For years Google Search Console (GSC) has offered valuable insights into how a website performs in search results, making it an essential tool for improving organic reach. By analyzing search data, identifying keyword gaps, and understanding user intent, you can tailor your content strategy to meet audience needs more effectively.
Here are some powerful ways to use Google Search Console to guide existing page optimizations and uncover new page opportunities.
Using Search Results Performance Reports for Keyword Research
Utilizing the Search Results report within GSC provides access to how users are finding your site through search queries. With deeper knowledge of this, you’re able to continuously refine your keyword strategy, leading to better visibility and targeted traffic.
Examples of this include:
- Identifying Top-Performing Queries
- Optimizing for Lower-Performing Queries with Potential
- Finding Keyword Gaps and Opportunities
Leveraging the insights gained from queries in GSC can lead to a more strategic approach to content creation guided by SEO.
Improving On-Page SEO for Existing Pages
Once you’ve identified high-impact queries and those that hold a lot of weight for your site, you can apply these insights to improve specific pages that drive qualified traffic.
For example, we used Google Search Console to help this organization identify pages that were already receiving visibility for their service offering but had the potential to increase their click-through-rate. This was based on queries that showed a high number of impressions, but low overall clicks.
Utilizing data from Google Search Console and conducting thorough keyword research allowed us to collaborate with the organization to update page title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags. This led to an increase in organic impressions, which serves as an early indication of success that can result in more qualified clicks and potential conversions.
Increase in Non-Brand Organic Impressions YoY
Identifying Opportunities for New Content Creation
Outside of enhancing the content of current pages, Google Search Console is a perfect source of inspiration for new areas of focus that may not be fully addressed by existing content.
Long-tail queries are an ideal example. These specific phrases can reveal niche topics or unique angles for content creation–– often based on queries that aren’t available in other keyword research tools. This could involve creating articles that answer common questions or developing new product and service pages that can provide audiences with more information.
Google Search Console can help narrow down topic clusters that are gaining interest. Align this interest with user intent to help drive a new path to capture more of the search demand. Pairing GSC with a free tool such as Google Trends can assist in tracking how search queries change over time. Analyzing these trends can help you identify seasonal topics or emerging subjects that warrant new content creation.
Average Monthly Search Volume: 110
Tracking the Performance of Optimized Content
Regardless of whether you’ve optimized existing content or created something brand new, Google Search Console is your go-to source for assessing how your updates are taking effect.
These can include:
- Monitoring keyword positioning
- Checking for improvements in overall clicks and/or impressions
- Seeing changes in overall click-through-rates
Understanding these metrics and determining which ones matter most from a KPI perspective allows GSC to provide insights that help guide content adjustments and optimizations.
Whether you’re looking to increase organic visibility, refine your content based on user queries, or track key metrics, Google Search Console provides the insights needed to make informed decisions that lead to better results. Utilizing this tool can help you stay ahead of the competitive landscape in search results and ensure your content meets the needs of your target audience.
Our Top Favorite Google Search Console Extensions
Chrome extensions designed by top marketers make analyzing clicks, impressions, and keyword rankings simpler than ever. These tools transform data into actionable strategies for improved performance and user experiences.
Our lineup of go-to extensions includes:
- Better Regex: Create and save regex presets or choose from popular pre-made options.
- Gandalf: Group queries by topic and view easy-to-read visualizations to uncover trends and opportunities.
- GSCTool: Analyze percent changes, extract URLs listed in an XML sitemap, quickly index multiple URLs on Google, and more.
- GSC Guardian: Monitor how Google Search algorithm updates may impact a site’s traffic.