15 SEO Metrics That Matter (And 5 You Should Ignore)
Most SEO reports are a waste of paper. They’re a blizzard of charts, graphs, and percentages designed to make you feel like something is happening. Traffic is up 15%! Keyword rankings have improved by 5 spots!
So what?
Unless those numbers connect directly to more enquiries, leads, and money in your business account, they are just noise. They are vanity metrics, digital pats on the back that do nothing for your bottom line.
The real goal isn't to be data-rich; it's to be insight-rich. It's about focusing on the handful of metrics that tell you what’s working, what’s broken, and what you need to do next.
This is your no-fluff guide to the 15 SEO metrics that actually matter. We’ll cover where to find them, what they mean for your business, and which popular metrics you should start ignoring today.
- Focus on metrics that connect directly to business outcomes to avoid vanity metrics.
- Master Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 for key insights into traffic and behaviour.
- Track organic conversion rates to measure the effectiveness of SEO efforts on business growth.
- Avoid obsessing over misleading metrics like Domain Authority and total backlinks; focus on quality instead.
The Only Two Tools You Genuinely Need (To Start)
Forget the expensive, complicated dashboards for a moment. To get started, you only need two free tools from Google.
- Google Search Console (GSC): Consider this your window into what happens on Google. It tells you how often you appear in search results, which queries people use to find you, and how many click through to your site. It’s the unfiltered data from the source.
- Google Analytics 4 (GA4): This is your view of what happens on your website. Once a visitor arrives from Google, GA4 tracks their behaviour. Do they engage with your content? Do they fill out a form? Do they leave immediately?
Everything starts here. GSC measures visibility, and GA4 measures behaviour and business results. Master these two, and you’re ahead of 90% of your competition.
Foundational Metrics: Are You Even Visible?
Before you can get conversions, you need clicks. Before you get clicks, you need to be seen. These first few metrics in Google Search Console measure your visibility in search results.
1. Organic Impressions
- What it is: The number of times any URL from your website appeared in a search result that a user saw. An impression doesn't mean they clicked; it's just that your site was on their screen.
- Why it matters: This is the top of your SEO funnel. It represents your total potential search audience. If your impressions are zero, you are invisible. Growing impressions for relevant keywords is the first sign that Google is starting to recognise your site's authority on a topic.
- Where to find it: Google Search Console > Performance > Total impressions.
2. Organic Clicks
- What it is: The number of times a user clicked on your website's link from a search result.
- Why it matters: A click is the first real transaction. Someone traded their attention for what you promised in your search result. This is the raw traffic that SEO drives to your digital doorstep.
- Where to find it: Google Search Console > Performance > Total clicks.
3. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
- What it is: The percentage of impressions that resulted in a click. The formula is simple: (Clicks÷Impressions)×100=CTR.
- Why it matters: CTR is one of the best proxies we have for how compelling your offer is on the search results page. A high CTR suggests your page title and meta description effectively grab attention and promise a relevant answer. Even with a high ranking, a low CTR tells you your message isn't landing.
- Where to find it: Google Search Console > Performance > Average CTR.
4. Average Keyword Position
- What it is: The average ranking of your website's URLs for a specific query or set of queries.
- Why it matters: This metric needs a huge warning label. It's an average and can be misleading. However, tracking the trend of your average position for essential keywords is useful. If your average position for “Bristol bike repair” steadily improves from 15 to 8, you know your efforts are paying off. Just don't obsess over the daily fluctuations.
- Where to find it: Google Search Console > Performance > Average position.
On-Site Metrics: What Happens After the Click?
Getting the click is only half the battle. The click was worthless if visitors land on your site and immediately leave. These metrics from Google Analytics 4 tell you about the quality of your traffic and the effectiveness of your website.
5. Organic Sessions
- What it is: The total number of visits to your website that originated from an organic search. A single person (user) can have multiple sessions.
- Why it matters: This is the top-line number for how much traffic your SEO efforts generate. While raw traffic isn't a business goal, a steady increase in organic sessions is a primary indicator of a healthy SEO campaign.
- Where to find it: Google Analytics 4 > Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition > Filter for “Organic Search”.
6. Engaged Sessions (and Engagement Rate)
- What it is: A session is “engaged” if the user stayed on your site for 10 seconds, had a conversion event, or visited at least two pages. Engagement Rate is the percentage of sessions that were engaged.
- Why it matters: This is GA4's much-improved replacement for “Bounce Rate.” It measures how many people actually stuck around and interacted. A high engagement rate means you attracted the right audience and gave them what they wanted. A low rate suggests a mismatch between your search snippet and landing page content.
- Where to find it: Google Analytics 4 > Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition.
7. Pages per Session
- What it is: The average number of pages a user views during a single session.
- Why it matters: This metric indicates how well your site encourages exploration. If a user lands on a blog post and then clicks to your services page and contact page, that's a great sign. This means that your internal linking and site navigation are working. A low number (close to 1) might mean users find their answer and leave, or they're not enticed to look further.
- Where to find it: This requires a custom exploration in GA4, but you can see a similar metric, “Views per user.”
8. Top Organic Landing Pages
- What it is: This isn't a single number, but a critical report. It shows you which pages on your site receive the most traffic from organic search.
- Why it matters: Your top landing pages are your SEO workhorses. They are your most valuable digital assets. You need to know what they are to ensure they are fully optimised with clear calls-to-action to convert that traffic. This report tells you what Google thinks you're most authoritative about.
- Where to find it: Google Analytics 4 > Reports > Engagement > Landing pages > Add a filter for “Organic Search”.
The Bottom-Line Metrics: Is This Actually Making Money?
Now we get to the numbers that matter most. Traffic and engagement are significant, but they are just hobbies if they don't lead to business. These metrics connect SEO activity directly to business outcomes.
9. Organic Conversion Rate
- What it is: The percentage of organic sessions that result in a desired action (a “conversion”). This could be filling out a contact form, purchasing, or downloading a guide.
- Why it matters: This is arguably the most important SEO metric. It tells you how effectively your website turns free traffic from Google into tangible business leads or sales. You can have all the traffic in the world, but with a 0% conversion rate, your business isn't growing.
- Where to find it: Google Analytics 4 > Reports > Acquisition > Traffic acquisition. (You are required to set up conversion events first.)
10. Goal Completions (Conversions)
- What it is: The raw number of conversions from organic search traffic.
- Why it matters: This is your final output. How many contact forms were filled? How many products were sold? This number, more than any other, justifies your investment in SEO. Tracking this tells you the real-world volume of business being generated.
- Where to find it: Google Analytics 4 > Reports > Engagement > Conversions > Filter for Organic Search.
11. SEO Return on Investment (ROI)
- What it is: A calculation that compares the profit generated by SEO to the investment cost. A simple formula is: ((ValueofOrganicConversions−SEOInvestment)÷SEOInvestment)×100.
- Why it matters: This puts SEO in the language every business owner understands: money in versus money out. To calculate this, you must assign a value to your conversions (e.g., each lead is worth £50). This metric proves that SEO isn't a cost centre; it's a revenue driver.
- Where to find it: This is a calculation you perform using data from GA4 and your own accounting.
Technical & Authority Metrics: Is Your Site Built to Last?
These metrics look under the bonnet. They measure your site's technical health and its authority in the eyes of search engines. Ignoring them is like building a beautiful house on a shaky foundation.
12. Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS)
- What it is: A set of three specific metrics Google uses to measure a page's overall user experience: Largest Contentful Paint (loading performance), Interaction to Next Paint (responsiveness), and Cumulative Layout Shift (visual stability).
- Why it matters: Google wants to send its users to websites that work well. A slow, clunky site, or one with elements that jump around the page, provides a poor experience. Passing the Core Web Vitals assessment directly signals to Google that your site is technically sound.
- Where to find it: Google Search Console > Core Web Vitals.
13. Crawl Errors
- What it is: Issues that Googlebot encounters when reading your website. Examples include 404 “Not Found” errors (broken links) or 5xx server errors.
- Why it matters: Many crawl errors tell Google your site is poorly maintained. This can waste your “crawl budget” (the resources Google will dedicate to your site) and prevent essential pages from being indexed correctly. It also creates a frustrating experience for users who click a broken link.
- Where to find it: Google Search Console > Pages > “Why pages aren't indexed” report.
14. Number of Referring Domains
- What it is: The number of unique websites with at least one link pointing to your site.
- Why it matters: This is a far better measure of authority than the total number of backlinks. One link from 100 different websites is infinitely more valuable than 100 links from the same website. It shows that a wide variety of sources trust your content. This is a key off-page ranking factor.
- Where to find it: This requires a third-party tool like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz.
15. Indexed Pages
- What it is: The list of pages on your website that Google has successfully crawled and added to its massive index, making them eligible to appear in search results.
- Why it matters: If a page isn't in the index, it simply does not exist to Google. You need to ensure all your important pages are indexed. Equally, you want to avoid “index bloat,” where thousands of low-quality pages (like tag archives or old search results) are indexed, diluting your site's overall quality.
- Where to find it: Google Search Console > Pages > “View data about indexed pages”.
The 5 Vanity Metrics You Must Stop Obsessing Over
Now, let's clear out the clutter. Chasing these numbers will waste your time and distract you from what really grows a business.
1. Bounce Rate (The Old, Misleading Version)
In the old version of Google Analytics, a “bounce” was when someone visited a single page and left. This was flawed because a user could land on your blog, read an entire 3,000-word article, get their answer, and leave satisfied—and it would be counted as a bounce. GA4's “Engagement Rate” is a far more intelligent metric. Ignore the old bounce rate.
2. Domain Authority (DA) / Authority Score (AS)
Created by Moz and SEMrush, these scores are third-party predictions of a site's ability to rank. Google does not use them in any way. While they can be helpful for a quick competitive snapshot, they are often inaccurate and should never be treated as a primary KPI. Don't waste energy trying to increase your “DA score.”
3. Total Number of Backlinks
As mentioned earlier, quality trumps quantity. Ten thousand links from spammy, low-quality directories are more likely to harm your site than help it. Focus on the number of unique referring domains instead.
4. A “#1 Ranking” for an Ego Keyword
Our “Bristol Bike Repair” shop owner might dream of ranking #1 for “best bicycles.” But the people searching are likely doing research, not looking to buy locally. Ranking #1 for “emergency bike repair in Bristol” is far less glamorous but infinitely more valuable. Chasing ego keywords that don't convert is a pointless exercise.
5. Aggregate Site Traffic
Celebrating that “total traffic is up 20%” is meaningless. What if that increase came from a spammy referral site or a social media post that went viral in the wrong country? You must segment your traffic. Is organic traffic up? Is qualified referral traffic up? The total number hides the essential details.
From Data to Decisions: A Simple Framework
Don't look at these 15 metrics in isolation. The real insights come when you connect them.
- High Impressions + Low CTR? Your page title and meta description aren't compelling enough. Rewrite them.
- High Clicks + Low Engagement Rate? Your page isn't delivering on your promise in the search results. Improve the content or page design.
- High Engagement Rate + Low Conversions? Your visitors like your content, but aren't taking the next step. Your call-to-action is likely weak, unclear, or missing.
Understanding how these metrics influence each other is the first step. The next step is building a cohesive strategy around them. We cover that in our approach to digital marketing services.
Stop counting your traffic and start measuring your business. Focus on the few metrics that trace a clear path from a Google search to a deposit in your bank account. The rest is just noise.
Frequently Asked Questions About SEO Metrics
What's the most crucial SEO metric?
Organic Conversion Rate. It's the metric that most directly measures whether your SEO efforts generate actual business value, like leads or sales.
How often should I check my SEO metrics?
For most businesses, a thorough review once a month is sufficient. Check for long-term trends, not daily spikes or dips, which can be misleading. Critical issues like a sudden traffic drop or crawl errors should be addressed immediately.
What is a good CTR for SEO?
It varies wildly by industry, keyword, and ranking position. On average, the #1 result might get a CTR of 30%+, while a result on page two gets less than 1%. Instead of aiming for a specific number, continuously improve your CTR for your most important keywords.
Is Domain Authority a real ranking factor?
No. Domain Authority (DA) is a metric created by the company Moz to predict a site's ranking potential. Google does not use DA in its ranking algorithms. It is a third-party metric, not a Google metric.
How do I track SEO conversions?
You need to set up “conversion events” in Google Analytics 4. This tells GA4 what actions are essential to your business, such as a user visiting a “thank you” page after filling out a form or completing a checkout.
What's the difference between organic traffic and direct traffic?
Organic traffic comes from users clicking on your site from an unpaid search engine result. Direct traffic is when a user types your website URL directly into their browser or uses a bookmark.
Why did my organic traffic drop?
It could be many things: a recent Google algorithm update, increased competition, technical issues like crawl errors, or seasonal changes in demand. The first places to check are Google Search Console for errors and Google Analytics for which specific pages or keywords lost traffic.
Can I do SEO without paid tools?
Yes. Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 are free and provide all the essential data you need to run a successful SEO campaign. Paid tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush offer additional competitive analysis and backlink data, but are not required.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics from Google that measure the real-world user experience of a webpage, focusing on loading speed (LCP), interactivity (INP), and visual stability (CLS).
How long does it take to see results from SEO?
SEO is a long-term strategy. While minor changes can have effects in weeks, it typically takes 4-6 months to see significant, needle-moving results from a consistent SEO strategy.
What is a ‘crawl error'?
A crawl error occurs when a search engine bot tries to visit a page on your site but fails. The most common is a 404 error, which means the page was not found.
What is the difference between impressions and clicks?
An impression is when your website link is displayed on a search results page. A click is when a user physically clicks on that link to visit your site.
Stop Guessing, Start Measuring
Tired of staring at confusing SEO reports that don't tell you what to do next? A successful digital strategy is built on precise data and actionable insights, not vanity metrics. It’s about focusing on the results that grow your business.
If you're ready to build a marketing plan that focuses on real results, let's talk. You can explore our digital marketing services or request a no-obligation quote to see how we can help. For more insights, browse the other articles on the Inkbot Design blog.
