Was changing some keywords worth it?

[ExtranomicalTours]

Hi, I recently started with the SEO and all the "magic".

Thanks to moz I analyze/change my keywords in On-Page optimization and follow recommendations in the Crawl Diagnostic. Since then I have a simple (maybe dummie) question.
How can I determine that changing of  some keywords was worth it? I was thinking that I could check these three things if they are growing/improving:

• check "url - keyword" rank and grade

• check number of visits from the organic search history

• check Page Authority, MozRank, MozTrust in Open Site Explorer

Are these three good metrics? What else?I know it is probably not so easy to answer and it is probably matter of discussion.

Thanks anyway for answers.

D.

[ClaudioHeilborn]

Hi Dusan

I believe your proposed metrics are the adequate.

Anyway I must tell you that I do not use only moz which I love... I use lots of Google Analytics, and probably you will also love to see how your metrics are changing  day after day, and I´ll tell you why.

It is not only a matter of visits, you also need to know if those visits "convert" as they navigate a certain amount of time, a certain amount of pages... or in the best case, bought, or at least subscribed for a newsletter...

It is a combination of kw search volume, relevance, serp position, number of visits, and returns which bring profitable results on this virtuous equation.

I hope I have given at least a glimpse of how I look for results when selecting kw strategies.

Cheers from southern Spain.

[MattRoney]

Hi Dusan!

You're definitely on the right track, though I'd make a few adjustments to those metrics. To tell whether changes to your on-page keyword targeting were worth it, I'd suggest focusing on rankings changes and traffic.

While Page Grade will tell you whether a page is compliant with keyword targeting best practices, it won't tell you whether that keyword targeting is positively affecting your rankings or traffic. Page Authority, MozRank, and MozTrust are link metrics, and don't consider any on-page or keyword targeting factors, so they really won't do anything to show the effects of your on-page optimization.

Does that help?

[ExtranomicalTours]

Thanks for the answers, guys!

I got it now...
I guess it is not that simple to answer my question. If it was easy to measure which keywords are "the best" it would be simpler, but (on the other hand) less interesting

D.