SEO visibility is one of the most popular metrics in SEO, but it is not always easy to interpret. In this post, I explain what SEO visibility means, why different SEO tools may calculate it using different criteria, and what you can do to improve it.
What is SEO Visibility?
A simple definition of SEO visibility is:
"SEO visibility is a metric that expresses the percentage of all possible organic clicks on a website for a specific keyword."
So what does that mean in practice?
Websites rank in different positions for the keywords relevant to them. Each position has a different estimated CTR, or click-through rate. SEO visibility uses those rankings to estimate the share of potential clicks your website could receive from the keywords for which it appears in search results.
The chart below shows estimated click-through rates by ranking position, based on Backlinko's research.
As the chart shows, click-through rate falls as ranking position declines. A website in first position has an estimated click-through rate of 31.73%, compared with 24.71% in second position. SEO visibility follows the same pattern. Different tools can calculate average visibility at page or site level.
For example, if your website ranks 3rd for a keyword, its SEO visibility for that keyword will be 18.66%. Site-wide calculations may include different metrics depending on the tool you use. Tools such as Semrush, Seomonitor, and Seo.do, as well as Searchmetrics, can help you track this score and compare it with your competitors.
Here is how SEO visibility appears in several tools.
Searchmetrics:
Semrush:
Seomonitor:
Seo.do:
A score of 100% is not a realistic target. Achieving 100% SEO visibility would mean ranking first for every keyword and receiving every possible click. Also remember that, in these calculations, keywords ranking on page 2 or below contribute 0 to SEO visibility.
Why SEO Visibility is Important?
It Allows You to Detect SEO Problems.
SEO visibility offers a quick view of whether your search performance is moving in the right direction. Major ranking losses and Google penalties affect the visibility graph, so monitoring it can help you spot a negative change in less than 1 minute and begin investigating the cause.
Below is a 2-year Searchmetrics visibility chart for an example website. Visibility has declined since February. A change like this calls for prompt investigation into what caused the graph to fall.
Provides Quick Insight into Your Site's Overall Performance.
The SEO visibility metric gives you an immediate sense of your website's overall search performance. Tracking it weekly, monthly, or yearly makes broader trends easier to see. However, SEO visibility should not be treated as a standalone criterion.
You Can Quickly Provide Controls After Algorithm Updates.
One of Searchmetrics' most useful features is a visibility chart that marks algorithm updates. It can help you see whether your website's visibility changed significantly after an update. Its competitor comparison option also helps you assess whether a decline affected the wider industry.
The example below shows a 2-year visibility graph for a news website. The chart records a sharp decline in the first week of June.
Before that decline, there were 2 different updates: Google June/July 2021 Core Update and Google Page Experience Update.
Following your SEO visibility graph after algorithm updates helps you examine how your website was affected.
Indispensable for Competitor Analysis.
An SEO visibility chart is also valuable for competitor analysis. Tools such as Searchmetrics let you measure competitors' visibility outside your own project and build a comparative analysis. As noted in the previous section, the same graph can help you determine whether a fall in visibility is specific to your site or part of a wider sector trend.
How to Increase SEO Visibility?
Now that we have covered what SEO visibility measures and why it matters, here are several ways to improve your score.
Target Long Tail Keywords.
Focusing only on high-volume short-tail terms is not always the right keyword strategy. At an early stage, technical, content, or backlink limitations may make it difficult to rank for queries with high keyword difficulty. Long-tail keywords with lower search volumes can offer a more realistic opportunity.
Long-tail keywords have lower search volumes than short-tail terms, but they can be easier to rank for when competition on broader queries is intense.
Targeting long-tail keywords with lower competition and search volume can improve your chances of reaching first position and increasing SEO visibility. I also recommend 6 Important Reasons to Focus on Long Tail Keywords, written by Metehan Urhan from our team.
Create Mobile-Friendly Sites.
With Mobile First Indexing, Google stated that websites with mobile-friendly HTML design would appear in better positions in search results, while sites that were not mobile-friendly could lose positions. This means a non-mobile-friendly website may experience a serious decline in its visibility graph. If your site was still not mobile-friendly in 2021, I recommend addressing that first. If visibility continues to decline despite your work, test the site with Google's mobile compatibility test. You can also carry out a more detailed review with the Search Console Mobile Usability report.
Optimize Your Titles and Descriptions.
A higher CTR, or click-through rate, leads to higher SEO visibility. Optimizing your pages' meta titles and descriptions can improve their click-through rate. More engaging titles and descriptions may attract more users to your pages and increase visibility.
Utilize SEO Compatible Content.
Compare your content with your competitors' pages to assess whether it is SEO compatible. If important keywords are missing, consider adding them where they fit naturally. Ranking for more keywords gives you more opportunities to improve SEO visibility. Our Guide to Creating Quality and SEO-Compatible Content provides a roadmap for this process.
You can also use Semrush SEO Writing Assistant to check whether your content is SEO compatible and improve it based on the tool's suggestions.
Focus on Keywords You Rank on Page 2.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, a keyword ranking on page 2 contributes 0 to SEO visibility. To improve the graph, focus on important keywords that currently rank on the second page. Working on a keyword in 11th position may be a healthier strategy than concentrating on one in 51st position. Moving up can still be difficult, but the 11th-position keyword is closer to the target. :)
Utilize Structured Data.
Structured data can help your pages occupy more space in search results. Using relevant types of structured data can enrich how your pages appear on Google and support the CTR metric that contributes to SEO visibility.
In the example below, the page using structured data looks noticeably different from the others. Based on that difference, we can expect the pages to receive different click-through rates, with the structured result receiving the higher rate.
Conclusion
SEO visibility is a useful metric for evaluating your site's performance in search results. Monitor the graph regularly, investigate declines, and continue improving the factors that contribute to visibility. This helps you identify potential website problems while making performance and competitor analysis easier.
Sources
https://ahrefs.com/blog/loss-of-seo-visibility/
https://coschedule.com/blog/seo-visibility
