skills/seo-growth/references/organic_growth_measurement.md

# Organic Growth Measurement

## Measurement ladder

Track:

`eligible/indexable URLs`
→ `indexed/canonicalized URLs`
→ `impressions`
→ `clicks`
→ `engaged sessions`
→ `activation`
→ `conversion`
→ `retention/revenue`

Do not optimize only for page count, indexed count, or impressions.

## Search metrics

Useful:
- clicks;
- impressions;
- CTR;
- average position;
- query;
- page;
- device;
- country;
- search appearance.

Interpret them together.

## Business metrics

Depending on site:
- signup;
- tool use;
- lead;
- trial;
- purchase;
- newsletter;
- repeat visit;
- retained user.

Connect organic landing pages to actual outcomes.

## Cohorts

Compare:
- pages published in same period;
- refreshed vs unchanged;
- product pages vs articles;
- template families;
- topic clusters;
- programmatic cohorts.

Avoid attributing sitewide growth to one changed page.

## Content refresh measurement

Record:
- pre-change baseline;
- change date;
- affected URLs;
- query/intent;
- clicks/impressions;
- conversion;
- seasonality/context.

Use enough observation time for site traffic level.

## SEO experiments

Define:
- hypothesis;
- treatment pages;
- control/comparison if feasible;
- primary metric;
- guardrails;
- expected direction;
- observation period;
- confounders.

For template SEO, split tests/cohort comparisons are stronger than a single-page anecdote.

## Indexing metrics

100% indexing is not necessarily a sensible target.

A healthy site can intentionally exclude:
- duplicates;
- internal search;
- private/auth pages;
- thin utility states;
- obsolete pages;
- filter combinations.

Measure whether the right pages are indexed.

## Reporting

A useful monthly/weekly growth report can include:
- material changes;
- organic outcomes;
- page/query winners;
- page/query losses;
- indexing/template issues;
- experiments;
- content shipped;
- next actions.

Separate:
- observation;
- likely explanation;
- confirmed cause;
- planned test.