How do you set SMART goals for SEO?

Setting goals is a critical part of SEO. However, while setting goals, one should not only focus on weaknesses but also focus on strengths. For example, if a particular content is working great for your audience, your SEO Goal should be to create more such content.

To kickstart the formulation of SMART goals for SEO, the initial action is to pinpoint your website's desired outcomes. Are you aiming to boost website traffic, enhance conversions, grow revenue, elevate brand awareness, or pursue another objective? It's crucial that your SEO objectives harmonize with your broader business aims and mirror the aspirations and expectations of your target audience. Leveraging tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or other SEO platforms can aid in scrutinizing your website's present performance and spotting opportunities for enhancement.

The crucial second stage involves creating goals that are both precise and comprehensive. Setting a generalized objective such as simply aiming to "enhance SEO" lacks clarity as it fails to outline specific actionable steps or provide means for assessing achievements. In contrast, a well-defined goal addresses key aspects like defining the target audience, specifying the activities required, identifying the location and timeline, understanding the purpose, and outlining the methodologies to be employed. To illustrate, a concrete objective might entail "boosting organic traffic originating from the United States by 20% within the upcoming half-year through strategic enhancements to website content and technical features."

To reap the full benefits of SEO, it’s essential to establish clear and actionable goals. Search Engine Optimization stands as a crucial solution for businesses aiming to enhance their digital presence and attract organic traffic.

I feel goals should be set around things that are within our control. Google SERP Rank is not something we can control, as the best content with the best SEO strategy may never rank on Google. Instead, we should set a goal like "Reduce bounce rate from 60% to 50% by improving the content quality, better internal linking, and improved site navigation."

By creating and setting the SMART framework — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound — you can craft objectives that propel your SEO strategy toward success.

It is important to set SEO goals correctly. They provide a clear focus and serve as checkpoints to evaluate whether your SEO tactics are effectively serving your objectives.

When setting time-bound goals - be super realistic to avoid disappointment. SEO has a bad rap for not delivering, but in my experience that's because expectations around time-scales have not been set and the customer doesn't know when to expect results, or worse they never would have committed to a realistic project in the first place.

When setting SMART goals for an org of any size, education of wider stakeholders is important. Oftentimes, there is a disconnect between what non-technical, non-SEO stakeholders see as being important versus what is actually important - or is even measurable/quantifiable in a meaningful way. This is why I prefer SMARTI goals when working with enterprise orgs with active C-level and VP. These are the same SMART goals as above, but adding on "impact", as ultimately wider stakeholders just care about the business impact of these activities. An SEO graph going up or down is just a vessel for leads, revenue, brand awareness, and other things the business wants from the SEO activities.

To make your SMART goals even more effective, consider making them SMART-ER by adding Evaluation and Revision. Periodically evaluate the effectiveness of your strategies and see how closely they’re moving you toward your SEO goals. When certain goals are achieved earlier than anticipated, celebrate the successes and consider setting new milestones to keep the momentum going. On the other hand, if you find some goals are lagging, take the time to figure out potential reasons and adjust your tactics accordingly. This way, you can be sure you’re keeping up with the ever-changing nature of SEO while not falling behind on your goals.