SEO KPIs That Actually Matter: Stop Tracking Vanity Metrics
Stop reporting vanity metrics. Learn the 6 SEO KPIs that directly connect to revenue.
The Problem with Vanity Metrics
Total traffic is up 30%! Impressions doubled! These metrics sound impressive in reports but tell you almost nothing about business impact. The SEO KPIs that matter connect directly to revenue.
The KPIs We Track for Every Client
1. Organic Revenue (or Lead Value)
The ultimate metric. How much revenue is organic search generating? For e-commerce, this is direct revenue. For lead-gen businesses, assign a value based on close rate and average deal size.
2. Non-Branded Organic Traffic
Strip out branded searches to isolate true SEO performance. Growing non-branded organic traffic means you are winning new audiences who did not already know you.
3. Keyword Rankings by Intent Tier
Categorize keywords by commercial intent. A Tier 1 “buy now” keyword moving from position 8 to 3 is more valuable than a Tier 3 awareness keyword moving from 20 to 5.
4. Organic Conversion Rate
What percentage of organic visitors take a desired action? If traffic is up but conversions are flat, you are attracting the wrong audience.
5. Share of Voice
What percentage of total search visibility in your niche do you own versus competitors? Growing share of voice predicts future traffic growth.
6. Indexed Pages with Traffic
A healthy site has 60-80% of indexed pages driving traffic. Pages with zero traffic for 6+ months are candidates for consolidation or deletion.
If a metric does not connect to revenue within two logical steps, it does not belong on your executive dashboard.