work, especially for websites that weren’t designed with search engine ranking
in mind from the beginning. SEO is not usually completed in a single day, with
most requiring work over the course of several weeks, months, or even years,
depending on the site and the keywords you’re trying to rank. Maintenance
should also be taken into consideration when planning an SEO campaign, as most
strategies have to be updated over time to keep them relevant and the site
ranking against the competition.
One important factor that’s often overlooked when running SEO campaigns is data
management. SEO campaigns can accumulate a lot of important data to which more
than one person may need access. In order to align your data from multiple systems, you need a reliable tool that will help you make this process easy and straightforward.
In this article, we’ll take a look at a few data management techniques that can
help keep your SEO campaigns running smoothly and, more importantly, your
clients happy.
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| Good data management is just one piece of running a successful SEO campaign. (Image credit: hybris.com) |
Keeping Track of Keywords
Keywords are some of the most important data you’ll need to collect and analyze
when running an SEO campaign. Depending on how many campaigns you manage, you
may have to collect, store, and analyze hundreds or thousands of keywords that
are relevant to one specific website.
Using a keyword manager can help keep track of the keywords you use on a daily
basis. Look for a keyword manager that allows you to add or delete keywords
easily, tag the keywords for categorization and running reports, and import and
export large amounts in CSV format. If you have multiple teammates working on
the same campaign, it may be useful to find a service that stores data in the
cloud so it can be accessed from anywhere.
Since keyword research is vital to a successful SEO campaign, make sure you
keep track of your data in real time by using a data integration provider like Syncsort.com.
Link Management
Just like keyword management, link management is equally important when running
a successful SEO campaign. Depending on how large the campaign is, you may have
a hundred different links or a few thousand. Your data management software
should be able to keep track of the status, the type of link, and the website
on which the link is located. Look for a provider that allows you to search and
filter through links, manage multiple campaigns, and import and export large
volumes of links in CSV format.
If you have multiple people working on the same link-building campaign, it’s
important that everyone has access to the same real-time data. Choose a data
management provider that offers a cloud-based storage solution that everyone
can access and edit. Keeping team members on the same page is crucial to
running a smooth campaign. Your clients will thank you for it.
Creating Content
Creating fresh, unique, and captivating content is just as important as picking
the right keywords to focus on during your SEO campaign. If you don’t create
content, you’ll have a hard time getting the website to rank against the
competition. Keep track of the content your team creates for each campaign, where
the content was posted, how many views it’s received, and the keywords it
contains. It can be helpful to keep track of the URLs so you can update your
linking strategy later on, as well.
Keeping Track of Account Information
Depending on your SEO strategy, you may need to create accounts for a variety
of social networking, bookmarking, and marketing sites and services. Everyone
working on the campaign should have access to this information so that no time
is lost tracking down basic information like usernames and passwords.
Since these accounts can contain sensitive data, your data management practices
should include security so that only the people who need the information have
access to it. If your data management software allows you to set permissions,
make sure you include everyone who needs it, and password-protect it to keep
unauthorized people out.
Keeping Track of Results
SEO is a process that takes time and dedication, along with good research since
search engine algorithms are constantly changing. Since SEO is an evolving
process, it’s a good idea to keep track of the results on a consistent basis.
Good data management practices allows you to compare the results week to week,
month to month, and even year to year. If you’re running a campaign for a
client, keeping track of historical data allows you to show your performance
over a selected period of time.
Consider keeping track of direct navigation, referral traffic, and search
traffic, both percentage and exact numbers. It’s also a good idea to keep track
of which search engines your traffic is coming from, and what keywords and
phrases are being used to find the site. In addition, keep track of the
conversion rate by search query term or phrase. Knowing where your sites’
conversions are coming from enables you to revise your strategy in the future
and focus on the tactics that are working.
Good data management practices are just as important as the campaign itself. If
you’re unable to track the results of your campaign, you may end up wasting
time and effort on strategies that aren’t working. More importantly, if the SEO
campaign is for a client, you need to be able to show the progress you’ve made
over a specified period of time. If the client can’t see any positive results,
they may be more likely to look elsewhere for help.
Good data management practices allow you keep track of your keyword research,
link building, content, account information, and the results of your campaign.
If you’re not using data management to your advantage, now is the time to
start.
