Impressions, clicks, positions and conversions — and which vanity numbers to ignore.
Search Console is set up and filling with numbers. Now for the skill that keeps those numbers from lying to you: knowing which ones matter, in which order — and which ones are just flattery.
The four-step corridor
Every visitor who ever arrives from Google walks the same corridor, and each step of it has a number attached.
Step
The number
The question it answers
1. Impressions
How often Google shows you
Am I in the elections at all?
2. Clicks (and CTR)
How often people choose you
Is my window display winning?
3. Average position
Where you typically stand
Which seat do I hold?
4. Conversions
How often visitors act
Is any of this becoming real?
The first three come straight from the Performance report. The fourth needs one more definition:
🔒
Keep reading with Pro
You are reading the free preview. Module 1 of every course is free forever — Pro unlocks the rest of this lesson, every other module of every course, removes ads, and adds workbooks and certificates.