If you have a website, you need to track your performance to see how well you are doing. Google Search Console is one among the free used to track your website performance and generate reports based on the live data. The Performance Report helps to identify how your website is performing in Google search results. The performance includes data on clicks, impressions, Average CTR and position. The Performance Report is a valuable tool for understanding your website’s visibility and traffic. It can help you identify opportunities and optimize your site for better performance. In this article, we’ll show you how to use the Performance Report in Google Search Console.
The Metrics of Google Search Console
The Performance Report in Google Search Console provides detailed information about how your website is performing in terms of certain metrics includes clicks, impressions, Average CTR and position in Google search results.
Clicks – This tells you how many people have clicked on a link to your website in Google search results. If the clicks stay inside a search results, then it is not considered as a one click.
Impressions – This tells you how many times your website has been seen in Google search results.
Average CTR: CTR stands for Click-Through Rate. It is a metric used in digital advertising and marketing to measure the effectiveness of an online campaign or advertisement. CTR represents the percentage of people who click on a specific link or advertisement after being exposed to it.
CTR is calculated by dividing the number of clicks an ad receives by the number of impressions it generates and multiplying the result by 100. The formula is as follows:
CTR = (Clicks / Impressions) * 100 
Position – The average position is determined by Google based on the relevance and quality of your website’s content compared to other websites competing for the same search queries. This tells you the average position of your website in the results for a particular query.
The Performance Report also provides data on average click-through rate (CTR), average position, queries, and pages, which can be used to optimize your website’s performance and visibility in search results.
How to use Performance Report in Google Search Console?
The data from the Performance Report can be used to optimize your website’s performance and visibility in search results. Here are some ways you can use the Performance Report data to improve your website’s visibility and performance in Google search results:
Queries
Analyze queries to determine which keywords are most effective in driving organic traffic to your website. It provides valuable insights into how your website is being discovered and the specific terms people are using to find your content. By analyzing the Queries report in Google Search Console, you can identify the keywords that are driving traffic to your website, monitor changes in rankings and click-through rates, and optimize your content and SEO strategy accordingly to improve your website’s organic search performance.
Pages
The “Pages” metric refers to the specific web pages on your website that appear in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for different search queries. It provides information about which pages of your website are being indexed and displayed by Google in response to user searches. By analyzing the “Pages” metric, you can identify the pages that are receiving the most impressions and clicks, as well as those that may require optimization to improve their visibility and performance in search results. It helps you understand which pages are driving organic traffic to your website and enables you to make data-driven decisions to enhance your overall SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy.
Country
The “Country” metric refers to the geographical location or country from which the search impressions and clicks are originating. By analyzing the country-specific data in Google Search Console, you can understand where your website is receiving impressions and clicks, allowing you to tailor your SEO strategies and content to better target specific regions or markets. This information can be valuable for businesses operating in multiple countries or those looking to expand their international presence.
Devices
The “Devices” metric refers to the breakdown of your website’s performance in organic search results across different devices. It provides insights into how your website performs on desktop computers, mobile devices, and tablet
The Devices report in Google Search Console provides the following information:
Desktop: This segment shows the performance of your website’s pages in organic search results when accessed from desktop computers or laptops.
Mobile: This segment displays the performance of your website’s pages in organic search results when accessed from mobile devices such as smartphones.
Tablet: This segment shows the performance of your website’s pages in organic search results when accessed from tablet devices.
What are some Best Practices for using the Performance Report?
Using the Performance Report can help you identify areas of improvement and ensure that your website is optimized for search results. Here are some best practices for using the data from the Performance Report:
- Focus on the queries that are most relevant to your website.
- Set up goals to track progress and measure success.
- Monitor the average position of your website on the SERP and look for areas of improvement.
- Analyze click-through rates for specific queries to determine which queries are most effective in driving organic traffic to your website.
- Track changes in organic traffic volume over time.
- Monitor page performance to identify underperforming pages and opportunities to optimize them.
- Look for any changes in SERP position to determine the impact of changes such as new content or link building efforts.
How can the Performance Report be used to improve your website’s ranking?
Here are some ways you can use the Performance Report to improve your website’s ranking:
- Monitor click-through rate and SERP position – Use the Performance Report to track click-through rate, SERP position, and impression volume over time. This data will help you determine which queries are most effective in driving organic traffic to your website and identify areas of improvement.
- Identify underperforming pages – Compare page performance data to identify which pages are underperforming. Use the data to identify opportunities to optimize these pages.
- Use keyword data to optimize content – Monitor keyword data to determine what query terms are associated with organic traffic to your website. Use this data to determine what type of content to produce or optimize, and focus on long-tail queries for content targeting.
- Test changes to the SERP – Monitor changes in SERP position to determine the impact of any changes you have made such as new content or link building efforts.
Final Words:
After you have taken the necessary measures to improve your website’s ranking, you can start to analyse the outcome. Wrap things up with data collected from the Performance Report to see how effective your efforts have been. Use the data to determine if there were any changes to the click-through rate, SERP position, and impression volume. With this data in hand, you can quickly identify areas that still require further optimization and adjust your strategy accordingly.
