How To Calculate Organic Search Traffic in Excel or Sheets
Introduction
Organic search traffic - the lifeblood of any website owner. It's the free ride from Google's search engine results pages (SERPs) straight to your landing pages. But how do you measure this precious source of website visitors? Fear not, data aficionados! This guide will equip you with the formulas and tricks to calculate your organic search traffic in Excel or Sheets, empowering you to understand your website's visibility and optimize your SEO strategy.
Why It Matters
Organic search traffic is valuable for several reasons:
- Free and Targeted: Unlike paid advertising, organic traffic comes at no cost and attracts users actively searching for your offerings, making it highly qualified.
- Brand Credibility: Ranking high organically signifies Google's trust in your website, boosting your brand image and user confidence.
- SEO Insights: Tracking organic traffic helps you gauge the effectiveness of your SEO efforts, allowing you to identify areas for improvement and celebrate successes.
The Calculation Canvas
Imagine a spreadsheet as your SEO command center. Here's how the template (from the attached image) translates to your calculations:
- Target Audience: Your website visitors.
- Data Source: Google Search Console, a treasure trove of SEO data.
- Metrics: Sessions, the number of website visits originating from organic search.
- Timeframe: Choose a relevant period to analyze, like week, month, or quarter.
- Calculation: The magic formula! We'll use the SUM function to aggregate organic search sessions from your chosen timeframe.
Formula Fun
Let's get down to the nitty-gritty! Here's the Excel/Sheets formula to calculate your organic search traffic:
=SUM(FILTER(A:A, B:B="Organic"))
Replace "A:A" with your range of session counts and "B:B" with the corresponding traffic source column (ensure it identifies "Organic"). This formula essentially extracts and sums up all sessions attributed to organic search within your chosen timeframe.
Beyond the Basics:
Want to get fancy? You can:
- Filter by date range or specific keywords: Refine your analysis by applying additional filters within the SUM function.
- Calculate organic traffic share: Divide organic sessions by total sessions to see your organic traffic percentage.
- Create traffic trend charts: Visualize your website's organic search performance over time.
Conclusion
Understanding your organic search traffic is key to SEO success. By mastering these simple calculations in Excel or Sheets, you gain valuable insights into your website's visibility and can make data-driven decisions to optimize your SEO strategy and attract more qualified visitors. So, unleash your inner spreadsheet warrior and conquer the organic search landscape!
