I’m not a very subtle person. I’m also one of the most impatient people I know. So I know how difficult it is to take things slowly.
But when it comes to testing SEO changes on your website, rushing things will cost you rankings and traffic.
Like most marketing, one small change can make a big difference. But if you’re changing EVERYTHING at once, how would you know which small change made the difference?
Why changing everything at once breaks your SEO tracking
I know how it is. You read a blog post, watch a YouTube video, get advice from someone on LinkedIn, and before you know it you have a list of fifteen things to change on your website. Each one is sure to be the thing that makes the difference to your rankings, traffic, or sales, right?
So you change them all at once. And it works! Your rankings improve, your traffic gets better, suddenly you’re getting more enquiries.
But which change made the difference?
Right now you probably don’t care, because whatever it was, it worked. But what about in a few weeks, when some of those changes have caught up with you and suddenly your rankings have dropped, your traffic is down, and the enquiries have stopped?
Which change caused the problem? You don’t know.
How to test website changes properly
Write a list of the changes you want to make, then make them one at a time.
Give each change at least a week to take effect before you make the next one. Monitor your rankings and traffic after each change. When something improves, stop for a bit before making the next change so you can see what’s working.
If something changes for the worse, you know exactly which change caused it and you can revert it.
Yes, it’s time-consuming. Yes, it’s a bit frustrating when you want to fix everything right now. But it’s not as frustrating as watching your rankings tank and having no idea which of the 15 changes you made last week is the culprit.
What to track when testing SEO changes
For each change you make, track:
- Rankings for your target keywords (check them before the change, then weekly after)
- Organic traffic from Google Analytics
- Enquiries or conversions from your website
- Any Google Search Console warnings or errors
Keep a simple spreadsheet noting what you changed and when. Nothing fancy, just “Changed homepage title tag on 15th March” so you can connect any ranking movements to specific changes.
The biggest mistake DIY SEOs make
Panicking and changing everything back when you don’t see instant results.
SEO changes take time. A new title tag might take a week to show any movement. A restructured page might take two weeks. New content might take a month or more.
If you change something on Monday and revert it on Friday because nothing happened, you’re not giving it enough time. And you’re definitely not learning what works for your website.
When to get help with SEO changes
If you’re changing multiple things at once and watching your rankings bounce around, you’re making your SEO harder than it needs to be. I work with B2B businesses to implement and track SEO changes properly. Book a 30-minute discovery call and I’ll show you how to test changes without breaking what’s already working.
