SEO Data: What to Look At? Core Metrics and Tool Recommendations

Chapter 2: Search Fundamentals · Question 35

If you do SEO without looking at data, it's like driving with your eyes closed. But too much data can also make you lose your way—which metrics should you actually focus on? Which tools should you use? How often should you check? This article helps you build a clear SEO data system.

Tier-1 Core Metrics (Must-Watch)

These are the metrics that directly reflect SEO performance and must be monitored weekly:

Organic search trafficIt is the ultimate goal metric,Keywordrankingis a process metric,Index volumeis a foundational metric,Conversion rateis a value metric. Only by looking at all four together is the picture complete.

Tier-2 Supporting Metrics (Monthly Focus)

These metrics help you diagnose problems and identify optimization opportunities:

Technical Health

• Crawl frequency: how many times Baidu Spider crawls per day (available in the site owner platform)
• Crawl errors: the number of errors such as 404, 500, and timeouts
• Page loading speed: first-screen time,MobileEspecially important

User behavior

• Bounce rate: the percentage of users who leave after viewing only one page (a high bounce rate may indicate a content mismatchsearch intent）
• Average time on page: how much time users spend on a page (an indirect indicator of content quality)
• Page depth: the average number of pages users view

External signals

• backlinksQuantity and quality: how many external websites link to you
• brand termsSearch volume: changes in the number of people directly searching for your brand name

Recommended tools

Baidu official tools (free, essential)

Third-party keyword tools

International tools

How to build a simple SEO dashboard

You don't need a complex BI system—a single Excel spreadsheet is enough:

The weekly report template includes:

1. This week's organic traffic (vs. last week, vs. same period last month)
2. Ranking changes for the TOP 20 keywords
3. Number of newly indexed pages
4. Number of crawling errors
5. Number of content pieces published this week and their corresponding URLs

The monthly report additionally includes:

1. Monthly organic traffic trend chart
2. Keyword ranking distribution (how many in TOP3 / TOP10 / TOP20)
3. Index volume trend
4. Conversion data (inquiries/registrations/deals)
5. Comparison of competitors' core metrics
6. Next month's optimization plan

Rhythm for reviewing data

• Daily: Take a quick look at Baidu Analytics to check for abnormal fluctuations (3 minutes)
• Weekly: Update the weekly report, focus on ranking and traffic trends (30 minutes)
• Monthly: Full monthly review, analyze causes, adjust strategy (2 hours)
• Quarterly: Full-site SEO audit, re-evaluate keyword strategy (half a day)

Common pitfalls in data analysis

• ✗ Looking only at rankings and not traffic: a keyword ranked #1 with zero search volume is meaningless
• ✗ Looking only at traffic and not conversion: 10,000 irrelevant visitors are worth less than 100 precise users
• ✗ Drawing conclusions from single-day data: SEO data fluctuations are normal—look at trends over at least a weekly dimension
• ✗ Looking only at yourself and not competitors: a traffic drop may not mean you got worse, but that competitors got stronger

Practical recommendations

• Build the foundation first: Baidu Analytics + Baidu Search Resource Platform + 5118—these three tools cover 90% of data needs (empirical estimate, varies by site). Don't buy a bunch of advanced tools right away; not being able to use them all is also a waste
• Establish data habits: Set aside 30 minutes every Friday to update the SEO weekly report. The value of data lies in continuous accumulation and comparison—reviewing it intermittently is the same as not reviewing it at all
• Let data drive action: Every time you review the data, produce at least one action item. For example, if you find a page with a particularly high bounce rate, optimize its content relevance next week