Introduction
1. Organic Traffic
What It Is: Organic traffic refers to the visitors who land on your site as a result of unpaid search results. It’s a direct measure of how well your SEO efforts are performing in terms of attracting visitors.
How to Track It:
- Google Analytics: Google Analytics is a powerful tool for tracking organic traffic. To view your organic traffic, go to
Acquisition > All Traffic > Channels. Here, you can see how much traffic is coming from organic search. - Google Search Console: Google Search Console provides insights into the keywords driving organic traffic to your site. Go to
Performanceto view metrics like clicks, impressions, and average position.
2. Keyword Rankings
What It Is: Keyword rankings indicate where your website ranks in search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords. Tracking keyword rankings helps you understand how well your pages are optimized for target keywords.
How to Track It:
- Google Search Console: Under
Performance, you can see the average position of your website for various keywords. - Ubersuggest: Ubersuggest is a free tool that allows you to track keyword rankings and provides insights into keyword performance.
3. Backlinks
What They Are: Backlinks are links from other websites pointing to your site. They are a crucial ranking factor for SEO, as they signal to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy.
How to Track Them:
- Google Search Console: You can find backlinks under
Links. This section shows you the sites linking to your pages and the anchor text used. - Ahrefs Backlink Checker: Ahrefs offers a free tool for checking backlinks. Enter your URL to see a list of backlinks and their quality.
4. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
What It Is: CTR is the ratio of users who click on your link compared to the number of times it’s shown in the search results. A higher CTR indicates that your title tags and meta descriptions are compelling.
How to Track It:
- Google Search Console: CTR data can be found under
Performance. It shows the percentage of clicks versus impressions for your search queries. - Google Analytics: In Google Analytics, you can track CTR indirectly by analyzing landing page performance and user behavior.
5. Bounce Rate
What It Is: Bounce rate represents the percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate may indicate that your content is not engaging or relevant.
How to Track It:
- Google Analytics: Navigate to
Behavior > Site Content > Landing Pagesto view the bounce rate for each page on your site. - Matomo: Matomo offers a free analytics tool that includes bounce rate metrics along with other performance indicators.
6. Page Load Time
What It Is: Page load time measures how quickly your website pages load for users. Faster load times improve user experience and can positively impact SEO rankings.
How to Track It:
- Google PageSpeed Insights: This tool provides insights into your page’s load time and offers suggestions for improvement.
- GTmetrix: GTmetrix analyzes your site’s performance and provides detailed reports on page load times and recommendations for optimization.
7. Mobile Friendliness
What It Is: Mobile friendliness refers to how well your website performs on mobile devices. With the rise of mobile search, ensuring your site is mobile-friendly is essential for SEO.
How to Track It:
- Google Mobile-Friendly Test: This tool checks if your site is mobile-friendly and provides suggestions for improvements.
- Google Search Console: Under
Mobile Usability, you can find reports on any mobile usability issues affecting your site.
8. Domain Authority (DA)
What It Is: Domain Authority is a metric developed by Moz that predicts how well your website will rank on search engines. It’s based on factors like backlinks, domain age, and content quality.
How to Track It:
- Moz Link Explorer: Moz offers a free version of their Link Explorer tool to check your domain authority and compare it with competitors.
- Ubersuggest: Ubersuggest provides domain authority scores and other SEO metrics in its free toolset.
9. Content Engagement
What It Is: Content engagement measures how users interact with your content, including metrics like time on page, pages per session, and social shares. High engagement indicates valuable and relevant content.
How to Track It:
- Google Analytics: Track content engagement through metrics like
Average Session Duration,Pages per Session, andSocial Interactions. - BuzzSumo: BuzzSumo’s free tool helps analyze social shares and engagement metrics for your content.
10. Conversion Rate
What It Is: Conversion rate measures the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action on your site, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. It’s an important metric for evaluating the effectiveness of your SEO and marketing strategies.
How to Track It:
- Google Analytics: Set up goals and track conversions under
Conversions > Goalsto measure how well your site achieves its objectives. - HubSpot Analytics: HubSpot offers free tools to track and analyze conversion rates and other performance metrics.