ey SEO Metrics to Track in 2023

Software can track almost every bit of SEO data. This is both a blessing for marketers and a curse. This data allows marketers to make smart marketing decisions. It also aids in a better understanding of users when it is properly analyzed.

However, just because you have access to data, doesn’t mean that you should monitor it.

I reached out to SEOs and marketers to share the key metrics that they will be using in 2023.

What are the SEO metrics?

SEO metrics are data sets which help to determine the success of SEO in digital marketing campaigns.

Marketers can analyze data to understand the value of SEO’s contributions to marketing. This allows marketers to measure success and identify what worked well.

Additionally, SEO metrics can help businesses improve their marketing campaigns in order to deliver on their marketing goals.

Some SEO metrics can be more valuable than others. You may be familiar with “vanity metrics”, which refers to metrics that can increase marketing efforts but not move the needle for a business. You might see clicks or impressions as vanity metrics in SEO.

Does that mean these metrics don’t matter? No.

It is true that the metrics you use will be determined by your goals.

This skill is acquired over time. It involves knowing which metrics you should monitor, which ones to compare with others and which metrics to ignore.

In the following article:

• 
  You can track SEO metrics in GA4
  
  • 
    Engagement rate
    
  • 
    Enhanced Measurements
    
  • 
    Landing Pages
    
• 
  You might not be aware of SEO metrics
  
  • 
    Email sign-ups
    
  • 
    SEO influences PPC metrics: Retargeting and keywords
    
  • 
    Images
    
• 
  SEO metrics that won’t change in 2023
  
  • 
    Content engagement
    
  • 
    Customer lifetime value
    
  • 
    Brand visibility
    
  • 
    Searches for missing brands
    
  • 
    Conversions, and conversion rate
    
  • 
    Revenue
    
  • 
    Impressions and clicks
    
• 
  The benefits of tracking SEO metrics
  
• 
  What SEO metrics should you not track?
  

You can track SEO metrics in GA4

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has arrived, and it includes valuable reports such as traffic acquisition. Engagement rate is also a superior metric than bounce rate.

1. Engagement rate

The GA4 has included the engagement rate as one of the newest metrics.

An SEO metric, engagement rate measures the number of meaningful interactions on your website. Engagements can be described as clicks, scrolls and conversions.

On engagement rate, SEO professional Kyle Rushton says:

• “Tracking engagement rates will help you identify which pages or channels are lacking in engagements. This can be on-page, speed-wise or any other factor that may be driving lower engagements.

Additional work will be beneficial for low-engagement pages that fall short of expectations.

2. Measurements re-examinated

GA4 records conversion data as an incident. Enhanced measurements give us a level of granularity about user behavior that we don’t have with Universal Analytics (UA).

Freelance SEO consultant Natalie Slater explains the importance of form interactions. Slater says:

• GA4 can automatically track interaction with forms. This includes both the start of the form fill (form_start) and the submission (form_submit). Enhanced Measurement is used. Sometimes, the automatic tracking is a little too broad and manual tracking solutions are required. However, I have come across cases where the automatic tracking is not sufficient. The form_start feature allows you to see drop offs during the form-filling process.

Two great data sets for SEO are form interactions and submissions.

• First, and foremost, qualified leads are more likely to complete form submissions and make a sale. Emails gathered through form submissions should always be nurtured and marketed via email or PPC, where possible.
• Monitoring metrics like form submissions vs. form interactions can help with CRO. A form might have many users who interact with it but do not submit. This could indicate a difficult form to fill out or an issue with the submit button.

These metrics can be used to spot potential CRO issues at a site.

3. Landing pages

Google Analytics Landing Page Report seems to be a favorite of SEOs. Many mention it when discussing SEO metrics.

This report will help you understand how effective the landing page is for a user.

It is possible to see which landing pages convert within the same session. This makes it easy to identify sales directly from SEO efforts.

You had to initially customize your GA4 report, but due to its popularity, GA4 now has a standard landing-page report.

It is important to remember that focusing on sales directly from SEO can do a disservice to SEO’s contribution towards conversion. That’s why it’s important that you track other metrics that are not so obvious.

You might not be aware of SEO metrics

SEO metrics include traffic, clicks and revenue. You might not have considered tracking metrics from other marketing activities to see SEO’s impact on sales.

SEO is a traffic driver. The goal is to drive qualified visitors to your site. Qualified traffic refers to traffic that is interested and likely to purchase your product.

SEO is the first step in your marketing funnel for many web users. Searching for a problem will lead users to your article or page. They might then sign up for email updates or join an audience to receive PPC retargeting.

4. Email sign-ups

Zack Reboletti is a SEO consultant at Get Web Focused.

• Email marketing is vital to many businesses. Regularly publishing SEO-informed content on a website is one of the best ways for email marketers to grow their list. Although blog posts can drive conversions, it is more common for them to be used as traffic. Then, an email signup will follow. Finally, conversions from email are made later.

SEO can improve metrics of other marketing strategies. It is easy to see.

SEO data also provides data on clicks and trends in email marketing to show when users are searching for specific types of content.

An article may be of particular interest during a specific time of the year, for example. You don’t have to wait for your audience search for it or find you, but you can take control.

SEO data should be used to inspire content for social media and email. Based on SEO metrics, you can show your audience the content that people are searching for.

5. PPC metrics that can be influenced by SEO: Keywords and retargeting

SEO generates traffic that PPC can target. Long tail keywords are great for ads because they bring in traffic that is relevant to specific problems.

Consider articles that rank for long tail keywords like “[product] for [specific issue]” or “how to [solve a problem]”. These clicks give you qualified traffic to your ads.

Display ads and retargeting messaging are highly targeted and can capture attention to nurture potential buyers, keep your brand in mind, and convert later.

Leigh Buttrey is a paid media specialist.

• Google Ads allows you to set up audiences that capture users who visit certain pages. These audiences should be set up early to allow you to later create retargeting ads. If you’re already running ads, make sure to monitor search terms frequently. This will allow you to monitor search terms in real time and can be used in your organic strategies.

SEO supports PPC as much as SEO supports PPC. PPC can be a quick way to the top of the SERPs. You can use PPC to test keywords that are likely to convert and then determine if they are working organically. Use PPC and SEO to dominate the SERPs.

6. Images

Google introduced continuous scroll to search engine results pages in 2022. Websites might require a listing that stands out more in SERPs with continuous scroll.

It’s not a secret that scrolling can be addictive. Users might find it easier to navigate through SERPs until they find the most interesting listing.

As we continue to explore new ways of searching in 2023, it may be worthwhile to track the impact of high quality images.

Google Search Console allows you to see how many clicks images have earned. This report can be accessed by clicking here

• Go to Google Search Console.
• Go to Search Results from the left-hand navigation.
• Above the graph, change the search type to “Image.”

What pages generate the most clicks? What images could be contributing?

Bonus tip Optimize your alt text to increase your chances of ranking images higher in image SERPs Remember to keep it natural.

SEO metrics that won’t change in 2023

Some metrics are as old as SEO and still have great value. These are the metrics you should track if you don’t already.

7. Content engagement

GA4 makes it easier to monitor content. With the new engagement rate and the loss of bounce rate, great content will be less susceptible to being ruined by bounce.

GA4 allows you to measure by page

• Scroll depth (up to 90%)
• Clicks
• Video
• Site search
• Video engagement
• File downloads

These metrics are used to determine the page’s value. The content is still useful if someone scrolls down to 90% and then reads the entire article. These meaningful actions could be undermined by a bounce rate in UA.

A file download or scroll that is in-depth is a sign that the content has an engaged audience. This can be used to retarget or nurture them through marketing automation.

8. Customer lifetime value

When tracking SEO revenue, it is crucial to consider the customer lifetime value (CLV). This is easily demonstrated by subscription-based businesses.

The initial payment for the first month might be $10 if a user visits your site via a non-branded Google Search.

However, $100 is the real value of that interaction if they sign up for 10 consecutive months. The CLV of the customer who refers three friends to you for a subscription increases if they are offered a referral program.

You can see how long SEO efforts last by calculating customer lifetime value.

9. Brand visibility

Marketers can track brand mentions and clicks from brand terms to determine how brand searches convert. The theory is that people searching for your brand are looking for andyour products.

It can be helpful to track brand searches in order to understand which pages are earning brand clicks. SEO can be directly attributed to clicks to pages that get clicks from Google but do not have any queries about the brand.

These pages may also convert if SEO is responsible for the clicks and conversions. These conversions can be difficult to reach, but they are great when they do.

You can track brand searches to see which people are searching for you brand. Brand searches will be discovered that you might not have otherwise.

10. Brand searches not found

You can gain insights from users by monitoring how they search for your brand.

Sara Taher is a fellow contributor to Search Engine Land.

• It is important to search for missed opportunities in branded searches and make sure you answer those queries. This will allow you to capture traffic that was not used by other websites. Third-party websites can capture brand searches instead of the brand website.

You could lose the opportunity to rank, and users, if you don’t keep up with brand searches.

Potential buyers who are near to conversion but may be a bit nervous might look for:

• Is [brand] legitimate?
• Review of [brand]
• What is the role of [brand]?

Groupon is a good example of one of these search terms.

The industry’s nature (coupons and discounts) can increase buyer’s caution. However, these searches can still be performed for other brands.

Brands can lose clicks due to negative reviews. Trust Pilot and Facebook have the rank above the domain.

These queries can be managed by brands by designing pages that meet the intent. This will make the brand’s website more popular, increase clicks, and allow the buyer to control the narrative.

11. Conversions and the conversion rate

Conversion rates (CVR), and conversions are two metrics that should be compared.

Conversion refers to any action that is taken on your website. Ecommerce might mean sales. However, it could also refer to contact form submissions, downloads, and other actions.

Rebecca Oliver is a digital marketing manager at Sixty Eight People. She shares the importance and conversion rate tracking.

• “I love to find out more about impressions, and that’s why the conversion rate is so important to me. How many people did you reach out to? You can map future marketing investments and get more money if you can prove that you require 12,000 website visitors per month to convert 700 people who take action leading to 70 business transactions.

12. Revenue

Marketing should always generate revenue. If marketing doesn’t generate more revenue than it costs after the initial investment, it is failing.

Tracking revenue should not only focus on organic metrics but also consider overall revenue. SEO is an important component of other marketing channels that drive qualified visitors to the website.

Louis Smith is an expert in ecommerce SEO and says that tracking revenue is a key part of ecommerce SEO.

• You must track your revenue growth in 2023. It is important to know which pages are driving revenue. Google Analytics and other tools can help you monitor key metrics. Your business will be able to achieve financial growth by knowing which revenue channels have been tracked.

13. Clicks and impressions

In the end, SEO will be about generating clicks and traffic to websites. Clicks will be something you track in 2023. Conversions are not possible without earning clicks, and impressions are not possible without clicks.

Jacob Andra has the best words:

• SEOs have direct control of clicks. We want clicks that turn into conversions. But you can’t drive a parked vehicle. We must first drive organic traffic as much as possible. We must address conversion issues if there is one. This can be done after we have enough traffic to build a solid data set.

You need to monitor clicks in addition to other SEO metrics when it comes to monitoring clicks’ value.

• Engagements
• Downloads
• SEO results directly lead to sales (check out the landing page report).

It is important to determine which SEO efforts are driving qualified visitors to a website.

Tracking SEO metrics has many benefits

Tracking SEO metrics can help you gain a better understanding of:

• Your audience.
• Website performance.
• How to create a marketing campaign that is successful
• Marketing tactics that can be combined to achieve marketing goals.
• Campaigns that fail to meet marketing goals (and should not be repeated)

What SEO metrics should you not track?

It is not easy to determine which metrics are worth your time and which ones are not. It is important to remember that the metrics you value will be influenced by what you are trying to accomplish with your marketing.

It is important to see the whole picture. You need to analyze SEO metrics from multiple angles.

If you look at the site in isolation, a site’s time spent on it is a good indicator. However, if traffic isn’t converting, then maybe the site isn’t working.

A summary of SEO metrics

You could track every recommendation from our experts if you wanted to:

• Engagement rate by session and page
• Conversions by session, page, and channel
• Measurements enhanced such as form submissions
• Conversions and sign-ups for email
• PPC’s Retargeting Conversions
• Phone calls
• Clicks from images
• Customer lifetime value
• Brand visibility
• Brand searches not found
• Conversions and the conversion rate
• Revenue
• Clicks and Impressions

Although this is not an exhaustive list, these items were frequently mentioned when we reached out to experts. You may not find all metrics that apply to your site and goals. However, if they do, keep track of them and see what results you get.

Have fun tracking SEO metrics. Approach it with curiosity.

Avoid becoming a victim to analysis paralysis. Enjoy the ride. GA4 reports allow you to track audience behavior and get very close to the data.

You don’t have to keep track of everything. If you’re just looking at SEO monitoring, you might want to continue tracking until you find the most important metrics for your site and your objectives.

Search Engine Land first published the post 13 important SEO metrics to monitor in 2023.