Quick answer: The Search Analytics report in Google Search Console shows the searches your site appeared for, how often it was shown, how often people clicked, your click through rate and your average position. Use it to find queries where you already rank on page one or two but get few clicks, then improve the matching page’s title, description and content. Group the data by page as well as by query, compare date ranges, and check it every few weeks rather than once a year.
Google Analytics tells you what visitors do after they arrive. It no longer tells you much about which searches brought them, because most organic keywords show up as “(not provided)”. The Search Analytics report fills that gap. It comes straight from Google’s own search data, it is free, and it is the closest thing you have to a list of the queries that matter for your site.
If you have not set up Search Console yet, start with our Google Search Console guide, then come back here.
Where to find the report
Sign in to Search Console, choose your site, then open Search Traffic and select Search Analytics. The report replaced the older Search Queries report in 2015 and is more flexible: you can filter, group and compare in ways the old report did not allow.
Make sure you are looking at the right property. Google treats http://, https://, www and non-www versions as separate sites. If you have moved to HTTPS, add and verify the HTTPS version, or you will be reading old data from a version of the site that no longer gets traffic.
The four metrics
At the top of the report you will see four tick boxes. Tick all of them.
Clicks
How many times someone clicked through to your site from Google search results. This is the number that most closely matches real visits, although it will not line up exactly with Analytics because the two tools count differently.
Impressions
How many times a link to your site appeared in results that a person saw. An impression is counted when your result is on the page that loaded, even if the user did not scroll down to it.
CTR
Click through rate, which is clicks divided by impressions. It tells you how attractive your listing is for that query, given where it appears.
Position
The average position of your highest result for that query. Position 1 is the top organic result. Treat this as a rough guide: it is an average across many searches in different locations and devices, so a figure of 8.4 might mean you were 3rd for some people and 15th for others.
Grouping the data
Below the metrics is a row of options that control how the data is grouped. Only one can be the main grouping at a time, but you can add filters on the others.
- Queries: the search terms people used.
- Pages: the URLs on your site that appeared.
- Countries: where searchers were.
- Devices: desktop, mobile or tablet.
- Search type: web, image or video search.
- Dates: a day by day view.
The two you will use most are Queries and Pages. Start with Queries to see what people are searching for, then switch to Pages to see which content earns the most attention.
Five ways to find quick wins
1. High impressions, low CTR
Sort by impressions, then look for queries with a CTR well below the others at a similar position. These are searches where you are being seen but not chosen. The usual fixes:
- Rewrite the page title so it matches the words people use and gives a reason to click.
- Write a meta description that answers the query or promises something specific.
- Check whether Google is showing the page you expected. If not, the wrong page may be competing.
Low CTR is not always your fault. If the results page has ads, a map pack or an answer box above you, fewer people will scroll down. Compare like with like.
2. Positions 8 to 20
Filter or sort to find queries where your average position sits between about 8 and 20. You are on the edge of page one or near the top of page two. Pages in this range often need modest work to move up:
- Expand the content so it answers the question more fully.
- Add internal links from related pages using sensible anchor text.
- Improve the page’s speed and mobile layout.
- Earn a few relevant links, which our link building guide covers.
3. Queries you did not plan for
You will almost certainly find searches you never targeted. Some will be irrelevant. Others reveal questions your customers have. If a query has real impressions and you only rank because of a passing mention, a dedicated page or section can do much better.
4. Pages that rank for too many unrelated terms
Switch to Pages, click a URL, then switch back to Queries. You now see every search that page appeared for. If a single page ranks for a wide spread of loosely related queries, it may be trying to do too much. Splitting it into focused pages can help each one rank for its own topic.
5. Mobile versus desktop gaps
Use the Devices option with Compare to see whether mobile performance differs from desktop. A page that holds position on desktop but drops on mobile may have mobile usability problems. Since Google’s mobile friendly update last April, this matters more than it used to.
Using comparisons
The Dates option lets you compare two periods. Useful comparisons include:
- Last 28 days against the previous 28 days to see short term trends.
- Before and after a change, such as a title rewrite or a site move.
- The same period last year, if you have the data, for seasonal businesses.
Be aware of the limits. The report keeps about 90 days of data, so if you want a longer history you need to export it regularly. Download a CSV every month and keep it in a shared folder or spreadsheet. It takes a minute and means you can look back over a full year later.
Filtering by query text
You can filter queries that contain, or do not contain, a word. Two filters are especially handy:
- Exclude your brand name. Branded searches usually have a high CTR and good positions, which can hide how the rest of the site is doing. Filtering them out shows your true non-branded performance.
- Include a product or service word. For example, filter for “repair” to see every repair related search in one view.
Common mistakes
Reading position as a fixed rank
Average position blends many searches. A rise from 12 to 9 is encouraging, but do not report it as “we are now 9th”. Look at the trend, not a single figure.
Expecting Analytics and Search Console to match
Clicks in Search Console will not equal organic sessions in Google Analytics. Analytics depends on its tracking code loading and on cookies, while Search Console counts clicks on Google’s side. Use each tool for what it does well. If you have not connected them yet, our guide to linking Search Console to Google Analytics shows how.
Ignoring low volume queries
Small sites may see only a handful of impressions for each query. Individually they look meaningless. Grouped by page or by topic, they show what Google thinks your site is about.
Changing too much at once
If you rewrite ten titles, restructure your menu and launch new content in the same week, you will not know which change helped. Make changes in small batches and note the date of each one.
A simple monthly routine
- Export queries and pages for the last 28 days.
- List the top ten queries by impressions with CTR below what you would expect for their position.
- Rewrite titles and descriptions for the pages involved.
- List queries in positions 8 to 20 and pick two pages to improve.
- Note any new queries worth a dedicated page.
- Record what you changed and when.
After a few months you will have a record of what worked, and a clear list of next steps.
FAQ
Why does the report show fewer queries than I expected?
Google hides some very rare queries to protect searchers’ privacy, and the report only lists a limited number of rows in the interface. Totals at the top still include traffic from hidden queries.
How long until changes show up?
Data usually appears within a few days. Ranking changes after content edits can take anything from days to several weeks, depending on how often Google crawls the page.
Does the report include image searches?
Only if you select Image under Search type. Web search is shown by default.
Want help turning search data into a plan?
We use Search Console data to decide which pages to improve first and which content to create next. See how we help businesses get found by the people already searching for them.
