Hiring an SEO freelancer can help boost your website's traffic, improve rankings, and generate leads. However, tracking their work is essential to ensure you get real results and not just vague reports.

Here's a simple step-by-step guide to monitoring and evaluating your SEO freelancer's performance.

Step 1: Set Clear SEO Goals & Deliverables
Before tracking their work, define what success looks like for your business.

✅ Common SEO Goals:

Increase organic traffic by XX% in 3–6 months
Improve keyword rankings for XX primary keywords
Reduce bounce rate & increase user engagement
Generate XX% more leads or conversions from organic traffic
📌 Deliverables to Expect from Your SEO Freelancer:
✅ Keyword research report (target keywords)
✅ On-page optimization (titles, meta descriptions, content updates)
✅ Technical SEO fixes (site speed, mobile optimization, crawl errors)
✅ Link-building strategy & progress report
✅ Monthly SEO progress report

💡 Tip: Set measurable goals like "Increase organic traffic by 20% in 6 months" to track performance effectively.

Step 2: Use SEO Tracking Tools
To monitor your freelancer's work, use reliable SEO tools that provide real-time data.

✅ Best SEO Tracking Tools:
📊 Google Analytics – Track organic traffic, bounce rate, user behavior.
🔍 Google Search Console – Monitor rankings, impressions, and technical SEO issues.
📈 SEMrush / Ahrefs / Ubersuggest – Check keyword rankings, backlinks, and competitor data.
⚡ Screaming Frog SEO – Scan website issues (broken links, missing metadata, duplicate content).
🔗 Moz / Majestic – Track backlink growth & domain authority.

💡 Tip: Ask your freelancer to share access to these tools or send you weekly/monthly reports.

Step 3: Check On-Page SEO Changes
Your freelancer should optimize your website's content and structure to improve rankings.

📌 How to Track On-Page SEO Updates:
✅ Check meta tags & descriptions – Are keywords optimized?
✅ Monitor content updates – Are new articles well-structured, SEO-friendly, and valuable?
✅ Check internal linking – Are they adding links to boost navigation and rankings?
✅ Test website speed – Use Google PageSpeed Insights to track improvements.

💡 Tip: Use a tool like Wayback Machine or VisualPing to monitor on-page SEO changes over time.

Step 4: Track Keyword Rankings & Search Performance
One of the best ways to measure SEO success is by tracking keyword movements over time.

📌 How to Monitor Keyword Rankings:
✅ Use Google Search Console → Performance Report → Check rankings & impressions.
✅ Use SEMrush / Ahrefs / Ubersuggest to track keyword positions.
✅ Compare before & after rankings every 2-4 weeks.

💡 Tip: If rankings aren't improving after 3-6 months, discuss strategy changes with your freelancer.

Step 5: Monitor Backlink Building & Domain Authority
If your freelancer is building backlinks, you need to ensure they are high-quality and not spammy.

📌 How to Track Backlinks:
✅ Use Ahrefs / Moz / Majestic to see new backlinks & domain authority growth.
✅ Ask for a backlink report (list of acquired backlinks, anchor text, and domain sources).
✅ Check for toxic/spammy links and disavow bad backlinks if needed.

💡 Tip: High-quality backlinks from authoritative sites (DA 50+) are more valuable than 100 low-quality links.

Step 6: Analyze Organic Traffic & Conversions
SEO is not just about rankings—it's about driving quality traffic & generating leads/sales.

📌 How to Track SEO Traffic & Conversions:
✅ Check Google Analytics → Acquisition → Organic Traffic trends.
✅ Track bounce rate & average session duration (are users staying longer on your site?).
✅ Use Google Tag Manager / Goal Tracking to see how many leads, sign-ups, or sales come from SEO traffic.

💡 Tip: If traffic is growing but conversions are low, discuss CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) with your freelancer.

Step 7: Request Weekly or Monthly SEO Reports
A professional SEO freelancer should provide regular updates on progress.

📌 What a Good SEO Report Should Include:
✅ Keyword ranking improvements 📈
✅ Organic traffic growth 📊
✅ On-page & technical SEO fixes ✅
✅ Backlink progress (quality links added) 🔗
✅ Next steps & strategy recommendations 🚀

💡 Tip: If your freelancer doesn't send reports, ask for a monthly performance summary to stay informed.

Step 8: Evaluate & Optimize the SEO Strategy
SEO takes time, but after 3-6 months, you should see improvements.

📌 How to Assess SEO Progress:
✅ Are rankings improving for targeted keywords?
✅ Is organic traffic increasing steadily?
✅ Are you getting more leads/sales from organic traffic?
✅ Are backlinks & domain authority growing?

💡 Tip: If you're not seeing results, discuss new strategies or consider hiring a more experienced SEO expert.

Final Thoughts: Stay Informed & Track SEO Success
Tracking your SEO freelancer's work ensures you're getting real results and not just paying for empty promises. By setting clear goals, using tracking tools, and analyzing key SEO metrics, you can ensure steady website growth & higher rankings.

🚀 Quick Recap:
✅ Define SEO goals & deliverables 📌
✅ Use tools like Google Analytics & SEMrush for tracking 📊
✅ Monitor keyword rankings, backlinks, & traffic 🔍
✅ Request monthly SEO reports & evaluate performance 📈
✅ Optimize strategies based on results for continuous growth 💡

Hiring an SEO freelancer can help improve your website's ranking, but how do you ensure they're actually doing the work? Here's a step-by-step guide to tracking your SEO freelancer's progress efficiently.

✅ 1. Define Clear Goals & Expectations
Before tracking, set clear expectations on what your freelancer should deliver.

🎯 Key SEO Goals:
✔ Increase website traffic
✔ Improve rankings for specific keywords
✔ Optimize technical SEO
✔ Build quality backlinks
✔ Improve page speed

📌 Action: Share a document detailing deliverables, deadlines, and expected results.

✅ 2. Request Weekly or Monthly Reports
A reliable freelancer should provide regular reports on their SEO activities.

📊 What Should Be in the Report?
✔ Keyword Rankings – Are your target keywords improving?
✔ Website Traffic Data – Changes in organic visitors (Google Analytics).
✔ Backlink Report – New backlinks they built (Ahrefs, SEMrush).
✔ On-Page SEO Changes – What content optimizations were done?
✔ Technical SEO Fixes – Any site speed or mobile optimizations?

📌 Action: Ask for reports using tools like Google Data Studio, Excel, or Google Sheets.

✅ 3. Monitor Google Search Console & Analytics
🚀 Google Search Console (GSC) – Check indexing, impressions & click-through rates.
🚀 Google Analytics – See organic traffic trends, bounce rates & session duration.

📌 Action: Grant read-only access to your freelancer and review the data weekly.

✅ 4. Track Keyword Ranking Progress
Use free & paid SEO tools to verify keyword improvements.

🔹 Free Tools:
✔ Google Search Console (GSC)
✔ Ubersuggest

🔹 Paid Tools:
✔ Ahrefs
✔ SEMrush
✔ Moz

📌 Action: Compare their reports with your own keyword ranking data.

✅ 5. Verify Backlinks & Off-Page SEO Work
If your freelancer claims they are building backlinks, verify it.

🔹 How to Check?
✔ Use Ahrefs, Moz, or SEMrush to track new backlinks.
✔ Manually check if links are quality or spammy (avoid toxic links).
✔ Ensure links are from relevant websites with high DA (Domain Authority).

📌 Action: Ask for a backlink report with URLs and verify them yourself.

✅ 6. Monitor On-Page SEO Changes
Check if your freelancer has optimized your content properly.

🔹 What to Review?
✔ Meta Titles & Descriptions – Are they SEO-optimized?
✔ Heading Tags (H1, H2, H3) – Properly structured?
✔ Keyword Optimization – Are the right keywords included?
✔ Image Optimization – Alt text & compressed images?
✔ Internal Linking – Are important pages properly linked?

📌 Action: Use SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math) to review content optimizations.

✅ 7. Track Technical SEO Fixes
A good freelancer should also improve your website's technical SEO.

🔹 Key Technical SEO Checks:
✔ Page Speed – Use Google PageSpeed Insights
✔ Mobile Usability – Google Mobile-Friendly Test
✔ Broken Links – Check with Screaming Frog
✔ Fix Crawl Errors – Review Google Search Console

📌 Action: Ask for a list of technical fixes and verify them with SEO tools.

✅ 8. Conduct Monthly Performance Reviews
Every month, have a quick 15-30 minute review with your freelancer.

🎯 What to Discuss?
✔ Progress on keyword rankings & traffic
✔ Backlinks built (quality & relevance)
✔ Any challenges & next steps

📌 Action: Use a shared Google Sheet to track progress & discuss improvements.

✅ 9. Test SEO Freelancer's Work with an Audit
Run a monthly SEO audit to ensure everything is working.

🔹 Tools for SEO Audit:
✔ Google Search Console (Errors & Warnings)
✔ SEO Site Checkup (https://seositecheckup.com/)
✔ SEMrush/Ahrefs (Comprehensive SEO Reports)

📌 Action: If issues persist, question your freelancer's strategies.

✅ 10. Watch Out for Red Flags 🚨
Some freelancers use black hat SEO tactics that can harm your site!

🚫 Red Flags:
❌ Instant SEO results (SEO takes time, no overnight success).
❌ Spammy backlinks from irrelevant sites.
❌ Duplicate content or keyword stuffing.
❌ No regular updates or reports.

📌 Action: If you notice these, change your freelancer ASAP!

🎯 Final Thoughts: Keep Your SEO Freelancer Accountable!
Tracking your SEO freelancer doesn't have to be complicated. Set clear expectations, request regular reports, and use SEO tools to verify their work.

✅ Set goals & expectations
✅ Monitor keyword rankings & backlinks
✅ Check on-page & technical SEO fixes
✅ Run SEO audits & avoid black hat tactics