Why quality beats quantity every time
If you’ve ever invested time or energy into creating content for your business, you’ve probably wondered: ‘Is this actually working?’
New content is published every second and it’s easy to feel like you’re on a treadmill, constantly creating, posting and trying to keep up.
When we talk about measuring SEO success, we’re going beyond ‘how many posts have I published this month?’ and instead asking:
- Is my content getting seen by the right people?
- Is it bringing in organic traffic?
- Keeping people engaged?
- Helping search engines see my site as credible?
We’re here to break it down step-by-step so you know exactly what to look for and how to track it.
Content is the heart of SEO
Search engines provide answers and the better your content answers your audience’s questions - clearly and confidently - the higher you’ll climb in the search results.
Your content plays a starring role in SEO because it:
- Tells search engines what your business is about.
- Builds trust with your audience (and trust turns into conversions).
- Gives you assets to earn backlinks, which boost your domain authority.
- Keeps people on your site longer, which signals relevance to Google.
But publishing for the sake of publishing doesn’t work anymore. Churning out lots of thin, generic content might have fooled the algorithms a decade ago, but now? It can actively hurt your rankings.
That’s why quality over quantity should be your mantra. A single, well-researched, well-written, SEO-friendly article can outperform ten rushed posts. And when you measure your SEO success correctly, you’ll see exactly which pieces are doing the heavy lifting.
Position in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)
Think of your SERP position as your digital shop window location. If you’re on page one, position one, you’ve got a prime spot on the high street. If you’re buried on page five… you’re in a back alley no one strolls down.
Your goal is to appear as high as possible for the right keywords. That means keywords your ideal customers are actually typing in - not just the ones that sound good on paper.
Metrics to track:
- Average overall position - the average rank your site holds across all keywords.
- Keyword-specific positions - especially for high-value search terms.
- Branded vs. unbranded rankings - branded keywords are searches with your business name. Unbranded ones are broader and often more competitive.
- Ranking distribution - how many keywords rank on page one vs. pages two and beyond.
How to track:
- Free option: Google Search Console gives you your average position but be aware that low-relevance keywords can skew the number.
- Paid tools: Paid tools like Ahrefs give you detailed keyword tracking and trend data without the need to manually sort it all in spreadsheets.
Content that targets specific, relevant keywords can steadily improve your SERP position. Don’t stuff a blog with every keyword under the sun. It’s about creating pages so valuable that search engines naturally want to place you front and centre.
Impressions - are people even seeing you?
An impression is counted every time your website appears in someone’s search results. High positions usually mean higher impressions, but that’s not always the case - it depends on how many people are searching for that keyword.
If you’re ranking for a keyword with barely any searches, you might get a top spot but almost no visibility. That’s why measuring impressions alongside position is key.
Metrics to track:
- Total impressions across your site.
- Impressions for high-priority keyword groups.
- Branded vs. non-branded keyword impressions.
If impressions are low for your high-quality content, it could mean you’re targeting a term with low search volume. It’s time to tweak your keyword strategy so you’re creating valuable content for terms that people are actually searching for.
Organic search traffic
This is where SEO starts to feel real. When people are actually clicking through to your site from search results.
Organic search traffic measures the number of visits coming from unpaid search listings. It tells you not just if you’re being seen, but if your search snippets are enticing enough for people to click.
How to track it:
Google Analytics (GA4) lets you filter traffic by source so you can isolate organic visits. You can also track by sessions (total visits) or users (unique visitors).
Well-written headlines, accurate meta descriptions and genuinely useful articles will drive more organic traffic than bland, generic content.
Click-through rate (CTR)
Your CTR is the percentage of people who click on your site after seeing it in the SERPs. You could be in position three, but if your metatitle is irresistible, you can still outperform the listings above you.
Optimise by:
- Writing compelling, benefit-driven metatitles.
- Crafting meta descriptions that spark curiosity and clearly state value.
- Including keywords naturally so searchers feel confident your page is relevant.
Think of your metatitle as your first handshake with a potential customer. It’s your chance to make them feel like, ‘This is exactly what I was looking for.’
Engagement rate - are people sticking around?
Getting clicks is only half the battle. Engagement rate shows how many visitors are interacting with your site instead of bouncing away.
A high engagement rate (ideally 60–70%) means your content is doing its job - keeping people interested and guiding them deeper into your site.
What affects engagement rate?
- Content relevance - Does your page deliver on what your title promised?
- Formatting - Is it easy to read, with clear headings and visuals?
- Internal links - Do you guide readers to other valuable pages?
Google notices when people click your page and stay a while. It’s a strong indicator that your content is relevant, which can help your rankings.
Domain authority
Domain authority (DA) is a third-party score predicting how well your site could rank, based on the quality and quantity of links pointing to it.
High-quality, link-worthy content naturally boosts DA. Think original research, in-depth guides, and standout resources - the kind of content others want to reference.
How to grow DA through content:
- Publish original insights that people can’t find elsewhere.
- Collaborate with industry partners for cross-promotion.
- Guest post on reputable sites in your niche.
Technical site health
Even the best content can underperform if your site’s technical health is poor. Broken links, missing meta tags and slow load times can all hurt your rankings.
Track with:
- SEMrush Site Audit
- Ahrefs Site Audit
- Google Search Console (for mobile usability, crawl errors, etc.)
Technical health ensures that your valuable content is accessible, easy to navigate and quick to load.
Quality over quantity
You could post ten mediocre blogs a month and still lose to the competitor who publishes two well-optimised, reader-focused articles.
Measuring SEO success through these metrics lets you identify which pieces of content are truly driving results. When you know what works, you can focus on refining and amplifying quality content instead of burning resources on sheer volume.
Tired of guessing whether your SEO is working? Our team knows exactly how to create, optimise and measure content so you can see clear results - and where they’re coming from. Get in touch today to find out more about how we can help your business with our SEO services. Call us on 01798 667167 now.
