Last week, we explored the benefits of Google Search Console’s (GSC) Search Appearance tools but that is just a small part of what makes GSC a necessity for your business. The Search Traffic section, for instance, has its own unique set of tools that optimize your site to gain more qualified traffic and conversions.
The first of these tools is the Search Analytics Report which graphically displays how often your site appears in Google’s search results. The metrics include the number of clicks per keyword, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and site position on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Selecting queries, pages, countries, devices, search type, and date filters will report the grouping category by the selected metrics.
Queries Report
If you sort by the Queries filter, the report will return the keyword rankings listed from the most to least popular. Valuable feedback, especially if you are trying to determine which keyword is working well. Choosing the right set of keywords is critical to matching your site content to your targeted audience. The information reported when you choose the position checkbox is extremely important because it shows you the position of each set of keywords in the SERP. This tool makes keyword research much less mystifying by identifying weaknesses in your content compared to the user’s interest.
Pages Report
The Pages report sorts your site’s URLs by popularity. This data provides easy-to-see results to determine which pages are the best performers with the most popular indicative of what is most relevant to your audience. Improving the content on these pages and building backlinks between them on your site will improve the SEO.
The Pages category also gives you the ability to compare the results of different pages on your site. This could be used to utilize A/B testing in your marketing such as comparing Impressions with CTR to get a visualization of where content could improve. For example, if you have a high number of impressions but score a low CTR, it could mean that the user was not compelled to visit (click) your site compared to the other search results.
Countries, Devices, Search Type, & Dates Reports
The last four filters of the Search Analytics tool generate reports based on Countries, Devices, Search Type, and Dates. The Country and Devices categories are valuable if you are an international company or depend on mobile traffic. The Search Type filter reports if the users searched for web, images, or videos. This type of data is good to have if, for instance, you are a photographer and want people to find your site through images posted. This is where relevant information in your alt tags is key. Date filter sorting allows you to see which dates performed the best. A pattern could be discerned of which dates and times are best to post.
The Site Traffic Section has other useful tools, such as International Targeting and Mobile Usability, which we will feature in upcoming articles. As you can see, the Search Analytics tool is extremely useful to gain a greater understanding of your site’s performance and to let search engines know what your site is all about.
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