SEO Metrics Monitoring

Your SEO metrics are lying to you. Over the past decade-plus, we've been accustomed to reporting on SEO in a certain way. Traffic and rankings have long been reliable metrics, but that's no longer the case. Why? 🍪 Google Analytics is only tracking half of your traffic activity 📉 Top-funnel traffic opportunity is falling as AIOs and LLMs siphon these queries 🔍 Ranking positions are losing precision as non-traditional SERP features are taking over Continuing to report on SEO the old way will only show diminishing value because you're reporting where the opportunity is contracting. Yet, organic search remains the largest traffic channel and best growth opportunity for most brands. How can you show that? Replace your outdated SEO metrics with ones that better measure the value the channel is delivering. Here are a few examples: 📊 Organic marketing share: SEO is a zero-sum game; if you're gaining visibility, that means your competitors are losing it. ➗ Measure of effectiveness: Ditch inaccurate absolute metrics and develop ratios of inputs to outputs to gauge if you're strategy is delivering more effective results 🎯 Engaged traffic: Replace top-line traffic with metrics that report on traffic quality (e.g., users who clicked a CTA, viewed a product, etc.) 👀 Impressions & branded search queries: Measure the prevalence of your brand in SERPs to see if you're getting in front of your audience Although the landscape is changing, SEO remains an immensely valuable brand channel. But, you need to rethink the metrics you're using to quantify the value.

Here is how we leverage GA4 for SEO reporting. GA4 offers both standard reports and the option to build custom reports that are more tailored to your SEO campaigns. We typically use a combination of both reporting options when analyzing SEO performance. 📊 Standard SEO Reports in GA4 GA4 comes equipped with a suite of standard reports that can be helpful for SEO: Channel & Source / Medium Reports: This report helps us understand how SEO is performing in comparison to other channels. We often review conversion performance, traffic, and engagement. Landing Page Report: The only modification is adding a filter to only show organic search traffic but this report allows us to understand which content is causing users to discover our website in organic search results. Google Search Console: After setting up the GSC integration, this report allows us to see our organic query data right inside GA4. These out-of-the-box reports in GA4 offer a solid foundation for SEO analysis, giving you a snapshot of your website's organic search performance. 🔧 Custom SEO Reports in GA4 For those who need more than the standard reports, GA4 custom reports can be a good option: Referral Traffic / Backlink Report: This custom report helps us understand which backlinks are driving the most traffic and conversions. Specific search engine performance: This report can show how your performance varies on Google vs. Bing. Path Exploration: These custom reports can help understand how users navigate your website and can inform internal linking recommendations. I’ll cover this more in another post. 🎨 Looker Studio For Data Visualization When it comes to visualizing and sharing SEO reports, Looker Studio is our favorite option. It allows more customization and visualization options than GA4 provides directly. Some of the main reasons we use Looker Studio so heavily are: Custom Dashboards: Build interactive SEO dashboards that highlight the metrics that matter most to you and your stakeholders. Data Blending: Combine data from GA4 with other sources, like Google Search Console, to create a comprehensive SEO overview. Collaboration and Sharing: Share insights easily with your team or clients, allowing for collaborative analysis and decision-making. Looker Studio empowers you to craft and share compelling SEO stories, making the data accessible and actionable for everyone involved. SEO reporting with GA4 offers flexibility and depth, allowing you to track, analyze, and report on your SEO efforts. From the basic reports for quick insights to the advanced customizations and visualizations in Looker Studio, GA4 serves as a powerful tool in your SEO reporting arsenal.

Most marketers obsess over the wrong SEO metrics. And it’s costing them sales. I’ve seen it time and time again, teams tracking Domain Authority, total traffic, or keyword rankings like they’re gospel. But here’s the hard truth: None of those numbers pay the bills. • Your DA score? Google doesn’t even use it. • Traffic spikes? Worthless if it’s not converting. • Ranking #1? Useless if it’s for a keyword with no intent. So what should you focus on? Here’s what actually moves the needle: ↳ Non-Branded Clicks: How many new people are discovering you? ↳ Conversion Rate from Organic: Is your traffic doing anything besides browsing? ↳ Revenue Impact of SEO Pages: Which pages drive real sales? ↳ Time on Page & Engagement: Are visitors finding value or bouncing instantly? If your SEO reports don’t answer these questions, you’re looking at vanity metrics. SEO is a revenue channel, not just a traffic game. Track what actually matters. What’s one SEO metric you see teams focusing on way too much?

5 KPIs That Actually Matter in 2025 🔥 - Traffic? Great. But does it convert? - Rankings? Cool. But do they drive business? - Domain Rating? Impressive. But does Google even care? SEO isn’t about looking good on a report, anymore. Here’s what actually matters.. 1️⃣ Search Intent Over Keywords. ✔ Entities Over Keywords → Semantic SEO may seem like a buzzword. But Google is a semantic search engine; understand that. Think topics rather than 'keywords'. ✔ User Intent is Everything → If a user leaves for a better answer, your content fails. ✔ Optimize Content with GSC queries → Update new and old content based on "data", not assumptions. ✔ Content length? → As short as possible, as long as needed. Fluff kills your whole content strategy, thus rankings. 🤔 How to Measure: - Organic clicks (because traffic without clicks is dead weight). - Last-click behavior (did they stay or return to Google?). - Indexing & visibility (if it’s not indexed, it doesn’t exist). 2️⃣ Links: Authority, Not Just Numbers. ✔ DR is a vanity metric → Google doesn’t rank sites based on DR, "SEOs" do. ✔ Referring domains > Outbound links → It clearly indicates that website is selling links if their outbound links number outweighs RDs (exceptions are there). ✔ Momentum matters → A steady 10 quality links per month beats a 100-link spam blast (unless you're in gray niches and do black hat SEO, lol). ✔ Casino, PBNs, spammy anchors?  If you’re cutting corners, Google already knows. 🤔 How to Measure: - Relevance & authority →  A single HubSpot link > ten random blog links. - Indexing status → If Google doesn’t see it, it doesn’t count. - Link velocity vs. competitors → You need consistent growth. 3️⃣ Technical SEO: Google doesn’t index what it can’t crawl. No indexing = no rankings (obvious!) ✔ Screaming Frog & GSC audits →  Small fixes like headers, sitemaps, and response codes seem minor but make a big impact. ✔ Internal links drive structure →  Sidebar, footer, and contextual links all matter. ✔ Custom Schema & rich snippets → More SERP real estate = more clicks. ✔ Speed isn’t about being fast. It’s about being faster than your competitors. 🤔 How to Measure: - Indexing & crawlability →  If Google can’t find it, no one can. - Page speed; yours vs. competitors →  If you load slower, you lose. - SERP feature visibility →  Rich snippets, FAQs, and featured snippets to increase CTR. (Covered more of this in my Technical SEO deep dive – check the first comment for the link.) 5️⃣ Business Type: SEO goals aren’t one-size-fits-all. ✔ Local Business → Track calls, foot traffic, Google Business Profile interactions. ✔ E-commerce → Track sales from organic search, not just clicks. Assuming your CRO game is solid. ✔ SaaS → Track trial signups and demos booked. That's the best possible way I can help you in identifying the right metrics! 😉 P.S. If your SEO strategy isn’t making money, it’s just a very expensive hobby. 🤷♂️

SEO without data? Might as well flip a coin ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ → "SEO is a long game." → "Results take time." → "Patience pays off." Yeah, we’ve all heard it. But here’s the thing—waiting without tracking the 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 KPIs is just guesswork with a fancy name. In SEO, you can’t improve what you don’t measure. And not all metrics are created equal. Rankings look nice, but 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘦? Here are the 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗘𝗢 𝗞𝗣𝗜𝘀 that actually tell you if your strategy is working (or just working 𝘺𝘰𝘶)—𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮: → Organic Traffic → Keyword Rankings → Click-Through Rate (CTR) → Bounce Rate & Dwell Time → Conversion Rate from Organic Traffic → Backlink Quality → Page Load Speed → Indexed Pages → Core Web Vitals → Revenue from Organic Search SEO isn’t magic. It’s measurable. It’s strategic. And it’s about aligning efforts with outcomes that 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. --- Follow Jeff Gapinski for more content like this. ♻️ Share this to help someone improve their SEO.

If you're diving into SEO, measuring your success can feel overwhelming. People throw around terms like “organic traffic,” “CTR,” and “ROI,” but how do you know which ones matter most for your goals? Here’s the truth: Not every metric is created equal. When I started tracking SEO, I focused on flashy numbers. But over time, I realized the power lies in understanding the why behind the data. These are the 5 KPIs I’ve learned to prioritize for sustainable growth: User Engagement ↳ It’s not just about traffic it’s about how deeply users connect with your platform. → More engaged users = higher conversions. Click-Through Rate (CTR) ↳ Craft irresistible meta titles and descriptions to boost those clicks. → A higher CTR shows your content resonates. Keyword Ranking ↳ Don’t chase every keyword. Focus on strategic ones that align with your audience. → Rankings mean little if they don’t drive targeted traffic. Organic Traffic ↳ Your real SEO power: users finding you naturally. → Use this to gauge long-term strategy effectiveness. Return on Investment (ROI) ↳ This is the bottom line—are your efforts paying off? → Measure what matters: time, energy, and budget spent vs. results gained. Remember, SEO isn’t about “ranking for everything.” It’s about connecting with your ideal audience, understanding their journey, and refining your efforts. P.S. What’s the one SEO metric you always keep your eye on?