Ever had a client excitedly tell you they’re “ranking 12th on Google”? Or maybe you’ve been staring at your own GSC dashboard, feeling chuffed about your “average position” of 9.3 or pissed off because GSC says your average position is 83.6?

The average position number shines out at us in Google Search Console, but let’s be honest – that number isn’t particularly useful.

What Google says it means

According to Google, your average position is exactly what it sounds like – the average position of your website in search results for all the queries you appear for.

Sounds straightforward, right? Wrong.

Why it’s a load of nonsense

Here’s why average position is one of the most misleading metrics in Search Console:

It includes EVERYTHING

Your average position calculation includes every search term where your site appears – even if:

You’re ranking on page 30 for random queries
You’re showing up for completely irrelevant searches
The term gets searched twice a year by someone’s cat walking across a keyboard

One of my clients was feeling proper smug about their “improving average position” until we discovered they were ranking highly for their competitor’s misspelled brand name. Not exactly useful traffic, is it?

Positions change constantly

Your ranking position fluctuates constantly. It changes based on:

User location
Device type
Search history
Time of day

The position Google reports is just a snapshot, not a fixed reality.

It mixes relevant and irrelevant searches

Ranking 10th for “management consultant for engineering companies” (what you actually do) gets combined with your position for “management consultant jobs” (probably not relevant to your business) in the same average.

When these get mixed together, your average position becomes meaningless for understanding how well you’re ranking for terms that actually matter to your business.

Let’s look at how ‘average search position’ works

I’m going to try to break down how Google actually calculates the confusing “average position” number, because it works on two different levels – and both are problematic. (Feel free to skip this bit if maths makes your head hurt – I mean, *I* wrote it, and it makes MY head hurt!)

How Average Position works for a single search term

Google looks at EVERY TIME your website appears in search results for a specific search term. Each appearance counts as one “impression.” For each impression, Google records what position you were in.

Then Google does some maths that they seem to have made sure most people don’t understand. It’s not a simple average where they add up all positions and divide by the number of appearances.

Here’s a simple example for just ONE search term:

Say your website appears in search results for “engineering consultant” three times:

Once in position 1 (gets 10 impressions)
Once in position 30 (gets 100 impressions)
Once in position 100 (gets just 1 impression)

Google gives more weight to the positions where you got more impressions. Since position 30 got you 100 impressions, it influences your average position much more than position 100 (which only got 1 impression).

Your average position for “engineering consultant” ends up being closer to 30 because that’s where most people saw you.

That gives us a bit of an issue – your site still appeared at position 100, which is buried deep in search results where no one will ever find you. Even though this terrible ranking only happened once and no-one clicked on it, it’s still dragging down your average.

This happens to everyone. Google’s algorithm sometimes tests your site for relevance by showing it for a particular search term in different positions. You might rank well most of the time, but those occasional poor rankings still count in your average – even if no one actually clicks on them.

So for a single search term, your average position might look worse than your typical performance because of these random fluctuations and testing that Google does. It’s not an accurate reflection of where your site usually appears.

How your Overall Average Position gets even more misleading

This problem gets magnified when looking at your overall average position across ALL search terms.

Imagine seeing an average position of 85 in your Search Console. You might think all your SEO efforts have failed and your website is performing really badly.

But dig a bit deeper and you might discover something completely different. That awful position of 85 could be skewed by your site randomly appearing at position 126 for “jobs in Dorset” – when you actually sell business software, but you once listed an admin job on your home page!

Meanwhile, for the keywords you’re actually targeting – like “engineering management software” – you might be sitting nicely at position 3 or 4. But those irrelevant terms dragging you down create an overall average position that looks absolutely dreadful.

This happens ALL THE TIME. Your website will appear for all sorts of random, irrelevant searches where you rank terribly – and they all count toward your average overall position.

Additional complications

To make matters worse, Google throws in a few other skew balls. When your site appears in a featured snippet or knowledge panel, Google counts those positions differently and inconsistently.

The end result? A number that looks precise but actually hides a lot of important details about where your site really appears in search results.

What you should look at instead

Rather than obsessing over average position, focus on:

Position for specific, important keywords and phrases

Track the keyphrases that actually matter to your business. If you’re a management consultant for engineering companies, who cares if you rank 80th for an irrelevant term?

Click-Through rate

A position 3 ranking with a 15% CTR is far more valuable than a position 1 with a 2% CTR.

Impressions-to-Clicks ratio

Are people actually clicking when they see you? This tells you if your listing is compelling, regardless of position.

Real traffic and conversions

The ultimate measure – are people visiting your site and doing what you want them to do? That’s what pays the bills, not a vanity metric.

How to use average position (if you must)

If you’re still attached to this metric, at least use it properly:

Filter by specific search queries that matter
Compare position over time for the same queries
Use it as a very general indicator, never as a KPI

Average position is misleading at best and pretty irrelevant at worst. Start looking at metrics that actually impact your business.

Confused by your Google Search Console? You’re not alone – book in a 1:1 with me and I’ll walk you through it step by step to show you how you can get the most out of it for your website and SEO.