What the numbers in your Google Search Console report email actually tell you
If you're running a small business or nonprofit, you've likely heard about Google Search Console (GSC). But do you know how to make the most of it? For many, the monthly GSC report email is a mystery, full of charts, graphs, and numbers that may seem overwhelming at first glance.
Instead of glancing at it and deleting it, or saving it to review later (only to forget and still not understand why it matters), let's decode this report and show how it can be a valuable tool in your marketing toolbox.
What is Google Search Console?
Before diving into the report, let's take a quick look at what Google Search Console is. Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site's presence in Google Search results. It's like having a backstage pass to see how Google views your website.
Unlike Google Analytics, which focuses on how users interact with your website, GSC focuses on how your website interacts with Google Search. It's a treasure trove of insights that can help you improve your site's SEO (Search Engine Optimization), fix technical issues, and ultimately drive more traffic to your website.
Not getting these emails or haven't signed up for Google Search Console? This help article from Google will walk you through getting your site verified in just a few steps!
Why Should You Care About Google Search Console?
Understanding and using GSC is crucial for anyone hoping their website will perform, aka convert a visitor to a customer or donor, email subscriber, or frequent visitor.
Here's why:
See how your site is performing in Google search: GSC shows you the keywords driving traffic to your site, the average position of your pages in search results, and the number of clicks and impressions each page gets. This data is invaluable for understanding what's working and what's not.
Identify and fix errors: Sometimes things go wrong behind the scenes, like broken links, mobile usability issues, or indexing errors. GSC alerts you to these problems so you can fix them before they impact your site's performance.
Improve your SEO: With insights from GSC, you can fine-tune your SEO strategy. You may need to target new keywords, improve your site speed, or make your content more mobile-friendly. GSC gives you the data you need to make informed decisions.
What's inside the Google Search Console report email?
Now that you know why GSC is important, let's break down the monthly report email you receive. Each month, Google sends a summary of your website's performance in search results.
This is a quick note to emphasize that there are two sets of data associated with this email you receive. There's the data that shows within the email itself, and then there's the additional data revealed when you click the link at the top of the email. We'll break down both parts for you.
Inside the Google Search Console email
Under the headline "Your [Month] performance on Google Search
An example from my own site, One Nine Design
You'll first see your website address. This URL is essential because if you manage multiple websites, you'll want to ensure you're looking at data from the correct website.
Next, you'll see three pieces of information:
Clicks (web)
Impressions (web)
Pages with first impressions (estimated)
This section is a quick snapshot of your website's overall performance. Here's what each term means:
Clicks: The number of times someone clicked on your website from a Google Search result.
Impressions: The number of times your website appeared in a Google Search result.
Pages with first impressions are the website pages that the user saw in search results for the first time last month.
How to use this information in your marketing strategy:
Understanding how many clicks your website gets versus the number of impressions is an important piece of data. If there is a considerable disparity between the two numbers, this can be a sign that your page titles and/or page descriptions need some work. How your website appears in search results can be the difference between someone clicking to learn more about you and scrolling right by (impression but not click) looking for a site they feel better fits their search criteria. I like to pop all this information into a Google Sheet and track it month by month, noticing where things are improving and where I might need to do some additional work.
Check your website platform's settings to ensure you've written your page titles and page descriptions in the most optimized way. And yes, there's a slight chance that despite what you put in those fields inside your website platform, Google will instead grab your page headline or first block of paragraph text and use that instead. Experiment to see what shows up and how you can optimize both to get the clicks you want!
Oh, and a quick note on pages with first impressions: This can be a great reminder that you can never market too much! There are still people who have never seen your website listed on Google Search results before, and each one is an opportunity to introduce yourself and make a case for why your product or service is the best fit for their needs.
Your content achievements
Inside your email, you'll find the top-growing pages compared to the previous month. Typically, there are three pages listed in this section, and the number that follows will indicate the growth from the previous month.
This Google Search Console data is perfect for focusing on updating your content, ensuring these pages are updated with the most recent information and optimized for conversion. If you need help updating your website, let this section be your monthly reminder to log in and update your content, starting with your top three growing pages.
Directly under the top-growing pages are the top-performing pages. This short summary (typically three are listed) will show you the three pages of your website that got the most traffic via clicks. Are your top-performing pages aligned with your business goals? If a page gets many impressions but few clicks, consider optimizing the page title and meta description to make it more compelling.
How do people find you?
This section lists the top search queries that led users to your site. It's a great way to see which keywords are driving traffic and which might need more attention. Are the queries relevant to your business or content? If not, you may need to refine your keywords. If you see keywords you weren't targeting but are pertinent to your business, consider creating more content around those topics.
Again, this section is divided into the top-growing queries versus last month and the top-performing queries.
Learn about your audience
In this learn about your audience section, the GSC report will summarize the devices people are using to access your website, the top countries from which visitors originated, and the Google search type.
Devices: Are more people viewing your website on mobile versus desktop and tablet? If so, that's not uncommon. As you review these numbers, remember that it's your job to provide your mobile viewers with an excellent user experience. This requires previewing your site on a mobile device (before you publish new content) and ensuring that it's easy to navigate, buttons are easy to click and have enough spacing between them and other content, and graphics are scaled appropriately.
Countries: It's easy for US-based businesses and nonprofits to forget that their website is global. Is your content reader-friendly for all languages? Is your messaging potentially alienating viewers from outside the US? If so, take some time to look at your website from this perspective and see what changes you can make to ensure it's inclusive for everyone.
Google search type: When most people think of ensuring their website ranks in a Google search, they mainly focus on pages and text-based content. However, image and video searches are growing in popularity. In fact, sites that use images to rank on Google find it a significant competitive advantage.
If you don't see any clicks from images or videos on your report, consider what type of visual content you can add to your website that might help you increase your visibility on Google. My business friend Sarah Moon has an excellent article on this – Do images matter for SEO?
Search Console Insights - reading the full report
Now, we've come to the end of the email summary. Before you delete that email, though, there is a link at the top of the email that says, "Click to try Search Console Insights." When I click this link, it's still showing as Beta, but that's okay – more data is great! Let's look at what this page can tell us about our website's performance:
Total Views and Achievements
At the very top of the page, you'll see a number that displays the total views your website has had since you started using GSC. For One Nine Design, I started using GSC in 2022 (very late to the game since I had previously been focused on only using Google Analytics). But you can see here, I've had 221,000 website views since then.
When I click on Achievements, I see some milestone information that is fun to look at but not super helpful for me since clicks are not my goal (I am 100% focused on conversions.)
Site Overview
Next, you'll see some more in-depth information than what we saw in the email summary. This section will focus on the previous 28 days.
The bar graph will show you website views (website traffic) and the average engagement time, giving you a clue into the user's page experience. We know that the longer a person spends on your website, the higher the chance they will take some sort of action—reading a post, subscribing to your email newsletter, making a purchase or donation, etc. So, keeping your content fresh and engaging is a good way to work on increasing your "time on site" numbers.
Your new content
Next, you'll see a summary of new content you've published, again, in the past 28 days. It will also show you how many views that content has and the average length of time it was viewed. If your new content section is empty, it's time to blog! Not sure about blogging? I have a few resources for additional reading on the topic and my website design clients are seeing great results from publishing new content monthly!
Blogging Basics: How To Create Consistent Content For Your Blog
Your most popular content
Similar to the email summary, this is a more in-depth view of your most popular content. This time, you'll see the full page title, which queries drove traffic to the page, how many views it has, and how long people spent viewing it.
Again, review these pages monthly to ensure the information is updated and optimized to keep visitors on the site or motivated to take action!
How people find you
The email summary does not cover your top traffic channels, so this is a great way to see that data without diving into Google Analytics. You'll see a visual representation of organic search, direct, and referral channels.
Below that section, you'll see more in-depth data on the most searched queries that led people to your website, along with the average position in results and if it landed in the top five.
Directly below your queries, you'll see a breakdown of any referring websites - other websites that have your website linked from theirs. Referring links are often overlooked but are a good way to build your traffic.
How to use your Google Search Console Insights to reach your ideal audience
So, now that you know what's in the email summary and full report, how can you use this information to improve your website and marketing efforts?
Start with awareness: So many come to me and say, "I need a new website," but when I ask them what's not working with the current one, they aren't sure what to say. Unless you're looking at your website data monthly, you likely have no idea if your website is working or how it could work better. So, stop deleting these emails, start reviewing them with a new perspective, and track the data monthly as you make site improvements.
Adjust your SEO strategy: Use the data to refine your SEO strategy. Focus on keywords that are driving traffic and improve pages that are underperforming. If specific queries that are not related to your core offerings (which I struggle with) keep popping up), it's time to rethink your website content. Invest in a website audit with someone who offers SEO services to uncover which keywords drive your traffic and how you can expand on them to create content that aligns better with your business goals. This strategy will help you attract the right audience and improve your search rankings over time.
Create more relevant content: If you see keywords or pages that are performing well, consider creating more content around those topics. Fresh, timely content can help attract more visitors who are interested in what you have to offer. Remember, creating content isn't only limited to blogging on your website. Keeping your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) updated with your products, services, and latest blog excerpts can help, too!
Monitor mobile usability: Make sure you optimize your website for mobile users. With more people accessing the web on their phones, a mobile-friendly site is essential.
Final Thoughts
Google Search Console is a powerful tool that can provide you with insights to boost your online presence. By understanding your GSC report email, you can make data-driven decisions to improve your website's performance and, ultimately, your organization.
So, don't let that monthly email sit in your inbox! Take a few minutes to dive in, and you might be surprised by what you discover. Remember, stay informed and proactive with your website's performance is key to growing your small business or nonprofit. Happy analyzing!