How to Use Google Search Console Insights for SEO Strategy

Google Search Console Insights is a free platform that helps you optimize your SEO results using data collected from Google Search Console and Google ... Article HowtoUseGoogleSearchConsoleInsightsforYourSEOStrategy byIrinaWeber save Listen NEW!Listentoarticle Signinorsignuptoaccessthisaudiofeature!Noworries...it'sFREE! ManytoolscanhelpyoutoanalyzeyourwebsiteaudiencedataandimproveyourSEOstrategy;infact,youmaybeusingacombinationofthem—andmaybeevenpayingtousethem. EnterGoogleSearchConsoleInsights(GSCI),oneofthemorerecent,andmostaskedabout,SEOimprovementtoolsbyGoogle. KeepreadingtolearnhowyoucangrowyourbrandusingGSCI! WhatisSearchConsoleInsights? GoogleSearchConsoleInsightsisafreeplatformthathelpsyouoptimizeyourSEOresultsusingdatacollectedfromGoogleSearchConsoleandGoogleAnalytics. Itgivesanoverviewofwebsitestatisticsandanalyzescontentperformancefromatechnicalstandpoint.Italsoallowsyoutopinpointissueswithyourwebpageswhilehelpingyoutailorthewebsitetoyourusers'needs. It'sausefultoolthatWebcontentcreators,marketers,andSEOspecialistsneed—andtendtolove. GoogleSearchConsoleInsightshelpsbusinessandwebsiteownersontheirsearchengineoptimizationjourney.Itisaguideforimprovingmetrics,suchas... Keywordpositions Averagepageviewduration Contentquality Websiteusability Ifyouarestillnewtothistopicandwantmoredetailstounderstandthebasicsbetter,checkoutthisguideforGoogleSearchConsole. HowdoIgetstartedonSearchConsole? Togetstarted,signupforGoogle'sSearchConsole,thenaddandverifysiteownership!It'ssimple,butittakesafewsteps: LogintoGoogleSearchConsolewithyourGoogleAnalyticsaccountsotheysync.(Asnotedearlier,GSCIretrievesthewebsite'sperformancedatafromboth). ClickAddaproperty. ChooseadomainorURL(preferablyadomain). Confirmyouownthatproperty,whetherdomainorURL,withyourDNSprovider.However,theeasiestwaytoverifyyourproperty(theURLoption)isbyusingyourGoogleAnalyticsaccount. HowdoyouaccessSearchConsoleInsights? ClickontheOverviewtabintheSearchConsoleandselectSearchConsoleInsightsatthetopofthatpage.IntheGoogleappforiOS,clickyourprofilepictureandselectSearchConsoleInsightsintheaccount'smenu. AccessfromGoogleSearchinSearchResults. Onceyouhaveaccesstothistool,youwillneedtocheckinoccasionallytomakesureeverythingisrunningsmoothly—onceamonth,orwheneveryoupostnewcontent.IfGSCInoticesanyunusualactivityonyourwebsite,youwillreceiveanemailalert. HowdoIturnGSCIdataintoSEOsolutions? Let'snowmoveontohowtousethedataGSCIcollectstooptimizeyourwebsite'sorganicrankinginsearchengines. Insteadofmakingyouarriveatyourownconclusionsbylookingatplainchartsandgraphicsfromtheanalytics,GSCIwillautomaticallyanswerimportantquestionsyouhaveprobablybeenaskingyourselfaboutyourwebsite,includingthefollowingfive. 1.Whatareyourbest-performingpiecesofcontent? "Yourmostpopularcontent"reportshowsthebestpagesbyperformance.Basedonthatdata,youcanprioritizeworkonthepages.Youcanfindoutwhattypeofcontentgarnersthemostattentionandwhichoneshavebeentrending. GSCusesthreebadgestohelpyouidentifyrelevantinfoforyourcontent: Top5Resultsshowswhichcontent'saverageorganicsearchpositionisintheTop5spots. Trendingx%comparesyourcontent'sprevious28dayswithhowthecontentperformedbeforethatperiod. Highaveragedurationhighlightshigh-durationcontentvs.thewebsite'sothercontent. 2.Howareyournewpiecesofcontentperforming? GoogleSearchConsoleInsightsisalsohelpfulforanalyzingyournewpages.CheckwhichoftherecentlypublishedcontentquicklyreceivesimpressionsinGooglesearchresults.Use"Yournewcontent"report.Itshowswhichnewpagesreceiveditsfirstviewswithinthelast28days,sortingfrommosttoleastrecent. Ifthereweretestsorstrategiesthatworkedwell,youcanextrapolatefromtheresults.WenowknowwhichpagesGooglelikes,andthereforewecanbuildhypothesesanddevelopstrategiestokeepdeliveringsimilarcontent. 3.HowdopeoplediscoveryourcontentacrosstheWeb? Byknowingwherepeoplearediscoveringyourcontent,youcandrasticallychangeyourmarketinggametofocusonthosetrafficchannels.Tounderstandhowpeoplelandonyourpage,GSCIshowsyourthreemostpopulartrafficsources,suchasorganicsearch,paidsearch,direct,social,andreferral. Buttogetthemostdetailedinformation,youstillneedtocheckonGoogleSearchConsole,whereinthe"Performance"reportyoucanopenthecharttoshowyouthemetricsforimpressions,clickthroughrate,andthedimensionsforqueriesandevencountries. Youcangothroughtheavailablefilterstochecktheperformanceofyourpageinaspecificarea. Forexample,youcandeterminewhereyourtrafficiscomingfrombyenteringasearchtypefilter.Ifyouwanttoknowwhatpagesarebringingtrafficfromimagesearchresults,select"Image"whenbrowsingthroughthefilters.Fromthedisplayedchart,you'llbeabletoseethequeries,pages,andcountriesthatarebringinginthemosttrafficforthatparticularsearch. 4.WhatdopeoplesearchforonGooglebeforetheyvisityourcontent? HereyouhaveaccesstothesectionthatbringsuptheTop50searchqueriessendingpeopletoyoursitefromGoogle'ssearchengine.ThequerieswouldberankedbythenumberoftimestheywereclickedoninaGoogleSERP. Youhavearankpositionundereachquery,andbydefaultthelistshowcasesthe"MostSearchedQueries."Youcanalsoswitchthelisttothe"MostTrendingQueries"tolearnwhichsearchqueriesgrewthemostintermsofclicksinthecurrentvs.previous28days. 5.Whicharticlerefersuserstoyourwebsiteandcontent? TheGSCIhasareportsectioncalled"Referringlinksfromotherwebsites"thatshowsyouhowmanyentriestoacertainwebpageaspecificreferringpagegenerated.There,youcanseewhichofthewebsiteslinkingtoyoursarethemostrelevanttoyourusers.Youcanthendecidewhetheryoushouldstillpostarticlesonthatreferringsiteorpromotethepagefromwhichthetrafficiscomingfrom. Moreover,knowingwhichlinksworkwellcanhelpinformyourfuturelink-buildingstrategy. WhatElseShouldIConsiderWithGSCI? Trackthedataovertimetoseehowyourwebsitehasimprovedsinceusingthistool.Consistenttrackingofgrowthishowyoucansustainit,sokeepthefollowinginmind: ConfirmthatGoogleisassociatingyourcontenttoyourtargetkeyword.TheSERankingkeywordtoolcanhelpyouchoosethebestkeywordsforyournicheandoptimizeyourcontentwiththosekeywords.Youcanalsofindoutwhatnewpagesyoushouldcreatebyusingthiskeywordsuggestiontool. Giveprioritytotheimportantwebpages.Checkwhichonesareperformingthebestintermsofsearchorganicgrowth,andanalyzewhicheffortsbringthebestSEOresults. Payattentiontohowmuchtimevisitorsspendonyourwebsite(averagepageviewdurationmetric).Ifthismetricistoolow,checkyourcontentrelevancyandwebsitestructure.(KeepinmindthatthedataforGoogleSearchConsoleInsightsisdifferentfromthatofGoogleAnalytics.GSCIcombinesdatasuchaspageviewsandaveragetimeonpagefromGoogleAnalyticswithSearchmetricssuchasclicksandaverageposition.Basically,onerepresentstheactivityhappeningonGoogle'ssearchbar,andtheotherwhathappensonyourwebpage.) *** Ultimately,it'syouraudiencethatdecideswhetheryourcontentandwebsitestrategywork.GoogleSearchConsoleInsightshelpsyouunderstandwhatyouraudiencelikesanddoesn'tlikeonyourwebsite.It'sagreattoolformarketingbeginnersandexpertsalike. GSCIcanhelpyouimproveyourcontentstrategy,increaseyourvisibilityinGoogle'ssearchengine,andgrowyouraudience. MoreResourcesonSEOStrategy TheArtofBeingFound:SEOfor(Non-Techie)Marketers|MarketingProfsMasterClass EightSEOStrategiestoConsiderfor2022[Infographic] OneTiptoImproveOn-PageSEO:UseMoreMini-Infographics(AGuide) Continuereading"HowtoUseGoogleSearchConsoleInsightsforYourSEOStrategy"... Readthefullarticle Subscribetoday...it'sfree!MarketingProfsprovidesthousandsofmarketingresources,entirelyfree!Simplysubscribetoournewsletterandgetinstantaccesstohow-toarticles,guides,webinarsandmorefornada,nothing,zip,zilch,onthehouse...deliveredrighttoyourinbox!MarketingProfsisthelargestmarketingcommunityintheworld,andweareheretohelpyoubeabettermarketer. WorkEmailAddress CONTINUE Alreadyamember?Signinnow. Signinwithyourpreferredaccount,below. ABOUTTHEAUTHORIrinaWeberisafreelancewriterandcontentstrategist. Twitter:@irinaweber048 SearchArticlesYoumayliketheseotherMarketingProfsarticlesrelatedtoSearch: FiveWaystoGetKeywordIdeasforYourWebsite:ABeginner'sGuide AMarketer'sGuidetoSEOin2022:FrancoValentinoonMarketingSmarts[Podcast] HowManyWordsDoPeopleUseWhenSearchingOnline? ThreeSEOTrendsMarketersNeedtoKnowin2022 10ImportantGoogleSearchAlgorithmUpdatesFrom2021[Infographic] Marketers'TopSEOPrioritiesin2022 We'rebaaackk!Joinusin-personthisOctoberatB2BForum:Boston! × Signintostartlearning. EmailAddress Password Keepmesignedin Forgotyourpassword? SIGNIN Cancel Notyetaregistereduser?Signupnow. Signinwithyourpreferredaccount,below. × WHOA!Holdonaminute,friend. Don'tmissoutonthelatestmarketingtipsandtechniques,deliveredrighttoyourinbox.Subscribetoday...it'sfree! WorkEmailAddress CONTINUE Alreadyaregistereduser?Signinnow. Signinwithyourpreferredaccount,below.