Executive Report: Google Search Console

Introduction:

Demonstrating the impact of your marketing efforts on your clients' businesses is now easier than ever. By seamlessly connecting Google Search Console to our Business App, you can effortlessly showcase detailed, automatic proof-of-performance analytics related to Google search results. This integration allows you to display vital information such as the number of queries where your client's website appears on the first page of Google, the number of clicks, impressions, popular search queries, and more. In this article, we'll guide you through the process of setting up Google Search Console integration and customizing the Executive Report to provide your clients with valuable SEO insights.

What is Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google to website owners. It helps measure a website's search traffic and performance, identify and fix issues, and optimize the site's visibility in Google Search results. Through our integration, these features are seamlessly incorporated into the Business App Executive Report. Visit the Google Search Console website for more info


Why Connect to Google Search Console?

Our reporting introduces a unique Key Performance Indicator (KPI) not available within Google Search Console: "Queries on 1st page of Google Search." This metric, calculated daily, reveals whether a business is progressing toward its goal of appearing on the first page of Google search results and attracting more potential customers to their website. This automated reporting offers ongoing proof-of-performance to your clients, showcasing the tangible results of your marketing efforts.


Setting It Up:

  1. Setup Google Search Console:

    Ensure your client's website is connected to Google Search Console and fully verified. If they haven't set up a Google Search Console account yet, you can do so by following a few simple steps here.

    Note: it takes 24-48 hours after a new property is connected to Google Search Console for data to start to appear on Google’s side.

  2. Connect Search Console to Business App:

    • In Business App > Connections, click on the '+' button to add a Google Search Console account. Please note that only one connection per account is allowed.
    • Log in using a Google account with the necessary permissions to access the Search Console account.
    • Choose the desired Search Console account from the list of available accounts.

    • Once connected, existing data will appear in the Executive Report within a few minutes. The integration pulls in 30 days of historical data upon initial connection.

      Note: If the account you want to connect does not appear here, make sure it is fully verified. Also, make sure the Google account you are connecting with has sufficient permissions to view this Search Console account.

  3. Customize Tracked Queries in the Executive Report:

    • Business App automatically pulls in the top 10 search queries. You can customize, add, or remove up to 20 keywords for reporting purposes.

    • Navigate to Business App > Connections > click "..." > select “Edit Queries” to customize the tracked keywords.

      Note: When Search Console is first connected, Business App will automatically pull in the top 10 search queries for this business by clicking for reporting.

FAQ:

1. How to prioritize Search Console data in the Executive Reports?

  • You can customize the order of sections in the single-location Executive Report by going to Partner Center > Administration > Customize > Business App Settings > Executive Report Page Layout > Edit Default Executive Report Template. Drag the SEO section to the top of the report, and this configuration can be done on a market-by-market basis.

2. Why isn't there any data in the Executive Report after connecting Search Console?

  • Data may take a few days to appear in Google Search Console itself. Check back the next day, as our data collection occurs once per day around midnight CST. Additionally, it may take a few minutes for Business App to pull in data and display it in the Executive Report. Check that you have the relevant Admin privileges in Google Search Console.

3. How are the ‘Queries on 1st page of Google Search’ cards calculated?

  • This custom metric tracks queries with an average position between 1.0 and 10.0 (first page of Google) where the website received at least one click within the last 30 days for that keyword. It is calculated daily and plotted on a trendline, demonstrating improvements in the website's SEO over time.

4. Do you support Domain Properties?

  • Yes, we support connecting both Domain-properties and URL prefix properties. Domain properties provide a broader view of all search activity across different domain variations (www vs. non-www, etc.). Learn more about the difference here.
  1. Why aren’t Avg CTR or Avg Position metrics in the reporting?
  • Average CTR (click-through-rate) and Average Position are helpful metrics to look at on a per-keyword level, but when rolled up as an overall stat, they are not actually helpful in proving performance to an SMB client, because they are averages that will continually be dragged down by every new keyword that the website appears for.  Essentially, these are two metrics a business will never be able to win at, and will never go “up and to the right”. So we decided to not include them in our Executive Report of high-level performance metrics.