How to Use Search Analytics (Search Console) | Reading the Metrics and Improvement Methods

Indispensable when working on SEO improvement is the "Search Analytics" feature in Google Search Console. This is now the report called "Search Performance," which lets you see how your site is displayed and clicked in Google Search. This article clearly explains everything from the meaning of the four metrics you can see in Search Analytics, to how to use filters, and concrete improvement methods that combine the metrics.

What Is Search Analytics (Search Performance)?

Search Analytics is a feature within Google Search Console that lets you analyze how much your site was displayed and clicked in Google Search results. It used to be named "Search Analytics," but it is now provided as the "Search Performance" report. Both refer to the same thing, and it is an indispensable report for measuring SEO effectiveness and planning improvement measures.

Whereas Google Analytics (GA4) measures user behavior after they visit your site, Search Analytics is characterized by measuring user movement before they visit—that is, on the search results. What keyword they were shown for, what position it appeared at, and whether it was clicked—you obtain this kind of search-stage data.

The Four Metrics You Can See in Search Analytics

The Search Performance report lets you check mainly the following four metrics. These are the fundamental numbers when discussing SEO.

Impressions: The number of times your site's link was displayed in Google Search results. Regardless of whether the user actually scrolled to see it, it is counted as long as it is listed on the search results page.
Clicks: The number of times the link in the search results was clicked and the user came to your site.
CTR (Click-Through Rate): Clicks divided by impressions. For example, if it is displayed 100 times and clicked 30 times, the CTR is 30%. It serves as a gauge of whether your title and description match the search intent.
Average Position: The average position of your site in the search results. The closer to 1, the higher it ranks; the larger the number, the lower it is.

By default, the graph shows only "Total clicks" and "Total impressions." "Average CTR" and "Average position" can be added to the graph by clicking the relevant items at the top.

Basic Usage of Search Analytics

Let's look at the basic steps from opening the report to digging into the data.

Open the Report

Log in to Search Console and select the target property
From the left menu, click "Search Performance" → "Search results"
Use the four metric tabs at the top to toggle the metrics you want to display on and off

Switch Tabs to View the Data

Below the graph are tabs that let you check the data by different angles. The representative ones are as follows.

Queries: Shows what search keywords users used to reach your site. Useful for checking whether you're getting traffic for your targeted keywords, and for discovering new article ideas.
Pages: Lets you check metrics by URL. You can grasp which pages have high and low click-through rates.
Devices: Lets you compare numbers by PC, mobile, and tablet. Especially important for sites with many mobile impressions.
Countries: Lets you check data by the country of the searching user.

Narrow Down Conditions with Filters

A strength of Search Analytics is being able to narrow down to specific conditions with the filter function. For example, you can limit to a specific query or page, specify a period, or compare PC and mobile.

In query and page filters, you can specify conditions such as "contains," "doesn't contain," and "exact match." Note that uppercase and lowercase are usually not distinguished; if you want them distinguished, select "Custom (regex)." You can also do things like view only pages under a specific directory, allowing analysis focused on one part of the site.

Improvement Methods That Combine the Metrics

Rather than viewing each metric on its own, reading them in combination reveals improvement hints. Let's cover three representative patterns.

1. High Impressions but Low CTR → Improve Title and Description

This is a state where it is displayed often in search results but not clicked. This is likely a case where the title or meta description doesn't match the user's search intent, or lacks appeal. By revising to a title and description that include the search keyword and make people want to click, you can increase access without raising your ranking.

Queries with a high ranking but low CTR are an especially high-priority "wasteful" state. Tackling these first is efficient.

2. Low Position but High CTR → Increase Access by Ranking Higher

Keywords with a low ranking but high click-through rate indicate very strong user demand. By strengthening the content and doing SEO to raise the ranking, a large increase in traffic can be expected. It also serves as a hint for choosing themes when creating new articles.

3. High-Impression Pages Around 10th Place → Boost with Rewriting

Pages with many impressions that are just short of the top are targets where rewriting tends to be effective. Since clicks generally barely occur below 11th place, aiming first for the top 10 by enriching the content is a high-priority measure.

The point is to choose rewrite candidates by "URL (page)" rather than by low-ranking keyword. Improving one page can collectively raise the rankings of multiple keywords related to that page.

Always Verify Effectiveness After Improving

Once you've implemented a measure, don't leave it as is—always verify its effect. In Search Performance, you can specify a "period" to compare before and after. By selecting the rewritten URL and dates and checking how impressions, clicks, CTR, and position changed, you can judge the measure's success numerically.

Also, Search Console can be linked with Google Analytics (GA4), and combined with the free Looker Studio, you can create reports that integrate search-stage data and on-site behavior data. It's worth using when you want to do deeper analysis.

Conclusion

Search Analytics (now the Search Performance report) is an important tool for knowing how your site is displayed and clicked in Google Search. By digging into the four metrics—impressions, clicks, CTR, and average position—through angles such as queries and pages, and narrowing down with filters, improvement points come into view. In particular, metric combinations like "high impressions but low CTR" and "low ranking but high CTR" are treasure troves for improvement. Always verify effectiveness after a measure, and master Search Analytics to steadily grow your traffic from organic search.