'Search Queries Report' in Webmaster Tools Question
-
Hi,
How much do you use the search queries report in webmaster tools to research current rankings/movements?
It does look like a great tool but the data doesn't seem to be spot on.
For example a keyword over a week might have flux in position so lets say 6.0 then 9.2 for 3 days then back to 6.0. But I check the serp's for this keyword everyday and didn't see any movement?!?!
Is this a good tool for you?
-
Hello Activitysuper
"**How much do you use the search queries report in webmaster tools to research current rankings/movements?" **
Specifically for checking current rankings/movements, rarely.
But for checking ranking you need a shorter run (a few days as opposed to a month) if you are trying to draw a conclusion IMO.
When we make a content addition or change with the intent of specifically effecting a ranking now, it can be nice to watch in a type of trailing 3 to 5 day pattern. This usually will tell a story or, sadly sometimes, tell a nightmare.
BUT, if you check rankings here and then go to search and look at the SERPs without &pws=0 you are not seeing reality. Non personalized search is imperative when looking at search to determine current rank. If you have a 30 day run on GWMT and then look at today for SERPs, you can be a million miles off.
I use it to check queries against my keywords/landing pages in analytics and to draw a better conclusion with regards to what is being searched on. It helps with the 'not set' in analytics.
Hope this helps a bit,
Robert
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
More 'New users' than 'Users' in Google Analytics
Hey Mozzers, I'm seeing more 'New users' than 'Users' in Google Analytics (see screenshot). This is over a 3 year time period. Any idea why new users would be greater than users? Thanks! 6lYmU0j
Reporting & Analytics | | RWesley0 -
Any issues with Google impressions dropping in Webmaster Tools?
I'm seeing a drop in impressions across all my websites that are hosted at a certain location. Just wanted to make sure that it is not some reporting issue that others are seeing.
Reporting & Analytics | | tdawson090 -
Where to find "Keywords that Sent Organic Search Visits" in Google Analytics?
Hi everyone, Tried searching for this answer but couldn't find it. In the new analytics, I can see that there is a graph that shows the number of unique keywords that brought traffic to our site sorted by weeks. I can't seem to find this data in Google Analytics. I can only find the number of visits but not sorted by how many keywords, instead it is just # of visits from all of the keywords. Thanks in advance. SZ
Reporting & Analytics | | swzhai0 -
Where have the 'most changed keyword rankings' gone from the weekly summary emails?
Since the change to Moz we have noticed that the weekly summary emails do not show the 'most changed keyword rankings' table. We found these extremely helpful and would be disappointed to see these go. Are these going to make a come back?
Reporting & Analytics | | RedAntSolutions2 -
Which tool will achieve this...
I need to look at another sites traffic and figure out where they are getting it... Is this possible? Which tool would accomplish this ?
Reporting & Analytics | | JML11790 -
Does Google Analytics parse visits from search apps?
Does anyone know if Google Analytics reports visits to your website differently from individual search apps like Google and Bing? Or do they just treat them the same as any other keyword visit from Google or Bing search engine? I suppose the end result is probably the same as in the Google app you're using Google so it would just be a different access point versus a new tool. I'm just curious if there is a way to see how many Mobile visits are coming from the apps vs the browser. For me personally I have the Google and Bing iOS apps installed but rarely use them, opting for the Safari search bar 99% of the time.
Reporting & Analytics | | nsauser0 -
Why are Seemingly Randomly Generated URLs Appearing as Errors in Google Webmaster Tools?
I've been confused by some URLs that are showing up as errors in our GWT account. They seem to just be randomly generated alphanumeric strings that Google is reporting as 404 errors. The pages do 404 because nothing ever existed there or was linked to. Here are some examples that are just off of our root domain: /JEzjLs2wBR0D6wILPy0RCkM/WFRnUK9JrDyRoVCnR8= /MevaBpcKoXnbHJpoTI5P42QPmQpjEPBlYffwY8Mc5I= /YAKM15iU846X/ymikGEPsdq 26PUoIYSwfb8 FBh34= I haven't been able to track down these character strings in any internet index or anywhere in our source code so I have no idea why Google is reporting them. We've been pretty vigilant lately about duplicate content and thin content issues and my concern is that there are an unspecified number of urls like this that Google thinks exist but don't really. Has anyone else seen GWT reporting errors like this for their site? Does anyone have any clue why Google would report them as errors?
Reporting & Analytics | | kimwetter0 -
Overall site traffic - 3 quick questions
3 things : 1. Does Google factor in overall site traffic in rankings? So for 2 sites, all other things being pretty much equal, the one with higher traffic will be listed higher? 2. Does this logically imply that sites with lower traffic overall face an uphill struggle to be ranked highly??? 3. As an extension to this, would it be true to say that by increasing site traffic, say with Google Adwords or other online or offiline or whatever advertising, that might help get higher SEO rankings??? Thanks so much for your responses. This forum is great!
Reporting & Analytics | | inhouseninja0