This article describes the Traffic Index that appears in almost all tables. This KPI will be explained here, along with the resulting values, traffic index potential and delta traffic index, as well as the paid traffic index.
Traffic Index
The Traffic Index provides information on the estimated number of organic visitors per month to a website for a specific keyword. This number is based on the calculated keyword search volume, keyword position, and click through rate (CTR).
The Traffic Index should show a connection with the average position. Searchmetrics developed it to give you an idea of how much traffic you can expect with your calculated search volume and click-through rate per position.
But be careful: human behavior and expected data points are not the same thing. Traffic Index is best viewed as a separate metric, similar to SEO Visibility. It is better to measure it for a single keyword or group of keywords to see where the best growth opportunities lie.
Traffic Index Potential
Traffic Index Potential indicates the traffic that would be achieved if a specific keyword for a URL were to rank first in the search results.
Δ (Delta) Traffic Index
Delta Traffic Index measures the difference between the Traffic Index and the Traffic Index Potential, i.e. the difference between the estimated number of visitors and the potentially achievable number of visitors.
Example:
The keyword "footballs" is currently ranked seventh. 42.308 URL clicks for a keyword are expected (Traffic Index). The Traffic Index Trend shows the change between selected data points. In this example, the Traffic Index increased by 10,577. If the URL with the keyword “footballs” rose to the top position in the rankings, then the Traffic Index could rise to 117,137, as well as the Traffic Index Potential. The Δ Traffic Index Potential indicates the difference between the two previous values. Thus, the keyword could have generated 74,829 more clicks if it moved to the first position.
Paid Traffic Index
The Paid Traffic Index indicates the approximate number of visitors who have come to your website through the paid ads. This value is calculated based on the domain's paid keywords and their rankings. The Paid Traffic Index is shown in the Keyword table in the Paid Rankings section.
In this example, the keyword generates about 1,154,204 visitors per month through paid ads. The CPC is € 0.01. The Ad Budget is an estimated cost that should provide information about how much a competitor is spending on paid search campaigns for a given keyword. The Competition Rate indicates the estimated intensity of competition for a relevant keyword.