7 SEO KPIs You Should Be Tracking

In general, people measure the success of their SEO efforts by the ranking of their website on Google. However, as we can see from insights on Google Analytics and Google Search Console, there are many other ways to measure SEO success. Let’s look at the 7 important SEO KPIs you should be tracking in Google Analytics. 

Category: Audience

The Audience category measures website visitors by number, age, location, and interests.

Number of Visitors

This shows insights into the number of visitors and views, broken down by click behaviour such as frequency or recency, which helps to show how popular the website is. The best websites using efficient SEO practices will have a high number of visitors.

The Ratio of New and Returning Visitors

Google Analytics uses cookies to count visitor numbers and divide them into new and returning, which you can see by clicking ‘Behavior’ under ‘New vs. Returning’. A high number of returning visitors to a website means it is efficient for users. A high number of new visitors shows good website awareness amongst your target audience. Both imply that your SEO practices are successful because visitors can find your website on search engines.

Session Duration

This section shows the duration of time visitors spend on the website. View this stat by clicking ‘Behavior’ under ‘Engagement’. This section divides users by the duration of their visit. More time spent on the website suggests the content is valuable and that users are engaging with it. If the time spent on the website is low, this could mean the quality of your content is also low. Therefore, content and page design must be considered carefully to encourage users to stay on the website longer, which will help the website rank higher on the search engine.

Category: Acquisition

Acquisition measures the number of visitors or traffic from SERPs.

Number of Users from Organic SERPs

Click ‘Overview’ under Category Acquisition to view the number of visitors from organic search engines. A high number in this category indicates good quality SEO, as you can reach customers without the need for ads.

Category: Behavior

The Behavior category shows how users engage with content.

Average Speed

This shows the website’s loading speed. A longer loading time often results in customers leaving the site, affecting your website’s ranking. Therefore, your page loading speed should be fast for efficient SEO.

Average Time on Page

Under ‘Website content’, click ‘All pages’ to see the average time users spend on your web pages. Try to match your content to your users’ search intent to keep them on your website longer.

Category: Conversions

The Conversion category shows information on your conversion rate.

Conversion Rate

The conversion rate looks at clicks to purchase, followers, content views, and form completion. You can set targets in Google Analytics by clicking ‘Admin’ and ‘Property Settings’, then selecting ‘Goals’ and clicking ‘New Goals’ to create a target for conversions.

As you can see, the success of SEO is measured in many ways besides your website ranking. The metrics above are good indicators of how popular a website is, so these SEO KPIs should be tracked regularly.