If traffic isn't revenue, the next question is what to actually look at instead. Here's a specific, practical list, not another vague call to "focus on what matters."
Revenue by Channel, Not Traffic by Channel
GA4 can report actual purchases or conversions alongside session source and medium, which means "organic search" can be tracked as a revenue figure instead of a session count. This single change matters more than almost anything else on this list: it turns a channel report from "how many people visited" into "how much business this actually generated," and it surfaces a traffic-revenue gap directly instead of leaving it hidden inside one blended total.
Branded vs. Non-Branded Search Share
These measure genuinely different things, and conflating them gives SEO credit it didn't earn, or denies it credit it did. Branded search, people searching the business name directly, largely reflects demand and awareness generated elsewhere: word of mouth, other marketing, existing customers. Non-branded search, people searching for what the business does without knowing its name yet, is the actual signal that SEO is reaching new people. Search Console's query data can be filtered to separate the two, and tracking them apart gives a much more honest read on what SEO specifically is contributing.
Click-Through Rate Against a Real Benchmark, Not a Gut Feeling
Backlinko's analysis of roughly 4 million Google search results found the #1 organic result gets a 27.6% average click-through rate, the top 3 results combined capture 54.4% of all clicks, and results on page two get just 0.63%. These numbers matter as a comparison baseline: a page that's actually ranking well but pulling a click-through rate well below the norm for its position usually has a weak title tag or meta description, not a rankings problem, and that's a very different, and usually much faster, fix.
Don't Anchor Decisions on Average Position
Google's own Search Console documentation is unusually blunt about this metric: it calls average position "a complex metric that can be misleading" and explicitly warns not to "make simple assumptions" based on it. The number blends performance across every query, device, and search context a page appears for into one average, which means a page could show a stable "average position 8" while actually ranking position 2 for its most important query and position 20 for a dozen irrelevant ones. Google's own recommendation is to track how it changes over time and to drill into specific queries and pages, not to treat the aggregate number as a scoreboard on its own.
For Local Businesses: Calls, Directions, and Website Clicks
A local business's most meaningful metrics often aren't website metrics at all. Google Business Profile's own official Performance data reports phone calls, direction requests, and website clicks generated directly from the profile, actions that map to a real customer decision rather than a website session. Our Google Business Profile Optimization Checklist covers these in more depth.
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What's the single most important shift in how to track SEO?
Tracking revenue by channel instead of traffic by channel. GA4 can report actual purchases or conversions alongside session source, so "organic search" becomes a revenue figure, not just a session count. That single change surfaces the gap between traffic and results directly instead of leaving it hidden inside a blended total.
Why does branded vs. non-branded search matter?
They measure different things. Branded search growth (people searching your business name directly) reflects demand and awareness that often came from other marketing, while non-branded search growth reflects SEO actually reaching people who didn't already know the business existed. Tracking both, filtered separately in Search Console's query data, prevents SEO from getting credit for growth it didn't create, or missing credit for growth it did.
Is Google Search Console's average position a reliable metric?
Google's own documentation calls it "a complex metric that can be misleading" and explicitly warns not to "make simple assumptions" from it, since it blends performance across many different queries, devices, and search contexts into one number. Google's own recommendation is to track how it changes over time and to drill into specific queries and pages rather than reading the aggregate number at face value.
How do you know if a page's click-through rate is actually good?
Compare it against real position-based benchmarks rather than a gut feeling. Backlinko's analysis of roughly 4 million Google search results found the #1 organic result gets a 27.6% average click-through rate, the top 3 results combined get 54.4%, and second-page results get just 0.63%. A page ranking well but underperforming the benchmark for its position usually has a title or snippet problem, not a rankings problem.
What should a local business track instead of generic SEO metrics?
Google Business Profile's own Performance metrics: phone calls, direction requests, and website clicks generated directly from the profile. These map to real business actions rather than website sessions, and are covered in more detail in our Google Business Profile Optimization Checklist.