Measurement
Share of voice
Share of voice is a brand’s visibility in a defined competitive set, expressed as a proportion.
What is share of voice?
Share of voice is a brand’s visibility in a defined competitive set, expressed as a proportion. In search it is usually computed from ranking positions weighted by query volume and expected click-through.
What turns on it
It converts a scattered list of rankings into one comparable figure, which makes trend reporting against competitors possible.
The mechanics
Calculated from a fixed query set with a fixed competitor set, because changing either between measurements makes the trend meaningless.
A frequent error
It is a modelled estimate, not a measurement. Different tools produce different numbers for the same situation, so only the trend within one method is usable.
Most disagreements about this turn out to be disagreements about the definition.
Where this comes up in the work
It is part of Technical SEO, and more specifically of Core Web Vitals remediation. Across the rest of the work it shows up in:
- Google Ads Management, since catching the tracking break before it wastes a month of optimisation is only as good as this is
- Paid Social and Meta Ads, in which it is the first thing checked before giving the learning phase enough budget to finish
- Conversion Rate Optimization, which cannot be done properly without it
- Website Design and Development, where getting it wrong shows up in making the editor able to publish without calling a developer
What to check
Two questions that establish whether this is actually in order on a given site:
- Whether it is actually true on the site rather than true in the documentation
- Whether anybody has measured it, or whether it is being taken on trust
More in measurement
Common questions
Whose job is share of voice?
Usually whoever owns Paid Social and Meta Ads, because giving the learning phase enough budget to finish depends on it. In practice it falls between teams often enough that naming an owner is half the fix.
Is share of voice expensive to get right?
It depends entirely on where the problem originates. Establishing that is the first piece of work.
How urgent is share of voice?
High if it is actually broken, low if it is merely imperfect. The check tells you which.
How would we know share of voice is a problem?
By measuring it rather than by argument. Calculated from a fixed query set with a fixed competitor set, because changing either between measurements makes the trend meaningless. If this page raised a question it did not answer, try Lead form or Landing page or Local SEO or National SEO.
Is share of voice just another name for something?
It is a modelled estimate, not a measurement. Different tools produce different numbers for the same situation, so only the trend within one method is usable. What does a technical SEO audit actually check? explains the signal. What is a good conversion rate? explains the noise around it.
Does share of voice affect rankings directly?
Not on its own, and claims that it does are usually overselling. It converts a scattered list of rankings into one comparable figure, which makes trend reporting against competitors possible. Keyword cannibalisation is written for the practitioner, Knowledge graph for whoever is paying.
Let us look at where you actually stand
A conversation about the problem, not a presentation about us. Bring whatever data exists.