Benchmarking
How does your website stack up?
An introduction to benchmarking done SEI-style
Firstly, nobody's perfect. No one gets 100%, not even the world’s biggest search engine. So please, don’t be disheartened when you first see your score.
Look, CNN is 81.
We had to create a scale that accommodated every site in the world. It was a tough nut to crack but “crack it, we did” (thanks Yoda). There are websites on the internet with a page or two just starting out, while some sites host thousands upon thousands of pages and are all grown up. We wanted to include everyone. Call us crazy, but we wanted ONE new world standard to measure YOUR influence.
We know you want to be unique in what you do but we also know it's in our nature as humans to compare. We just have to keep up with the Joneses. (There they go now, just look at them…)
Introducing…
Benchmarking, done the SEI way.
Depending on which monthly plan you choose you can get some serious perspective on how you stack up. And perhaps more importantly, on what to do about it. We just love action.
First, let’s talk about our modes of comparison:
The SEI Average
Once you have that score of yours in hand, you can see it next to all those who have embraced the “SEI way”. With 10,000 + sites in our engine room the SEI Average gives you a basic view of how you are traveling. It sounds simple, right?
Well, it all depends on what sort of website you have and how sophisticated you want to be. It’s a good start, but it may not be enough of a picture for you at this stage of your journey.
Your Competitors
A more powerful way to see your progress is to plug in your direct competitors. It’s apples with apples. Or at least apples with pears?
If you don’t have any competitors perhaps you are the first in your category? And clearly, very very brave. If you are, that’s absolutely smashing. In your case, why not try and plug in some websites you admire that are somewhat relevant to what you do.
You’ll get an instant idea of what makes them tick and what gives them the edge when it comes to influence. This is why we created the SEI Tool, to deliver you intelligent insights that actually mean something.
Industry Average (Soon to be launched)
Are you above the industry average? This metric provides more context for your kind of website in your kind of business.
It’s different from the SEI Average because it is collated by segmenting all of the websites in your industry. You designate this when entering each site and we follow this up with automated and human checks to ensure this data is fully representative of your industry.
Our true believers say this is a super useful comparison for each site in the SEI Tool. We also release industry lists from time to time to show everyone the top performers and how we can all learn from them to gain that extra edge.
The data we give you in your dashboard however, is in real time and with your site in focus. That’s what benchmarking should be for - to show you what you need to do.
Let’s not forget the Elements
Of course, with all these fashionable comparisons to our Jones friends comes a breakdown of each of the 7 elements of your site and the competitors you choose to see head to head.
This is the secret sauce to being in the ACTION business. How trusted are you? Are you relevant and consistent with your content?
Search engines care about this stuff - and so should you if you want to win the online game. The stakes are high and we know you want to double down on your efforts. You're just looking for expert guidance so you know “where to hit”.
How do you get the most out of your SEI experience?
The value you get boils down to some pretty easy choices across our range of monthly plans:
- SEI Average or Industry Average?
- How many sites do you want to track?
- How many competitors do you monitor?
- How many users need access?
- How often do you want your score to update?
- How much history do you want us to keep track of?
Are you still confused about which package is right for you?
And there's more coming
When our education hub is launched you will also have a choice to make about what kind of help you need. We’ll tell you as soon as that’s ready.
