Optimize With Analytics

data

Gathering Data From Google Search Console

By Giselle Aguiar

he Google Search Console, part of Google Analytics, gives you valuable data on your website’s ranking in the search results pages (SERPs). SERPs are where searchers see the results of their queries. Google strives to provide the freshest, most accurate, helpful, and relevant content that matches the searcher’s request. Here’s what you need to look for in the Google Search Console.

However, you must first have Google Analytics set up on your website before you can retrieve any data. Google Analytics is free to use and easy to add to your website no matter what platform it’s on. If you have a WordPress website, I recommend two free plugins: Google Site Kit and Yoast SEO. If you need help setting these up, I can show you how to do this in a one-on-one training session. Understand that it is crucial that you have Google Analytics and that you check it monthly.

Top Google Search Console Metrics

Organic Impressions – This tells you how often you came up in organic (non-paid) searches. You can improve this by doing keyword research and blogging consistently.

Organic Clicks – This shows how many searchers clicked on the link to visit your website. It’s not enough to get your content in front of a searcher; you need to entice them enough for them to click through to your website.

Click-Through Rate (CTR) – This is the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions, shown as a percentage. What should you aim for? See the chart in this article.

Organic Average Position – This shows where you came up in Google Search. The smaller the number, the higher your page ranked. Your goal in creating content is to rank in the top 10 slots.

Top Performing Pages – This lists your top-ranking pages and blog posts on your website. Note the topics and write more about them, focusing on the keyword phrases.

Example Search Console Report

This is a report I pulled for a client, Ripple Training. They offer tutorials for video editing software Final Cut Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Motion. Therefore, they want to rank for the software name and “tutorials,” “course,” or “training.” I started in their Google Search Console but wanted to sort their results in Google Sheets to analyze them better.

See Google Search Console Data.

Google Search Console Data

Deciphering The Report

Naturally, if someone knows the name of your company and Googles that, you should come up first and have a high click-through rate (as shown by the highlighted row). But look at the top one: “DaVinci Resolve training” had 1,758 impressions but only 15 clicks! That means they lost 1,743 potential customers! Plus, their position was No. 5! Who doesn’t want to be in the top five?

The problem was in their meta descriptions. The page for “DaVinci Resolve training” didn’t have one, so Google pulled the first paragraph on the page. It didn’t say anything that would tell an interested searcher that they had “DaVinci Resolve training.” It’s the same thing for some of the other search queries.

Given that, my job was to compose meta descriptions and page text based on keyword research to improve their click-through rates. Hopefully, with the improvements, their business will skyrocket.

Additionally, if I take these top keywords and phrases and use them as a basis for keyword research, the Google Keyword Research Tool will give me more relevant keywords. That list would give the client ideas on what to write about. There is nothing like writing about what people are searching for!

Average Organic Click-Through Rates

The chart from CXL is a guide to what click-through rate (CTR) you should strive for depending on your industry.

See Click-through rates by industry CXL.

Click-through rates by industry CXL

Evidently, my client needs to shoot for a solid 6 percent click-through rate for educational sites. Note that most of these industries are highly competitive, which means you need to research your competition and see who’s ranking above you in the SERPs.

Using this data, you can improve not just your click-through rate but also your conversion rate. You can’t get people to convert if they don’t first click through to your website! Ultimately, the role of the website is to convert a visitor into a lead or a sale.

Where does the self-storage industry fall? I’d put it in “Industrial & Commercial” (5.61 percent) and/or “B2B” (5.17 percent). I’d work towards a 5 percent CTR. You may think “Real Estate,” but more than likely, residential RE is in the bulk of that 8-plus percent CTR.

Other Valuable Insights

A new feature from the WordPress Google Site Kit plugin is “groups.” It analyzes your visitors. Why? This revelation came up under my results: “The higher the portion of new visitors you have, the more your audience is growing. Looking at what content brings them to your site may give you insights on how to reach even more people.” -Google Site Kit Plugin

See Google Site Kit analysis.

Google Site Kit analysis of AZSocialMediaWiz.com

In the last 28 days, the new visitor count was significantly higher than the returning visitor count. That data tells me a lot.

Top Performing Pages

Then there’s the Most Popular Pages Report. Getting a quick view in the Google Site Plugin saves time. If you want to dig deeper, go to the Search Console itself.

See Google Search Console Pages.

Google Search Console Pages

What this tells me is that I need to do a new video on how to market on X (formerly Twitter) as well as Facebook. I imagine that this increase in interest in these two networks is due to recent political news. This goes to show that what’s going on in the world or your neighborhood, no matter how unrelated you think it is, can affect your website’s SERP performance.

Title And Meta Tags

Coming up in the search results is one thing. Getting people to click over to your website is another. Here’s where the title and meta tags come in. Search engine optimization’s (SEO’s) job is to get your website to show in the SERP when a human searcher is looking for what you have to offer. The title and meta tag’s job is to entice them to click on the link so they visit your website.

Why are they important? You want sales or to generate leads. Those are conversions. The website’s job is to convert a visitor into a sale or a lead. You can’t have conversions if you don’t have visitors! Furthermore, you can’t have visitors if the potential customer doesn’t click through to your website. You can’t lose them at the SERP. They’ll go to a competitor!

What Is A Title Tag?

It is where you write the title of a webpage or blog article. It appears in the tab and at the very top of the browser and shows at the top of the page. It’s also the first thing that the search engine sees when it’s crawling your site, as well as the first thing a human searcher sees when they’re looking for what you have to offer. By the way, “Home” is not the name of your business!

See Title Blog Post.

Title Blog Post

“The higher the portion of new visitors you have, the more your audience is growing. Looking at what content brings them to your site may give you insights on how to reach even more people.”

—Google Site Kit Plugin

What Is A Meta Tag?

The meta tag is a short, two- to three-sentence description of the content of the page or blog post. The search engine uses this to determine how relevant it is to the search phrase entered and the human searcher uses it to decide whether the website contains what he or she is looking for.

See Yoast SEO Google Preview Title Meta Tags.

Yoast SEO Google Preview Title Meta Tag

Notice that the featured image also comes up, which helps catch the searcher’s eye. Keep in mind that red, yellow, and orange are more eye-catching colors. If you have a WordPress website, the free SEO by Yoast plugin guides you in creating the most optimized title and meta tags. As you can see, the title is also your headline.

Giselle Aguiar, founder of AZ Social Media Wiz in 2011, is a social media content and digital marketing consultant and trainer. She’s been involved in internet marketing since 1995. Today, she specializes in strategic and tactical planning, social media setups, 1:1 digital marketing training and coaching, SEO copywriting, and WordPress websites. She is a trainer and mentor for the Arizona Commerce Authority as a founding mentor of its Digital Academy. Visit her website, AZSocialMediaWiz.com, for more information.

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