Average position in Google Search Console
In the Performance report, average position is the average of the highest position your site held each time it appeared in the results. Position 1 is the top of the page, so a lower number is better: an average of 8.4 means your site usually appeared near the bottom of the first page.
- It is an average across all searches, locations and devices, so it rarely matches what you see when you search yourself.
- It only counts searches where your site appeared. Filter by query and page to see where one page ranks for one keyword.
- If your average position gets worse while impressions rise, you are often simply appearing for more queries, many of them further down the results.
What replaced average position in Google Ads?
Google Ads now shows where your ads appear with clearer metrics:
- Top impression rate: the share of your impressions shown anywhere above the organic results.
- Absolute top impression rate: the share shown as the very first ad above the organic results.
- Search top impression share and search absolute top impression share: the impressions you won in those positions compared with all the impressions you were eligible for.
Where an ad appears depends on its Ad Rank: your bid, the quality of your ad and landing page, the expected impact of assets, and the context of the search.
Frequently asked questions
Can you still see average position in Google Ads?
No. Google retired the metric at the end of September 2019. Use top impression rate and absolute top impression rate instead.
What is a good average position?
For the keywords that matter most to your business, aim for positions 1 to 3, which get most of the clicks. Positions beyond 10 are usually on page two or later. A site-wide average says little on its own, because it mixes every query you appear for.