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Judging the effectiveness of your SEO and content marketing efforts is tough. Monthly reports often leave apartment marketers with a lot of different statistics to ponder, and the sheer amount of this data can sometimes make it difficult to interpret campaign performance. To make things easier, we’re taking a look at three fundamental pillars of a solid SEO campaign and explaining how each pillar influences the next. If you notice any of the three trends below, your SEO and content marketing efforts are in good shape.

You’re a Rising Star in Google

It’s important to have realistic expectations of how quickly SEO initiatives will boost your rankings in Google. Online marketing success doesn’t happen overnight. And if you ever come across a company that promises a top organic position in a short amount of time, that company is either selling snake oil or using shady black-hat techniques that will catch up to you in the long run.

Rather than trying to leapfrog your way to the top, opt for a slow and steady approach that causes your site to rise in rank over time. Sure, it can be frustrating sitting on Page 2 when you know a ton of qualified leads are going to sites listed on Page 1. But if your strategies remain consistent, and you see yourself climbing one or two positions every month, it’s only a matter of time before your site is front and center.

Your Rise in Rank Correlates With a Rise in Visitors

Earning a higher ranking in Google certainly has its perks. You’ve probably heard that higher rankings correlate with higher click through rates. And according to some of the most recent click through rate studies, the first three listings on Google receive more than 50 percent of search traffic.

That being said, receiving more traffic is the end game of earning higher rankings. So if you’re seeing an increase in traffic overall, it doesn’t matter whether you moved from Position 5 to Position 4 or from Position 9 to Position 8. More traffic is more traffic. And when you’re dealing with a region where search volume is particularly large – such as a city or high population suburb – a 2 percent traffic increase could very well represent hundreds of new visitors.

Your Rise in Visitors Leads to a Rise in Leases

Increasing leases is the ultimate goal of your marketing efforts. But again, it’s important to have realistic goals of how much leases will increase as a result of content marketing and SEO. Remember that not every user who clicks on your site is a qualified lead, nor is every qualified lead who visits your site a guaranteed conversion.

Unless you build a new website with a flawless U/X design that effortlessly persuades 100 percent of visitors directly to your leasing page – which, by the way, is virtually impossible – seeing an increase in sales is largely about volume. This is because conversions are a statistics game, where there’s a fixed percentage of users that are likely to convert. In other words, if you currently sign 2 leases per month at a fixed conversion rate of 2 percent, the only way to double the amount of leases you sign per month is to double your monthly traffic.

Conclusion

In order to judge the effectiveness of your apartment SEO and content marketing strategies, take a close look at how CTR, traffic, and conversions change over time. If you’re seeing an increase, you’re on the right track.

Higher rankings lead to a higher click through rate. Higher click through rates lead to an increase in traffic. And an increase in traffic leads to more sales.