Understanding the metrics that gauge your website's performance is crucial for refining strategies and achieving superior outcomes. While the average position (AP) has traditionally served as a cornerstone for assessing a website's visibility, it's essential to recognize its limitations and explore additional metrics that offer a more nuanced view of your SEO success.
Let's see how essential SEO metrics like average position, search volume, click potential, and the search visibility index are calculated.
1. Calculating the Average Position
The average position is determined by the sum of all rankings divided by the number of keywords tracked for a specific URL or website.
To ensure a comprehensive comparison, we apply a maximum search depth ranking (typically 100) for keywords that do not rank in search results.
However, it's vital to acknowledge that average position doesn't account for lost and non-ranking keywords, nor does it consider the search volume weight of each keyword, so adding metrics below is vital to get a better understanding of a website's true performance.
2. Understanding Search Volume
Search volume represents the average monthly searches for a keyword on Google, including global (total searches worldwide) and local (searches based on the keyword's location) dimensions.
This metric is pivotal for identifying keywords that can drive significant traffic to your website.
We receive this information from Adwords API, which is considered one of the most reliable sources.
3. Deciphering Click Potential
Click potential is a critical proprietary metric that forecasts the possible number of clicks a keyword could generate when it ranks on the first page of Google's Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
It's calculated by multiplying the local search volume by the average Click-Through Rate (CTR) for that keyword's ranking. Integrating Click Potential into your reports can provide actionable insights into optimizing your keyword strategy for enhanced traffic and conversions.
4. Calculating the Search Visibility Index
The Search Visibility Index offers a percentage (ranging from 0 to 100) that reflects the potential conversion traffic a keyword or group of keywords could achieve based on their rankings.
This index incorporates CTR values for each ranking, offering a comprehensive view of your keywords' performance potential.
However, factors like search volume and the presence of SERP features (e.g., featured snippets, map rankings) and others also influence your search visibility score.
Notably, positions greater than 20 or a zero search volume will result in a Search Visibility score of zero, underscoring the importance of high rankings and significant search volume.
CTR rates that we use for calculating click potential and search visibility:
While the average position provides a snapshot of your website's ranking performance, it's imperative to broaden your analysis to include metrics like Click Potential and the Search Visibility Index.
These KPIs offer deeper insights into the effectiveness of your SEO strategy, enabling you to make data-driven decisions that optimize your online presence.
Additionally, considering factors such as keyword importance by search volume in your evaluations can further refine your approach, ensuring that you're capturing a wide audience and engaging users most likely to convert.
Click here to check out the article on reading keyword data.