Important Metrics To Measure For SEO Success:
*Discover effective methods to measure SEO effectiveness and increase business growth.
*Track the right metrics to boost revenue and enhance brand visibility.
*SEO metrics such as rankings are great, but what matters most is SEO’s impact on business growth.
This means understand SEO’s value if track the right metrics and how it can increase revenue.
Metrics should focus on:
Audience quality: Attract visitors who are likely to become customers.
Engagement and behavior: Users finding the information they need, spending time on the site, and taking desired actions.
Conversions: The organic traffic translating into desired outcomes.
Brand impact: SEO influencing the brand’s reputation and visibility.
Categorized important metrics to focus on at a high level:
User Engagement Metrics:
Here are some user engagement metrics to track:
Bounce Rate:
*Bounce rate is the percentage of users who return to the SERP, or exit the webpage (and your site) without interacting with another page on the website.
*A high bounce rate can indicate that visitors are not finding what they want on the site, which causes them to exit quickly.
Bounce Rate Importance In SEO:
Bounce rate helps to fix issues such as:
*User Experience: A high bounce rate may indicate issues with the website’s content, design, or alignment with user intent.
When notice a high bounce rate, address these issues to improve user experience.
*SEO Rankings: Search engines aim to provide users with the most relevant results.
A high bounce rate may signal to Google that the site is not meeting user expectations and will lose visibility.
This will also affect conversions as users didn’t even engage with the page.
To Analyze Bounce Rate:
*Check the Google Analytics 4 for the percentage of single-page visits and divide that by the total number of visits.
*The result is a percentage of the bounce rate.
*For example, if the website received 500 visitors and 100 interacted with more than one page, then 400 visitors bounced.
*Therefore, the bounce rate would be 80% (400 single-page visits / 500 total visits times 100).
Dwell Time (Engaged Session Duration)
Engaged session duration measures the amount of time a user actively spends on the website during an engaged session.
This metric indicates how long users interact with the content before leaving the site or becoming inactive.
Importance of Engaged Session Duration In SEO:
*Indicates Content engagement and relevance: Longer engaged session durations show that users find the content valuable and are willing to spend time interacting with it.
*Impacts rankings: High-engaged session durations signal to search engines that the page provides content that satisfies user intent, which can improve the rankings.
*It helps gauge content effectiveness: If users spend more time on the site, it suggests that content is meeting their expectations and providing the information they need.
To Analyze Dwell Time
*Open GA4 and click on Reports in the left-hand menu.
*Choose the Traffic acquisition: Session default channel group.
*Click on the pencil icon at the top right corner and select Metrics.
*In the bottom search box that says Add metric, type “average engagement time” and hit Apply.
Engaged Sessions Per User
Engaged sessions per user is a metric that measures how frequently users interact meaningfully with the website.
In Google Analytics, an engaged session is defined by user activity that includes spending a certain amount of time on the site, viewing multiple pages, or completing specific actions like form submissions or purchases.
For example, if a user lands on the homepage, spends more than a minute exploring the content, clicks on a product page, and completes a form, this counts as an engaged session.
Engaged Sessions Per User Important To SEO:
It reflects user engagement and satisfaction: *High engaged sessions per user indicate that visitors find the content valuable and are willing to interact with it in a meaningful way.
It impacts SEO positively: *Search engines use engagement metrics as signals of content quality and relevance.
*High engagement suggests that the site meets user needs, which can boost the rankings.
Calculate Engaged Sessions Per User:
*Google Analytics provides this metric directly, but to calculate it manually, divide the total number of engaged sessions by the number of unique users, which means that means, on average, each user had 2.5 engaged sessions during that month. Conversion Metrics
Helpful conversion metrics to track: Organic Conversion Rate
The organic conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who find your website through organic search results and complete a desired action. *Making a purchase (usually on ecommerce sites).
*Submitting a lead form (for businesses focused on lead gen).
*Newsletter subscription (to build an email list)
This metric shows how SEO drives valuable clicks that contribute to your business objectives. To Calculate the Organic Conversion Rate
*Determine what constitutes a conversion for your business (e.g., form completion, sales, subscription).
*Track the number of users who complete the desired action and the total number of organic visitors over a specific period.
*Divide the number of conversions by the total number of organic visitors, then multiply by 100 to get a percentage.
*For context, the organic conversion rate equals the number of conversions divided by the number of organic visitors multiplied by 100. *If 500 out of 10,000 organic visitors complete the desired action, the conversion rate would be 5%. Goal Completions
A goal completion is recorded whenever a user completes a specific action that have defined as valuable.
Goal completions matter because they tell if the SEO is driving the right traffic and if visitors are taking the actions which want them to take. To Track Goal Completions:
*Choose an analytics platform such as GA4, Adobe Analytics, Matomo, etc.
*Define the goals and be specific (e.g., “purchase confirmation page viewed”).
*Set up goal tracking.
Use GA4, and tracking looks like: *Go to the Admin section.
*In the Property column, click on Events.
*Click the “Create Event” button to set up a new event.
*Name your event (e.g., “form submission” or “purchase completed”).
*Define the conditions for the event. *For example, if tracking a form submission, set parameters like event name equals “form_submit” or similar.
*Click Create to save your new event.
*Mark that event as a Key Event (conversion).
*Monitor and analyze the reports to track goal completions.
Ecommerce Transactions
*In ecommerce, a conversion is completing a desired action that generates revenue. *The most apparent conversion is a purchase, but other valuable actions include adding items to a cart, creating an account, or subscribing to emails. UTM parameters will identify the blog post as the conversion source, the attribution model will assign credit to the post, and the CRM can link the purchase to the user’s profile for further analysis.
Traffic Metrics
Here are some traffic metrics to prioritize:
Organic Traffic Volume
*Organic traffic volume is the number of visitors arriving at the website through unpaid search results – organic clicks from search engine result pages (SERPs).
*High organic traffic indicates that search engines consider the website relevant and authoritative for the target keywords.
*As long as write quality content, the website will convert users without relying on paid advertising.
To Measure Organic Traffic
*Log into GA4 and go to Acquisition Reports. Navigate to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition.
Organic Traffic Value
*Organic traffic value goes beyond numbers to assess the actual worth of visitors the SEO efforts attract. *It quantifies the potential revenue or business impact of the organic traffic.
*Organic traffic value is ROI-focused. To Calculate Organic Traffic Value:
Use the cost-per-click (CPC), conversion-based value, or the customer lifetime value (LTV) metrics:
The CPC method estimates the value of organic traffic by calculating how much budget have spent on paid advertising (PPC) to get the same number of clicks. It uses the average CPC for the target keywords.
If the website receives 1,000 organic clicks per month for a keyword with an average CPC of $2, the estimated organic traffic value would be $2,000. The conversion-based value metric calculates the revenue generated from organic traffic by tracking conversions and assigning a value to each conversion. For example, if the website receives 1,000 organic visitors and 50 convert into customers with an average order value of $100, the organic traffic value would be $5,000.
Customer lifetime value (LTV): This method takes a long-term view by considering the total value a customer brings over their entire relationship with the business. It factors in repeat purchases, customer retention, and average order value.
For example, if the average customer from organic search makes three purchases per year with an average order value of $100 and remains a customer for two years, their LTV would be $600.
Technical SEO Metrics
Technical SEO metrics provide insights into the website’s infrastructure to ensure search engines can access, crawl, and index your content. Here are some metrics to focus on:
Crawl Errors
Crawl errors occur when search engine bots (like Googlebot) encounter issues while crawling pages on the website. These errors can prevent search engines from understanding the content, potentially leading to lower rankings and visibility in SERPs. Types of Crawl Errors
404 (Not Found): The page doesn’t exist. This could be due to a broken link, a deleted page, or a typo in the URL.
5xx (Server Errors): The server encountered an error while processing the request. This could be due to a temporary outage, a misconfiguration, or a server overload.
Robots.txt Errors: The robots.txt file blocks search engine bots from accessing certain pages or sections of the website.
To Identify Crawl Errors
*Head to Google Search Console (GSC). *Go to Index > Coverage to see a list of crawl errors and warnings. *Click on each error for more details, including the affected URLs and the error type. *Prioritize the most critical errors, such as 404 errors on essential pages.
*Check the server logs for crawl errors that might not appear in GSC. To fix 404 errors, try these processes:
*Restore the page if it was accidentally deleted.
*Create a 301 redirect to the new URL if the page has been moved permanently.
*Create a helpful custom 404 page that guides users back to relevant content.
*Afterward, validate your fixes using the URL Inspection tool in GSC to test if the fixed page can be crawled and indexed correctly.
Indexation Status
Indexation status refers to whether or not a specific webpage has been added to a search engine’s index. When a page is indexed, it appears in search results when users search for relevant queries. In contrast, if a page is not indexed, it’s invisible to search engines and won’t be found by users. To Ensure Proper Indexing of Pages
*Create high-quality, unique content and use relevant keywords to signal to search engines what the page is about.
*Submit a sitemap to help search engines discover and crawl the pages.
*Optimize internal linking to help search engine bots navigate the site and discover all the pages.
*Check Robots.txt to ensure the txt file is not blocking search engines from crawling and indexing critical pages.
*Monitor indexation status by checking the Index > Coverage report in GSC to see which pages have been indexed and if there are any indexing errors.
Site Speed
Site speed is the time a website’s content takes to load and become fully interactive for users. The digital stopwatch that measures the responsiveness and efficiency of the website.
Importance of Site Speed for SEO:
User experience (UX): Studies have shown that users expect websites to load within a few seconds. Fast website speed keeps users engaged, encourages them to explore more pages, consume more content, and ultimately convert into customers or leads. It also enhances the mobile experience.
Search engine rankings: Search engines prioritize faster websites because they provide a better user experience, which can help the faster website outrank slower competitors.
Content Performance Metrics
This explores how effective the content is via: Content Engagement
Content engagement measures users’ level of interaction and involvement with your web pages. It goes beyond passive consumption and delves into how visitors actively engage with your content to indicate genuine interest and value.
To Measure Content Engagement
In GA4, track metrics like average engagement time, sessions, and engagement rate to gauge how long users actively interact with the content.
Also implement event tracking to measure specific interactions (video views, downloads, form submissions, or clicks on internal links).
Use heatmaps and session recording tools like Hotjar or Crazy Egg to visualize how users interact with the pages. This will reveal where they click, scroll, and spend the most time.
Content Shares And Backlinks
Content shares, or social signals, are the number of times the content is shared across social media platforms. Social shares indicate that the content is valuable and worthy of being shared and can amplify reach, build brand awareness, and attract backlinks. Backlinks are links from external websites that point to the web pages. Quality backlinks from other authoritative sites act as “votes of confidence” and signal to search engines that the content is trustworthy and authoritative. High-quality backlinks can boost rankings, drive referral traffic from other websites, and increase the domain authority. To track social shares, use the built-in analytics tools provided by social media platforms to track the number of shares, likes, comments, and overall engagement for your content. You can also use third-party tools like Hootsuite or Buffer. To track backlinks, use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz to see the total backlinks, referring domains, and link quality. Local SEO Metrics
Local SEO ensures the business appears when users search for products or services in the geographic area. Start with getting insights from Google Business.
Google Business Profile Insights
Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free tool for businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. GBP Insights provides valuable data on how customers find and interact with your business listing. To Track GBP Performance
Log in to the GBP account and click the Insights tab. Look for the section titled How customers search for the business. *Direct searches (branded searches),
*Discovery searches (non-branded searches— when customers search for a general category, product, or service that to offer) and
*Maps searches: When customers find the business through Google Maps.
In the same Insights tab, look for the section called Where customers view the business on Google. It will show whether customers find the listing more often in Search results or Maps. Also, check for customer actions in the Insights tab. Track website visits, calls directly from the listing, and direct requests to the location. This data reveals how customers engage with the business after finding the listing. Other data to track include photo views and search queries. Local Search Rankings
Local search rankings refer to the business’s position in the SERPs for queries with local intent. These searches include location-specific keywords like “coffee shops near me” or “best dentist in Albany.” Local search results often include a map pack (a group of three to four businesses displayed on a map) and organic listings. To Track Local SEO Success
*Tracking local keyword rankings through tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Moz Local. *Monitor the rankings for critical local keywords, as well as the map pack rankings and organic rankings.
*Monitor GMB Insights to know how customers find the business, their actions, and which search queries they use.
*Analyze local traffic and conversions on GA4 to segment the traffic by location and track conversions (phone calls, direction requests, website visits, purchases) that originated from local searches.
*Track online reviews and ratings.
Customer Reviews And Ratings
*Customer reviews and ratings provide valuable customer feedback about their experiences with your business, products, or services. *These reviews are often publicly accessible on Google, Yelp, Facebook, and industry-specific review sites. Importance of Reviews For Local SEO:
*It’s a ranking factor, as businesses with positive reviews are more likely to appear higher in local search results, including the map pack and organic listings. *For instance, Google ranks the business higher if having many reviews, a high frequency of new reviews, multiple review sources, and an overall star rating.
*Star ratings (or positive reviews) displayed alongside your business listing in search results can increase CTR.
*Positive reviews enhance customer trust and conversion, as customers now rely on online reviews when making purchasing decisions. Competitor Analysis
Competitive Benchmarking
Competitive benchmarking in SEO involves identifying, analyzing, and comparing the website’s performance to that of the top competitors in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
This helps to uncover the strengths and weaknesses, discover opportunities, and make data-driven decisions.
Some competitor performance metrics to analyze include: *Keywords, search volume, and keyword gaps.
*High-performing content format.
*Backlink analysis.
*Technical SEO audit (site speed, mobile friendliness, crawlability, and indexability.)
Rankings are great, but conversions pay the bills. Conversions are important they determine the efficacy of all the marketing efforts. Tracking these metrics (and how they contribute to sales) will help to intensify marketing efforts on the strategies that work and allocate budgets effectively.