How To Set Realistic SEO Goals For Lead Generation Businesses

So, you want to build an online presence, huh?

Want to see more enquiries and calls coming through, eh?

You’ve come to the right place. At Gorilla 360, we’re hellbent on finding solutions to your online visibility issues. All of our gorillas have put in the work and discovered the answer to the one question all business owners want to know – how do we improve our business and get more people interested online?

The answer is SEO. It includes link building, website optimisations for client/customer relevant search queries, content marketing and more, all designed to improve the user experience and help climb Google’s ranks to achieve the top spot.

Wondering where to start? First, you need to create realistic, achievable SEO goals for your business… and we’re going to show you how to do it. Read on.

Tip #1. Don’t start with your SEO goals

The biggest mistake business owners can make is to dive straight into SEO goals.

You can’t create realistic SEO goals without understanding your business objectives and marketing goals first. More than likely, these have been your main focus up until this point, and it’s important to keep in mind that marketing and SEO are going to be working hand-in-hand.

Consider the following questions:

1. What is your business trying to achieve this year? This quarter? This MONTH?! 
2. How does your marketing contribute to these goals? 
3. Has your marketing been improving traffic to the website? 
4. Has your conversion rate improved with your current marketing strategies?  
5. Why is your marketing team doing what they’re doing?

You must consider how SEO will contribute to both marketing goals and business objectives. Once you’ve hashed out the questions above, you can gracefully cannonball into creating SEO goals… unlike the guy in the gif.

That was just unfortunate.

Tip #2. Streamline the process with SMART goals

You can streamline the SEO planning process with “SMART goals”. This is a checklist of Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timelined goals designed for business owners aiming to make progress in the next 12 – 24 months. SMART represents.

Here’s the short version:

Aaaaand here’s the longer, more in-depth version, complete with tips to figure these out:

Specific:

Sit down and think about what a goal or conversion is for you. Maybe you’re looking for 5 extra calls or enquiries per month or more exposure from organic traffic sources. Think about how these goals connect to your overall business objectives – what does success look like?

Measurable:

In SEO, almost everything can be measured, but it’s important to focus on the big three: SEO metrics, link building metrics, and real-world metrics. Look at each of these in relation to your business – for example, a 50% rise in organic traffic might result in a 50% rise in conversions from organic traffic. Is SEO doing enough for you?

Achievable:

It’s human nature to think big when it comes to results. However, it’s essential to be realistic about SEO goals. Before setting the bar too high, consider things like the feasibility of ranking for a keyword with 6,000 monthly searches on Google. Can you compete with conglomerates, government websites, and chain businesses?

Realistic:

We all want to be in the top three search results. This isn’t a realistic expectation when you’re three months into SEO. Aim to create excellent content like service pages and location pages that are designed to get on the first page. SEO takes time.

Timelined:

SEO takes far longer to take effect than other forms of marketing… but setting a time-related goal will help ensure you reach your goals. Set a goal of 12 – 24 months and track results along the way.

Tip #3. Find out what success looks like in measurable data

So, you’re well on your way to creating viable SEO goals. You know what you want and you might even know how to get there… but how do you measure success?

Is it reaching the top of search results?

Is it getting a few more enquiries and phone calls across the line?

The best part of SEO is that almost everything is measurable. From email link clicks to the amount of time someone spends watching a YouTube video, we can catch user behaviour, traffic growth, and website performance improvements with just a few pieces of code.

Here at Gorilla 360, we use a program called Google Analytics to measure how a website is performing. This is useful because it shows us how website performance has improved (or declined) since starting particular SEO efforts like on-site SEO plans, internal linking, and backlink building.

You can keep track of progress, see how many people inquire, call, email and even subscriber to email newsletters throughout the month, and see how this grows over the months (and years).

Google Analytics is a free addition to your Google Account. Totally worth investing, if you ask us.

And remember… SEO results don’t happen overnight

Setting smart, realistic SEO goals and having the means to measure progress will do wonders for your business. Aligned with your business and marketing goals, SEO can be a valuable addition to your business plan, helping you climb the ranks and get more clients through to access your services.

However, we must offer one final word of warning…

Don’t expect to see SEO results overnight!

According to Forbes magazine (and of course, our own experience), SEO results can take up to 12 months to appear. It’s important not to get overzealous once your SEO goals are set – SEO is not a magic solution to good rankings. SEO is about being proactive and working at it over time.

So, set your goals – but remember to analyse them at least 6-12 months down the line because SEO is not a race. It’s a cross between an obstacle course and a marathon.

Want to make your SEO obstacle course a relay? Pass the baton onto Gorilla 360. We’ll help smash your SEO goals straight off the block.