How to Know if SEO Is Working: What to Check
The short answer
SEO is working when three numbers rise over several months: how often your site appears in Google for searches about what you sell, how many people click through, and how many enquiries or sales those visits bring. The first two are in Google Search Console, which is free. The third is in your own records.
Key takeaways
- Watch three numbers: impressions, clicks and enquiries from search, each compared with an earlier period.
- Leave your business name out of the count, because people who search for you by name already know you.
- Google recommends focusing on trends in impressions and clicks more than on position alone.
- Judge the work in the first weeks and the results after about three months.
- A good agency report says what was changed on your site and what happened to enquiries.
In this guide
This guide is for owners who have paid for SEO for three months or more and are asking how to know if SEO is working, without learning the trade. It uses only what you can see yourself: Search Console and your own enquiries. If the numbers still leave you unsure, an independent SEO audit gives a second opinion.
How to know if SEO is working: three numbers to watch
Watch impressions, clicks and enquiries. They tend to move in that order, so the first tells you early whether the others are likely to follow.
| Number | What it means | Where to find it | A good sign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impressions | How often someone saw a link to your site on Google | Search Console, Performance report | Rising for searches about what you sell, not only for your name |
| Clicks | How often someone clicked a link from Google to your site | Search Console, Performance report | Rising along with impressions, on the pages that sell |
| Enquiries and sales | Calls, forms, bookings and orders that began with a search | Your own records | More of them, for the services you want to grow |
Search Console is a free Google service, and Google says business owners should at least be aware of it. If an agency set it up for you, ask for access so you can look for yourself.
How do you check the numbers in Google Search Console?
Open the Performance report and compare the latest three months with an earlier period. Once you know the way, it takes about ten minutes a month.
Ten minutes in the Performance report
- Open the Performance report
By default it shows clicks and impressions for your site in Google Search for the past three months. Google notes that the newest data can be preliminary and may still change.
- Compare two periods
Use the date filter to set the latest period against an earlier one. Google's guide to traffic drops suggests comparing the last three months year over year and looking at the last 16 months, so that a dip that happens every year is not mistaken for a problem.
- Take your own name out
Searches that include your business name come from people who already know you. Search Console has a filter for branded and non-branded queries. Google says it is not available for sites with a low number of impressions. If you do not see it, filter for queries not containing your name.
- Read the Queries tab
Sort by clicks. Are these searches about what you sell, in the places you sell it? New, relevant searches joining the list are an early sign that the work is reaching the right people.
- Read the Pages tab
Sort by clicks to see which pages bring visitors. The pages that were worked on should be the ones gaining. If every gain is on a blog post and none is on a page that sells, raise it.
- Write the totals down
Record clicks, impressions and the top ten searches on the same day each month. A simple spreadsheet is enough.
Why is ranking position a poor measure by itself?
Because the figure in a report is an average over many searches, and it can move for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the work. Google records position from the topmost link to your site and averages it across every search where you appeared. If your site starts to appear for many new searches lower down the page, the average can get worse while visits go up.
Google's Search Console help says position can be misleading if you do not understand its subtleties, and recommends focusing more on trends in impressions and clicks than on position alone.
Source2Google Search Console Help6Google Search Console Help
Position still matters for the handful of searches that bring you buyers. Check those few by name, and give less weight to a single blended figure.
How do you count enquiries that came from search?
Count them yourself, at the point where the customer makes contact. Search Console stops at the click.
Four ways to count enquiries
- Ask every new callerAdd "How did you find us?" to the script and tick a box. It is rough, and it catches what no tool does.
- Give the website form its own inbox or thank-you pageThen every form enquiry can be counted by month.
- Check your Google Business ProfileIts performance report shows calls made from the call button, requests for directions and clicks through to your website. For a local business this is a large part of the picture.
- Record the service asked aboutTen enquiries for your most profitable service are worth more than thirty for the least. Note which one each enquiry was for.
Put the monthly count next to clicks. If clicks rise and enquiries do not, either the visitors are the wrong ones or the pages are not persuading them. Website traffic but no leads covers that case.
SEO numbers a business owner should watch each month
Six lines are enough. Ask for them in this order, whoever does your SEO.
A monthly check, in order
- What changed on the siteA list of pages fixed, written or published this month. No list means no work reached your website.
- Impressions without your nameCompared with the month before and with the same month last year.
- Clicks to the pages that sellService, category and product pages, not only articles.
- Pages in GoogleGoogle says the goal is to have the main version of every important page indexed, not every address on the site. For a site with fewer than 500 pages, it says you can check with a site: search.
- Warnings from GoogleThe Manual actions report shows a green check mark when there are none. A manual action means a reviewer at Google found pages that break its spam policies, and those pages can be ranked lower or left out.
- Enquiries and sales from searchYour own count, split by service.
How long before the numbers should move?
Expect the work to show first and the results later.
Google's SEO Starter Guide says some changes might take effect in a few hours and others could take several months.
Source10Google Search Central
So judge in two stages. In the first weeks, judge the work: is there a plan, and are changes going live? After about three months, compare impressions and clicks with your starting numbers. Enquiries usually follow last. How long SEO takes gives a fuller timeline.
Is my SEO agency doing a good job? How to read an SEO report
Look at what the agency changed and what happened next, not at the length of the report.
What an SEO report tells you
- It lists the changes made to your site, page by pageA good sign. Google suggests asking any SEO to share every change and the reasoning behind it.
- It shows impressions and clicks without your business name, against an earlier periodA good sign. Check the figures against your own Search Console.
- It leads with a count of keywords ranking, with no link to enquiriesAsk which of those searches bring buyers.
- It reports a score from a tool, such as site health or authorityAsk what changed in Google's own data. A tool's score is not a Google measurement.
- It promises a position or a dateBe wary. Google says no one can guarantee a number one ranking.
- You cannot open Search Console yourselfAsk for access. The data is about your business.
If you decide to look elsewhere, how to choose an SEO agency has the questions to ask before you sign.
What if the numbers are flat or falling?
Rule out the ordinary causes first. Google lists six main reasons for a drop in search traffic: a change to its ranking systems, technical problems, security problems, spam problems, seasonality and site moves. It also says most of these can be reversed.
Why website traffic drops walks through the checks. If nothing explains the numbers and nobody can tell you what was done, get a second opinion.
Related serviceA second opinion on your SEO
We check how Google reads your site, the searches you could win and where competitors are ahead, then set out what to do first.
See the serviceOur services for this
Questions people ask about measuring SEO
What is a good click-through rate from Google?
There is no single good figure, because it changes with your position, the kind of search and what else is on the results page. Google says a low click-through rate can mean people see your page in results but do not think it answers their search. Compare each page with its own past.
Do visits from Google's AI answers show in Search Console?
Yes. Google says sites shown in AI Overviews and AI Mode are reported in the Performance report, within the Web search type. Search Console also has a separate Generative AI performance report, which shows impressions in those features and appears only when a site has enough of them. See how to track AI search visibility.
How often should I check my SEO numbers?
Once a month is enough for most businesses. Daily figures jump around, and Google notes that the newest data can be preliminary. Pick one day each month, record the same numbers and look at the trend over three months or more.
Does more traffic always mean SEO is working?
No. A rise that comes only from your business name, or only from articles unrelated to what you sell, is not progress. Look at clicks to the pages that sell, and at the enquiries that follow.
What should I check before ending an SEO contract?
Ask for a list of everything changed on your site, confirm that the website, the content and the Search Console property are in your company's name, and record your current numbers. Google says a site owner is ultimately responsible for the actions of any company it hires, so keep the records yourself.
Want a second pair of eyes on your numbers?
Send us your website and we will show you where you stand and what we would do first, at no cost.
The authors
Who wrote and checked this guide
Written by
Jamiez Nguyen
Founder & CEO
Jamiez Nguyen founded Taskcover and leads strategy and client growth. He started it in 2017 as a team doing search work behind the scenes for other agencies, then opened it to businesses in the USA, Canada and Australia.
Reviewed by
John Edward
CTO
John Edward leads the technical side of Taskcover: how sites are built, how fast they load, and how search engines read them.
Updated Fact-checked About the people at Taskcover
Sources
Where the facts in this guide come from
Facts last checked on October 12, 2026.
- 1About Search ConsoleGoogle Search Console HelpChecked on October 12, 2026
- 2What are impressions, position, and clicks?Google Search Console HelpChecked on October 12, 2026
- 3Performance report (Search results): Overview and basic setupGoogle Search Console HelpChecked on October 12, 2026
- 4Debugging drops in Google Search trafficGoogle Search CentralChecked on October 12, 2026
- 5Performance report (Search results): Advanced filtering and comparisonGoogle Search Console HelpChecked on October 12, 2026
- 6Performance report (Search results): Common tasks and use casesGoogle Search Console HelpChecked on October 12, 2026
- 7Understand your Business Profile performance & insightsGoogle Business Profile HelpChecked on October 12, 2026
- 8Page indexing reportGoogle Search Console HelpChecked on October 12, 2026
- 9Manual actions reportGoogle Search Console HelpChecked on October 12, 2026
- 10Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter GuideGoogle Search CentralChecked on October 12, 2026
- 11Do you need an SEO?Google Search CentralChecked on October 12, 2026
- 12AI features and your websiteGoogle Search CentralChecked on October 12, 2026
- 13Generative AI performance report (Search)Google Search Console HelpChecked on October 12, 2026
