What is Google Search Console Insights? | A New Tool for SEO

Search Console Insights is an alternative, enhanced method to view your site's organic data. The platform is specifically tailored for content creators and ... You'rereading: WhatisGoogleSearchConsoleInsights?ANewToolforSEO WhatisGoogleSearchConsoleInsights?ANewToolforSEO AsifSearchConsolewasn’talreadyawesomeenough,GooglehasanotherwaytoimproveyourSEOandcontentmarketing. It’scalledGoogleSearchConsoleInsights. Anditwillhelpyoubetterunderstandhowpeoplediscoveryoursite’scontentandwhatresonatesmostwiththem. Todaywe’regoingtoshareeverythingyouneedtoknow(andwhyyouneedtoknowit)abouttheGoogleInsightstool.Here’swhatwe’llcover: WhatisSearchConsoleInsights?HowtoAccessSearchConsoleInsightsSearchConsoleInsightsWalkthroughIsitBetterthanGoogleAnalyticsandSearchConsole?HowSearchConsoleInsightsBenefitsSEOandContentMarketing GSCInsightsisdesignedtoupgradeyourorganicanalytics.Whichisgreatnewsfordigitalmarketers.Becauseifthere’sonethingdigitalmarketersloveit’ssweet,bountifuldata. WhatisSearchConsoleInsights? SearchConsoleInsightsisanalternative,enhancedmethodtoviewyoursite’sorganicdata.Theplatformisspecificallytailoredforcontentcreatorsandpublishers. GoogledescribesSearchConsoleInsightsas“awaytoprovidecontentcreatorswiththedatatheyneedtomakeinformeddecisionsandimprovetheircontent.” Morespecifically,InsightspullsdatafrombothSearchConsoleandGoogleAnalyticsintoasinglereport.Thissnapshotdisplaystrends,performanceanduseractivityasitrelatestoyourpages. Here’salookattheinterface: TheInsightsinterfacemakesiteasiertogetpertinentinformationabouttheperformanceandtrendsofthosepieces.Consideramoreuser-friendlyversionofdatayouwouldotherwisehavetocompileandgraphyourselffromAnalyticsandregularGSCtoview. Thegoalbeingforyoutospendlesstimedecipheringnumbersandmoretimekillingitinorganicsearch. HowtoaccessSearchConsoleInsights GettingstartedwithGoogleSearchConsoleInsightsisreallyeasy.Thereareseveralwaystosetitup. VisitthispageSelectSearchConsoleInsightsfromthetopofyourSearchConsoleoverviewscreenIntheiOSGoogleApp,selectSearchConsoleInsightsintheaccountmenu BelowisshownwhereyouaccessInsightswithinGoogleSearchConsole.WhicheverpropertyyouhaveshowingintherightsidebaristheoneInsightswillreporton. Here’swhereyouaccessInsightsontheiOSGoogleApp.Togettotheaccountmenudropdowntapyourcircularprofilepicture. Fromthereyou’llbebroughttotheGoogleInsightsoverviewscreen. It’spossibleyourInsightswon’tshowallthedataitcould.Ifthat’sthecase,atthebottomofyouroverviewscreenyou’llseethismessage: ThereasonforthismissingdatamessageismostlikelybecauseyouhavenotlinkedyourGoogleSearchConsolepropertywithyourGoogleAnalyticsproperty.(Ifyoudon’tuseGoogleAnalytics,youcanstillaccessInsights.However,yourdatastreamwillbelimited.) TogetthefullexperiencefromGoogleInsights,youneedtoassociate(akalink)yourtwoaccounts. Tocreateanassociationyouneedto: VisitGoogleSearchConsole’sAssociationsettingspageHitthe“Associate”buttonSelecttherelevantGoogleAnalyticsproperty Forexample: Remembertohavethecorrectpropertysetinthesidebar. Ifyouareunabletohitthe“Associate”button,ordon’tseetherightGoogleAnalyticsaccountafterdoingso,mostlikelyyoudon’thavepermissiontoaccessthatGAaccount. Onceyou’vesuccessfullysetupanassociation,yourGoogleAnalyticsaccountshouldbelistedunder“AssociatedServices.”Likethis: Asofwriting,SearchConsoleInsightsonlysupportsGoogleAnalyticsaccountssetupasUniversalAnalyticsproperties(whoseIDstartswith“UA-”).SoifyouareusingGoogleAnalytics4thatmayalsobeareasonyou’renotseeingallthedata. Butevenifyoudon’tuseGoogleAnalytics,youcanstilluseSearchConsoleInsights.Butthere’sahugedifferencebetweenfullaccessandlimitedaccessonInsights. Here’sthedatayougetwithoutsettingupanassociatedlinkontheleft(1),andthedatayougetafteryousetuptheassociation(2): WhatdoesSearchConsoleInsightsprovide? GoogleSearchConsoleInsightsseekstohelpyouanswerthefollowingquestions: Whatareyourbestperformingpiecesofcontent,andwhichonesaretrending?Howdopeoplediscoveryourcontentacrosstheweb?WhatdopeoplesearchforonGooglebeforetheyvisityourcontent?Whicharticlerefersuserstoyourwebsiteandcontent? Tofindtheanswerstothosequestions,Insightsorganizesdataintotwocategories: SiteOverviewHowPeopleFindYou Let’swalkthrougheachofthesectionsfoundinthosecategories. SearchConsoleInsightswalkthrough TheSearchConsoleInsightsdashboardisveryuser-friendly.Itpresentsdatainastraightforward,easytounderstandmannerthatletsyoufindkeydatawithoutspendingtimefilteringforitorhavingtohaveanadvanceddegreeinSEOanalytics.Themaindashboardshowsdatarelatedtoyourentiresite.Fordataspecifictoeachpageyoucanselectanyofthepagesthatappearinthe“RecentContent”and“MostPopularContent”sections. HereareeachofthesectionsprovidedbySearchConsoleInsights: PageViews Thereportstartswithan“Overview”ofyoursite,highlightinghighperformingpages. Thefirstsectiongraphsyourpage’sviewsoverthepast28days,andshowstheaveragetimespentonpageoverthattimeperiod. Thepercentagesundereachtotalhighlightthechangeinfigurefromthefirstdaycomparedtothelast.Byselectinganypointonthegraphyoucanseethepageviewcountforaspecificdate. NewContent Thenextsectionshowscontentyou’vecreatedwithinthelast28days. Ifyouhaven’tpublishedanynewpagesorcontentwithinthattime,thissectionwillbeblank. MostPopularContent Thefinalsectioninthe“Overview”categoryshowsyoursite’smostpopularcontent. Hereyou’llfindthe15mostpopularpagesonyoursiteoverthepast28days.Thesearerankedinorderbypageviews(shownnexttotheeyeicon). Thissectionalsodisplaysaveragetimespentoneachpage,aswellasapreviewofthetopsearchqueriesdrivingpeopletothatpagefromtheGooglesearchengineresultspage(SERP). Ifyouselectanitem,you’llbebroughttoanewscreenprovidingdetailedinsightsspecifictothatpagerelatedtothesectionsfoundin“HowPeopleFindYou.” TopTrafficChannels Afterthe“Overview”categorycomesthe“HowPeopleFindYou”category.Itsfirstsectionchartsyoursite’stoptrafficchannels. Therearethreepossiblechannelsprovided: OrganicSearch–trafficfromanysearchenginelikeGoogleorBingDirect–trafficfromlinkclicksotherthanthosefoundonsearchengines,socialmediaorothersites.Thiscouldincludebrowserbookmarksorlinkssenttosomeoneinemail.Referral–trafficfrompeopleclickinglinksfoundonotherwebsites TopTrafficChannels Thenextsectionshowcasesthetop50searchqueries(akakeywords)drivingpeopletoyoursitefromGoogle’ssearchengine.TheyarerankedinorderbythenumberoftimestheywereclickedoninaGoogleSERP. Undereachquery,thatterm’saveragerankpositionisprovided. Bydefaultthislistshowsthe“MostSearchedQueries.”Ifyoutogglethedropdown,youcanswitchtothe“MostTrendingQueries.”Thislistshowswhichsearchqueriesgrewthemostbyclicksinthecurrentvsprevious28days. LinkReferrals Hereweseeabreakdownoflinkreferralstoyoursite.Thedefaultlistshowsthe“TopReferringLinks”fromothersitestoyours,includinghowmanypageviewsthelinkgeneratedandwhichpageitlinkedto. Byselectingthedropdownyoucanswitchtoalistofthe“NewestReferringLinks”overthelast28days. SocialMedia ThefinalsectionoftheInsightsreportdetailshowpeoplegettooursitefromsocialmedia.Specifically,itranksthesocialmediaplatformsaccordingtothepageviewstheygenerated. Ifatanytimeyouneedhelpdecipheringwhatanyofthedatafromthesesectionsmeanorhowyoucanuseittoimproveperformance,justtapthegraduationcapintheupperrighthandcornerofeachsection. AsofwritingthesewereallthesectionsprovidedbyGoogleSearchConsoleInsights.However,don’tbesurprisedifthisdashboardgrowsandtheyaddmoredataastimegoesby. SearchConsoleInsightsvsGoogleAnalyticsvsSearchConsole SearchConsoleInsightisauser-friendlyextensionofGoogle’sotherorganicanalyticstools,compilingaspecificdatasetfromthem. Inbrief,here’swhateachtooloffers: GoogleAnalytics–tracksyourwebsite,content,socialmediaandappactivityatagranularlevel,aswellasmeasuresadvertisingROIGoogleSearchConsole–measuresorganictraffic,identifiesperformanceissues,andhelpsimproveSEOGoogleSearchConsoleInsights–identifieshowpeoplediscoveryourcontentandyoursite’stopperformingcontent GoogleAnalyticsandregularSearchConsoleprovidealotmorevaluabledatathanInsights.SobynomeansshouldyoutreatSearchConsoleInsightsasreplacementforeitherofthose.Norshouldyourelyonitasyoursolemeansoforganicanalytics. WhereInsightsshinesisitssimplicityandspecificity. GoogleInsightsisbestusedbypublishersandcontentcreators(likebloggers)toidentifywhatresonatesmostwiththeiraudienceandhowthataudienceisengagingwiththeircontent.Itisatooltoupdateandcrafthigherperformingcontentthatgenerateslargervolumesoftraffictoyoursite. Butcontentcreatorsaren’ttheonlyonesthatcanbenefitfromthisdata. HowSearchConsoleInsightsbenefitsSEOandcontentmarketing Thedigitalspaceisfilledwithopportunities.Toomanyopportunities.Chasingaftereveryopportunitythattrendsyourwaycaneasilyspinyourbusiness(andbudget)outofcontrol.Nottomentionspreadyourresourcesthin. Oneofthebiggestchallengesdigitalmarketersfaceisnarrowingdownthescopeoftheireffortstothemosteffectivestrategiesandcontent.Identifyingthiscontentisn’talwayseasy.Fortunately,SearchConsoleInsightsprovidessomemajorhelp. Oneofitsbestfeaturesishighlightinghighperformingpages. HereGoogleistellingusthatpeoplespendmuchmoretimeonthisblogpostthantheydoonothers.That’sanotherwayofsayingithasalowbouncerate. Thisholdsupwhenwecomparethefigures. Thisposthasanaveragepagedurationofover6minutes.Thesiteaverageis1minute30seconds.Comparatively,thispageisdoingsomethingrightthatwewanttoemulate.Theconclusionhereisthatweshouldcreatemorecontentlikethispost. Overall,thisisaveryquickandeasywayforbothacontentcreatorandSEOmanagertoidentifynewwaystodrivehighertraffictothesite. Infact,everysectionoftheSearchConsoleInsightsreportofferssimilarbenefits.Hereareafewexamples: NewContentandPopular–findoutwhichpiecesareperformingwellandwhicharen’tsoyoucandoubledownwithsimilarcontenttohighperformersandshiftawayfrompoorperformingtopics LinkReferrals–identifyothersitesgeneratinghighvolumesofpageviewsforyoursite.Theyareidealtargetsforbacklinking.Reachouttothemandshareadditionallinkingopportunities.SocialMedia–identifywhichsocialmediaplatformsaregeneratingthehighestvolumeofpageviews.Adjustyourstrategytocreatemoreorganiccontentfortopperformersandlessforlowperformers. Keywording.Backlinking.ContentCreation. ThesearefundamentalcomponentsofSEOandcontentmarketing. WithGoogleSearchConsoleInsightsyoucangatherinsightfuldataaboutyouraudiencetomakemoreinformeddecisionsaboutyourdigitalmarketingstrategies. What’snottolove? ShareBlog: Email Getnotifiedformoreblogslikethis. PreviousArticle ConstructionHeavyEquipmentMarketing&Advertising NextArticle B2BPPCAdvertising–BestStrategiesforLeadGeneration