What is SEO Forecasting and Why it is Important?

What is SEO Forecasting?

SEO forecasting is the process of looking at analytics data from previous search traffic and determining if there are certain patterns or trends that repeat over time.

It is used for both enterprise-level websites and small businesses alike as a means of determining how to make future decisions that fall in line with big picture goals for the digital brand.

The reason that digital marketers need to implement some form of the process into their strategies is that it makes it easier to decide which goals are truly attainable and how to best use resources to achieve them.

Benefits of SEO forecasting

There are many benefits of SEO forecasting beyond more informed decision-making. For example, it helps you:

• Determine if your goals are reasonable and achievable
• Allocate your marketing budget wisely
• Understand your data, what it’s telling you, and how to use it to your advantage

How to Use Data to Forecast SEO

Gather Data

The first step in SEO forecasting is to gather the historical data for your digital website traffic.

This can be either a Google Analytics report, data from specific tools, or anything else you have that gives insight into your past traffic levels and who is coming to your digital page.

You’ll want to go as far back as you can with this information, as it will help you see any specific patterns or seasonal phases that might affect results over time.

Consider Outside Factors

Once you have all of your past traffic data, it is time to take into consideration any outside factors that might have impacted results during a specific time period.

A few elements to remember include:

• Various Google algorithm changes that impacted traffic for everyone.
• Seasons that make it more likely a website visitor would seek content on your page or look for the goods and services your company provides.
• Prior marketing campaigns or pay-per-click (PPC) advertising that made traffic higher than normal.
• For eCommerce brands, pay close attention to key shopping dates like Black Friday or the holidays.

During this step of the process, you can also utilize SEO tools to gain that third-party data.

Use a Forecasting Tool

Next, you want to take all of the information you’ve gathered and use a forecasting tool.

In fact, here are dozens of different apps and software programs that do this. And we’ve outlined a few of our favorites below.

You might want to use a couple of different options and compare the results to see what insight each offers.

Analyze the Data

Finally, it is time to analyze the data.

Be sure to look at any emerging trends that you notice and determine if they look like they’ll continue into the future.

This is also the point where noticing areas where you have a particular weakness or need to make a change is critical.

The Value of SEO Forecasting

The overall goal with SEO forecasting is to show a client or your team or boss what you predict the returns of their SEO investment would be. Can they expect traffic to increase over the course of a year? Will the revenue increase during this time? By indicating the level of marketing performance they can expect to see over time, based on the SEO work you’re going to do, you help them realize a path toward their goals. You offer up rationale for what they will be spending on SEO work, as well as a benchmark to measure against.