I’m a big user of Google Search Console, well more specifically SEOGets lately, but they use GSC data… The “average position” metric always drives me nuts because I intuitively believe it should mean something that IT DOES NOT MEAN…
Google’s “average position” metric in Search Console is a bit tricky and can indeed feel confusing because it aggregates multiple data points in a non-intuitive way. Here’s how it works:
- Definition: The “average position” refers to the average ranking of a webpage or website in search results for a particular query or group of queries. It shows where a specific page ranks compared to other results when it appears in Google Search for a given keyword.
- How it’s calculated:
- Each time your page appears in search results, Google assigns it a “position” based on its ranking.
- Google calculates the average of all the positions your page appears in across all impressions for that query.
- If a page appears multiple times for different queries or even multiple times in the same search result (e.g., page appears both as a regular result and in a featured snippet), all of these are considered, potentially lowering or raising the average position.
- Key Points to Consider:
- Multiple Impressions: If your page appears in position 1 for one search and in position 10 for another, the average position would be (1 + 10) ÷ 2 = 5.5. Even though the page may be ranking well for some searches, the average could be brought down if it ranks poorly for others.
- Personalized Results: The search result position may vary depending on location, device type, or user preferences, affecting the average position reported.
- Fluctuation: The metric is an average across all impressions for that keyword/page combination, so it can fluctuate, especially if you target a broad set of keywords.
- Why it seems confusing:
- The average doesn’t necessarily represent the “true” ranking you’ll see for a query. It’s influenced by all the positions a page appears in, including localized and personalized search results.
- It’s also affected by long-tail queries, where your page may rank lower or higher depending on the exact wording or intent of the query.
In short, Google’s “average position” isn’t necessarily the same as the typical position you expect to see, but rather an average of all instances where your site appears for relevant queries across different searches.