/google-search-console

name: google-search-console
description: When the user wants to analyze Google Search Console data, use the GSC API, or interpret search performance. Also use when the user mentions "GSC," "Search Console," "indexing report," "Core Web Vitals," "Enhancements," "Insights report," "search performance," "search queries," "search performance report," "URL inspection," "impressions," "CTR," "average position," "index coverage," "GSC data analysis," "Search Console API," or "searchanalytics.query." When the user wants to rewrite title tags (not only report on them), use title-tag. For meta description rewrites, use meta-description.
metadata:
  version: 1.5.1

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)