What is Share of Voice in SEO & How Is It Calculated
What if your brand was showing up on the first page of Google, but barely anyone noticed? ( Yes, that’s possible!) That is the reality many businesses face when they focus solely on keyword rankings without understanding the actual visibility their content commands on the search engine results page.
Most of the trackable website traffic now comes from organic search. However, only a fraction of brands actively measure how much of that traffic they are actually capturing within their category. This is where Organic Share of Voice (SOV) steps in as a far more strategic and telling metric.
The top organic search result garners approximately 39.8% of all clicks, highlighting the significant impact of ranking in the top position. This makes it even more evident that visibility and share of voice matter much more than simply ranking on the first page.
We will break down exactly why Organic SOV has become one of the most powerful KPIs for marketers in the world. We will also walk through real frameworks and tools to help you track it, report on it, and, most importantly, grow it.
What is Organic Share of Voice?
The meaning of share of voice is the percentage of total organic search traffic a website secures compared to the entire available traffic for a chosen set of keywords, often benchmarked against competitors. Unlike simple rankings that only indicate a website’s position for specific keywords, organic share of voice measures how much actual attention or visibility a brand commands in search results.
This metric incorporates not only where a website ranks but also how often it is clicked, the search volume of the keywords, and the influence of other search elements such as featured snippets, images, or local packs. It offers a full picture of a brand’s presence across the search landscape, helping businesses understand how they stack up in the eyes of both search engines and users.
For instance, a brand ranking first for a low-volume keyword may have less organic share of voice than a competitor ranking second or third for a high-volume, high-intent keyword. This is why organic share of voice is considered a far more strategic and meaningful metric than rankings alone.
Also Read: Essential SEO Ranking Factors for 2025 to Optimize Your Website
Why Does Organic Share of Voice Matter?
Understanding the importance of organic share of voice is key to growing your brand’s presence, as it directly impacts how much visibility you get without relying on paid efforts.
- Competitive Benchmarking
Organic share of voice provides a direct comparison between a brand’s performance and that of its competitors. It allows marketers to identify how much of the available market attention they are capturing and how much is being won by others. Without this benchmark, it is easy to overestimate the impact of rankings or traffic.
- Connecting SEO to Business Outcomes
A higher organic share of voice often correlates with stronger brand presence, increased trust, and more conversions. When users consistently see a brand across multiple searches, they are more likely to perceive it as authoritative and reliable, leading to greater engagement and customer loyalty.
- Prioritising Resources Effectively
Organic share of voice highlights which areas of search are driving the most significant impact. Instead of trying to rank for every keyword, marketers can focus on topics and queries that hold the highest potential for boosting visibility and market influence.
- Identifying Risks and Opportunities
A drop in organic share of voice can act as an early signal that competitors are improving their SEO strategies or that changes in search behaviour are affecting performance. On the other hand, a rising share indicates that SEO efforts are gaining ground, creating opportunities to reinforce successful strategies.
How to Calculate Organic Share of Voice?
When it comes to measuring your brand’s visibility and reach, understanding how to calculate share of voice can offer valuable insights into your online presence and overall market impact.
- Define Your Keyword Set
Start by pinpointing the keywords that are most relevant to your business, including branded terms, product and service keywords, competitor names, and industry-related searches. Ensure the keyword set is broad enough to capture the full search landscape you care about.
- Gather Search Volume Data
Use SEO tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Sistrix to obtain monthly search volume figures for each keyword. This information helps you find share of voice and accurately assess the importance of each query.
- Assess Your Rankings
Record your current ranking positions for each keyword. Remember, a high ranking for a low-volume keyword will contribute less to your share of voice than a mid-level ranking for a high-volume keyword.
- Apply Click-through Rate Estimates
Apply industry-standard CTR models to estimate the number of clicks your rankings could realistically bring. For example, the first organic result typically captures about 40 percent of clicks, while the second captures around 18 percent, and so on.
- Calculate Total Potential Clicks
Multiply the search volume by the estimated CTR for each keyword to calculate the likely number of visits you receive. Add these figures together to determine your total estimated organic traffic from the keyword set.
- Benchmark Against Total Market
To calculate your organic share of voice, divide your total estimated clicks by the combined total available clicks for all competitors within the same keyword set. Express this as a percentage to understand how much of the organic search market you currently own.
For example, if your estimated clicks are 20,000 out of a total possible 100,000, your organic share of voice is 20 percent.
Also Read: Mobile SEO Best Practices for Boosting Traffic and Conversions
How Do SERP Features Affect Organic Share of Voice?
SERP features are important in influencing your brand’s visibility, and understanding their impact on Organic Share of Voice (SOV) can help you refine your strategy for better online performance.
- The Role of Featured Snippets
Featured snippets appear above standard organic listings and can capture up to 30 percent of available clicks, often reducing the click-through rates of traditional first-page results. Winning a featured snippet can dramatically improve a brand’s share of voice without necessarily changing its traditional ranking.
- The Impact of People Also Ask Boxes
These interactive boxes provide users with related questions and expandable answers. Brands appearing within these boxes secure additional visibility and increase their presence across a wider range of related queries.
- Local Packs, Images, and Videos
Local search results, image carousels, and video panels can divert attention away from regular text listings. Brands that optimize their content for these alternative SERP features can boost their overall organic share of voice by appearing in multiple content formats.
Considering all these elements is crucial when measuring share of voice, as they affect how users engage with search results and which brands capture their attention.
Strategies to Increase Organic Share of Voice
Increasing your Organic Share of Voice (SOV) requires a smart and strategic approach. Here are some effective strategies to boost your brand’s visibility, online presence, and share of voice in search engine results.
- Build Authority with Topic Clusters
Instead of focusing on isolated keywords, develop clusters of content around key topics. This approach indicates to search engines that your website is a trusted resource, enhancing the likelihood of ranking for related queries and attracting a greater share of search traffic.
- Optimize Content for SERP Features
Structure your content to align with the formats search engines favour for rich results. Use clear headings, provide concise definitions, format lists and tables effectively, and apply structured data such as FAQ, How-To, or Product schema to improve your chances of appearing in featured areas.
- Update and Refresh Key Pages
Ensure your top-performing content stays relevant by regularly updating it with fresh insights, updated statistics, and new examples. Search engines reward content freshness, which helps maintain or improve rankings and increases your share of voice over time.
- Strengthen Internal Linking
Establish a solid internal linking structure that connects relevant pages. This not only improves user navigation but also distributes authority across your site, enhancing the performance of key pages and boosting their visibility.
- Conduct Regular Competitive Analysis
Monitor your competitors’ share of voice to identify where they are gaining or losing ground. Use this insight to adjust your strategy, identify underserved topics, and spot opportunities to outperform competitors.
- Invest in Multimedia Content
Create videos, infographics, and interactive content that attract engagement and open up opportunities to appear in video carousels, image packs, or interactive search panels. Diversifying content formats increases the number of ways your brand can dominate the search.
Tools and Techniques to Track Organic Share of Voice
Tracking Organic Share of Voice (SOV) effectively involves using the right tools and techniques. Here are some methods to help you monitor and measure your brand’s visibility online.
- Leading Tools for Tracking
Popular SEO platforms such as SEMrush, Ahrefs, Sistrix, Searchmetrics, and Similarweb offer robust tools for tracking organic share of voice. These platforms combine position tracking, visibility scores, and competitor analysis to provide a comprehensive view of market performance.
- Setting Tracking Frequency
It is advisable to track organic share of voice on a monthly basis to monitor long-term trends. For SEO campaigns or in response to algorithm changes, more frequent (weekly) tracking may be necessary to capture shifts in performance quickly and adjust strategies accordingly.
- Creating Custom Dashboards
Integrate data from multiple sources into customized dashboards to maintain a clear overview of your organic share of voice. This ensures that key stakeholders can easily access and interpret the data, leading to more informed decision-making.
Aim to Lead in the Digital Space
At AdLift, we understand that Organic Share of Voice (SOV) is a crucial metric for measuring SEO success. Unlike basic keyword rankings, it provides a deeper insight into how much search attention your brand captures compared to competitors. By accurately calculating SOV, factoring in SERP features, and continuously optimizing your approach, you can significantly improve your brand’s digital visibility.
For businesses looking to lead in the digital space, investing in Organic Share of Voice is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge.
