The overarching goal of commissioning Search Engine Optimization is to increase website traffic, not simply get your ad to show up on a Google search. Website owners need to always remember this, as your website ranking doesn’t do much good if you have no idea as to whether or not people are actually visiting your website!

On all website installations, I currently install Google Analytics. Presuming you’ve had your website optimized for Search Engines already, it’s paramount that you keep track of what is going on with your targeted consumers. Analytics software like Google Analytics, Going Up, Yahoo Analytics and Clicky provide comprehensive reporting of how much traffic your website is receiving, where it’s coming from and how it’s navigating. Even an hour a week will give you much better insight as to how your social networking, content and offline advertising efforts are affecting your website traffic.

Analytics software lets you see real-time website traffic.

With any type of marketing effort, I highly recommend tracking what’s going on with your traffic. For most Content Management Systems it’s as easy as installing a plugin, and even without a CMS system you can get started with limited HTML knowledge, or by commissioning a professional for roughly an hours worth of time (just for basic installation, consult a professional for pricing on comprehensive reporting). Whether you just had a sale on your online store, or posted a comprehensive article on your blog, ultimately you’re looking for results, and having end-result data makes determining those results just that much easier!