Google Search Console Insights is a tool that provides simple and easy-to-understand reports on the Content performance and the websites that explain how users reach them and which are most visited.
Search Console Insights uses information from Google Analytics and the Search Console to provide more detailed and easy-to-understand reports.
It is a tool designed to make it easier to understand all of the information that the Google Analytics (GA) and Google Search Console (GSC) tools provide to users. Since it is a relatively new tool (only available to all users since June 2021), many doubts arise among users.
To answer some of them, below are some of the most common questions and their answers:
Why is Google Analytics data different from Search Console Insights?
First of all, it is important to understand that the data collected by GA and GSC They’re different. The first tool collects data on user behavior on a website, while the second shows search engine activity. For example, while GA uses the extension of the page title as data, GSC uses that of the URLs, so the data can be different.
This difference may also be due to data from different time periods. By default, GA shows data for the last 28 days, so Search Console Insights may show a different time period. It could also be due to a bad configuration of the time zone in which it works.
Because Search Console Insights eventually combines GA metrics with GSC metrics (which are calculated differently), the data returned can be completely different.
Why isn’t GA data showing in Search Console Insights?
First of all, the user has to link the GA account with the GSC account; this is the only way to have access to all information and data.
You also need to make sure your user has the enough permissions to access all property information. And of course, make sure you analyze the right property.
How is it possible that clicks are lower than pageviews?
There are mutliple reasons for this. For example, a single click on a website can generate more than one pageview if the user is navigating through internal links. On the other hand, the data comes from many sources, not just Google, but Discover, Image Search and Video Search as well.
How are the reference links of the content selected?
This map shows the route that users have followed through links to their own content from other pages or web sites.
This map enables users to find out what other websites or content is driving traffic to that particular website. This report shows data on traffic, page views, and sessions.
How do you choose the “most popular content”?
This tab shows the best performing content over the past 28 days. For each result, the searches in which it occurred are also displayed.
How is new content selected?
This card shows the content that has been viewed for the first time in the last 28 days. To do this, the tool analyzes those pages that received traffic for the first time within this period and that have not received any visits for a year. Old pages with updated content will not be displayed.
With this in mind, Search Console Insights can display content that has not been indexed because the content does not need to be parsed to display.
