Share of voice

Treat share of voice as your topic scoreboard. Pick a list of queries you care about and the rivals you meet on them. Your score is the share of expected clicks you win on that list.

It beats average position. One number weights positions by demand. Ranking 1st for a tiny query should not mask losing page one on a head term.

Trackers weight each tracked query’s search volume by an expected click through rate for the position you hold, then sum across queries. Your total is expressed as a percentage of the total for all domains on that set. That is share of voice.

A simple sheet can do this. For each query, note volume, your position and a CTR for that position. Multiply volume by CTR to get expected clicks. Sum yours, sum everyone’s, divide yours by the total.

Example: on “project management software”, “project planning tool”, and “task tracker”, you rank 3, 5 and 2. Rivals hold other slots. Your share of voice is the fraction of expected clicks your positions earn across those three, not the mean of 3, 5 and 2.

Only report it on a defined list of queries and a defined set of rivals. Otherwise the number drifts and cannot guide work.

Use it per topic. Make a cluster like “/guides/” terms, or “alternatives to yourproduct”, or all non brand terms where your category is clear. Split brand and non brand. Split country if you sell in more than one. Split device if mobile layouts differ.

1. 1

   Pick the topic and the queries

   Start from your sitemap or nav. For “yourproduct.com/guides/”, export all keywords where a page in /guides/ ranks. Remove brand terms for this view.

2. 2

   Name your rivals for this topic

   Add the domains that share the SERPs. This may differ from sales rivals. For “/guides/”, content sites may dominate.

3. 3

   Get positions for each domain

   Use a rank tracker, or sample top results by hand for each query. Be consistent on country and device.

4. 4

   Apply an expected CTR curve

   Use any steady position based curve in your sheet. Multiply each query’s volume by the CTR for the held position to estimate clicks.

5. 5

   Sum and divide

   Sum estimated clicks by domain. Your share of voice is your sum divided by the total across all listed domains.

A fixed set lets you compare months. If “/guides/getting-started” climbs from position 7 to 3 on a head term, your topic share should rise even if a few long tails slip.

• Cover missing queries. Run a keyword gap on your topic set and ship pages for the gaps.
• Lift high volume laggards. Find terms where you rank 5 to 10 and improve those pages. See “/pricing” if it sits at 8 for “yourproduct pricing”.
• Fix cannibalisation. Merge or retarget pages that compete on the same query.
• Raise real CTR. Tighten titles and meta descriptions for terms where impressions are high but clicks are weak.
• Win SERP features. Aim for a featured snippet on a definitional query with a crisp answer block.
• Strengthen authority on tough terms. Earn relevant links to the few pages that must rank to move the needle.

Track topic share monthly. Tie changes to releases. Note when Google adds or removes SERP features, which shift expected clicks without your rank moving.