Setting SMART goals is such an important practice in business (not just marketing)!
Without specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and targeted goals, we would all likely waste tons of time, resources, and money.
Company goals are what each employee works towards, whether that be for a stationery company aiming to increase sales or a hospital’s goal to save lives. Each area of business should be aware of the company goals in order to perform their activities accordingly to help reach each goal as one big team.
So, when it comes to SEO goal setting, are you sure your current goals are up to par? Do they align with and work towards the overall company goals? If you are unsure, it’s worth reconsidering with our tips…
First things first, think of the bigger picture.
When your SEO team is getting together with clients, consultants, or your agency, don’t start with SEO goals! Think about the big picture, start with your company goals. Once you have an idea of what your company wants to achieve this year, month, or quarter, you can then look to your marketing departments goals. These should align clearly with your company goals and make it clear to everyone in the company why marketing is doing what they’re doing.
Now your team can think about setting goals for SEO that are going to support not only your marketing goals but your company goals by taking the whole business into consideration.
Make sure your SEO goals are SMART.
S – Specific:
M – Measurable:
Here are a few examples of measurable goal metrics;
- Rankings
- Organic Search visits
- SERP ownership
- Search Volume
- Links and link metrics
- Referral Traffic
A – Achievable:
R – Realistic:
T – Timelined:
To wrap it all up, here’s a simple example of a great SEO goal;
“Our company will increase leads from organic search by 25% over 12 months. We will accomplish this by moving our targeted keywords from the bottom of page 1 to the top of page 1.”
- Specific – Want to increase leads by 25%
- Measurable – Rankings, organic traffic and results are easily measured
- Achievable – Yes, we can always improve rankings
- Realistic – This is a reasonable improvement from where the company is already in rankings
- Timeline – 12 months is the timeline
SEO goals don’t have to be hard, they just have to be SMART! Keep that in mind and you’ll be fine.
Want to get some expert advice on SEO? Visit our page to get in contact with one of our team today! We’re ready and excited to help.
