If you want to boost your website’s visibility on Google and bring in more visitors, keeping an eye on your SEO metrics is key.
In this blog, we’ll walk you through seven important SEO metrics you should be tracking: search rankings, impressions, organic traffic, click-through rate (CTR), engagement rate, domain authority, and technical site health.
By regularly checking these, you’ll get a better idea of what’s working (and what’s not), so you can make smarter decisions and fine-tune your strategy.
1. Search Engine Rankings (SERP Position)
One of the first things to track is where your site shows up on Google’s search results—also called the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
When someone searches for something related to your business, does your website pop up on the first page? Ideally, you want to be as close to the top as possible.
Each SERP usually shows 10 organic results (excluding ads or featured snippets), and your goal is to move up in that list. The closer you are to position #1, the better.
What to track:
- Your average position in search results
- Keyword rankings (especially important ones for your brand)
- How you rank for branded vs. non-branded keywords
- Ranking distribution across your site
How to track it:
- Use Google Search Console (free) to monitor keyword positions over time.
- Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or MOZ can save you time by pulling in this data automatically and giving you more in-depth analysis.
Also Read: Why is Mobile SEO Important?
2. Impressions
Impressions show how often your website appears in search results. Every time your site shows up for a search query, that’s one impression.
It’s not just about being on page one—what matters is that your site is actually showing up for keywords people are searching for.
If you rank high but have low impressions, that keyword might not have much search volume, meaning it’s not bringing in much traffic.
What to track:
- Total impressions
- Impressions by keyword group
- Branded vs. non-branded impressions
Where to check:
- Google Search Console gives you this data.
- For custom keyword groups, you may need to do a bit of manual work (Excel or Sheets can help).
3. Organic Search Traffic
Organic traffic is the number of people who visit your site from unpaid search results. This is one of the most important SEO metrics—it shows how many users are actually clicking through to your site.
Once you’ve nailed down rankings and impressions, this is the next step: Are people clicking?
What to track:
- Total organic traffic
- Traffic from specific keywords
- Branded vs. unbranded traffic
- Sessions vs. users
How to track it:
- Google Analytics is your go-to for this.
- If cookie tracking is an issue, use Google Search Console to track clicks instead.
- Some CMS platforms (like HubSpot) also provide traffic data in their dashboards.
- Want to check your competitors? Tools like SEMrush and MOZ can estimate their traffic based on keyword data.
4. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR measures how many people click on your site after seeing it in search results. It’s a good way to tell how appealing your search listing is.
Your Title Tag (the main headline) and Meta Description (the short blurb) play a big role here. A clear, relevant, and catchy title can boost clicks and bring more visitors.
What to track:
- Overall CTR
- CTR by page
- CTR by keyword
Tool to use:
- Google Search Console is great for tracking CTR and seeing where improvements can be made.
Also Read: Can a Blog Boost Local SEO?
5. Engagement Rate
Engagement rate tells you how many people interact with your site—whether they stay for 10+ seconds, click a link, or fill out a form.
It’s the opposite of bounce rate. A higher engagement rate (ideally 60–70%) means people are finding your content useful.
Low engagement? That might mean your content isn’t answering visitors’ questions or is hard to navigate—both of which can hurt your SEO.
What to track:
- Site-wide engagement rate
- Page-level engagement
- Engagement by keyword or campaign
Tool to use:
- Google Analytics 4 lets you dive deep into engagement metrics and filter by different segments.
6. Domain Authority (DA)
Domain Authority is a score (developed by MOZ and other tools) that shows how strong your website is in terms of backlinks.
The higher your DA, the more likely Google is to rank your content higher. It’s not a Google metric, but it’s still a good way to measure progress from your link-building efforts.
What to keep in mind:
- Every tool calculates it a little differently.
- Focus on your trend over time rather than comparing to others.
7. Technical Site Health
Your site’s technical health affects how easily search engines can crawl and index your pages.
Things like broken links, missing meta tags, duplicate titles, or slow load times can all drag down your rankings.
What to track:
- Overall site health score
- Errors and warnings (e.g., from a site audit tool)
- Fixes and improvements over time
How to check:
- Tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Screaming Frog offer site audit features.
- These tools give you a health score and highlight technical issues that need fixing.
Also Read: What SEO Myths Should be Ignored?
Final Tip
If you’re just getting started with SEO, focus on tracking a few key metrics first, then expand as you go. Set clear goals and build a plan around improving rankings, driving traffic, and creating a better experience for your visitors.
