SEO metrics are your lifeline to understanding how well your SEO is working. Some of these metrics will indeed provide actionable insight, while most of them remain vanity numbers that might lead your strategy down a rabbit hole if misinterpreted.
But how do you know the difference between useful metrics and those that don’t matter in making better decisions? This guide dissects 10 key SEO metrics you must track and a couple that you can ignore.
Understanding SEO Metrics: Indicators of Success
SEO metrics are your tools to measure the effectiveness of your SEO efforts. While some metrics indeed provide actionable insights, others are just vanity numbers that may mislead your strategy if not interpreted properly.
But how do you distinguish between useful metrics, and ones that don’t contribute to better decision making? This guide breaks down the 10 essential SEO metrics you should be tracking, and a few that you can ignore.
10 SEO Metrics Worth Tracking
1. Organic Traffic
Organic traffic is defined as the number of clicks your website receives from unpaid search engine results.
Why It’s Useful
An upward trend in organic traffic often indicates that your SEO efforts are paying off. But let’s get down to brass tacks: for the most part, increased traffic doesn’t necessarily mean higher revenue unless you’re effectively monetizing that traffic.
How to Track It
The Performance tab in Google Search Console will give you the most accurate picture of your organic traffic over time. But, for a much better view of your SEO performance, you can filter out those branded queries to measure non-branded traffic.
If you like third-party tools, Ahrefs’ Site Explorer provides you with a free estimate of your organic traffic.
2. Keyword Rankings
Keyword rankings show where your site appears on search results for particular keywords.
Why It’s Useful
Not every keyword is equally valuable. By tracking ranking positions for your most relevant keywords, you’re able to monitor performance for terms that truly matter to your business.
How to Track It
Utilize tools like Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker to keep tabs on keyword positions. Just add the keywords you want to track, and the tool will keep you updated on any progress.
3. Search Visibility
Search visibility calculates the share of clicks that your website gets due to tracked keywords. Think of this as the SEO version of Share of Voice.
Why It’s Useful
A high visibility score is usually directly related to a bigger market share. This is usually a more relative indicator than absolute traffic levels of how well your brand shows up online.
How to Track It
Input a representative list of keywords into a rank tracker like Ahrefs. The Competitors Overview tab will show your visibility percentage compared to competitors.
4. Traffic Value
Traffic value estimates how much you’d spend on PPC ads to generate the same number of organic clicks.
Why It’s Useful
Higher traffic value indicates that your organic traffic is generating business-critical visits, particularly for “money keywords” that lead to conversions.
How to Track It
Use Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to get an idea of what the traffic value of your domain is. For more insight, delve into the Top Pages report to determine which pages are the most valuable to you.
5. Organic Traffic Conversions
Conversions are the important actions that users take on your site, such as making a purchase, signing up, or subscribing.
Why It’s Useful
Conversion tracking links SEO efforts directly to revenue. It’s one important method of determining how well your strategy drives critical outcomes.
How to Track It
Set up Google Analytics for conversion tracking. In the case of ecommerce, enable Enhanced Ecommerce to capture data about sales, average order value, and more. For subscription-based businesses, track sign-ups and upgrades.
6. Referring Domains
Referring domains are websites that link to your site.
Why It’s Useful
Backlinks are a critical ranking factor. A steady increase in referring domains suggests that your link-building and branding efforts are paying off.
How to Track It
Plug your domain into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer and monitor the referring domains graph. Analyze the Referring Domains report to ensure the quality of links pointing to your site.
7. Number of Indexed Pages
This metric shows how many of your pages Google has indexed.
Why It’s Useful
Only indexed pages can appear in search results, making this a critical metric for understanding your content’s visibility. Sudden changes may indicate technical issues.
How to Track It
Use the site: operator in Google or check the Coverage report in Google Search Console for a detailed breakdown.
8. Index Coverage Errors
Index coverage errors highlight issues that prevent pages from being indexed.
Why It’s Useful
Unintentional indexing errors can significantly impact your visibility. Monitoring and resolving these issues ensures that your pages can rank as intended.
How to Track It
Google Search Console’s Coverage report provides a detailed list of errors and instructions for fixing them. Tools like Ahrefs’ Site Audit can preemptively identify these issues.
9. Core Web Vitals (CWV)
Core Web Vitals measure page speed and user experience.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Time to load the largest visible element.
First Input Delay (FID): Time for a page to respond to user interaction.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Visual stability of the page layout.Why It’s Useful
Google uses CWV as a ranking factor, reflecting its commitment to prioritizing user experience.
How to Track It
Check the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console or use Ahrefs’ Site Audit to monitor related metrics.
10. Website Health Score
Ahrefs’ Health Score reflects the proportion of internal URLs without technical errors.
Why It’s Useful
A high Health Score indicates strong technical SEO, which is foundational for improving rankings and user experience.
How to Track It
Ahrefs’ Site Audit automatically updates your Health Score after each crawl and highlights errors for resolution.
SEO Metrics You Can Ignore
While many metrics are widely recommended, some don’t provide actionable insights and may even mislead your strategy.
- Bounce Rate
Bounce rate shows the percentage of visitors who leave without interacting further. However, it can be skewed by ad-blockers, session timeouts, or single-page visits that still satisfy user intent.
- Exit Rate
Exit rate indicates where users leave your site. A high exit rate isn’t inherently bad—it often means users found what they needed and left satisfied.
- Pages Per Session
This metric suggests user engagement but lacks context. A low number may simply indicate that users quickly find what they’re looking for.
- Average Session Duration
Session duration is unreliable because it doesn’t account for bounced sessions. A user could spend considerable time on a page and still be recorded as a zero.
Final Thoughts
Knowing which SEO metrics to focus on and how to interpret them is crucial for optimizing your strategy. The 10 metrics outlined here will help you track meaningful progress and demonstrate the value of your SEO efforts.
However, avoid getting bogged down by vanity metrics that add little to no actionable value. By focusing on what matters most, you’ll gain clearer insights and achieve better results.