13 Key SEO Metrics to Track in 2023

There is software to track almost all SEO data. For marketers, this is both a blessing and a curse. Access to data helps in making smart marketing decisions and when properly analyzed, helps in a deeper understanding of users.

That said, having access to data doesn’t necessarily mean you have to monitor it, especially if it’s not helpful or feels overwhelming.

For this article, I reached out to marketers and SEOs who shared what SEO metrics to watch in 2023 and why they matter.

What are SEO metrics?

SEO metrics are sets of data that help determine the success of SEO’s role in digital marketing campaigns.

Through data analysis, marketers can understand the valuable contribution of SEO to marketing. It allows marketers to compare success and understand what went well and what didn’t.

More importantly, SEO metrics help companies refine their marketing campaigns to drive them towards meeting their marketing goals.

Some SEO metrics are more useful than others. You may be familiar with the term “vanity metrics,” which refers to metrics that may increase with marketing efforts, but don’t move the needle for the business. In SEO, vanity metrics can include impressions and even clicks.

But does that mean these metrics aren’t important? No.

The truth is, the metrics you measure will depend on your goals.

The skill, which comes with time, is knowing which metrics to monitor, which metrics to measure in consideration of others, and which metrics to leave aside.

SEO metrics you can track in GA4

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is here, and with it comes valuable reports like traffic acquisition. Also, engagement rate, which (if you ask me) is a much higher metric than bounce rate.

1. Engagement rate

Engagement rate is one of the newest metrics to grace us with its presence in GA4.

Engagement rate is an SEO metric that measures meaningful engagements on your site. Out of the box, interactions include clicks, scrolls, conversions, and more.

Regarding engagement rate, SEO professional Kyle Rushton says:

Low-engagement pages that don’t meet expectations will benefit from additional work.

2. Enhanced measurements

GA4 tracks conversion data as an event. Enhanced measurements provide a level of granularity into user behavior that we didn’t have “out of the box” with Universal Analytics (UA).

Freelance SEO consultant Natalie Slater shares the value of form interactions and form submissions. Slater says:

Form interactions and form submissions provide two large sets of data for SEO.

You can use these metrics to identify potential CRO issues on a site.

3. Landing pages

The Google Analytics Landing Page report seems to be a firm favorite among SEOs, and is mentioned by many when asked about SEO metrics.

The landing page report is perfect for understanding the effectiveness of the first page a user visits.

You can see which landing pages lead to a conversion within the same session, perfect for identifying sales directly from SEO efforts.

Originally you had to customize your own report in GA4, but (probably) due to its popularity, GA4 has now published a standard landing page report.

It’s important to note here that looking at sales directly from SEO does an injustice to SEO’s contribution to conversion and that’s why it’s important to track other metrics that don’t seem so obvious.

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SEO metrics you might not think to track

SEO has obvious metrics like traffic, clicks, impressions, and revenue. But you might not have thought about tracking metrics from other marketing efforts to understand SEO’s contribution to sales.

SEO will always be a traffic driver, and the goal is to drive qualified traffic to a site. Qualified traffic is traffic that is interested in what your site offers and can buy.

For many of your web users, SEO will be the first point of contact in the marketing funnel. Users will search for a problem and stumble upon your page or article. From there, they can sign up for emails or join an audience for PPC retargeting.

4. Email sign-ups

Zack Reboletti, SEO consultant at Get Web Focused, says:

It’s easy to see how SEO improves the metrics of other marketing tactics.

Also, when it comes to email marketing, SEO data provides trends and click data to see exactly when users are searching for certain types of content.

For example, an article may be of particular interest at a certain time of year. Instead of waiting for your audience to search and find you (or worse, find your competitor), you can be proactive.

The data provided by SEO should inspire your content calendar for email or even social media. You can put the content you know people are looking for based on SEO metrics in front of your audience.

5. PPC metrics that are influenced by SEO: Retargeting and keywords

SEO generates traffic that PPC can redirect. And long-tail keywords serve ads well because they attract relevant traffic with specific problems.

Consider ranking articles for longer tail keywords, such as “[product] for [specific problem]” or your “how to solve problem” guides. Clicks on these pieces of content give ads qualified traffic with specific issues.

Display ads and retargeting messages can be highly targeted to capture attention, nurture the potential buyer, keep your brand top-of-mind, and then convert.

Leigh Buttrey, paid media specialist, says:

As much as SEO supports PPC, PPC also supports SEO. PPC is a fast track to the top of the SERPs. You can test your desired keywords for conversion and determine if efforts are being made to rank organically. Align SEO and PPC to dominate the SERPs.

6. Images

In 2022, Google launched its continuous scrolling in the SERPs. With continuous scrolling, websites may need a listing that stands out in the SERPs more than ever before.

It’s no secret that scrolling is addictive, and users can find it easier to scroll through SERPs until they reach a listing that’s more appealing.

In 2023, as we explore this new way of searching, it may be worth tracking the impact of high-quality images.

With Google Search Console you can see how many clicks your images have gotten. To get to this report:

Which pages generate the right clicks? What images can contribute to this?

Bonus tip: Increase your chances of ranking for images in the image SERPs by optimizing your alt text. (And remember to be natural when you do it).

SEO metrics that aren’t going anywhere in 2023

There are some metrics that are as old as SEO itself and are still as useful as ever. Here are some metrics that, if you’re not already tracking, you probably should be.

7. Content engagement

Monitoring content is improved in GA4. The loss of bounce rate and new engagement rate means that the value of great content is less likely to be undermined by bounce.

In GA4, you can measure, per page:

All of the above metrics help determine the value of a page. If someone scrolls to 90%, reads an entire article, and then leaves the site, the content was still useful. In the AU, the bounce rate could undermine these meaningful actions.

Content that earns a deep scroll or file download is an indicator of an engaged audience that can be retargeted or nurtured through marketing automation later.

8. Customer lifetime value

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is incredibly important when tracking SEO revenue. Subscription-based businesses are a great way to demonstrate this.

If a user lands on your site, via an unbranded Google Search, and signs up for a membership, the initial payment can be $10 for the first month.

But, if they signed up for 10 months, the value of that interaction is actually $100. If that customer is offered a referral scheme and makes three friends for a subscription, the CLV goes up again.

Customer lifetime value lets you see the longevity of your SEO efforts.

9. Brand visibility

Tracking brand mentions and clicks on brand search terms can help marketers determine how brand searches are converting. In theory, those searching for your brand are looking for exactly you and what you can offer.

Tracking brand searches can be helpful in understanding which pages are earning branded clicks and which are not. If you have pages that are getting clicks from Google, but not many (or any) brand-related queries, SEO can be attributed entirely to the click.

If those pages also result in a conversion, SEO is likely solely responsible for the click and conversion. These conversions are harder to come by, but great when they come!

Brand search tracking lets you see how people are searching for your brand. You’ll find brand searches you’d otherwise miss.

10. Missed brand searches

Staying close to how users search for your brand will give you insight into how users trust your brand.

Search Engine Land Contributor Sara Taher says:

If you don’t stay on top of brand searches, you could miss a chance to rank and lose clicks (and users) to competitors or unauthorized sites.

Potential buyers who are close to converting, but perhaps a little nervous, can look for things like:

A good example of these search terms can be found for Groupon.

The nature of the industry (discounts and coupons) may increase buyer caution, but these searches can be found for many other brands.

Reviews, in particular, can lead to lost clicks for brands with websites like Trust Pilot or Facebook taking rank over the site’s domain.

Brands can handle these queries by creating pages that fulfill intent. By doing so, the brand’s site is more likely to rank, earn a click, and control the narrative the potential buyer sees.

11. Conversions and conversion rate

Conversions and conversion rates (CVRs) are metrics that need to be considered against each other.

A conversion is a meaningful action taken on your site. For e-commerce, this could be sales, but it could also be a contact form, shipping, download or others.

Rebecca Oliver, Digital Marketing Manager at Sixty Eight People, shares the importance of tracking conversion and conversion rate.

12. Revenue

Marketing should always be a revenue generator. After the initial investment, if marketing doesn’t earn more than it costs, it’s failing.

When tracking revenue, consider organic metrics, but don’t forget overall revenue. Remember that SEO contributes to other marketing channels that drive qualified website traffic.

On tracking revenue, eCommerce SEO expert Louis Smith says:

13. Clicks and impressions

Ultimately, gaining clicks and traffic to a website will always be one of the main goals of SEO. So clicks are likely to be something you’ll be tracking in 2023. You don’t get conversions without earning a click, and you don’t get clicks without impressions.

When it comes to monitoring the value of clicks, you should monitor clicks along with other SEO metrics such as:

The key is to identify which SEO efforts are driving qualified traffic to a website.

Benefits of tracking SEO metrics

The benefits of tracking SEO metrics include a deeper understanding of:

Which SEO metrics shouldn’t you track?

It’s not easy for anyone to tell you which metrics are valuable and which aren’t. The truth is, the metrics you value will depend on what you’re trying to achieve with your marketing.

The important thing is to look at the big picture. When looking at SEO metrics, you need to look at some metrics along with another.

For example, users who spend a lot of time on the site are generally a good indicator when considered in isolation, but if traffic is not converting, you may be attracting the wrong people, or the site is difficult to use and people has difficulty doing so. navigate to the page they want.

SEO metrics: A summary

If you were to track all the metrics recommended by our experts, you would track:

This is not an exhaustive list, but these items certainly came up again and again as we reached out to experts. Not all metrics apply to your site or goals, but if they do, track them and see what you find.

Remember: Have fun tracking SEO metrics and approach them from a place of curiosity.

Don’t fall victim to analysis paralysis. Instead, enjoy the ride. You can get incredibly close to the data with GA4 reporting and track audience behavior with granularity.

It doesn’t hurt to track “too much” and if you’re just exploring SEO tracking, it may even be better to track more until you find the metrics you find most valuable to you and your site’s goals.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

Zoe Ashbridge is a Senior SEO Strategist and co-founder of forank. Zoe has a background in digital marketing and digital project management. Zoe supports companies worldwide with actionable SEO strategy for internal teams, search engine marketing consulting and implementation. Zoe writes about SEO, digital marketing and entrepreneurship.

How many types of marketing metrics are there?

What are the six types of marketing metrics? The 6 Marketing Metrics That Matter Most to Your CEO

• 1) Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
• 2) Marketing Percentage of Customer Acquisition Cost (M%-CAC)
• 3) Relationship between customer lifetime value and CAC (LTV:CAC)
• 4) Time to recover the CAC.
• 5) Percentage of customers originating in marketing.
• 6) Percentage of customers influenced by marketing.

What are all marketing metrics? Metrics like revenue, funnel performance, and customer satisfaction remain the most popular. But KPI-aware metrics like customer referrals, acquisition costs, content engagement, etc. are also increasingly tracked.

What is SEO performance metrics?

SEO metrics are data points or indicators that you should track and monitor to measure performance and maintain an optimized and healthy website. Whether it’s to track engagement or reflect on SERP authority, tracking your SEO metrics can help you plan strategies for the future.

What are the 3 SEO KPIs you should be tracking? Once you’ve set up your Google Business Profile, you’ll see several metrics tracked by default on the platform. Includes searches, views, clicks, referral requests, and calls. All of these metrics are extremely important to a local business and should be tracked as SEO KPIs.

Why is it important to measure SEO performance? Professional SEOs track everything from rankings and conversions to lost links and more to help prove the value of SEO. Measuring the impact of your work and continuous refinement is critical to your SEO success, customer retention, and perceived value. It also helps you orient your priorities when something isn’t working.

What is the most important reason for using SEO?

In short, SEO is crucial because it makes your website more visible, and that means more traffic and more opportunities to convert prospects into customers. Check out the SEO tools you can use for optimal rankings.

What is most important for SEO? The #1 Google Ranking Factor At WebTek, we say that the most important parts of SEO and the most important Google ranking factors are web page titles and heading tags. Titles represent the main real estate of any website – they are your best chance to tell Google exactly what your website or web page is about.

Which reason for continually measuring the performance of your SEO strategy is most important?

One of the most important aspects of doing SEO is getting new links to your website and content, so it’s important to analyze every aspect of your backlink profile to see if you’re gaining relevant links from quality

Why is it important to use metrics to track your SEO performance? Tracking and measuring SEO is an essential aspect of the search engine optimization process. You can use it to evaluate whether your strategy is working, whether you’re getting the results you want, and understand where and how you can improve in the future.