You are writing content all day, but if your keywords are not properly researched, then it looks like you are whispering into the void. Without proper keywords, your written materials are lost in the sea of result pages. And, if you don’t want this, then making use of Google Search Console (GSC) as your secret weapon is advisable. It proves beneficial in researching keywords that many digital marketers are still overlooking. This free tool also helps in monitoring your website’s health and index along with what users are typing into Google to find your site.
How to use Google Search Console for Keyword Research?
So, let us know about how to use GSC to uncover the valuable keywords that help in driving real traffic.
Step 1: Find the Keywords That Are Already Ranking for You
The first thing is not to blindly start searching for new keywords but rather look into the keywords that you already have and that are bringing people to your website. It will help you understand what is working and where you need to make improvements.
In the GCS interface, click on the performance section on the left side, and after that scroll down to find the queries. Here, you will see the list of search terms through which people are coming to your website. Enable the “Average Position” button to know the position of keywords on the result page.
Look for keywords whose impression is high but whose CTR is less. This indicates that for a particular keyword, your page is showing up, but people are not clicking on it. You can refine that page’s meta title and description to encourage people to click.
You can also get the keywords that you have not actually targeted but are still bringing traffic to your site. This gives you the option to create new content on those topics.
Step 2: Discover New Blog Topics
Google Search Console can help you discover new topic options for your blog post. Search for long-tail keywords that include more than three terms. They help you create specific blogs on those topics to answer users’ queries in an effective way. You can also naturally incorporate them into your existing content.
For example, if your general SEO page is ranking for the long-tail keyword “SEO Keyword Research Tools,” then you can create a specific page that only explains different tools used in keyword research.
You can also create content clusters by forming many related blog pages to gain authority on a particular topic.
Step 3: Look at Irrelevant Keywords
GSC also exposes keywords that are not related but still lead traffic to your site. This type of query does not make conversions or engagement and ultimately does not align with your business goals.
Identify those keywords and make the required changes to your on-page content and meta tags. Use them as negative keywords in your paid campaigns, if they are also appearing in your PPC reports.
For example, if you are only selling new mobiles and PPC reports show that more people are searching for refurbished mobiles, then you can add this term as a negative keyword to avoid wasting ad spend.
Step 4: Monitor Complete Keyword Performance
However, Google Search Console is a free-of-cost tool; it gives various information about keywords. Here you can use the options that are given below:
Total clicks: It displays how frequently visitors have clicked on your website.
Total impression: It is about how many times your website showed up in search results.
Average CTR: It is the percentage of users who click on your page when they see it on the result.
Average position: This is the ranking of your page in search results related to a specified keyword.
Step 5: Track and Modify On a Regular Basis
Regular tracking of the site becomes necessary because search trends are modifying every day, new competitors are coming up with new strategies, and Google is also changing its algorithms regularly. So, give preference to content updation for those pages that are gaining high traffic. Also, find out technical errors with the help of GSC such as slow loading speed & improper mobile responsiveness, and do technical SEO accordingly.
Some Advanced Strategies for Keyword Research and SEO
While the below-given strategies are not directly related to keyword research, these features of Google Search Console will definitely help you in optimizing your page for higher search rankings.
URL inspection: It can exist below the “Performance” option on the left side. Click on this and enter the specific URL, and you will get information like whether your URL is indexed by Google or not, when Google last crawled your page, identifies the URL that Google considers the canonical version of the page, and also spots the issues that are stopping the page from coming up in high results.
International SEO insight: If you are dealing with websites that target more than one country, then GSC will help you monitor how your website is performing in different regions. For that, you can find a country option in the filter. This analysis shows you the reaction of people from various locations to your pages so you can recognize search trends internationally and work on them to improve your international SEO further.
Conclusion
GSC is a great service that can assist you in fine-tuning your SEO. You can use this tool to research the performance of your keywords, inspect your URL, and get insight into international SEO strategy. This is the perfect free online tool for optimizing your website like a pro. So, let’s get the benefits of this tool together and design a strategy that can turn data into growth. Reach out to Thanksweb today, and we will elevate your brand by using the best data-driven approach.
FAQs about Google Search Console
Q1. Why should I Use Google Search Console?
You should utilize Google Search Console to know about how your website is working in search results. It gives details about the clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position of various keywords. It also shows what errors are present that might have prevented the indexing of your site or even stopped the ranking.
Q2. How do I Connect My Site to the Google Search Console?
You need to verify ownership of your site to connect it with GSC. Verification can be done through several means, such as with an HTML tag, a DNS record, or even Google Analytics. Once ownership is verified, you may add your site to GSC.
Q3. Is it possible to check the ranking of keywords with GSC?
Yes, you can check the average position of searched queries (keywords) in the performance section of GSC. Here you can find all the terms that are searched by users and which lead them to a particular page of your site.
Q4. How does URL Inspection in GSC help analyze the website’s performance?
The URL inspection in GSC is an amazingly powerful feature that allows you to determine if your website is indexed or not and what issues might be keeping it from getting indexed. It also displays the URL that Google has chosen as canonical for your page.
Q5. Can Google Search Console help in generating ideas for my blog topics?
Yes, blog topics can be generated with the help of GSC. Here, you will find long phrases and other words in queries that people are actively searching for. By evaluating them, you can come up with possible blog topics that are really relevant to what the user might want.