SEO Metrics That Actually Matter for Business Growth
Rankings are up. Traffic is up. But revenue isn't.
Sound familiar?
Most companies track the wrong SEO metrics—vanity numbers that look good in reports but don't drive business results.
Here's what actually matters.
The Metrics Most People Track (And Why They're Misleading)
Metric #1: Total organic traffic
More traffic sounds great, but what if it's the wrong traffic?
10,000 visitors who bounce immediately < 500 visitors who convert.
Metric #2: Keyword rankings
Ranking #1 for a keyword no one searches for = zero value.
Metric #3: Domain authority
DA is a third-party metric (not used by Google). It correlates with rankings but doesn't cause them.
Metric #4: Backlink count
100 spammy backlinks < 5 quality backlinks from relevant sites.
These metrics aren't useless—they're just incomplete. Tracking them without context leads to bad decisions.
Tier 1: Revenue-Focused Metrics (What Actually Matters)
1. Organic Revenue
What it is: Revenue directly attributable to organic search traffic.
Why it matters: This is the bottom line. Everything else is a proxy.
How to track:
- Set up e-commerce tracking in GA4
- Tag organic traffic as a source
- Track revenue from assisted + last-click conversions
Target: Should increase month-over-month if your SEO is working.
2. Conversion Rate from Organic
What it is: Percentage of organic visitors who complete a desired action (purchase, signup, demo request).
Why it matters: High traffic with low conversions = wrong audience or poor user experience.
How to track:
- Set up goals in GA4
- Filter by organic source
- Track by landing page to see which content converts best
Benchmark: Varies by industry, but 2-5% is typical for B2B SaaS.
3. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) via Organic
What it is: How much you spend on SEO divided by customers acquired from organic.
Why it matters: Organic should have lower CAC than paid channels. If not, something's wrong.
How to calculate:
- (SEO tools + content costs + labor) / customers from organic
Target: Should be 3-10x lower than paid CAC for mature SEO programs.
Tier 2: Leading Indicators (Predict Revenue)
4. Organic Traffic to High-Intent Pages
What it is: Traffic to pages that indicate buying intent (pricing, product pages, comparison pages).
Why it matters: Not all traffic is equal. 100 visitors to your pricing page > 1,000 visitors to generic blog posts.
How to track:
- Segment GA4 by page type
- Filter by organic source
- Track trends for commercial pages
Action: If blog traffic is up but commercial page traffic is flat, you're targeting the wrong keywords.
5. Keyword Rankings for Money Terms
What it is: Rankings for keywords with commercial or transactional intent.
Why it matters: Ranking #1 for "what is email marketing" won't drive sales. Ranking #5 for "best email marketing software" will.
How to track:
- Tag keywords as informational, commercial, or transactional
- Prioritize tracking commercial/transactional keywords
- Monitor week-over-week changes
Action: If informational keywords rank but commercial ones don't, you need different content or better optimization.
6. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
What it is: Percentage of impressions that result in clicks.
Why it matters: High impressions + low CTR = you're ranking but not compelling.
How to track: Google Search Console → Performance → Average CTR.
Benchmark:
- Position 1: 30-40% CTR
- Position 5: 10-15% CTR
- Position 10: 5-8% CTR
Action: If CTR is below benchmarks, improve title tags and meta descriptions.
7. Organic Engagement Metrics
What it is: Time on page, pages per session, bounce rate for organic traffic.
Why it matters: High engagement = quality traffic. Low engagement = targeting wrong keywords or poor content.
How to track:
- Filter GA4 by organic source
- Compare to other channels
- Break down by landing page
Action: If bounce rate is >70% on blog posts, improve content quality or target better keywords.
Tier 3: Operational Metrics (Track Execution)
8. Publishing Velocity
What it is: How many quality articles you publish per month.
Why it matters: Consistent publishing builds topical authority and compounds over time.
How to track: Simple spreadsheet or CMS publishing log.
Target: Depends on resources, but 4-12 posts/month is ideal for most companies.
9. Content Refresh Rate
What it is: Percentage of old content updated quarterly.
Why it matters: Fresh content ranks better. Stale content declines.
How to track: Track last-updated dates in CMS.
Target: Refresh top 20% of content every 6 months.
10. Internal Link Density
What it is: Average number of internal links per page.
Why it matters: Internal linking distributes authority and helps Google understand site structure.
How to track: Use Screaming Frog or Ahrefs site audit.
Target: 5-10 internal links per post.
Tier 4: Diagnostic Metrics (Troubleshoot Issues)
11. Indexation Rate
What it is: Percentage of published pages that Google has indexed.
Why it matters: If Google hasn't indexed your pages, they can't rank.
How to track: Google Search Console → Coverage report.
Action: If indexation is <90%, fix technical issues (crawl errors, robots.txt, sitemaps).
12. Page Speed (Core Web Vitals)
What it is: How fast your pages load (LCP, FID, CLS).
Why it matters: Slow pages rank worse and convert worse.
How to track: Google Search Console → Core Web Vitals.
Target: All metrics in "Good" range.
13. Backlink Growth Rate
What it is: How many new backlinks you earn per month.
Why it matters: Backlinks remain a strong ranking signal.
How to track: Ahrefs or Semrush backlink tracker.
Target: Consistent growth (even 3-5 quality links/month helps).
How to Build Your SEO Dashboard
Don't track everything. Track what matters for your business.
Recommended dashboard:
Revenue Metrics (check weekly):
- Organic revenue
- Conversion rate from organic
- Traffic to high-intent pages
Leading Indicators (check monthly):
- Rankings for money keywords
- CTR trends
- Engagement metrics
Operational Metrics (check quarterly):
- Publishing velocity
- Content refresh rate
- Indexation rate
Use: Google Sheets, Looker Studio, or any BI tool that connects to GA4 and Search Console.
Common Metric Mistakes
Mistake #1: Tracking too many metrics
You'll drown in data. Pick 5-7 core metrics and monitor them religiously.
Mistake #2: Focusing only on traffic
Traffic is a means to an end (revenue). Track the end.
Mistake #3: Not segmenting by intent
Blog traffic ≠ product page traffic. Separate them.
Mistake #4: Ignoring conversion rate
More traffic with declining conversions = you're attracting the wrong audience.
What to Do With This Data
If organic revenue is flat:
- Check conversion rate (is traffic converting?)
- Check traffic to commercial pages (are you driving the right visitors?)
- Audit high-intent keywords (are you ranking for what actually drives sales?)
If traffic is up but revenue is flat:
- You're targeting informational keywords instead of commercial ones
- Landing pages aren't optimized for conversion
- You're attracting the wrong audience
If rankings are up but traffic is flat:
- CTR is too low (improve titles/meta descriptions)
- Rankings are for low-volume keywords
- You're ranking but below the fold
If you're ranking but not converting:
- Traffic is from wrong keywords
- Landing pages don't match intent
- Weak CTAs or poor user experience
The Pensteady Approach to Metrics
We track:
- Organic traffic to commercial pages (leading indicator)
- Rankings for transactional keywords (leading indicator)
- Organic conversion rate (outcome)
- Organic revenue (outcome)
We don't obsess over:
- Total traffic (often misleading)
- Domain authority (vanity metric)
- Every keyword ranking (focus on money terms)
This keeps us focused on what drives business results—revenue from organic search.
Start Tracking Smarter Today
Audit your current dashboard:
- Are you tracking revenue from organic?
- Are you segmenting by keyword intent?
- Are you monitoring conversion rate?
If not, you're flying blind. Fix your metrics before optimizing anything else.
Want help setting up metrics that actually drive growth? Try Pensteady and we'll show you what's really moving the needle.