Google Adds SEO Reports to Analytics and Webmaster Tools

Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools have been a pair of features widely used by web developers for some time, and now they’ve become even easier to use. Google recently decided to merge the two features to make them much more streamlined. The feature will still be called Google Analytics, but will contain all of the Google Webmaster Tools that you have grown accustomed to.

However, this isn’t the only change to Google Analytics that will benefit web developers and marketers, as Google also added detailed Search Engine Optimization (SEO) reports to help maximize your web marketing possibilities. There are three different types of reports that fall under the “Search Engine Optimization” heading in the “Traffic Sources” section of Google Analytics: Queries, Landing Pages, and Geographical Summary.

The Queries report provides information on what terms Google users searched for when your website’s URL appeared in the results. The report can be adjusted to your liking, but the default settings include impressions (within a SERP), clicks, click-through rate and the average position in which your site appeared in these search results. A few more visitor stats are available in the secondary dimension of the Queries report, but these default settings all give you the most important information that you’ll need to see what people searched for and, as a result, what keywords have been most effective in your SEO endeavors.

The Landing Pages report gives statistics about which sites were most often used as “landing points” for your website. The report displays your most-viewed content that were entry points to your site as a direct result of a user performing a Google search. This information can also be useful in analyzing your SEO tactics, as you may have written more SEO-friendly copy on these landing pages.

The Geographical Summary report is exactly what it sounds like: a summary of the origin countries of all of your website’s visitors that arrived via Google. This report also gives impressions, clicks and click-through rate.

In order to begin using these integrated tools, you will need to link your Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools accounts. You can do this from your Webmaster Tools account, through the “Manage Sites” menu.

If you have any further questions on linking your Analytics and Webmaster Tools accounts and how best to use these features for Search Engine Optimization purposes, feel free to contact InterKnecht today. We’d love to make your online marketing work for you! www.InterKnecht.com