How do you assess the search performance of your recently published pages?
For those publishing 3-5 pages a month, it’s relatively straightforward. You can quickly evaluate page performance in Google Search Console (GSC) using a page filter.
However, if you’re publishing dozens or even hundreds of pages each month, the process can become overwhelming and time-consuming. Here’s the routine you might find yourself stuck in:
- Locate the URLs of the pages you’ve recently published—are they in this Google Sheet or another one?
- Check their metrics in GSC by adjusting the page filter for each individual page.
The main challenge is that Google Search Console does not provide key information in its search performance report, such as:
– The date when the page was first crawled
– Pages that were crawled but not indexed
How do you currently handle this situation?
2 responses to “How do you check search performance of recently published pages?”
To effectively check the search performance of recently published pages, especially when dealing with a higher volume of publications, I’ve found a few strategies that can streamline the process and make it less time-consuming:
Automated Reporting: Instead of manually tracking page URLs, consider using tools like Google Data Studio or Tableau to create automated reports. This can pull data from your Google Sheets and GSC API, allowing you to visualize metrics for all your pages in one place.
Custom Scripts: If you have development resources, scripts (using Python, for example) can be set up to automatically retrieve data from GSC and batch process the URLs. This can include fetching indexed status, impressions, clicks, and other relevant metrics without having to filter each page individually.
Utilize the Performance Reports: While GSC might not directly show the first crawl date or indexing status, you can still use the “Coverage” report to identify pages that have been crawled but not indexed. This can give you insight into any potential issues.
Regular Review of the Index Coverage Report: Routinely check the Index Coverage report in GSC to flag any pages that haven’t been indexed after a certain period. These pages can then be prioritized for manual review or re-crawling requests.
Monitoring Tools: Consider using third-party SEO tools that offer more detailed insights into indexing and crawling, like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Screaming Frog. They often have features that can monitor new pages, track updates, and analyze performance more comprehensively.
Organized Naming Conventions: Implementing consistent naming and tagging conventions in your URLs can help you filter and find your recently published content quicker in spreadsheets or analytics tools.
By incorporating these strategies, you can reduce the manual workload and gain more timely insights into the performance of your newly published pages.
This is a great topic! Assessing the search performance of newly published pages can indeed be a daunting task, especially with a high volume of content. One method that I’ve found particularly helpful in scaling the assessment for numerous pages is utilizing automated reporting tools. For example, leveraging Google Data Studio or even custom scripts in Python can help extract and visualize data from Google Search Console more efficiently.
You can automate the extraction of performance metrics across multiple URLs, which not only saves time but also allows for better tracking of trends over time. Furthermore, combining GSC data with analytics from platforms like Google Analytics can provide a more comprehensive view of how those pages are performing in terms of user engagement and conversion rates.
Additionally, considering a third-party SEO tool that integrates with GSC could also be beneficial. These tools often offer enhanced insights, such as crawl status and indexability, that GSC lacks. Having this information readily available can facilitate quicker adjustments to your content strategy.
Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of structured data or schema markup—ensuring your pages are optimized for rich snippets can significantly boost visibility. What are your thoughts on these strategies? Has anyone else found success with similar tools or methods?