SEO is a complex topic that requires a lot of research and work. Not only do you have to work hard to get to the top of the SERPs, but you have to work hard to stay there, as well. But how do you know if your efforts are really working? If you’re targeting dozens, even hundreds of keywords or more, how can you possibly keep up with whether or not your rankings are going up, staying the same, or even slipping? Think about this: Let’s say you’re trying to lose weight. You go on a diet and start exercising, but you have no measuring tape and no scale to track your results. You might see occasional signs that you’re actually losing weight, like your pants fitting a bit looser, but without real results staring you in the face, you’re likely to lose motivation. You might even give up entirely.
The same thing can happen in SEO. You might see occasional signs that your rankings are improving, such as jumps in traffic, but that could be due to anything from getting a post on social media to some sort of seasonal boost in search traffic. It doesn’t necessarily mean your rankings have changed.
