5 Benefits of SEO Forecasting Guide

Does it feel like you’re always one step behind in your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts? It can be frustrating to spend all that time on keyword research, content creation, and optimization only to see content get lost in the search engine results pages (SERPs). 

Fortunately, you don’t need to sit back and wait to see if your SEO efforts have been in vain. With SEO forecasting, also sometimes called predictive SEO, you use past data to predict your website’s future traffic and search engine rankings, enabling you to make the kind of data-driven decisions that can help send your content to the top of the SERPs.

Read on to learn more about the benefits of SEO forecasting to enhance your content marketing strategy.

Key Takeaways (TL;DR)

• SEO forecasting can help you set realistic, measurable goals.
• With a combination of past data and current trends, you can plan out your content calendar months in advance.
• SEO forecasts can give you a competitive edge.
• By presenting stakeholders with data-driven insights into your SEO strategy, you can improve customer relationships.
• When you know which marketing tactics are likely to give you the best ROI, you can allocate resources more effectively.

1. Set Realistic Goals

When it comes to SEO, one of the biggest mistakes companies make is setting unrealistic expectations for the performance of their content. While your goal may be to achieve the number-one spot overnight, the odds of doing so are low. Very low. One study found that it takes a page about 3.39 months to reach its top ranking on the SERPs.

How did they arrive at this number? By looking at historical data, of course!

That being said, several factors can affect how long it takes to rank on search engines, so this is far from a one-size-fits-all answer. To set realistic goals for your website with SEO forecasting, you need to collect and analyze insights from:

• First-party data, like your website’s previous rankings and traffic patterns. 
• Third-party data from competitors to see what they’re doing and what’s worked for them.
• Data from external factors, like current trends and potential algorithm changes.

With this information, you can get an idea of what to expect from your current SEO strategy. You can then use it to set realistic expectations or change your approach to see if other techniques can help you reach your goals.

2. Plan SEO Efforts in Advance

For many businesses, SEO is just a part of what they do. Some marketing teams also focus on offline advertising, while content agencies specialize in creating engaging, readable people-first content. So, wouldn’t it be great if you could take something off your plate and plan out your SEO efforts months in advance?

You can with SEO forecasting.

By analyzing past data and current trends, you can figure out which search terms your audience will likely be looking for in the future. Not to mention, when demand will be at its peak.

Example: Let’s say your company sells candy canes. Looking at past data, you find traffic for candy cane-related blog posts peaks around the middle of December, so you plan to create and publish a post about “the best way to eat candy canes” around that time.

3. Gain a Competitive Edge

One of the best things about SEO forecasting is this:

Not everyone is doing it.

Many content marketers take a more reactive approach to SEO by working with what is currently working and trending rather than predicting what may be popular in the future. 

So, if you can leverage SEO forecasting, you may just get that extra edge you need to pass your competition in search engine rankings.

Example: Let’s go back to our candy cane example scenario. 

• Using SEO forecasting, you already know that the peak demand for this search term is mid-December. 
• However, the data also suggests that butterscotch-flavored candy may become an emerging trend around that time. 
• Based on this, you create a post on “butterscotch-flavored candy canes,” which just so happens to be a low-competition keyword in your niche.

With SEO forecasting, you can capture the traffic and visibility from keyword opportunities to gain a competitive edge.

4. Improve Customer Relationships

Whether you’re a part of a marketing agency or an in-house digital marketing team, there’s a good chance you’ve come across a few clients or stakeholders who aren’t familiar with SEO. They know it's important, but don’t realize what it takes to get results, leading to questions like, “Why aren’t we ranking yet?”

To help answer client questions, you can show the potential future impact of SEO decisions with an SEO forecast.

For example, let’s say stakeholders are skeptical about the impact of your candy cane-related blog posts. With an SEO forecast, you can show them:

• Traffic associated with the search term in previous years.
• Data that leads you to believe that “butterscotch-flavored candy canes” will be an emerging trend.
• Projected traffic and ROI from these posts based on historical data.

Ultimately, SEO forecasts involve clients in your strategy. If you can show them how your actions impact their bottom line, it can set the stage for a better working relationship.

5. Allocate Resources and Budget Effectively

Unlike pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, organic traffic doesn’t require payment for a spot on the SERPs. However, this doesn’t mean that SEO is free. 

High-quality content writing and optimization is an important cost consideration, so it’s important to ensure you have the budget and resources to implement strategies successfully. 

Fortunately, SEO forecasting can help out here as well. By looking at the data and assessing which techniques are likely to give you the best ROI, you can effectively allocate your resources and estimate your budget for the best results.

Example: Let’s say your company’s content and social media teams would benefit from an additional team member. However, if both teams hire a new team member, the company would go over budget. So, how do you decide who gets them?

Well, businesses often make their decisions based on ROI. If you’re on the content team and show the decision-maker an SEO forecast demonstrating that increasing content on a particular topic would lead to better search rankings, you’re more likely to get that resource.

Drive More Traffic with SEO Forecasting

SEO forecasting can help you get ahead in the SERPs in various ways. Update your SEO forecasts regularly to account for any major changes, stay ahead of the curve, and make the kind of data-driven decisions that are key to a successful SEO strategy. 

Happy SEO forecasting!