Keyword Performance
The Keyword Performance metric measures your keyword rankings to understand how effective your SEO efforts are at driving organic traffic to your website. Keyword rankings are a leading indicator which provides valuable information about your ability to improve on existing rankings or rank on new keywords. That said, SEO efforts need to account for the "big" marketing picture and analyze other factors such as goal completion rates and return on investment.
The search engine marketing landscape has been transformed in recent years as Google continues to release key updates. The net result of these updates is to counter so-called "black hat" tactics, such as questionable link building tactics and keyword stuffing, in favor of "white hat" tactics, such as social sharing and creating high-quality content. As search engine marketing matures, the importance placed on keyword rankings will diminish (but not disappear), while the importance of other key metrics surrounding keyword performance will increase.