Search engine optimization ( SEO) is the process of optimizing your web pages and content to rank well on a search engine. Your site should appear at the top of a search engine’s results for keywords relevant to your product or services. As a result, SEO is also a means of attracting quality traffic to your website.
How do you measure SEO?
You can track hundreds of metrics, but it’s wise to focus on a few to start. Establish the most important to you and your business and track those metrics regularly.
Organic Traffic
When someone types a question, word, or phrase into a search engine, they will get a set of results showing pages and ads related to their search. You receive organic traffic to your site when someone clicks on one of these links within the search engine results. Organic traffic is ideal as it shows that the search is targeted as someone searching for something specific, saw your links, and clicked. This process could lead to you gaining a new customer! To check the organic traffic, you can take the help of keyword research tools. When you see an improvement in organic search results, your website’s visibility through keyword ranking has risen.
Keyword Ranking
A keyword is a term that encompasses anything searched on a search engine. A single word or phrase is considered a keyword if it produces results on a search engine. Your website and your created content need to be optimized to rank at the top for specific keywords and phrases. Do a google search of keywords relating to your business and see where you fall in the results.
Click-Through Rate
The click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of users who clicked on your website from the search engine results pages (SERPS). For example, your CTR is 20% if your site appears on a results page 100 times a week and 20 people click on it.
Bounce Rate
Your bounce rate is the percentage of users who visit your site but leave without interacting more.
Website Authority Over Time
Freshly created websites usually start with an authority score of 1. Websites that take time to build authority, and backlinks and gain consistently high organic traffic will slowly increase their scores. This can be discouraging as it can take a while to see any change.
Backlinks
According to Niket Sharma, Co-Founder of My Comparision Guide, “Backlinks are links from one website to a page on another website. Google and other major search engines consider backlinks “votes” for a specific page.”
Page Speed
Page speed is critical for your website’s ranking as it can impact your conversion and bounce rates. Fast websites equal low bounce rates. Run your website through Google’s Page Speed Insights to find out if your site is fast. A score of 100% is lightning fast!
Time Spent on Page
When a person types a keyword on Google looking for specific information and lands on your page, it means your site satisfies their intent. It shows that your visitor’s expectations of what they were clicking on were met, and they have found helpful information based on your keywords.
Do you feel somewhat intimidated? SEO can feel that way, but the process should be seen as a marathon, not a sprint. A good monthly SEO strategy develops over time, and the fruits of your labor will be evident through the monthly SEO reports you should receive from your SEO provider.
Justine is the Founder and Creative Director at Just By Design, a Central Oregon–based marketing studio that helps service-driven businesses build standout brands with strategy and purpose. With more than 20 years of experience in digital marketing, SEO, and content strategy, she’s known for combining clear thinking, creative direction, and real-world practicality to help businesses grow with clarity and confidence.
A proud University of Oregon graduate, Justine has called Oregon home for over 40 years. She leads every project personally, collaborating with a close-knit team of expert creatives and developers. Whether you’re launching something new or leveling up an established brand, Justine brings a thoughtful, hands-on approach to turning your vision into visibility—always grounded in strategy, built for real impact, and backed by care.