{"id":154279,"date":"2023-03-03T00:09:19","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T05:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=154279"},"modified":"2023-03-03T00:09:23","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T05:09:23","slug":"seo-performance-results","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-performance-results\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Measure SEO Performance &amp; Results (The Right&nbsp;Way)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro-txt\">If you tried to put together a list of metrics from all resources about SEO topics, you\u2019d easily end up with hundreds of them. It can be overwhelming to make sense of it all. But you only need to focus on a few metrics that really matter for your SEO performance and the results it brings.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In this article, you\u2019ll learn about just four SEO metrics that represent all you need to measure your SEO performance properly. On top of that, we\u2019ll also go through multiple ways to measure impact on how your SEO performs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s dive&nbsp;in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"intro-tok\" id=\"intro_tok\" style=\"display:none;\"><div class=\"intro-title\">Contents<\/div><a href=\"#\" class=\"expand-dots\"><span><\/span><span><\/span><span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to measure SEO performance and results\" data-section=\"how-to-measure-seo-performance-results\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to measure SEO performance and results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In the big picture, there are only two ways to measure SEO performance and results: organic traffic and the money it makes for the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a lot of nuances involved, so let\u2019s dive straight into three organic traffic metrics followed by conversions the traffic brings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Organic traffic<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Organic traffic represents all non-paid clicks that come from search engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We all like to see the organic traffic curve going up, as it\u2019s usually a sign of better performing SEO. But keep in mind that not all organic traffic spikes automatically translate into more sales (unless you monetize your website traffic by displaying ads).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The \u201cSearch results\u201d report under the Performance tab in <a href=\"https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/about\">Google Search Console<\/a> is going to give you the most accurate view of your organic traffic over&nbsp;time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1097\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image6-1.png\" alt=\"Performance report in Google Search Console\" class=\"wp-image-154286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image6-1.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image6-1-680x373.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image6-1-768x421.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image6-1-1536x843.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re an established brand, it\u2019s worth applying a query filter to exclude branded traffic for a more accurate view of your SEO performance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1038\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image14-1.png\" alt=\"Filtering out branded queries in GSC\" class=\"wp-image-154287\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image14-1.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image14-1-680x353.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image14-1-768x399.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image14-1-1536x798.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, you can see that around half of the clicks to our blog are branded queries. The number of clicks went down from 1.37M to 686K after applying the filter:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1260\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image22.png\" alt=\"Performance report in GSC without branded queries\" class=\"wp-image-154289\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image22.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image22-674x425.png 674w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image22-768x484.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image22-1536x968.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Filtering out these branded queries can be considered as isolating your SEO performance from your overall marketing performance. SEO plays an important role in brand building, but it can\u2019t take all the credit for&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On top of this, you should also always compare your results over time, preferably over comparable time periods to avoid including one period that suffered from a seasonal swing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The easiest way to do this is to click on the Date settings, head over to the Compare tab, and select a year-over-year comparison for the period you\u2019re investigating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image7-1.png\" alt=\"YoY comparison in GSC\" class=\"wp-image-154290\" width=\"577\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image7-1.png 1649w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image7-1-351x425.png 351w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image7-1-768x931.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image7-1-1267x1536.png 1267w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 577px) 100vw, 577px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep in mind that GSC only keeps 16 months of historical data, but it isn\u2019t necessary to look further back to compare your current SEO performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keyword positions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Keyword positions refer to a website\u2019s organic ranking positions in the search results for particular keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While we were able to spot the trend with organic traffic in GSC, the specific keywords you rank for complete the story and provide you with all the needed context for your traffic\u2019s relevance and&nbsp;worth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s because you should care about ranking well for some keywords more than others. Generally speaking, the more relevant the keyword is to your product and business, the more valuable it is for you to rank well for&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, HubSpot ranks for many keywords with enormous search volumes. But I\u2019d bet that ranking first for \u201ccrm\u201d is more valuable for it than the traffic from the rest of the keywords here combined:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1220\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image8-1.png\" alt=\"Checking HubSpot's keywords that drive the most traffic\" class=\"wp-image-154291\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image8-1.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image8-1-680x415.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image8-1-768x469.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image8-1-1536x937.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s simply because HubSpot is a CRM, and it can easily create this association in each visitor\u2019s mind. It may even start converting the traffic right&nbsp;away:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1511\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image11-1.jpg\" alt=\"HubSpot CRM landing page\" class=\"wp-image-154293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image11-1.jpg 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image11-1-562x425.jpg 562w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image11-1-768x581.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image11-1-1536x1161.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can\u2019t do that ranking for any of the remaining keywords from the screenshot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To track your keywords, you\u2019ll need a third-party rank tracking tool like Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/rank-tracker\">Rank Tracker<\/a>. Set up a project for your website, paste a bunch of keywords you want to track your rankings for, and you\u2019re good to&nbsp;go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1754\" height=\"1178\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image17-1.png\" alt=\"Keywords tracking input\" class=\"wp-image-154295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image17-1.png 1754w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image17-1-633x425.png 633w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image17-1-768x516.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image17-1-1536x1032.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1754px) 100vw, 1754px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can get regular email alerts about the progress of your tracked keywords or just check the Rank Tracker reports once in a&nbsp;while:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"939\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image25.png\" alt=\"Position tracking in Ahrefs' Rank Tracker\" class=\"wp-image-154299\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image25.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image25-680x319.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image25-768x361.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image25-1536x722.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Share of&nbsp;voice<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Share of voice (SOV) for organic search is the percentage of all clicks for your tracked keywords that land on your website. It measures how visible your brand is on the&nbsp;SERPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consider this as keyword position tracking on steroids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SOV is one of <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/marketing-kpis\/\">the most important marketing KPIs<\/a> because it has a strong relationship with market share. Generally speaking, the higher your SOV, the bigger your share of the&nbsp;pie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"1055\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image18-1.png\" alt=\"Relationship between SOV and market share\" class=\"wp-image-154301\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image18-1.png 900w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image18-1-363x425.png 363w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image18-1-768x900.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>To measure organic SOV, paste a representative sample of keywords that matter to you into Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/rank-tracker\">Rank Tracker<\/a>. You should have this at least partially done if you\u2019re actively tracking keywords already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that these should be the main keywords that encompass what your target audience is searching for (don\u2019t bother adding too many <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/long-tail-keywords\/\">long-tail keywords<\/a>). It\u2019s helpful to tag these most important keywords so you can easily filter them out from the rest of your rank tracking project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1121\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image4-1.png\" alt=\"Adding a tag to keywords for a Rank Tracker project\" class=\"wp-image-154303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image4-1.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image4-1-680x381.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image4-1-768x431.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image4-1-1536x861.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When you enter the rank tracking project, head to the \u201cCompetitors overview\u201d tab, apply your SOV tag filter if applicable, and check the \u201cShare of Voice\u201d column:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1654\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image1-1.png\" alt=\"Measuring SOV in Rank Tracker\" class=\"wp-image-154305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image1-1.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image1-1-514x425.png 514w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image1-1-768x635.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image1-1-1536x1271.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s it. SOV is a great <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-kpis\/\">SEO KPI<\/a> for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/share-of-voice\/\">What Is Share of Voice? How to Measure It Across Channels<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Organic conversions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Organic conversions are important actions your visitors from search engines make on the website, such as checking out, signing up, or subscribing to a service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Conversion tracking is the only way to directly tie your SEO efforts to generating revenue. This is what likely matters the most to your boss, clients, or stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Setting up <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/analytics\/topic\/10313214\">conversion tracking in Google Analytics 4<\/a> isn\u2019t rocket science, even though it may seem daunting at first. You don\u2019t need any coding knowledge to do it. The most important thing here is making sure that you track the right conversions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re running an e-commerce store, the number of conversions, their value, and your average order value make the most sense for you. You\u2019ll have to <a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/analytics\/devguides\/collection\/ga4\/ecommerce\">set up specific e-commerce tracking<\/a> to do&nbsp;that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you offer subscription-based software like us, your best bet is to track leads, trial sign-ups, paid subscriptions and, eventually, even each tier of new subscriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got the data collection right? In Google Analytics 4, go to <em>Reports &gt; Engagement &gt; Conversions<\/em> and filter organic traffic sessions using the \u201cEdit comparisons\u201d button:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1247\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image24.png\" alt=\"Checking organic conversions in GA4\" class=\"wp-image-154306\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image24.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image24-680x425.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image24-768x479.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image24-1536x958.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a lot to be said about the accuracy of conversion reporting and all the nuances regarding the attribution behind it. Generally speaking, you\u2019ll get the most accurate data&nbsp;if:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You\u2019re using GA4 (you should by&nbsp;now).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You use the data-driven attribution model as the default (<a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/analytics\/answer\/10597962\">check<\/a> <em>Admin &gt; Attribution settings &gt; Reporting attribution model<\/em>).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You have at least a few hundred conversions a month (to make sure that Google\u2019s black box model has enough data to do its&nbsp;magic).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don\u2019t have that many conversions on your website yet, it\u2019s a good idea to also check your assisted conversions using different attribution models. Go to <em>Advertising &gt; Attribution &gt; Conversion paths,<\/em> select the conversion event you want to analyze, and check the impact of organic search throughout <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/buyers-journey\/\">customer journeys<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1643\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image21.jpg\" alt=\"Conversion paths in GA4\" class=\"wp-image-154307\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image21.jpg 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image21-517x425.jpg 517w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image21-768x631.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image21-1536x1262.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I recommend checking <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaushik.net\/avinash\/multi-channel-attribution-modeling-good-bad-ugly-models\/\">this resource about attribution modeling<\/a> if you want to better understand this complex topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This wraps up metrics used to directly measure SEO performance and results. But we\u2019re not done yet. You should also keep track of SEO metrics that impact your performance. Because if you ignore improving those, there may not be much of a performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"How to measure impact on your SEO performance and results\" data-section=\"measuring-impact-seo-performance-results\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to measure impact on your SEO performance and results<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>We need to focus on the three main SEO areas here: content creation and optimization, link building, and technical SEO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that improving any of the metrics mentioned here doesn\u2019t guarantee better SEO results. There are almost no guarantees in SEO. But these metrics are as close as it gets to increasing your organic traffic and conversions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Content metrics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no SEO performance without content that Google is happy to push toward the top of its search results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But measuring how good your content is and how well it\u2019s optimized to rank at the top of the SERPs are factors that can\u2019t be quantified using a single metric. We\u2019ll have to rely on content quantity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Content velocity<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Content velocity measures the number of content pieces you publish during a given time period. Focus only on <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/seo-content\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-content\/\">content made to drive organic traffic<\/a> if you also publish other types of content like product updates, company announcements, PPC landing pages, or pages for social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re constantly <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-write-great-content\/\">creating great content<\/a>, increasing your content velocity can be a good indicator of improving your SEO performance. Just note that you shouldn\u2019t focus on new content only, as <a href=\"\/blog\/republishing-content\/\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/content-refresh\/\">updating your older content<\/a> is equally important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1268\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image13-1.png\" alt=\"Traffic spike after updating older content\" class=\"wp-image-154308\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image13-1.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image13-1-670x425.png 670w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image13-1-260x166.png 260w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image13-1-768x487.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image13-1-1536x974.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Example of an immediate improvement from updating older content. Chart is from the <strong>Overview<\/strong> report in Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Link building metrics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Backlinks are one of the most <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/google-ranking-factors\/\">important SEO ranking factors<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can either get them <em>passively<\/em> through mere exposure of your content to other creators who are happy to refer to you or <em>actively<\/em> by reaching out to these creators and asking them to link to&nbsp;you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We can use this passive and active link building distinction for choosing the most appropriate metrics to assess the link building efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New backlinks and referring domains<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>First, let\u2019s start with passive link acquisition and its high-level overview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Head over to the \u201cReferring domains\u201d graph in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-explorer\">Site Explorer\u2019s<\/a> <strong>Overview<\/strong> report after plugging in your domain to see how you\u2019re growing in this aspect over&nbsp;time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1079\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image23.png\" alt=\"Referring domains chart in Ahrefs' Site Explorer\" class=\"wp-image-154309\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image23.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image23-680x367.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image23-768x415.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image23-1536x829.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a good first check because there\u2019s a clear positive correlation between referring domains and organic traffic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1972\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/seo-performance.png\" alt=\"Strong correlation between referring domains and search traffic\" class=\"wp-image-154373\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/seo-performance.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/seo-performance-345x425.png 345w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/seo-performance-768x947.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/seo-performance-1246x1536.png 1246w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, a single graph doesn\u2019t necessarily reflect your SEO success. You need to make sure that the websites linking to you are actually good and not just spam. You can do that in the <strong>Referring domains<\/strong> report:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1139\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image19.png\" alt=\"Referring domains report\" class=\"wp-image-154312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image19.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image19-680x387.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image19-768x438.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image19-1536x875.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This still isn\u2019t a deep dive, though. Links matter on the page level too and, sometimes, <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/links-from-same-domain\/\">building more links from the same domain<\/a> can be more beneficial than focusing on new referring domains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll need to head over to the <strong>Backlinks<\/strong> report for&nbsp;that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1056\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image15.png\" alt=\"Backlinks report\" class=\"wp-image-154314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image15.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image15-680x359.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image15-768x406.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image15-1536x811.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Assessing link quality itself is too complex to dive into here, so let me point you to <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/link-building#good-vs-bad-links\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/link-building\/#good-vs-bad-links\">our link building guide<\/a> that covers all the aspects of high-quality backlinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Newly built backlinks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Link building isn\u2019t easy. But at least its tracking is pretty straightforward when you engage in its active form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s because you need to do link prospecting before you can even start reaching out to people and asking them to link to you. It\u2019s the process of figuring out what backlinks you want to get. This ensures that you\u2019re putting your time and effort into getting links that are really worth&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All you need to do to measure your results here is to indicate \u201clink status\u201d in your link prospecting system. I used to do this in simple Google Sheets back when I was <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/email-outreach\/\">doing the outreach<\/a> myself, and there\u2019s no need to overcomplicate things for&nbsp;most:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"863\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image16-1.jpg\" alt=\"Link prospecting sheet\" class=\"wp-image-154315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image16-1.jpg 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image16-1-680x294.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image16-1-768x332.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image16-1-1536x663.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019ll either learn that your outreach was successful by receiving a positive reply or discovering the desired backlink in the <strong>Backlinks<\/strong> report. You can set up new <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/alerts\">backlink alerts<\/a> to make this easier for&nbsp;you.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1486\" height=\"1098\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image5-1.png\" alt=\"Setting up new backlinks alert\" class=\"wp-image-154317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image5-1.png 1486w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image5-1-575x425.png 575w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image5-1-768x567.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1486px) 100vw, 1486px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Technical SEO metrics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Last but not least, we\u2019re in the SEO discipline where a lot of work can\u2019t be directly attributed to improvements in performance. Well, unless the technical SEO problems are so severe that it\u2019s completely blocking your way to your desired results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, as my colleague, <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/technical-seo\" data-ahr=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/technical-seo\/\">Patrick Stox, puts it<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Technical SEO is the most important part of SEO until it isn\u2019t. Pages need to be crawlable and indexable to even have a chance at ranking, but many other activities will have minimal impact compared to content and&nbsp;links.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>That said, there are three ways you can quantify your technical SEO efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Page indexing errors in Google Search Console<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>These errors are anything that prevents your pages from being indexed when it\u2019s not done intentionally using the noindex <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/meta-robots\/\">robots meta tag<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are many reasons why Google may deindex your pages or refuse to index them straight away. Keeping the number of these errors to a minimum is a sign of a solid technical SEO foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can find these errors in your GSC account in the Pages report under the Indexing tab. Make sure to switch the view scope to \u201cAll submitted pages\u201d to only show errors for pages submitted in your <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-to-create-a-sitemap\/\">sitemaps<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1268\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image3-1.png\" alt=\"Checking indexing errors in GSC\" class=\"wp-image-154318\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image3-1.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image3-1-670x425.png 670w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image3-1-260x166.png 260w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image3-1-768x487.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image3-1-1536x974.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The lower the number of non-indexed pages, the better\u2014given that sitemaps should only contain URLs that you want Google to crawl and index. Of course, this should be proportional to the size of the website. If you have millions of URLs, then (tens of) thousands of unindexed pages can be considered natural.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you scroll down, you\u2019ll see the reasons why those pages aren\u2019t in the&nbsp;index:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1157\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image9-1.png\" alt=\"Multiple reasons why pages aren't indexed\" class=\"wp-image-154319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image9-1.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image9-1-680x394.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image9-1-768x445.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image9-1-1536x889.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can click through those reasons to see a list of URLs affected by that error with a link to learn more about it. There\u2019s also usually an instruction on how to fix&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Health Score in Ahrefs\u2019 Site&nbsp;Audit<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Ahrefs\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a> has a metric called Health Score that reflects the proportion of internal URLs on your website that don\u2019t have technical SEO errors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"849\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image10-1.png\" alt=\"Health Score in Ahrefs' Site Audit\" class=\"wp-image-154320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image10-1.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image10-1-680x289.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image10-1-768x326.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image10-1-1536x652.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Health Score offers a great proxy for your overall state of technical SEO. All you need is to set up a Site Audit project and start a crawl. You can do that for free as a part of <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/webmaster-tools\">Ahrefs Webmaster Tools<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every time AhrefsBot finishes crawling your website, it will update your Health Score and report accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, keep in mind that Health Score can\u2019t reflect and qualify the importance of each error in the context of your website. Let me illustrate this issue with an example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A 404 <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/http-status-codes\/\">HTTP status code<\/a> is one of those technical SEO issues that will trigger an error in any crawler. Showing that a resource wasn\u2019t found is usually bad for both visitors and search engines. But there\u2019s a huge difference between having a 404 on a well-converting page with high organic traffic and one that\u2019s not very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For this reason, it\u2019s always a good idea to dive deeper into the specific issues behind your Health Score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Issues in Ahrefs\u2019 Site&nbsp;Audit<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>To see the specific technical SEO issues, their importance, and how many pages they affect, go to the <strong>All issues<\/strong> report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/site-audit\">Site Audit<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image20.png\" alt=\"All issues report in Ahrefs' Site Audit\" class=\"wp-image-154321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image20.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image20-680x327.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image20-768x369.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image20-1536x738.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You can then click on the tooltip to learn what you need to know about the issue and how to fix&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1999\" height=\"1133\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image12.png\" alt=\"Issue detail in Ahrefs' Site Audit\" class=\"wp-image-154322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image12.png 1999w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image12-680x385.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image12-768x435.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image12-1536x871.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1999px) 100vw, 1999px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Then click through to see the affected pages and assess how the specific issue is hindering the potential success of those pages in the&nbsp;list.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final thoughts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though we\u2019ve gone through quite a few metrics to properly measure and evaluate your SEO performance, I want to wrap things up by telling you to sometimes take a step&nbsp;back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Don\u2019t refresh your keyword rankings for a piece you published a few weeks ago. Rather, give your content and other SEO efforts the time to show results. According to our <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/how-long-does-seo-take\/\">survey<\/a>, it takes three to six months on average.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once you start getting comfortable analyzing SEO metrics, you should start creating <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-report-template\/\">comprehensive SEO reports<\/a> customized to your business needs to take it to the next&nbsp;level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Got any questions? Ping me <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/michalpecanek\">on Twitter<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this article, you\u2019ll learn about just four SEO metrics that represent all you need to measure your SEO performance properly. On top of that, we\u2019ll also go through multiple ways to measure impact on how your SEO performs. Let\u2019s<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[335],"tags":[],"coauthors":[375],"class_list":["post-154279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-seo","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Measure SEO Performance &amp; Results (The Right Way)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our approach to measuring SEO performance and results properly. Spoiler alert: All you need is a handful of metrics.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-performance-results\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Measure SEO Performance &amp; Results (The Right Way)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Know what to focus on.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-performance-results\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-03T05:09:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-03T05:09:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/image6-1.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michal Pec\u00e1nek\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Know what to focus on.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@michalpecanek\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ahrefs\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/seo-performance-results\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/seo-performance-results\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michal Pec\u00e1nek\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b66ba944c48e71d0abac1af2f11265ec\"},\"headline\":\"How to Measure SEO Performance &amp; Results (The Right&nbsp;Way)\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-03T05:09:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-03T05:09:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/seo-performance-results\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2614,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/seo-performance-results\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/how-to-measure-seo-performance-amp-by-michal-pecanek-general-seo-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General SEO\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/seo-performance-results\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/seo-performance-results\\\/\",\"name\":\"How to Measure SEO Performance &amp; Results (The Right Way)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/seo-performance-results\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/seo-performance-results\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/03\\\/image6-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-03T05:09:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-03T05:09:23+00:00\",\"description\":\"Our approach to measuring SEO performance and results properly. 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