Updated March 17, 2015:Inspired by Ruud's post, Use Google Analytics Advanced Segments To Find The Real Questions Your Visitors Ask, I wondered, "What about the questions searchers (not necessarily visitors) are asking"?
The theory behind finding these questions is similar to the one outlined in Ruud's post, so I suggest that you read his post first. The difference here, though, is that we will find additional questions that were asked, using Google Webmaster Tools.
Let's begin.
Step 1
Log in to Google Webmaster Tools and click on "Search queries".
Step 2
Choose one of the six "question" words (who, what, when, where, why, how) and type it into the search bar. Here we're going with "how". (Sorry, no regex in GWT).
Optionally you can set any of the other filters as well, making your finds very precise.
Step 3
Now look at the table under the Impressions & Clicks graph. It contains the number of impressions and clicks for each specific query, along with click-through rate (CTR) and average position in the results.
Look for queries that generate a high number of impressions but few clicks.
The Benefits
In addition to some of the benefits of using Google Analytics and Advanced Segments, Google Webmaster Tools will also include queries that were made by:
- Non-visitors. You can then use this data to formulate content and tweak meta descriptions to encourage click-throughs to your site.
- Visitors whose keywords weren't passed to GA. This can happen if JavaScript is turned off, a browser plugin or extension disables Google Analytics, GA isn't installed on the landing page, etc.
I love looking at Search Queries! Sometimes they just have really interesting stuff… Things you would never think of asking. LOL Google Webmaster tools are very useful for SEO. My favorite tool to use by far.
.-= Mandy June recently posted: 5 Strangest Bank Robberies of the 21st Century =-.
Very cool Shockley. I’ve found webmaster tools very useful at finding search queries and positions in result pages.
.-= Aaron recently posted: VIZIO XVT373SV 37-Inch Full HD 1080P LED LCD HDTV Review =-.
@Mandy, @Aaron: The long-tail queries are always full of surprising insights into what people are interested in!
Great thinking. I actually got the idea for questions on analytics by myself sometime ago, and use it from time to time, but questions in webmasters tools didn’t get on my mind.
Thanks
.-= Aleksandar recently posted: Korisne konferencije i seminari u oktobru =-.
@Aleksandar: Thanks. Using the GWT method is good if you also want to see search queries that weren’t captured in GA.
I agree, that long tail queries often opens your eyes to new possibilities, but I haven’t thought of using webmaster tools for this purpose. Thanks for sharing 🙂
@Per: You’re welcome! 🙂
I also love google webmaster tools top search queries and will make a page specifically around any long tail search queries. Of course this is not always possible so i google the search query and then book mark it with google bookmarks.
I just can’t figure out how this works for google Adsense?
How do you use your top search queries?
We tend to fold back information from various channels (traffic reports, social media monitoring, contact with clients, etc.) into new content.