Kostas VoudourisMaxus / GroupM
Performance-Based Optimisation Using Google Search Console API@kvonweb https://www.slideshare.net/kvonweb
Who Am I?
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Why do I love Google Search Console API
• Limited number of keywords tracked• Irrelevant keywords tracked via legacy files• Difficult to attribute traffic increase or
decrease on rankings alone• Snapshot of rankings by 1 IP/location,
device• Needs regular review to maintain an up to
date keyword set
• Retrieve and store all of your available keywords (API lets you download more than 1,000 elements)
• Attribute traffic fluctuations using clicks, impressions, CTR and avg. position
• Identify new keywords and establish available opportunities
• Real time automation of keyword addition when content is indexed.
Traditional rank *extracting
*scraping
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Track and analyse the keywords you have content for, not the ones you wish to rank for.
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
GSC API Reference
Google’s API Explorer: https://developers.google.com/apis-explorer/#p/webmasters/v3/webmasters.searchanalytics.queryReference: https://developers.google.com/webmaster-tools/search-console-api-original/v3/searchanalytics/query
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Type exactly as you see on GSC
Last 90 days of data available
Max 5000 rows of data per request. Use start row of 5000 to get the next 5000 records and so on..
3 letter country code (ISO 3166-1 alpha-3)
Your keywords
Use a combination of filters to retrieve the preferred segment of your data
How to download GSC data with just your browser
JSON to CSV Converter: https://konklone.io/json/
1 2 3Add your parameters on Google’s API Explorer and hit execute
Copy the returned response
Paste your JSON response into a CSV converter and download your excel table
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Store historical GSC data with this GDocs add-on
Google Sheets add-on: https://searchanalyticsforsheets.com/
1 Enable the Search Analytics for Sheets add-one
2 Configure your parameters and start storing your data
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Start harvesting Google Search Console data now
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Label newly discovered keywords to unlock insight
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Formulason H1 add: =ARRAYFORMULA(MIN(IF(A:A=A1,B:B)))on I1 add: =if(H1=B1,TRUE,FALSE)
Visualise “new keywords” to gain additional insights from your organic search traffic
Visualising your new keyword data will provide instant feedback on new content creation and will help you justify increases in organic search traffic.
Impressions
Clicks
Number of New Keywords
Impressions
Clicks
Number of New Keywords
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Do not use Avg. Position as a KPI for a large set of keywords
As a site's visibility increases and ranks for a wider number of keywords, it's average position inversely correlates. This is due to the appearance of new keywords in low positions, effecting the sites median ranking.
Average Position
Number of keywords receiving impressions from
ClicksAverage Position
Number of keywords receiving impressions from
Clicks
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
The ability to read Google Search Console charts is the single most
important thing you can do to understand your Google traffic
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Kick off your optimisation strategy with a GSC-powered Content Analysis
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Top Performers Quick Wins Content Gaps
Criteria: Avg. Position 1-3 Criteria: Avg. Position: 4-19 Criteria: Avg. Position: 20-1000
Keywords you are ranking well. Typically your brand terms found in top positions
with high Click-Through (CTR) rate.
Keywords you rank on the first/second page but not within top positions.
Keywords ranking past page 3. The topics are somewhat related to your business
but not targeted with content.
Action: Monitor/Increase CTR Action: Optimise Action: Create Content
Identify your best performing listing for a page using GSC data
Remember: A listing for a single page can differ depending on the keyword it ranks for. Be mindful of how you interpret avg. position. Test over a month and isolate copy changes and seasonality.
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
1
2
Live for RankedKeywords
Impressions Clicks CTR Daily Clicks
New Keywords
Avg. Position
48 days 1303 100,799 35,279 35.1% 734 +20 45
Live for RankedKeywords
Impressions Clicks CTR Daily Clicks
New Keywords
Avg. Position
24 days 1404 60,699 23,672 39.5% 986 +101 62
Analyse Keywords against Pages – Sitelinks and keyword cannibalisation
Keyword Page Impressions Clicks CTRAvg.
PositionSitelink or Cannibal?
urlitor / 995 805 80.9% 1 Main
urlitor /web-scraping 995 18 1.8% 1 Sitelink
urlitor /mobile 994 4 0.4% 1 Sitelink
urlitor /tools/yandex-tic-checker 995 2 0.2% 1 Sitelink
urlitor /landing-page-suggester 966 2 0.2% 1 Sitelink
urlitor /about 995 1 0.1% 1 Sitelink
urlitor /contact 964 1 0.1% 1 Sitelink
80.9%
0.2%
0.4%
0.1%
0.1%
0.2%
1.8%
Sometimes impressions and average position are similar when pages rank for the same keyword. This usually indicates that sitelinks appear in the SERP.
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Keyword Page Impressions Clicks CTRAvg.
PositionSitelink or Cannibal?
hdmi cables /HDMI-Cables/ 12,343 805 6.52% 2.7 Main
hdmi cables /tv-accessories/hdmi-cables/ 11,323 132 1.17% 8.2 Cannibal
hdmi cables /search?q=HDMI+Cables 837 3 0.36% 19.4 Cannibal
1
6
11
16
21
26
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
Ave
rage
Po
siti
on
(G
oo
gle
UK
)
Rankings over time
/HDMI-Cables/ /search?q=HDMI+Cables /tv-accessories/hdmi-cables/
Find multiple URL rankings for the same keyword. If the ranking pages are not sitelinks, consolidate all your ranking power into your preferred page. Use canonicals, 301 redirects, and no index to combat cannibals and boost your rankings.
Analyse Keywords against Pages – Sitelinks and keyword cannibalisation
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Create your own custom CTR model to benchmark your performance and forecast traffic
Ranking Group
Blog Articles
Category Pages
Car Hire Flights Hotels
1 20.0% 18.6% 17.2% 15.4% 19.4%2 12.3% 13.7% 15.1% 13.0% 12.4%3 8.2% 8.4% 8.5% 11.1% 8.6%4 5.9% 5.8% 5.7% 6.2% 6.1%5 3.8% 4.2% 4.5% 3.4% 4.5%6 2.1% 2.5% 2.9% 2.3% 2.1%7 1.5% 1.4% 1.2% 1.9% 1.2%8 1.2% 1.2% 1.1% 1.5% 1.2%9 1.9% 1.9% 2.0% 1.7% 1.3%
Ranking Group
Brand Generic
1 23.5% 17.2%2 17.8% 11.9%3 8.6% 8.2%4 6.5% 6.4%5 3.9% 3.9%6 2.1% 2.1%7 2.5% 1.3%8 1.5% 1.1%9 4.0% 0.0%
Ranking Group
Desktop Mobile
1 20.0% 24.0%2 12.3% 16.0%3 8.2% 9.2%4 5.9% 5.0%5 3.8% 2.1%6 2.1% 1.2%7 1.5% 0.9%8 1.2% 0.4%9 1.9% 0.4%
CTR by Page Type CTR by Device CTR by Keyword Type
Create CTR models for the main type of pages, keywords and use them to monitor and benchmark the performance of new content.
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
CTR Opportunities - from observing trends to quick wins
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Use your own GSC data to look for CTR outliers, dive in to find the reason, then identify whether an action is needed.
Forecast revenue using custom CTR models
PositionCTR for
Keyword Group
Monthly Clicks(est.)
Click Difference
(est.)
% of Increase
(est.)
Monthly Conversions
(est.)
Monthly Revenue
(est.)
1 11.50% 55,861 39,248 236% 50 £76,015.52
2 6.47% 31,428 14,815 89% 28 £42,766.99
3 4.59% 22,296 5,683 34% 20 £30,340.11
4 3.42% 16,613 - - 15 £22,606.35
5 2.25% 10,929 -5,683 -34% 10 £14,872.60
6 2.35% 11,415 -5,197 -31% 10 £15,533.61
Use your own GSC data to create custom models and forecast traffic and revenue uplifts.
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
{ "message": "Thank you"}
@kvonweb #BrightonSEO
Go through the presentation in slow motion: https://www.slideshare.net/kvonweb
Get in touch: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kostasvoudouris/https://twitter.com/kvonweb
Free SEO tools: www.urlitor.comMy GSC SEO Platform: http://isomer.io/
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