Does this mean my pages are ranking better?

[Theskimonster]

In GWT impressions are down 17%, clicks are up 57%.  Is it safe to assume that pages are ranking better for my site?

We have earned a couple great links in the past month..

5lDZEUJ

[Dr-Pete]

So, the short answer is "no". It's possible that something else changed on the page, or something happened to boost CTR (a seasonal change, an outside event that increased product interest, etc.). In GWT, you can drill down and look at CTR on a keyword basis. Take it with a grain of salt, but essentially you need to segment. What pages are the new clicks landing on? What specific keywords are driving traffic to those pages? Have the rankings for those keywords changed? Actually load up those queries - did something else on the SERP change (a new feature, a competitor's site changing, etc.)?

Also, why are impressions down 17%? It's possible you lost ranking on some keywords, and those particular keywords just happened to have low CTR, while you gained ranking on some higher CTR keywords. Odds are, this is a more complex picture than just a movement in one or two keywords.

[BlueprintMarketing]

here is a blog by Dr. Pete that was just posted today regarding whether you should use GWT or some other methods

http://moz.com/blog/comparing-ranktracking-methods-browser-vs-crawler-vs-webmaster-tools

[BlueprintMarketing]

I agree with Jesse & Greg on this one each of them have come up with very clear simple answers to your question.

the idea of analyzing click impressions through Google Webmaster tools when you have access to Google analytics and your end goal is to find out if you are doing better in the SERPS

tells me you should be using one of the tools below. They will tell you exactly what has gone up and what has gone down.

https://moz.com/researchtools/rank-tracker

https://serps.com/

http://authoritylabs.com/

You may also utilize tools such as

http://www.semrush.com/

while it is not perfect it will give you a good amount of insight into the keywords you do not already know you might be ranking for.

I hope this helps,

Thomas

[jesse-landry]

I wouldn't be looking/analyzing clicks and impressions through GWT much if at all to be honest.

[BlueprintMarketing]

Here is some info on that

http://webmasters.stackexchange.com/questions/32361/if-the-impressions-are-very-high-and-clicks-are-very-low-should-the-keywords-be

[gregreindel]

Are you using Google Analytics? Is is connected to your Webmaster Tools account? Perhaps viewing the data from within GA could give you some more insight.

[Theskimonster]

Ok... What does impressions down and clicks up suggest? I think it's interesting..

[BlueprintMarketing]

You can use this to https://serps.com/tools/rank_checker

[BlueprintMarketing]

I agree with Jesse he hit it on the head.

[Theskimonster]

I have a pro account and track my rankings but as another member just asked in QA they seem to fluctuate like crazy.  Traffic is growing, but I'm a seasonal business and we're getting into winter.

Impressions down and clicks up seems like Rankings are improving. After reading Dr. Pete's blog today and looking at GWT today it prompted me to ask the question.

[jesse-landry]

Why not just check your rankings?

Or start a Moz account where they can track that for you