SEO is effective and an incredibly powerful tool , as it helps you track and measure the performance of your website. With SEO metrics, such as rankings, traffic, engagement, leads, orders, revenue, and authority, you can gain valuable insights into the performance of your organic search strategy.
These metrics provide you with clear data on how well your SEO efforts are paying off, allowing you to make informed decisions and an efficient SEO strategy.
In this blog, we'll be taking a look at the 14 vital SEO metrics to track and how to improve upon them. Let's get started. But before doing that, here's an overview of SEO metrics.
What are SEO Metrics?
SEO metrics are performance indicators that help measure the success of a website's search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. SEO metrics can be used to track the progress of a website's search rankings, traffic, and user engagement and to identify areas for improvement.
Why SEO Metrics Matter?
Regularly monitoring key SEO metrics is crucial to ensure that your website is performing well, optimized for search engines, and driving revenue. Failing to do so can result in missed opportunities for growth, as well as threats to your existing traffic and business.
Many relevant SEO metrics can provide insights into broader marketing performance. Given the constantly evolving nature of SEO and Google's algorithm updates, staying on top of these metrics is essential for maintaining a healthy and successful online presence.
Also read: Content Marketing Metrics And KPI You Should Measure In 2022
Top 14 SEO Metrics To Track
Now that we have explained the meaning and importance of SEO performance metrics, let's discuss the top metrics for SEO that you should track for your organization.
1. Organic Traffic
Organic traffic refers to the users coming to your website by clicking on a link displayed in the search results, without making any payment towards the ad placement.
In other words, it's the natural or unpaid way to attract visitors to your site through effective search engine optimization (SEO) techniques that aim to rank your website higher for relevant keywords.
Why is it important
Measuring your organic traffic regularly helps you understand how well your SEO efforts are performing and how many potential customers are discovering your business online.
How To Track
It is possible to monitor the organic traffic to your website through Google Analytics, keeping a close eye on desktop and mobile visitors.
How To Improve
Improving organic traffic involves optimizing your website for search engines by conducting keyword research, optimizing on-page elements, creating high-quality content, building high-quality backlinks, and ensuring website speed and mobile-friendliness.
Keyword research helps you identify high-volume, relevant keywords to target while optimizing on-page elements like meta titles, descriptions, headers, and content can make your website visible and discoverable by search engines.
Creating high-quality site content that satisfies user search intent increases the likelihood of users sharing and linking to your website. On the other hand, building a number of backlinks from reputable websites within your niche can enhance your website's authority and search engine rankings.
2. On-page Optimization Scores
On-page SEO refers to the practice of optimizing the content of a webpage to make it more user-friendly and easier for search engines to understand.
Why are they important
On-page SEO optimization scores are vital because they significantly impact your website’s ranking and visibility in search results.
How To Track
Utilizing tools like Scalenut can be incredibly beneficial in this process as it can analyze various aspects of a webpage and provide a score that reflects how well it is optimized for SEO.
This score may take into account factors such as keyword density, the presence of relevant keywords in headings and subheadings, internal and external linking, the meta description, URL structure, canonical URL, page title, and image alt tags.
Want a checklist for On-Page SEO? Then do not forget to check The Ultimate On-page SEO Checklist
3. Text Readability Score
Ensuring your text is both easy to understand and relevant is crucial because it helps in tracking the quality of your content.
Why is it important
Search engines such as Google favor content that is clear and concise. Content that provides actionable insights and concise information is more valuable than verbose and irrelevant text.
How To Track
Yoast evaluates the readability of each page on your website, assigning a grade based on the Flesch reading ease score. It also suggests using concise sentences, paragraphs, and sections, along with active voice and transitional words.
These recommendations are not related to search engine ranking factors but rather to enhance the readability of your text.
On the other hand, Scalenut examines the relevance of your content by analyzing related search terms and entities present in your competitors' content. By incorporating more relevant terms from their list, you can improve your grade.
How To Improve
You can enhance the readability score by using the tools mentioned above.
4. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The Search Analytics report in Google Search Console provides valuable insights into the performance of your website in search results, including the average click-through rate (CTR).
One of the most important SEO metrics, CTR, represents the percentage of users who click on your link after encountering it in the search results.
Why is it important
It can help you understand how efficient your search engine optimization efforts are in attracting traffic to your site. This metric is worth monitoring because it provides valuable insights beyond your page's search engine rankings. It can indicate how engaging your content is to your audience.
How to track
To track click-through rate (CTR), you need to define what counts as a click and set up an analytics tool like Google Analytics. After that, you'd have to create unique URLs for each link or button you want to track and set up corresponding goals in your analytics tool. Regularly monitor your CTR to gain insights and improve your website's user experience and conversions.
How To Improve
To improve your Click-Through Rate (CTR) on specific pages, there are several tips you can follow. Firstly, make sure that the title of your page matches the search intent of your audience. Besides, consider including a compelling call-to-action (CTA) within your title to encourage users to click through.
You can also use brackets, dashes, or pipes to make your title stand out in search results. Crafting meta descriptions that entice users to click through and evoke an emotional response can also improve your CTR.
Moreover, explaining what visitors will gain from your page and using structured data can improve your page's display in search results. Lastly, use short, descriptive URLs that contain the primary keyword to improve your page's relevance and visibility.
5. Impressions
Whenever your website appears in the search results of Google, it's recorded as an impression, irrespective of whether the user viewed your listing by scrolling down or not.
Why are they important
Impressions serve as a preliminary metric to measure the effectiveness of your SEO campaign. As your search rankings progress, your impressions are likely to grow in number.
How to track
In order to track impressions, you can use Google Search Console's Performance Module.
How to improve
Besides optimizing your website and publishing high-quality content, you can promote your content on social media platforms to increase visibility and drive traffic to your website. Besides, focus on building high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites in your niche.
6. Pages Per Visit
An SEO metric that many professionals don't emphasize enough is pages per visit.
Why it is important
By analyzing the average number of pages per visit, you can gauge how successful you are at engaging users and guiding them toward completing a desired action. If visitors tend to exit after viewing just one page, it signifies that you may be overlooking potential opportunities to convert them in the future.
How to track
To track the average number of pages per visit on your website, you can use web analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Adobe Analytics, or Matomo. These tools allow you to set up tracking codes on your website, which collect data on user behavior, including the number of pages they visit during a session.
Once the tracking code is installed on your website, you can view the average pages per visit metric in the analytics dashboard of the tool you're using.
How to improve
Here are a few ways to enhance your pages per visit metric.
- Design your page layout to be user-friendly and ensure that your site navigation is clear and straightforward.
- Organize your content into topic clusters based on relevant themes so visitors can easily navigate to related information.
- Include internal links that lead visitors to other useful pages on your site, making it easy for them to find what they're looking for.
- Incorporate interactive content, such as videos, surveys, and tools, to create an engaging user experience that encourages visitors to spend more time on your site.
7. Average Page Load Time
The mean duration for a page to fully load and display its content is referred to as the average page load time.
Why is it important
The speed at which your website loads is a crucial aspect that impacts your SEO ranking, whether accessed through desktop or mobile devices. It has the potential to either boost or harm your rankings, as well as influence the user experience on your site.
How to track
In order to measure average page load time, you can use 'Google Page Speed Analytics' and 'Pingdom.'
How to improve
To improve average page load time, optimize images by compressing and reducing their size and use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute your website's content across multiple servers worldwide.
8. Crawl Errors
Crawl errors happen when search engines attempt to access a page on your site but are unsuccessful. Reasons for crawl errors may include deleted pages, pages with a 'no index' tag, or pages that are blocked in the robots.txt file.
Why is it important
Crawling is a prerequisite for indexing a page and enabling it to receive organic search traffic. Thus, it is crucial to address any crawl errors promptly. If there is a sudden increase in crawl errors on your website, Google may lose confidence in the site and demote any current rankings.
How To Track
To track crawl errors, you can use Google Search Console, a free tool provided by Google.
9. Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is a metric that calculates the percentage of visitors who leave your website after only viewing one page.
Why is it important
Although it does not directly affect your search engine ranking, a high bounce rate could signal issues with specific pages or your entire website. Additionally, a high bounce rate means missed opportunities to engage with your audience and convert them into customers.
How to track
To track the bounce rate, you can use Google Analytics.
How to improve
Try to focus on aligning page content with search intent, making the purpose clear, creating engaging content, ensuring easy readability and design, avoiding disruptive elements, improving page speed, and implementing compelling calls-to-action.
These strategies can help attract more traffic and encourage users to explore your site further.
10. Page Speed and Core Web Vitals
Page speed and Core Web Vitals are important SEO metrics that measure user experience and the performance of a website.
Why is it important
Page speed refers to the time it takes for a web page to load its content. This metric is vital because slow loading times can negatively affect user experience and lead to higher bounce rates, lower engagement, and ultimately lower rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Conversely, Core Web Vitals is a set of specific metrics that Google uses to measure and evaluate the user experience on a website.
How to track
To track Page Speed and Core Web Vitals, you can use tools like Google's PageSpeed Insights, Google Search Console, or WebPageTest.
How to improve
In order to improve Page Speed and Core Web Vitals, you can optimize images, minimize HTTP requests, use caching, reduce server response time, improve code efficiency, optimize web fonts, prioritize above-the-fold content, and address Core Web Vitals.
11. Organic Conversions
Organic conversions refer to the number of website visitors who take a specific action that is valuable to your business, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing to a newsletter, as a result of finding your website through organic search results.
Why are they important
Tracking organic conversions is a crucial aspect of SEO as it enables you to evaluate the quality of your organic traffic.
If your website is receiving high traffic volumes, but you're not seeing a proportionate increase in conversions such as leads, sales, sign-ups, etc., it may indicate that the traffic you're attracting isn't the right fit for your business. Essentially, you might be drawing in visitors who have no genuine interest in your offerings.
How to track
To track organic conversions on your website, you can use various methods, including Google Analytics, Google Ads conversion tracking, and third-party tools. By monitoring these conversions, you can gain valuable insights into user behavior and identify areas for improvement on your website.
How to improve
Improving organic conversions on your website involves several strategies. You can start by optimizing your website for conversions, creating a seamless user experience, and optimizing your landing pages for mobile devices.
Using social proof, such as customer reviews and testimonials, can also help build trust with your visitors. Additionally, optimizing your forms and regularly monitoring your conversions can help identify areas for further improvement.
12. Number of Pages Indexed
These refer to the total number of web pages on a website that is included in the search engine's index.
Why is it important
Organic search traffic from Google is only possible for pages that have been indexed by the search engine. Therefore, if your pages have not been indexed, they will not appear in Google's search results, and you will not receive any organic traffic from the search engine.
How to track
You can ensure all the pages on your website are appropriately indexed by utilizing Google Search Console.
How to improve
Having duplicate, outdated, irrelevant, or thin pages in your indexed pages can adversely affect your website's overall authority.
In order to prevent this, it is essential to conduct a content audit that can help you identify low-quality indexed pages. You can go through our ebook ‘SEO Audit: A guide to increase website traffic’ to facilitate the audit process.
Once identified, you can take the following actions:
- Update outdated content so that it remains current and relevant to your audience.
- Delete irrelevant content and redirect any links that may be pointing to it.
- Combine and streamline multiple weak pages into more robust and valuable pages and then redirect the links to these pages accordingly.
13. Top Keywords Ranked
Top keywords ranked refer to the specific words or phrases that a website ranks highly for in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Why is it important
Understanding the keywords for which you are ranking provides you with valuable insights into your present level of organic search visibility. It, in turn, enables you to make informed decisions on whether to concentrate on refining those keywords or shifting your focus to target other relevant keywords that are not yet ranking.
How to track
Using a position tracking tool such as SEMrush can enable you to monitor the ranking of your keywords.
How to improve
To improve the ranking of your top keywords, you can optimize your website content by incorporating relevant keywords naturally and avoiding keyword stuffing. Building quality backlinks from high-authority websites is another effective strategy to boost your website's ranking.
Additionally, using social media to promote your website can also help to increase visibility and attract more visitors to your site.
14. Duplicate Titles and Descriptions
Duplicate titles and descriptions are instances where two or more web pages on a website have the same title tag or meta description.
Why is it important
In general, duplicating content is not advisable. If you use identical title tags and meta descriptions across multiple pages, search engines may interpret them as covering the same subject, which can decrease your expertise on that topic and impede your chances of ranking high for related keywords.
How to track
To track duplicate titles and descriptions on your website, you have several options. One is to use a website crawler tool like Screaming Frog or DeepCrawl, which can scan your site and identify pages with identical meta tags.
Another option is to use Google Search Console's "HTML Improvements" feature, which can flag pages with duplicate titles or meta descriptions.
How to improve
Regularly monitor your website for any new instances of duplicate content and fix them promptly.
Also Read: Meta Tags For SEO: A Complete Guide For Beginners
Use Scalenut to Improve your SEO Metrics
Want to enhance your SEO metrics? Scalenut is an AI-powered SEO and Content Marketing Platform that can help you improve your website's search engine ranking by providing you with valuable insights and data-driven recommendations.
With Scalenut, you can identify areas of improvement for your website and take action to optimize your SEO metrics effortlessly. It provides you with unique features like Keyword Planner, SEO Optimizer, and SERP Analysis.
So why not start today and improve your digital marketing efforts? Here's a free 7-day trial to help you get started.
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