TL;DR:
Most agencies obsess over rankings while ignoring revenue. Track these 17 KPIs instead:
Core SEO Fundamentals:
- Organic conversions & conversion rate
- Search visibility (beyond single keywords)
- Organic traffic (sessions & users)
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Keyword rankings & distribution
- Backlink metrics (quality over quantity)
- User engagement (bounce rate, time on site)
- Core Web Vitals (page experience)
AI-Era Metrics (2026 competitive edge):
9. AI search visibility (ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews)
10. Semantic relevance score
11. AI content quality signals
12. Voice search performance
Business Impact (what stakeholders actually care about):
13. Customer lifetime value (CLV) from organic
14. Cost per acquisition (CPA)
15. Non-branded vs. branded traffic
16. SEO return on investment (ROI)
17. Google Business Profile performance (recinto)
Bottom line: Stop chasing vanity metrics. Focus on KPIs that correlate with revenue, not just traffic. SEO compounds over time—expect minimal ROI months 1-3, breakeven months 4-6, and strong positive returns from month 7+.