{"id":9144,"date":"2018-06-25T09:56:40","date_gmt":"2018-06-25T04:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/?p=9144"},"modified":"2023-07-17T15:36:25","modified_gmt":"2023-07-17T10:06:25","slug":"the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/","title":{"rendered":"The Modern SEO\u2019s Guide to Vanity Metrics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Top 10 SEO Metrics You Need To Track in 2024 Using RankWatch\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pnAAVO_wpiA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/The-Modern-SEO\u2019s-Guide-to-Vanity-Metrics.png?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9146 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/The-Modern-SEO\u2019s-Guide-to-Vanity-Metrics.png?resize=640%2C320&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"seo\" width=\"640\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/The-Modern-SEO\u2019s-Guide-to-Vanity-Metrics.png?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/The-Modern-SEO\u2019s-Guide-to-Vanity-Metrics.png?resize=300%2C150&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/The-Modern-SEO\u2019s-Guide-to-Vanity-Metrics.png?resize=768%2C384&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although metrics and analytics serve a very important purpose in the digital marketing and SEO world, some metrics hold more weight than others. And, unfortunately, if you place too much importance on the wrong numbers, you\u2019re likely doing more harm than good when it comes to your SEO reports.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For this reason, today\u2019s blog post is all about SEO vanity metrics. We cover which metrics are important, which ones don\u2019t matter as much, and so much more. Let\u2019s get into it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>A Brief Primer on Vanity Metrics<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For those who aren\u2019t familiar, vanity metrics are the data points or metrics that seem flashy on paper but really don\u2019t do much to move you toward your business goals. Vanity metrics might paint a bright picture of your SEO efforts\u2014but they fail to tell the entire story. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s take a look at some common SEO vanity metrics, important digital <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.zoominfo.com\/dont-sink-in-a-sea-of-metrics\/?utm_source=guestpost&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=rankwatch\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">marketing metrics<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and some more actionable alternatives:<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>1. Total Organic Keywords\/Average Keyword Rank<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Average Keyword Rank is a metric provided by many popular SEO tools\u2014essentially this number refers to the average position of your tracked keywords. Even though you should work to lower this number over time, this metric can be extremely misleading. The same goes for total organic keywords\u2014a measure of all keywords your website ranks for. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-278887.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9148 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-278887.jpeg?resize=640%2C325&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"seo\" width=\"640\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-278887.jpeg?w=710&amp;ssl=1 710w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-278887.jpeg?resize=300%2C152&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s why:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>* Branded keywords: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These two metrics don\u2019t exclude branded search terms. Because most brands perform relatively well for their own branded terms, this can skew your average keyword rank and inflate your total number of organic keywords\u2014making it look like you\u2019re doing better than you actually are. <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead, we recommend segmenting your keywords into two groups\u2014branded and unbranded\u2014then look at average keyword rank. This simple step can provide a more complete picture of how well your website is performing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>* Keyword volume: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Consider this scenario: You\u2019re using a popular SEO tool to track 100 keywords. Over time you improve your average keyword rank from 60 to 25. Great, right? But, what if we told you the combined total search volume for these 100 keywords is less than 50 searches a month? Not so great.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think about it, why work to improve your average keyword rank or the total number of organic keywords for terms your audience isn\u2019t even searching for? Instead, segment your keywords into groups based on search volume. That way, you can work to improve the average keyword rank of keywords that will actually improve traffic to your website.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>* Keyword relevance: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to our previous point\u2014a great average keyword rank doesn\u2019t mean much if you\u2019re targeting keywords that aren\u2019t relevant to your products or services. <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For this reason, it\u2019s important to regularly evaluate how relevant your target keywords are. Then, as trends come and go, prioritize only the most relevant terms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019re by no means saying that you should disregard average keyword rank or total organic keywords entirely\u2014just take these metrics with a grain of salt and don\u2019t rely on them as your sole means of determining SEO success.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>2. Pageviews<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Marketers and SEO professionals often turn to pageviews to determine how well their SEO efforts are paying off\u2014and while millions of pageviews might look great on paper, this number provides no information regarding visitor engagement. For this reason, it\u2019s important to pair pageviews with more actionable engagement metrics to truly understand website performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These engagement metrics include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Time spent on site<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Unique visitors<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Bounce rate<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Conversion rates<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Content downloads<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Pages per visit<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em># Note: Though informative as a group, these engagement metrics shouldn\u2019t be looked at individually. You need each of these numbers to paint a complete picture of your performance.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to page views always remember that quality trumps quantity. Think about it, what good are millions of page views if each and every visitor leaves your website after a few seconds? <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>3. Social Media Followers<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although social media isn\u2019t directly tied to the success of your website, many SEO professionals have realized the importance of developing a positive social media presence for a company or brand. Yet, when asked to report on social media success\u2014we often turn to followers and page likes first.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-545332.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9149 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-545332.jpeg?resize=640%2C325&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"seo\" width=\"640\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-545332.jpeg?w=710&amp;ssl=1 710w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-545332.jpeg?resize=300%2C152&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But, as badly as we want to see a huge number of followers, this metric doesn\u2019t always equate to <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.zoominfo.com\/how-to-increase-social-media-engagement\/?utm_source=guestpost&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=rankwatch\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">social engagement<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> or success. \u00a0This is mainly due to the fact that human behavior is wildly unpredictable\u2014and you can\u2019t always assume someone is following your profile because they plan to engage with your brand. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, the next time you\u2019re asked to report on the success of your social media channels, take a look at some of these important engagement metrics:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><b>Brand Awareness:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> How many eyes do your posts reach? How many shares do they garner? And how many people comment, like, or subscribe?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Website Traffic:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> How much website traffic do you generate through social posts? How many conversions happen as a result of this traffic from social? How many sales did you make?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Customer Experience:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> How many customer questions did you answer? How many customers reported a positive or negative experience through a social channel? How long does it take you to respond to customer queries through social?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Event or Webinar Registrants:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> How many registrants did you garner from your social posts? <\/span><\/li>\n<li><b>Content Downloads:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> How many social posts led to content downloads? How many content downloads?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Again, we want to stress the importance of quality over quantity. Not every follower will engage with your profile, so be sure to consider that when reporting on social media success.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>4. Time-on-Site<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The more time a visitor spends on your website, the better, right? Not necessarily. Think about it, there are many reasons a person might spend a long time on your site and not all of them are a good thing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are your visitors spending a long time on your website because they\u2019re engaged? Or are they just having a hard time finding what they need? If time-on-site is high but other metrics seem low, the answer might be the latter. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, like the other metrics we\u2019ve discussed, take time-on-site with a grain of salt. When it\u2019s not paired with other important engagement metrics, it doesn\u2019t mean much of anything. <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>5. Pages-Per-Visit<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to our last point, pages-per-visit is another vanity metric to be wary of. As with time-on-site, many pages per visit could mean your visitors are engaged, or it could mean they\u2019re confused by your website and can\u2019t find what they\u2019re looking for. So again, we recommend using other engagement metrics for context. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>6. Conversions<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When it comes to conversions and leads, the more the merrier, right? If you\u2019re catching on, you already know the answer\u2014not necessarily. Although you should continue to generate an increasing number of conversions, your focus should always be on <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">high-quality<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> conversions. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-573565.jpeg?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-9150 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-573565.jpeg?resize=640%2C325&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"seo\" width=\"640\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-573565.jpeg?w=710&amp;ssl=1 710w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/pexels-photo-573565.jpeg?resize=300%2C152&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve said it before and we\u2019ll say it again, you can generate all the leads in the world but it won\u2019t make a difference if they\u2019re not qualified to purchase your product. That said, don\u2019t make the total number of leads generated the primary focus of your reports. Instead, highlight what percentage of that total came in as SQLs\u2014or leads deemed to be sales-ready. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This combination of metrics not only provides a more accurate view of your website performance and lead generation efforts but can also provide insight into how your digital <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.zoominfo.com\/creative-b2b-marketing-initiatives\/?utm_source=guestpost&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=rankwatch\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">marketing initiatives<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> contribute to your organization\u2019s bottom line.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>7. Number of Backlinks<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For most search queries, the first page of results is a collection of high-quality content from websites that have a large number of high-quality links back to their websites or backlinks. In 2018, most SEO professionals know that backlinking is an essential component of SEO success. But, what they don\u2019t often realize, is how easy it is to get carried away with backlinking efforts and focus too much on quantity versus quality.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you spend more time assessing how many backlinks you have without paying much attention to the quality of each link, you may have a real problem on your hands. Links from low-quality or spammy websites can actually hurt your website\u2014occasionally resulting in a manual penalty against your website.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Avoid this by taking careful stock of your backlink profile\u2014not just the number. We suggest you use an SEO or backlink tool to report on the number and quality of your backlinks. Now, if you find that you have a significant amount low-quality links, there are steps you can take to have them <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/how-to-disavow-backlinks\/\">removed or even disavowed<\/a>. But, remember, a backlink profile with only high-quality, do-follow links can look spammy as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The key here is the balance\u2014a handful of low-quality links isn\u2019t likely to hurt your website. Focus on generating high-quality, natural backlinks and you won\u2019t run into any issues.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As an SEO or digital marketing professional, it\u2019s no secret that search engines go out of their way to make your life difficult\u2014they mask certain metrics, hold back key information regarding their algorithms, and don\u2019t often weigh in on the importance of certain metrics. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having said this, just as vanity metrics don\u2019t offer as much value as first appears, there are also certain ranking factors that we don\u2019t yet know the value of. Take featured snippets for example: Although we know featured snippets have the ability to generate more traffic than a standard search result, we have no way to measure the credibility featured snippets lend to brands. That doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/optimise-existing-content-featured-snippets\/\">optimize your content to appear among featured snippets<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We point this out for an important reason. Don\u2019t waste time chasing metrics because you think you have to. Instead, truly evaluate which factors bring you closer to your goals and which don\u2019t. Then, run tests, revamp strategies, and evaluate your results. As search algorithms change, your strategy will inevitably change too. Remain flexible and objective in your reporting and you\u2019ll always have the upper hand.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Although metrics and analytics serve a very important purpose in the digital marketing and SEO world, some metrics hold more weight than others. And, unfortunately, if you place too much importance on the wrong numbers, you\u2019re likely doing more harm than good when it comes to your SEO reports. For this reason, today\u2019s blog post [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25482,"featured_media":9147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advanced-seo","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Vanity Metrics for Modern SEO&#039;s: The Ultimate Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many SEO tools provide average keyword ranks as a metric. Your tracked keywords are sorted according to this number. Here&#039;s how to use vanity metrics like a pro.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vanity Metrics for Modern SEO&#039;s: The Ultimate Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many SEO tools provide average keyword ranks as a metric. Your tracked keywords are sorted according to this number. Here&#039;s how to use vanity metrics like a pro.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"RankWatch Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RankWatch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-25T04:26:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-17T10:06:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"256\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"256\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Molly Clarke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@rankwatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@rankwatch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Molly Clarke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Molly Clarke\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b49790a56e0680150eaad5e092ce58e0\"},\"headline\":\"The Modern SEO\u2019s Guide to Vanity Metrics\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-25T04:26:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-17T10:06:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/\"},\"wordCount\":1706,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Advanced SEO\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/\",\"name\":\"Vanity Metrics for Modern SEO's: The Ultimate Guide\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-25T04:26:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-07-17T10:06:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"Many SEO tools provide average keyword ranks as a metric. Your tracked keywords are sorted according to this number. Here's how to use vanity metrics like a pro.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"seo\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Modern SEO\u2019s Guide to Vanity Metrics\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"RankWatch Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Rankwatch\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/400x90rec.png?fit=400%2C90&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/400x90rec.png?fit=400%2C90&ssl=1\",\"width\":400,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Rankwatch\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RankWatch\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/rankwatch\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rankwatch_seo\/\",\"https:\/\/in.linkedin.com\/company\/rankwatch\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b49790a56e0680150eaad5e092ce58e0\",\"name\":\"Molly Clarke\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9f9713ab7bf86485024bfef156981f2?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9f9713ab7bf86485024bfef156981f2?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Molly Clarke\"},\"description\":\"About the author: Molly Clarke is a Senior Marketing Manager at\u00a0Zoominfo, a leading B2B contact database\u00a0that helps companies accelerate growth and profitability. Molly writes for ZoomInfo\u2019s B2B blog on topics related to sales, marketing, and recruiting.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/author\/molly-clarke\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vanity Metrics for Modern SEO's: The Ultimate Guide","description":"Many SEO tools provide average keyword ranks as a metric. Your tracked keywords are sorted according to this number. Here's how to use vanity metrics like a pro.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vanity Metrics for Modern SEO's: The Ultimate Guide","og_description":"Many SEO tools provide average keyword ranks as a metric. Your tracked keywords are sorted according to this number. Here's how to use vanity metrics like a pro.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/","og_site_name":"RankWatch Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RankWatch\/","article_published_time":"2018-06-25T04:26:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-07-17T10:06:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":256,"height":256,"url":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Molly Clarke","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@rankwatch","twitter_site":"@rankwatch","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Molly Clarke","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/"},"author":{"name":"Molly Clarke","@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b49790a56e0680150eaad5e092ce58e0"},"headline":"The Modern SEO\u2019s Guide to Vanity Metrics","datePublished":"2018-06-25T04:26:40+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-17T10:06:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/"},"wordCount":1706,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1","articleSection":["Advanced SEO"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/","name":"Vanity Metrics for Modern SEO's: The Ultimate Guide","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1","datePublished":"2018-06-25T04:26:40+00:00","dateModified":"2023-07-17T10:06:25+00:00","description":"Many SEO tools provide average keyword ranks as a metric. Your tracked keywords are sorted according to this number. Here's how to use vanity metrics like a pro.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"seo"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/the-modern-seos-guide-to-vanity-metrics\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Modern SEO\u2019s Guide to Vanity Metrics"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/","name":"RankWatch Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Rankwatch","url":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/400x90rec.png?fit=400%2C90&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/400x90rec.png?fit=400%2C90&ssl=1","width":400,"height":90,"caption":"Rankwatch"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RankWatch\/","https:\/\/x.com\/rankwatch","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/rankwatch_seo\/","https:\/\/in.linkedin.com\/company\/rankwatch"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/b49790a56e0680150eaad5e092ce58e0","name":"Molly Clarke","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9f9713ab7bf86485024bfef156981f2?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c9f9713ab7bf86485024bfef156981f2?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Molly Clarke"},"description":"About the author: Molly Clarke is a Senior Marketing Manager at\u00a0Zoominfo, a leading B2B contact database\u00a0that helps companies accelerate growth and profitability. Molly writes for ZoomInfo\u2019s B2B blog on topics related to sales, marketing, and recruiting.","url":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/author\/molly-clarke\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/if_1439420939_seo-16_658441.png?fit=256%2C256&ssl=1","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25482"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9144"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19402,"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9144\/revisions\/19402"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rankwatch.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}