A simple way to gain traffic based on Google Search Console data

All too often during website optimization, we put all of our focus on difficult matters. The list of issues that require fixing can be extensive and the level of difficulty varies greatly. When it comes to SEO audits, I strongly recommend focusing on fixing easy issues first. Elements that are easy to fix often bring the most benefits.

In this article, I will show you how to detect low hanging fruit on the basis of Google Search Console data and Pulno analysis.

Table of contents

1. Google Search Console integration
2. How does it work
3. Connecting to Google Search Console in Pulno
4. GSC analyzer
5. Cases of use
6. Page reports
7. Conclusion

Google Search Console integration

Pulno enables the integration of website analysis with Google Search Console data. This feature allows you to gather information about the traffic from Google, including data about keywords that generate traffic. Google Search Console data analysis coupled with page analysis is a sure way to quickly improve your website and gain more traffic.

In the remaining part of the article, I assume that you have access to Google Search Console and data has been gathered for at least a couple of weeks. All reports are based on data from Google so connecting to GSC is essential.

How does it work?

During website analysis, Pulno checks many parameters that affect rankings such as content, meta tags, and external links. Once Google Search Console data has been connected, we are able to compare the keywords that generate traffic with pages on the website. You can see keywords that have many clicks and impressions in search results but are missing in meta tags or in the content of a page all in one place. You can also compare your results with the data from Google Analytics.

Once missing keywords have been added to the content, page visibility in search engines improves and rankings increase. The graph below illustrates an increase in the rankings of a page for a given keyword once that keyword has been added to the content. In this way, I managed to optimize a page in just 30 seconds and after two weeks, it started to rank on the first page in Google search results for a keyword with over 300 monthly impressions.

Connecting to Google Search Console in Pulno

Google Search Console data analyzer is available in the left sidebar. Select any analyzed website and then click on ‘Google Search Console’.  

To access data from Google Search Console you must first authorize the connection by selecting an account that has access to GSC data.

Once the connection has been authorized, just download the data from Google Search Console,

and go to the keyword analyzer.

GSC analyzer

GSC analyzer displays data from several months divided by Phones (and tablets) and Desktops. Due to the fact that tablets generate approximately 3-5% of the traffic, we decided to combine them with Phones. In Pulno, you can filter the results in many ways. My preferred settings, that improve the readability of data are:

• month - I choose the last finished month, to have access to data from the full 30 days

• device - I choose the device that generates more traffic. Most often, these are Phones and tablets

• sort by - the largest number of impressions to see which keywords have the biggest potential

This way, I get a table containing important data about keywords such as the page that generates traffic, its keyword, average position, number of clicks and impressions. Properties are the most important element. They contain information about the content of the page.

Icons visible in the ‘properties’ column indicate what steps can be taken to optimize a given page.

- shows low hanging fruit. These are phrases which rank on the second page in Google search results (positions 11-15). Often, the optimization of content and meta tags is enough to increase the ranking of such a page and place it on the first page in search results

- indicates an increase or a drop in rankings of a page in relation to the previous month

- indicates a drop from 1-10 positions in relation to the previous month

- indicates a drop from 1-3 positions in relation to the previous month

- indicates cannibalization of content. This means that there are other pages optimized for the same keyword

 - indicates that the keyword appears in headings. In this case, the icon is faded, which means that the keyword does not appear in the heading.

 - indicates that the keyword appears in <title>.

- indicates that the keyword appears in the content of a page

Cases of use

Low hanging fruit

Low hanging fruit is my favorite report. To see it, I filter properties to only show keywords that rank on 11-15 positions 

This allows me to see which pages are on the second page in Google search results. Simultaneously, I can see which keywords are missing from headings, titles, and content. The best strategy is to focus on those keywords which generate most impressions because improving them should result in gaining most clicks. I aim to add missing keyword with a big number of impressions to titles, headings and, most importantly, content.

Positions 6-10 

Clickthrough rate (CTR) depends on the rankings of a keyword. This is illustrated on a backlinko chart below, which shows that pages that occupy 1-5 positions get most of the clicks.  

Similarly to low hanging fruit, I also sort the results by the number of impressions. I focus on keywords that rank on 6-10 positions but do not appear in <title>, heading or content of a page. I aim to add the keyword to the content. If it is also possible to add the keyword to the heading or to create a new heading, it is usually a good idea. A good strategy is having short <title> tags - if you can add the keyword to the title tag and not exceed the limit of 65-70 words, I recommend doing so. 

Page reports 

The report presented above concerns keywords. By clicking on the orange icon, we receive a report on a given page. The report contains a chart illustrating average position, CTR, clicks, and impressions of the page. 

In this report, you can also see which other keywords generate clicks and impressions for this page in Google as well as the report on cannibalization. 

Conclusion 

Connecting to and analyzing Google Search Console data is an easy way to gain traffic from search engines. It allows you to immediately see which keywords can easily rank on the first page in Google search results and which pages can be optimized. Connecting to and analyzing GSC data should be one of your very first steps in the optimization process.