google-search-console

What this skill does

# Analytics: Google Search Console

Guides analysis of Google Search Console (GSC) data: performance metrics, indexing, sitemaps, Core Web Vitals, and rich results. Covers best practices for monthly monitoring and actionable insights.

**When invoking**: On **first use**, if helpful, open with 1-2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On **subsequent use** or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

## Scope

- **Performance**: Clicks, impressions, CTR, average position; API for export
- **Insights**: Simplified overview; top/trending content and queries
- **Indexing**: Pages indexed, pages not indexed, reasons (Coverage)
- **Technical**: Sitemaps, Core Web Vitals, Enhancements
- **API**: searchanalytics.query for programmatic access
- **Methodology**: How to read charts, avoid common mistakes, correlate with releases

## Analysis Best Practices

### Chart Reading

| Practice | Why |
|----------|-----|
| **Focus one metric at a time** | Stacked bar charts hide fluctuations; toggle off other metrics to see each clearly |
| **Don't compare just two points** | End-of-month vs prior month misses mid-month drama; examine full trend |
| **Check beyond top 10** | Many reports default to top 10; scroll or paginate for more rows |
| **Screenshot charts** | GSC retains limited history; save images for future reference |
| **Record in spreadsheet** | Export at month-end; use formulas to track correlations over time |
| **Track release dates** | Join dev standups, read release notes; correlate GSC shifts with deployments |

### Investigation Workflow

1. **Pinpoint date**: When did the metric change?
2. **Correlate**: Any releases, CMS changes, server maintenance, third-party code?
3. **Decide**: Investigate, correct, overlook, or monitor closely
4. **Loop in**: Product or dev team for root cause

## Key Reports & Metrics

### 1. Performance (Search Results)

**Location**: Performance ? Search results

| Metric | Use |
|--------|-----|
| **Clicks** | Traffic from Google Search |
| **Impressions** | How often site appeared in results |
| **CTR** | Whether users think page answers query |
| **Average position** | Ranking trend |

**Dimensions**: Query, page, country, device, date. Filter by search type: web, image, video, news. Use to find low-CTR high-impression pages (title/meta optimization opportunities).

**Search appearance**: AMP, blue link, rich results (filterable in UI and API).

#### CTR Benchmarks by Position

Use to compare actual CTR vs expected. Benchmarks vary by SERP features (AI Overviews, featured snippets). **Zero-click**: When SERP features satisfy intent without a click, organic CTR drops; factor into expectations. See **serp-features** (Zero-Click section), **featured-snippet**. Clean SERPs:

| Position | Expected CTR (baseline) | With AI Overviews (lower) |
|----------|-------------------------|---------------------------|
| 1 | 25-35% | ~19% |
| 2 | 12-18% | ~12% |
| 3 | 8-12% | ~7% |
| 4-5 | 5-7% | ~5% |
| 6-10 | 2-5% | 2-5% |

**Interpretation**: If actual CTR is below expected for your position, prioritize title/meta optimization. Over 90% of first-page results have CTR below 10%; significant upside exists.

#### Low CTR, High Impressions: Optimization Workflow

1. **Identify**: Sort by impressions; filter positions 1-10; 1,000+ monthly impressions
2. **Compare**: Actual CTR vs expected for position (see table above)
3. **Gap**: e.g., position 4 at 2% CTR vs expected 5-7% ? ~3-5% uplift potential
4. **Action**: Optimize title and meta per **title-tag**, **meta-description**; add schema for rich results (+10–20% clicks)

#### Rich Results & CTR

Pages with review stars, FAQ schema, or other rich snippets see 10-20% more clicks. See **schema-markup**.

### 2. Insights Report

**Location**: Performance ? Insights (or Overview)

Simplified overview; replaces standalone Search Console Insights. Data from GSC only (GA data removed Dec 2024).

| Card | Use |
|------|-----|
| **Clicks and impressions** | Site visibility and click effectiveness |
| **Your content** | Top, trending up, trending down pages |
| **Queries leading to your site** | Top, trending up, trending down queries |
| **Top countries** | Geographic audience |
| **Branded vs non-branded** | Brand recognition (AI-labeled; may mislabel) |
| **Additional traffic sources** | Image, Video, News search, Discover |

**Trending**: Based on click change vs previous period. Click items to jump to Performance report filtered to that item.

**Query groups**: Similar queries grouped; group name = best-performing query. Not available for sub-properties or low-impression sites.

### 3. Page Indexing (Coverage)

**Location**: Indexing ? Page indexing

**Status grouping** (updated): Valid + Valid with warning ? **Indexed**. Error + Excluded ? **Not indexed**.

**Indexed vs Not indexed are complementary**: Not all site content should be indexed. Login, admin, duplicate content, legal boilerplate, and low-value pages often intentionally use noindex. Indexed and non-indexed pages can reference each other (e.g., sitemap includes indexable URLs; noindex pages still exist and link internally). Non-indexed is not inherently a problem--investigate only when important pages are excluded. See indexing (noindex usage) and robots-txt (crawl control) for when to exclude.

| Metric | Action |
|--------|--------|
| **Pages indexed** | Turn off "Pages not indexed" to view alone; watch for drops |
| **Pages not indexed** | Turn off "Pages indexed" to view alone; watch for spikes. Distinguish intentional (noindex, robots) from accidental |

**Filter**: All submitted pages / Unsubmitted pages only (dropdown near top).

**Source column**: Indicates whether issue is caused by website or Google.

**Why pages are not indexed**: Drill into reasons and example URLs. Common culprits:

- Duplicate content
- Noindex tags
- Redirect errors
- 5xx errors
- 404 errors
- Blocked by robots.txt
- Discovered ? currently not indexed
- Crawled ? currently not indexed

**Quick check**: If trend line is stable, spend ~3 seconds; move on. Investigate if fourth column (trend) shifts.

**Diagnosis workflow**: GSC Coverage ? click Issue ? view sample URLs ? identify pattern ? fix (see indexing for fix actions).

**Coverage issue types**:

| Issue | Meaning | Next step |
|-------|---------|-----------|
| Crawled - currently not indexed | Crawled but not indexed | See indexing |
| Excluded by "noindex" tag | Intentionally excluded; often valid (login, admin, legal, etc.) | Ignore if expected; verify important pages not accidentally noindexed |
| Blocked by robots.txt | Crawl blocked | See **robots-txt**; may be intentional |
| Redirect / 404 | Redirect or missing | Fix URL or redirect |
| Duplicate / Canonical | Duplicate content | Usually OK; keep canonical |

**URL Inspection**: Verdicts: "URL is on Google," "URL is on Google, but has issues," "URL is not on Google." Use for important pages; verify canonical, internal links, sitemap; Request indexing if needed.

### 4. Video Indexing (If Applicable)

**Location**: Indexing ? Video indexing

- **Videos indexed** / **Videos not indexed**: Toggle off the other for clear view
- **Why videos are not indexed**: Thumbnail blocked, invalid size/format, not in main content, etc.

See **video-optimization** for video SEO; **youtube-seo** for YouTube.

### 5. XML Sitemaps

**Location**: Indexing ? Sitemaps

| Check | Action |
|------|--------|
| Status | Confirm each sitemap says "Success" |
| URLs indexed | Click sitemap ? see indexed count; drops indicate indexing issues |
| Bellwether sitemaps | For large sites, monitor templated sitemaps (by country, language, division) |

Enterprise: Glitches can block new URL crawling, cause hreflang confusion, delay fresh content discovery.

### 6. Core Web Vitals

**Location**: Experience ? Core Web Vitals

**Priority**: Mobile first (Google's higher expectations for mobile).

| Metric |