Search Console holds the only dataset that tells you what people actually type to find you. Its interface, however, makes the most profitable exercise painful: crossing position, impressions and clicks to know where to put the effort. In conversation, that crossing fits in one question.
The queries just below the first page
Between the eleventh and the eighth position, the click-through rate triples or quadruples. The queries that place you just below the first page are therefore your most profitable opportunities: the content already exists, it does not need much to move ahead.
In Search Console over the last 90 days, give me the queries with an average position between 8 and 20 and more than 100 impressions. For each one: the position, the impressions, the clicks, the click-through rate and the page concerned. Sort by impressions, descending.
This list is your work plan. One query with 2,000 impressions in position 12 is worth twenty queries with 50 impressions in position 4.
For the first five queries in this list, analyze the page that ranks and tell me what it is missing: intent poorly covered, content too short, title that does not include the query, no direct answer. Give me one concrete action per page.
The abnormally low click-through rate
A page that ranks well but gets few clicks is a storefront problem, not a ranking problem. The title or the description are not appealing, or do not match what the person was looking for.
Which queries have an average position below 10 but a click-through rate below 2%? For each one, indicate the page and suggest a title and a meta description that reflect the intent of the query.
Spot a drop in time
A page losing positions gives no warning. Comparing it to itself, period against period, reveals the movement before traffic collapses.
Compare the last 28 days to the previous 28. Which pages lost the most clicks? For each one, specify whether the drop comes from a loss of position, a drop in impressions, or a fall in click-through rate.
The distinction is decisive, and it is the one the interface does not make for you:
| What dropped | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Position | A competitor moved ahead, or the page lost relevance | Rework the content |
| Impressions | Demand dropped, or Google changed its interpretation | Check seasonality before panicking |
| Click-through rate | Title, description, or a new results block above you | Rework the storefront |
Find what you do not cover
Which queries have generated impressions without a single click over the last 90 days? Group them by topic and tell me which ones would deserve a dedicated page I do not have yet.
Those queries are valuable: Google considers you relevant enough to show you, but your page does not answer the demand exactly. It is a signal of missing content, not of failed content.
Check the indexing of a new page
Inspect the URL [ADDRESS]: is it indexed, when was it last crawled, and is there any reported issue?
The Search Console API does not allow submitting a URL for indexing: that action only exists in Google's interface (the “Request indexing” button). To speed up the discovery of a freshly published page, make sure it is in your sitemap, then track its status with the inspection above. On Bing, URL submission does exist: see the Bing Webmaster guide.