings, it’s better to track these important metrics:

• Conversions (Goal Completions): The most important metric in Google Analytics is the number of conversions or goal completions—how many people fill out your contact form or otherwise engage with your business. These are the potential customers your site is driving to you.

• Traffic and Conversion Rate: There are only two ways to improve conversions: get more traffic or increase the percentage of visitors who convert into leads (your conversion rate). Ideally, you want to do both. Improving traffic by 50% while boosting your conversion rate by 30% can result in double the number of leads.

• Average Ranking: Instead of focusing on a single keyword, track the average ranking of a group of keywords. Tools like SEMrush offer insights into how all of your target keywords are performing on average. If your overall average ranking is improving, your site is gaining more visibility, and this can translate into more traffic and conversions.

• Visibility: This is another metric in keyword tracking tools that indicates the likelihood of your site being seen in search results. Higher visibility means your website is more likely to attract clicks and visitors.

The Importance of Conversions Over Rankings

When you focus on conversions, you’re aligning your SEO efforts with your actual business goals. After all, the main objective of SEO is to bring more potential customers to your business—not just to show up in search results.

By concentrating on boosting conversions, you can make sure that the visitors landing on your website are taking meaningful actions, like filling out a form or contacting you for more information. That’s how you turn organic traffic into real business growth.

Key Points to Remember

• Keyword rankings are not the best measure of SEO success; conversions are.

• Track metrics like conversions, average ranking, and traffic growth to understand the real impact of your SEO efforts.

• Focusing on improving both traffic and conversion rate will help you achieve substantial business growth from your website.

By shifting focus from rankings to conversions, you can transform your SEO efforts into a powerful tool for business growth.

Resources

Check out tools like Google Analytics and SEMrush to track conversions, keyword rankings, and visibility. These tools will help you stay on top of your SEO performance and measure what truly matters: how your website drives business results!